Sublime SPI Beach Art

I don't think I could improve on what Dolly did to this old Wal-Mart cabana tent, and boy it is a piece of work. The dog took a big ole dump there but I cleaned it up into the trash can before snapping this picture, so it must be special. The white sticks do have a certain wacky balance, don't they?



Yes, I suppose my view of art is maybe more organic, like these awesome railroad vines that seemed to go berserk after Dolly and today's thundershower. In the early morning, this dune will be blooming with purple railroad flowers everywhere. Hey I wonder, isn't there a white variety too? I seem to recall seeing some on the wild end of the beach.

But these are the things that make me happy - aside from the cabana trash but you get my drift. The beach is very clean and flat but the submerged part is heavily rutted between the first and second bars now, a good place to fish at dawn.

I also saw an elderly Oriental man with his family feeding seagulls popcorn by hand today. I am serious, he'd point one out and hold out the single popcorn and make the seagull eat it right out of his hand. Malia the dog thought that was cool but wanted a piece of the seagull. OK honey, time to take you home for dinner.

The days grow shorter. I shot these pictures a little after seven o'clock. I am reminded to enjoy the simple things. And yes, I was watching the sandbars for jumping tarpon, too. Maybe they'll be there at first light tomorrow.

Attempting to give a damn

Lord knows what came over me, but I think I let off a stink bomb in Jason's South Padre Attack Forum. Looks like one with permanent results! If they accuse me for needing to repaint the town because of may caustic blast, see if I give a damn.

I didn't move here to become a political hack and it's time to focus on real things, anyway. Business, surfing, fishing, new hobbies, writing a book, more music, more money, more fun. Hey add less trash to that list while we're at it: Unlitter. I'll eat my hat if the "government" can help me with much of that. And I'll be double-damned if some silly Attack Forum will do any good - certainly it can't clear the stink out of the air. Not after that one, whew ... As a lyric by BR-549 reads, "he could cut a stink pickle that would bring tears to your eyes."

Ah, freedom at last.

I was one of the last hold-outs among my circle of friends that actually liked the Attack Forum, and valued it for the updated during Hurricane Dolly especially, as if the Forum had a cathartic Kumbaya Moment. Then, it reverted to its old ways, the tired expressions like "you don't have a clue if you don't go to the Board meetings." Gosh, after being told a hundred times I was getting dumber and dumber by the minute, this Wells Boy let 'em have it. I think I wrote "Tim you ignorant slut ..." Priceless. And stinky-roo. S-o-r-r-y!

For all the angst and high drama, it was all a silly game anyway. It was addictive and few recognized my humor, satire, and tongue-in-cheek moments. But it's like giving up cigarettes: no more. Hey that's a swell idea, I could give those suckers up permanent, too.

In the big scope of things, I happen to notice that the date had slipped by August 16, which is the magic day the tourism falls off by about half here on the island. Now that's some serious stuff, and yes I do give a darn about that. Somehow, I was hoping for a resurgence after Hurricane Dolly, perhaps an unrealistic wish. Fittingly, on that day that day I saw the Bongo Dogs at the Wanna-Wanna, which resembled a bombed-out WWII ruins because of the storm - a truly existential experience.

But in a typical island way, band members all said they preferred the steadier, smaller crowds and more relaxed atmosphere. And I finally relaxed too, and smiled.

Epitaph: "More Bass"

Jerry Wexler died on Friday, a true genius for the music scene dating back to the late 40's. He was 91. The NY Times has a nice obit here. Strange dude but he promoted many artists you will know. Scroll down to the bottom of the obit and somebody said his tombstone would read "More Bass."

Being an old tuba and sousaphone player I rather liked that, and was always into black rhythms that back then was so controversial. As I migrated to electric bass and then the finger-picking the guitar, I was always a bass man. And it's about time to set the record straight!

Leo Fender invented the rock 'n' roll guitar as we know it, but it was always the singing and the bass that matters. That "wall of sound" was perfected in later years, but it always required a big booming bass. It is no coincidence that one of the most famous artists alive is a bass player named Paul McCartney.

It is sad that so many of the true instigators are leaving us, but what was cool was that Jerry Wexler didn't even like beatniks or hippies, and could barely stand bands like Led Zeppelin. But he was part of the Grand Experiment on the leading edge, and brought a works of what they used to call "race music" to our attention. Over 60 years later, the vision still works.

More bass, man.

Back to Gardening on SPI

Well I finally rescued the lawn mower and weed whacker from the "maws of heck." Both were frozen up from the effects of a flooded garage but somehow - and with some STP gas treatment - I got them both working in top order.

Assessing the landscaping, it was fairly dire, with plants either dead or leaning at 45 degrees, the poor beloved plumerias stripped of most all their leaves. The native stuff lived, such as the Coral Bean plant I rescued. The sea grape also did very well, with some missing parts here and there. The natal plum, a beach plum also known as the Monterrey plum, was toasty dead - and spiky as heck. The trunk on the beach plum was so hard I had to use a chain saw.

Dang, I was just starting to get the upper hand, after messing with getting rid of a century plant and a palmetto that died. Bam, instant mess after that hurricane. The salt killed a bunch of the good grass and then this field grass filled in, growing two to three feet high within a week. It's not against my religion to mow more than once a week, but that was a stunner. I feel set back about two years.

So I took stock and looked at my gardening tools and took inventory. Anything that was metal seemed horribly rusted. The planting pots I had organized so well had moved all around the garage - the water must have been fairly high - and some had sprouted mysterious plants that died. I'm lucky to have the lawnmower and weed whacker working, I guess.

Then I remembered what Paul Johnson said about what happened after hurricane Emily, which burned the plants so bad: you have to dilute and get rid of all that salt. Hurricane Dolly was interesting in that the strong wind came from the west, meaning Laguna Madre water twice as salty as the ocean. So we'll we watering except in those shady spots where the mosquitoes lurk. Gosh I hate gardening with a bunch of skeeters.

The question is whether to hit the plants with a dose of fertilizer and iron. I haven't figured that out yet. In theory, the plants would be very hungry for some food, something aside from nasty sand and salt. On the other hand, all the fertilizers I have are ... salts. Maybe I need some fish emulsion or something? Mulch when I can get a truckload?

So many people lost good stuff, although some made it through just fine like my wild lantana, which decided that life was very good and is blooming all over like an blooming idiot. And the Norfolk pine did great. although listing about 6 degrees to the east; the salt pines seemed to be gone, MIA. My nemesis, the Brazilian pepper wood bush, is happily making leaves after being stripped by the hurricane winds. The birds and hummers love that bush but that's where the possums and raccoons live. That's one tree I have no problem if you want to drive a bulldozer at it. Plus, about 200 red-wing blackbirds wouldn't camp out there all winter because they know I have bird feed.

But that's next door and I'm lucky to have several empty lots abutting my property. But there's little protection and the bananas look dinky because they don't have any. Dang, I planted those bananas because I wantred something different, and did it all right. By now I should be eating Ice Cream bananas, a varietal I got that weren't anything like what you get in the store (yup, mash them up and freeze them and eat them just like ice cream). Oh well, I'll give them another year to see if they can get bigger than ... 16 inches.

You know, I had much better luck up in Austin, with a fine set of plum, pear, and peach trees and a raised garden along the edges of the cedar fence with tomatoes, peppers flowers, and herbs. I did onions one year and planted some mint and they all came back every year like big dogs. My problem was too much darn vegetation. My rosemary bush was a freaking tree about four feet tall. The passion flowers took over the fences - all of them - and tried to grow in grass. The plum tree put out at least 25 pounds of fruit, excluding what the birds and bugs got. Nope, I haven't seen that kind of action here, and the recent hurricane didn't help matters. Bayview sounds like you can grow some serious stuff over there.

But all is not lost and no way I'm leaving the island right now. The landscaping is always "work in progress" anyway.

Oh Really?

Every day I read many bloopers and I suppose that I should start collecting them. Here's one from none other than the respected (and despised liberal) New York Times, talking about about a referendum vote in Colorado that would define when human life begins:

"The proposal is the first in nation to put the question of when life begins before voters."

This is impossible, since life could never begin before the voters, who were presumably already born in order to vote. We hope. Lyndon Johnson had some issues there in Webb County, mainly dead ones coming back to life - but I don't think they reproduced very much. That begs the question about how many voters really have a life, a shocking prospect.

I'll keep hunting!

Island Politics

What politics? That's for upstate people and presidential elections and stuff. I moved down here to get away from people trying to push their politics on me. Now there are a bunch of characters on the island who run for office, I will say that. There is some electioneering. But it's so different from "politics" as I saw in Austin that it's hard to call it that here.

The red aviation light came back on the top of the water tower tonight, a welcome sight. I had reported outages over the last few years and found they had a system, so I let it go. If that's "politics" I'll eat my hat.

And the skeeter spraying truck just came by our house, Wednesday at 10:38. Yay. If that's political I'll go ride my bike behind him for a solid hour, just like I was a kid.

It's so apolitical I actually joined a town committee. Talk about more characters. Well they got me! Hey we got some stuff done on the bayside, great to see at least some results. Most of what I learned about was history and how bureaucracy works. Not political.

Heck I even vote regularly now, something I rarely did before. But that's not political - it's called my right.

Goodbye Dolly

I'll do one more post about Dolly because there's some great new stuff happening, like Willie Nelson coming down in November for the music fest (starting October 31). Looks a little scruffy but the island still works. I took some pictures "downtown" on the bayside today and the bayside still looks a little rough, to say the least. The picture just above is of what used to be Tequila Frogs, of spring break fame. The rest are from Fisherman's Wharf to Palm Street Pier.

I guess a little "urban renewal" along the old Tompkins Channel and the old entertainment district will be a good thing. It could take a years or two to get back to a nice bayside, given all the permits and expenses. But much of the damage I saw was from docks that were built in the 70's and 80's. Even concrete pilings were rotting, the rust hanging off them, due to the high salinity of the Laguna Madre. You could obviously see that giant bolts and nails were just orange rust spots.

Once we get those three or four boats off the shore and the wreckage cleared out it will look much better. Charlie was down at Palm Street saying they had pulled a lot of trash out of the water, but his jet-ski business is back open and things are doing better already. I think Dolly showed us how important the bayside is to our economy - and why we need to maintain it better in the future.

Watch Those Roofers!

Not a good photo here but this is a roofing re-do across the field from us. They seem OK but I started to notice a few things that irritated me. First, I was taught to hand-nail all my shingles, since those air-gun staples are worthless in a storm. Don't believe folks who say they have new "space age" staples that work just as good, because that's a lie. I've been in the business and have heard all the stories.

Second, the drip edge should be replaced if it is metal; I like the heavy-duty ones that won't rust as fast or even plastic. This house didn't have drip edge molding but cheap wood so I guess they didn't need it.

Third, valley metal should be at least 2 feet wide if not more - these are the troughs where two gables meet and water must flow along the roof pitch. Um, there's no valley metal in this picture, just a strip of tar paper.

Fourth, once the tar paper (asphalt felt) is applied, the first row of shingles is turned upside down, allowing the glue strip to hold the outer edge of the shingles down. This is definitely worth a few shingles. This row is nailed quite close to the drip edge.

Fifth, where's a bucket of roofing cement for the penetrations like the plumbing vents and difficult areas? We always had a gallon or two of Bulldog for those situations.

Frankly, I'm shocked that the town building code allows the use of staple guns and such shoddy business practices - roof staples are illegal in Florida and have been ever since Hurricane Andrew. Oh, the "heffe" just showed up in his dually crew truck. His crew is smashing down a case of empty beer cans with a cinder block while the "vatos" work on the roof. Nice work if you can get it, I suppose.

Home

Miraculously, the house was fine and after we arrived the power came on. Gosh, that was a far more potent hurricane than I thought ... but was grateful to give Lori a vacation before going back to work with the school system. And it was a nice vacation in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, like art city with a much more funky attitude than here. We kinda forgot to tour the Jefferson Davis House but got a comp buffet at the Beaux Rivage casino, which was top shelf.

Coming back to town was both a sense of disbelief and let-down. Sleeping in my own bed is going to be really good. Tomorrow I'll do all these chores but will be sure to hit the surf, either with a boogie board or a 7-foot fishing pole. It is good to back.

Probably a Ho-Hum Storm

Tropical storm Dolly looks ragged and disorganized for getting into the hot waters of the Gulf, and is moving at an impressive speed of 16 knots toward the SPI-Corpus area. So I went into "half hurricane mode" with the plywood, making sure the north and northeast sides were boarded and clean of potential flying objects. So we did some preparations and are now ready for the party! Hopefully Dolly will hit 80 miles one way or the other, so our beaches don't get too tore up (yikes, Sand Feet, how did I end a sentence like THAT?). Take care, y'all.

Surf Fishing Has Been Fun

Once or twice a day I head down to the beach and cast a few lines and with the puny waves and blue-green water it sure has been a pleasure. As many friends know, I'm not a "producer" and I like to let everything go unless it is a big trout - I actually bend down the barbs on my hooks so they can get off easier. Thanks to Fred Mallet, former SPI Alderman, I learned a lot.

Yesterday I nailed a nice ladyfish, which of course flopped off the line about 5 feet in front of me. Then I got smacked by a Spanish Mackerel and on the next cast I guess it busted my line because of his or her sharp teeth. So only having one pole and one lure now gone, I went home to rig again.

Everyday is different and today I hit is a little late, about 6:30, so dinner was over but I still had some blow-ups from the diminutive whiting, which although is considered a trashy fish is fun on very light line - at least a jerk on one end of the line and a jerk on the other!

The surf might increase over the next week as some tropical waves come in, but I know the "dog days" are yet to come. The surf crabs will hunt for tourist toes while magnificent tarpon jump the waters just out of casting reach.

I keep asking people if they see birds and jumping fish out off the beach, since that would be a sign of schooling bait with predators feeding on them - predators from trout to sharks. So far, I haven't seen any of such pods of fish coming down the beach on the tide and current but I know it is still early, and they will come.

The Zen of fishing is not the catching, but the perfect cast, or the imperfect one that briefly hooks a fish for reasons I can't fathom. Or just being happy and not thinking. Often little kids speaking Spanish will come out to "help" me fish and I am not cross; I smile and try to be careful about casting the lure so I won't git one. They had not invaded any more space than I did with the fish, anyway.

Plus I get to walk the the beach, which is good exercise ... and wash my dirty Crocs!

Sunstroke

It's that time of year when heat exhaustion and its serious calamity, sunstroke can happen. Well it happened to me and that was not pleasant. It was a shocker and even a day later I still feel the effects.

All I did was decide to mow the lawn, which had grown very high after all the rain, especially that nasty two-foot tall grass I hate that resembles Johnson grass. So after about an hour of slow going, lots of restarting the engine, I get tunnel vision. Silly me, trying to mow the grass in the middle of the Texas heat. So I left the mower and wandered like a drunk up the stairs to the porch, totally incapacitated, on the floor, shaking, hyperventilating, and nauseous.

According to the experts I was one step away from the hospital or even the grave.

After about 15 long minutes of down time I seemed fine, and being manly shook it off like "wow that was a trip, I'll never do that again!" But I was still dizzy, confused as heck, irritable, and couldn't eat dinner. My muscles were cramped and burning. The air conditioner which blows like ice cubes felt hot. I had been had.

Thanks to some locals and the Internet, I learned this is a very dangerous thing. It is not only dehydration, but rather lack of electrolytes and salt in your system that causes the real shock. So now I know that stuff like salt and Gatorade are what you need - and to not get so over-heated.

So all you neighbors, I'll be mowing the grass at eight o'clock in the morning or at night, and that's just my bad.

Editor - I fixed this up a little and wanted to mention that the best cure for heat exhaustion is to jump into the surf, and chill-out.

Eight Days of Rain

Wow, no tropical storms in the Gulf and we get 8 days of rain in July, truly strange. Rainfall totals of almost an inch per day - wish I had my rain gauge working but totals should be close to 6 inches. Cabin fever is starting to get bad, especially since my daughter came down from Austin and really wants to surf and fish. We see a break in the weather and run to the beach and KABOOM goes the thunder so we run back home. Then is drizzles. We wait on the drizzle to end like one dog waits on another.

Updated SPI Web Cams

Over the last five years the web cams on SPI have changed, so if you need a dose of "real-time" SPI there are some new ones. I've got a short list for starters, and let me know if you have more:

JW’s special event cam / Earth-Cam

This is brand new to the Island, covering the beach, Louie's and the Friday fireworks, and even Pirate's Landing - the Black Dragon pirate ship should be here today, hopefully. Java controls allow users to pan the camera itself, although at a Top Ten rated site by Earth-Cam, with thousands of viewers at once, it's hard to take it over. Sandy Feet says the beach cam controls are so good you can spot good cleavage on the beach!

http://www.southpadrecam.com/black_dragon.htm

Gene Gore’s spadre.com

This has been the "main cams" for many because it is well done and has an excellent surfing page as well - this one is for the sports minded for sure. Gene does a ton of advertising, so bear with the extra graphics. Also contains articles for local notables such as naturalist Scarlett Colley and boater safety tips from Captain Alan Stewart - two great folks to meet.

http://www.spadre.com/

Sandbox Inn Cam

This is Sandy Feet's latest morphing of the old "mobile web cam" which for a while had excellent beach views. It is now used as a security camera for the backyard and for folks to see her latest sand castle carvings. An island original. Sometimes loaded with butterflies.

http://www.spi-cam.com/

Turtle Cam

Gene Gore donated an old web cam to Sea Turtle Inc, which is now positioned over one of their holding tanks. It is pretty cool, and anything to do with Sea Turtle Rescue is way cool. Don't forget their fundraiser scheduled for September 6th.

http://www.seaturtleinc.com/turtlecam.html

SPI Beach Houses and Condos

Not sure what this one is about, other than a marketing tool, although it does seem to have high resolution pictures of the beach from a nice angle.

http://www.texasbeachhouse.com/

The status of many old-timer web-cams is not known. The Radisson used to have a "causeway cam" but I can't find it. Sandy Feet used to run the "Dad cam" during Spring Break - man that fellow could work a crowd of girls like nobody's business (English lit, right!). Of note is that several at Isla Blanca Park no longer seem to be functioning, especially after Gene Gore was asked to take his stuff elsewhere (long story).

Disappearing Ghost Crabs

I'd like to wish everyone a safe and happy 4th of July. It's a little rainy today with a good chance on Friday but then a drier weekend. So far on SPI there are no mobs of people, and it is nice and cool outside - an open door day!

Several times lately I watched the kids chasing ghost crabs at night, which is very fun with flashlights on the beach. The crabs are quite speedy and will disappear in a crab hole in a second. I saw plastic buckets with many of them, and had to wonder what the heck they were going to do to those poor crabs, but paid it no mind.

But then an observant friend noted how small they were compared to many years ago, when a respectable "sand crab" was at least two inches across the shell. They sure seem to be getting small these days, don't they?

Maybe that says something about our beach, and maybe all those kids as well (I have to admit, the new LED lights are cool). The little I know about ghost crabs is fascinating, such as they hide all day from the sun and predators but have to feed and drink at night; their burrows may be up to four feet long and are usually at a 45-degree angle such as into a dune. As part of the dune ecosystem, they reflect the overall health of the beach including its nutrient load, maintenance that can disturb their burrows, and predation from ... I think it's mostly the kids.

It is only befitting that "crabby the anti-litter mascot" could well be a ghost crab. Surely it is not a nasty land crab from the bayside!

Croc Thieves!

Beware of a recent rash of minor thievery on the beach - people stealing Croc sandals. We've lost a few pair, since we always leave them on the beach to go swimming.

To top it off, Lori walked the dog on the beach today, and some jerk stole the bling off her Crocs! Boy howdy she was hot about that, just steaming. "My mermaid," she forlornly cried.

So I now wear my oldest ones that I used to paint the house last year - they look and smell and heck, with a mysterious, black "x" factor growing inside the soles. I keep trying to tell Lori not to wear nice new ones to the beach, like the Camo ones she recently lost (way cool colors). Maybe a beach bag or back pack with a zipper is the may to go, to keep the kiddies half honest.

Otherwise, the beach report is really good, little weed, no jellyfish, very clean water today. Grandma waves, we call 'em.

Three Finger Salute

Bill Gates resigned from Microsoft Corporation today, in a weepy-eyed meeting with a bunch of his employees, leaving to concentrate his efforts on what is the largest charity in the world, the Gates Foundation. It makes me wonder is about a billion Microsoft personal computers will get "the blue screen of death" without his leadership, and we'll all have to do the three finger salute at once (CTRL+ALT+DEL).

Over two decades ago my friend Andy up in Austin said two words to me: "the Internet." Boy howdy was he right. To be honest, I started out on mainframes and the Apple - or was it a MacIntosh? That's almost a Biblical question by now, but you have to hand it to Bill Gates for exploiting computers and the Internet as a new frontier to be conquered.

You know, there really aren't any new frontiers to fill our imaginations anymore. Even nano-tubes are bio-tech are ho-hum. No more cheap labor in the world, although last I heard President Bush was looking for signs of life on Mars so maybe they could make sneakers, T-shirts, and underwear on the cheap for us American consumers.

It was equivalent to the Gold Rush of 1848 to 1855, something that captivated the spirit. I think that's what is wrong with the economy right now, that we don't have any new frontier of knowledge and experience that can be exploited. Maybe somebody will start a new rage going, but when Bill Gates leaves the company he started, you know that party is pretty much over.

I salute ya, bruddah.

Teaching a Bulldog How to Swim

Here is Malia telling me she wants to go to the beach. She just plain loves the beach, as I'm sure many Island dogs do. The only thing is, this brand of doggy can't swim for nothing. Heavy bones I guess, one time we put an orange doggy life preserver on her and she floated upside down like some weird buoy or something.

Why didn't the Lord give me a nice black female Labrador or something? But as fate would have it, I inherited a beautiful American Pit Bull named Malia. It's really my daughter's dog and she can have it back but we're so attached I guess Samantha gave us a break. Me, the Labrador dude, with a freaking pit bull. I'm having a Rodney Daingerfeld moment here.

But we're working on the surf part. We're definitely not ready for the "ride on the boogie board" trick yet - that was funny as heck. Two weeks ago we learned that if a big wave comes, you have to jump up or you go under ... she's a jumper now. Little steps.

People ask what kind of dog it is and I say "American terrier" without mentioning "pit bull" because I don't want to set any alarms off. I've seen what some of these dogs can do and am realistic. The most important thing is to not ever let them loose, since they tend to form hunting packs with three or more dogs of any kind. Results can be disastrous. Get real that is their nature when wild. That's why Malia's on a short lead and constantly watched.

But she's a lover, has to sleep between us at night, and only freaks out over the possum, which she hates with a real passion. We have a routine worse than the Army, with mandatory walks here and there, some play, sleep, belly rubs, and loads of kisses for no good reason. I swear she can tell time. Plus she's a real hit on the beach, and let's all the kids pat her. Dudes and babes nod approvingly like I'm macho or something (huh?). Getting better about passing other dogs walking on the beach too! This was a big one. I'm sure Malia just wanted a sniff, poor girl, but we can't jerk daddy's arm off trying to do so.

Teaching a bulldog how to swim is really something, an almost hopeless existential cause like Sisyphus trying to push a giant rock up a mountain. For now, we stay where we can stand, and we don't seem to mind the ridiculous flaming orange doggy life jacket. As long as we're not upside down.

We finally make it out ...

Had a great day thanks to Mr. Bill Fisher and had beautiful blue water the whole way out for a 12-hour trip. No big takers and lots of seaweed to clear from the lines but much fun was had. It's fairly exhausting exercise - but it sure beats work!

I did learn a bunch ... next time I want some serious camera work, crew!

Wanting to get "all out to sea"

Well we tried, but the captain said it was like 4-foot waves offshore so we ditched our offshore trip today. That's OK, but it was a beautiful morning and the Gulf is hard to predict. Our area of the Gulf is closer to the edge of the continental shelf and has more blue water than anywhere in Texas, but does tend to be rougher as a result.

I hope it works out because the usual style of fishing such as on a party boat if to fish the reefs straight down, most often for the "endangered" red snapper mixed in with a few oddities such as amberjack and king mackerel. This crew only fishes sport fish on top, mostly catch and release except if a dolphin (the fish) or wahoo has big eyes for the lures.

Marlin, both blue and white, and sailfish are the true sports fish for these folks, with the occasional tuna mixed in. The day is long and at least $600 in fuel is burned. And sometimes you don't get a fish up close for a trophy picture but there's always something interesting out there, and I'm always learning.

As the little graphic indicates, there's all kinds of outriggers and gear all over the place so that up to seven lines can be fished in a "spread" to resemble a school of fish being chased. So I'm used to running maybe two or three that had no names other than "my pole" and "your pole." I can see the captain barking orders like "clear the outer left on the cross-bar daisy chain fly-jacks, ya blarmey" and have no idea what he's talking about. Point and make a reeling motion I might be able to catch on.

Hope we can get out soon!

Stiffed Again on Dredging

I don't think Gene Gore would mind me using his Surf-Cam picture for a noncommercial purpose such as that huge dredge out there in the channel - the big black ship with the red & white superstructure inside the jetties. We were wonder why the surf was chocolate & cream colored today when body surfing. Now we know - this machine can vacuum up thousands of tons of sand and dump it out the bottom several miles off the jetties in one load. The ship's name is most likely the WHEELER, a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers vessel.

Once again, we missed an opportunity to get sand on our beaches, especially in the northern area by the Tiki and La Quinta resorts. On has to question why they are dredging now during turtle season and our high tourist season, but I guess the Port of Brownsville rates much higher than we or the turtles do. The bummer of it all is that dredging probably won't be done this fall because the channel is being dredged today, and won't need it then.

This is the third time. After a string of good luck and largely because of Mayor Pinkerton, we used to get sand on the beach every two years. In 2005 Hurricane Katrina and Rita stripped away a good part of our beaches and it's been going downhill ever since. No beach renourishment has been done since the winter of 2004/2005, aside from some very ineffectual trucking.

I am outraged, and question the so-called consultant who actually "found" sand up by Mansfield Pass. Let me ask - what is in the dredge right there? And isn't that OUR tax dollars at work and they're dumping perfectly good beach sand offshore? This poor sandbar; sometimes I have to wonder.

Home Rule

So what do you all think? The Town of South Padre Island could become a home-rule city is they wanted, but there is a curious resistance to that. I like the idea of Home Rule because it means we're "taking the bull by the horns" and are not so subject to the whims of the honorable Texas Legislature. Do you like the idea or not? Yay or nay?

I really don't think one would see much difference, and your property values would change with the economy and not anything the Town did by simply going Home Rule. It does afford the citizen a little more power however, a nice touch as a free-thinker like me. If you don't like somebody in power because they're abusing it, it sure would be nice to have a recall. And referendum, sweet, we can get our own agendas on the Board of Aldermen Agenda instead of just silly "public comments."

Oh so now you know why some politicians are scared. How the budget gets done can change as well, since we're no longer a General Law municipality. Stories about "losing" a million in beach funds because of going Home Rule are patently false. I have heard several other white lies as well. But basically, politicians are used to being bullet-proof once elected and Home Rules takes the carpet away from under all that.

I care not a bit about the politics of the situation. The facts are we have over 5,000 "inhabitants" and it is something to consider. Do ye or would ye want it or not?

Summer is here

Summer might not officially begin until June 22nd but it's here now, with Memorial Day and our little events out of the way. Many locals get real busy; some leave to go on the road for the summer art circuit; some head up north to more civilized temperatures.

The wind seems to blow hard still, as if May hadn't ended yet. It's OK although the fishermen don't like it - that wind can make you feel 15 degrees cooler than if you don't have a breath of air. One thing we missed was a bunch of rain, since usually it will not rain much except for an occasional dark cloud overhead until the September monsoon season. The ground looks parched and very dry already.

Lori and I were just talking how just when she gets out of the school system - 6 more "wake ups" she says - everyone will be too busy or traveling. Well not exactly true, there's the Camp Craft Girls for her and I have some stinky old fishing buddies for me. It's just totally different. It's summer now.

It's Lori's Birthday! An Anniversary!

Calling all SOB's ... calling all SOB's. Saturday we're celebrating Lori's 50th birthday!

It is also our 25th anniversary ... did I mention I had a birthday as well?

We'll be at the Wanna-Wanna for the Bongo Bogs for sure about 8:00. That's the main event, although we might rent some umbrellas and hang out on the beach earlier ... later, who knows? No presents needed other than your smiling faces. She's into the low-carb Atkin's diet if you're thinking something like a desert. This is a big one, folks, so let's show Lori a good time.

OK Here's the Deal: we'll be on the Oleander Street access (Bougainvillea) on Sunday starting a little after 10:00 a.m. and lasting until ... who knows?

UPDATE #1: We're trying to do a big shebang on Sunday on the beach, with sand castles, swimming, and more. Location is being decided as we speak.

UPDATE #2: Lori was accepted to the doctoral program at UTB! Only ten out of 200 made it. We're already on a roll!

The Boogies

Our dog is really nice and affectionate but one thing she does not like is "the boogies." Those would be the SPI opossum. Our dog can sniff one at 50 yards. She even knows it when I talk about "the damn tequatche," the Mexican word. It drives her nuts!

This island has a serious case of the boogies.

I don't know how the possum know, but one of them always has to check our porch for cat and dog food every night, as if they were New York cops on rotation. I've cornered them many times. Of course, poor Malia our dog looks like she's going through two layers of hurricane-proof glass. She doesn't like the boogie to say the least. We have to close the bedroom doors so she doesn't freak us out in the middle of the night.

I've been through the Town thing where you use a humane trap and try to catch the varmints. It didn't work that good here because I caught all my house cats, who are pigs. Old Jeff across the street caught three possum and two wild cats in one trap, probably an island record, but I didn't have any and I have great bait.

Can't we do better? I hate to think we should mow and pave over the entire island because we can't take care of a very simple animal control problem, them and the feral cats.

Global Warming Burgers

That contraption there is a solar concentrator built for about $450. The design was suggested for use in Africa to help provide power and cooking heat. About 25 flat mirrors can "dial in" the sun to focus on the nerddle there, which can reach extreme temperatures of maybe 1,200 degrees. Pretty cool huh, like space age?

The scientists did agree that the only side effect was sometimes it caught on fire. I sure hope they're working on the safety aspects if they export it or sell it commercially, but from a Dave Barry perspective that even makes it a better project.

So my business model would be called "Global Warming Burgers" and we would have organic veggie burgers to bison. I think you might need a space suit to operate it, which I'm sure the kids would find fascinating. Poof, your burger is done! It's all in the angle of the mirror dangle I believe. Of course, business hours would have to be in broad daylight, but who really wants a burger on a gray day anyway?

Speaking of burgers and space age stuff, the New York Times reports that the crapper on the International Space Station just went kaflooie, and yes company is coming over next weekend. Maybe they need one of these little honeys, think? That's called taking care of business!

Let's Talk Boats

I think I'm in love! Here is a Carolina Skiff from a company that sells traditional hull designs called Spira International. They just don't make boats like these anymore, unless you build one yourself or find one somebody else built. In fact if you Goggle "Carolina skiff" you'll get about a dozen models of fiberglass bay boats that don't even look remotely like the above picture.

Sure, you'll need to build a hull and buy a motor - I like the old Evenrude two-stroke 25 HP engines - but it certainly is cheaper than buying a new fiberglass wonder that costs as much as a brand new pickup truck. Besides, see those high sides and pointy bow: they're more seaworthy. I'm looking at $75 for plans and about a grand in cheap lumber, fasteners, fiberglass and paint. I haven't priced an old motor and trailer, though.

Lori wants a nice Bimini Top for shade in the middle, which is fine with me as long as I can cast and troll off the stern. Shade is good down here on SPI.

The one pictured is a 19-foot Carolina with a Vee bottom to handle chop and spray better. It is harder to build than the flat bottom version so I'll have to think about that. We'll see, but all sounds like fun to me - and the gas savings sounds like a real winner!

Memorial Day Memories

I write the day before Memorial Day, when the island celebrates the beginning of summer. Indeed it was a packed island the last two evenings, with fireworks and all. But somehow, this Memorial Day event was depressing to me.

I shall always love our country, our flag, and honor those that served to defend our liberties and freedoms. But my growing suspicion is that the United States is not longer a leader of the world, the strongest country, or the most just. We seemed to have pissed away our former glory, accepted a President as a lunatic puppet king, and engaged our armed services in a ridiculous holy war that our Founding Fathers would find rather shocking. Even the mighty dollar, once the currency of global trade, is now frowned upon as worthless Yuppie coupons that must be redeemed for something of real value.

Back in the early 1800s many European observers predicted that the United States would only last a few generations before falling into a nasty dictatorship with a broken economy and eventually, anarchy. These predictions never came true, as today we are still a proud, industrious people. But there is a growing sense of frustration, with less than a third of Americans thinking that our country is going the right way - and confidence in the US Congress has fallen even lower, to 10 percent. What would Washington, Adams, and Jefferson say about that?

The notion that we caused all this ourselves - even by electing a President that should be found guilty of High Treason - is especially galling on this Memorial Day.

Scallops

It is true, scallops are native to this area in far South Texas. You can find a few old shells on the beach and according to the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department, there are even some wild ones in the Laguna Madre, since they do net surveys every year.

It is also really good eating, although most scallops come from the colder northern climates. I guess the prospect of eating scallops lead me to write this article. It's expensive but you can get them cheaper at a real seafood store, frozen.

I didn't know this but in Europe they eat the whole animal, not just the center muscle known as the "eye." Us whacky Americans, I guess it's too gross although we'll eat oysters for some mysterious reason. Part of the problem is that the scallop boats that go out to sea are out there for many days, and scallops will die, lose moisture, and rot if not cleaned and refrigerated or frozen right away.

The "real thing" is catching them right out of the bay. I did that up in New England for a summer or two just a few times. We used old laundry baskets to get them. I wish we were positively infested with them down here ... I would give up all meat except for my favorite seafood!

This Is an Emergency Broadcast

For all the disaster planning and recent events around the world - from hurricanes in Burma to earthquakes in China - the US is no better prepared than ever in its history. According to numbers reported in the Washington Post, 93% of us don't have a clue about what to do in a natural disaster. As hurricane season approaches, perhaps it's a timely subject.

I will say that Texas has made some strides, although mainly in the field of top-down command control and how to work the evacuation highways. Incredulously, the Department of Homeland Security insists upon customs inspections not only at the check stations such as Sarita and Falfurrias, but the evacuation centers, buses, and collection areas as well. What a bunch of proverbial turds.

There is some good advice out there, although most of the effort is on policing. The typical response (and no offense intended to Clifford) is to motivate people to leave ... or make them put on a toe tags "so we can ID your crab infested body." I think we can do better than that.

In general we're talking about two types of tropical cyclones and hurricanes. The first is the type that is tracked for days if not weeks before a storm gets within 500 miles. This gives you lots of time to make arrangements, pack those special things that could be lost, and beat the traffic. A single mention of a hurricane in the Gulf can empty about SPI tourists in a heartbeat, with some locals to follow. Hurricane Dean is a classic example.

The second type are very fast, compact hurricanes that can blow up within a space of 24 hours. Humberto was such an example of a storm that was never predicted (well, I did but who cares). For this the strategy is what's called a "ditch bag" just like a survival kits when you go out to sea on a boat. You grab the ditch bag that has all your important papers, medications, and some useful stuff like Granola bars and Charmin, throw it in the car, and boogie.

Now I've been around the Island long enough to know that even in small storms like Emily (2005, just after moving down here permanently), Islanders will wait until the wind actually starts blowing hard before putting up shutters and plywood ... and maybe hitting the liquor store, get some groceries, and the going to the bank as an afterthought. If the storm looks like Category 2-3 or less, or a likely miss, this Island is known for some outrageous hurricane parties. Jimmy Buffet music blares and the margarita machine is fired up. Some bars have been known to have a "keg emptying party" for the locals to celebrate the event. I have to say that mooning the Weather Channel TV crew was a high point of my life (take THIS, Jim Cantore!).

I know, that sends the wrong message but I think the Islanders know the drill fairly well and just need to be reminded about that "ditch bag" and some simple precautions. I hope some public friendly gatherings can help drive the point home ... one idea was to have a party and hand out or sell waterproof bags with a waterproof zipper with maybe an advertisement on one side and a checklist of things to do on the other. Make it some cool events and opposed to the usual smack talk by burly cops and frightening weather weenies.

And folks, if we get a one of the rare storms that form only 100 miles offshore, just forget the computer stuff and Aunt May's tea set. Grab the bag and go!

Aransas Pass and WiFi

There's a big brouhaha going on about a kind of wireless computer connectivity known as WiFi, since many people want it here on SPI. I originally supported the concept when Fred Mallet brought it up several years ago. Since then, not much has progressed about WiFi here and Fred moved to Aransas Pass.

Aransas Pass does not have municipal WiFi.

Now this is interesting because I have a serious case of "Aransas Pass Envy." Their park system is incredible and they put on a sand castle festival that is five times better than ours. Their marinas are really something, with lots of beach, bay, and offshore access. The beach might not be as nice as SPI but on just about every other account, for the same-sized town they have us beat, hands down.

So why did they not get municipal WiFi?

I don't have the luxury of having any exact reasons, town council discussions, or whatever but their Chamber of Commerce and other town links heavily promotes private WiFi as a tourist benefit and as a key strategy. Condos, rentals, restaurants, and bars heavily promote WiFi access. Once again, I'm getting a serious case of Aransas Pass Envy.

At least this isn't a boondoggle like the second causeway to SPI that would cost in numbers of hundreds of millions. But our Banana Republic political mentality sometimes leads to some very strange outcomes, such as rejecting ferry service (Aransas Pass, check), or municipal WiFi (not).

My point all along is that I support municipal WiFi but I wanted the budget numbers. None are available, and I'm starting to wonder if this is something that should be better done by private enterprise and not our Town. I'd rather invest in infrastructure, such as ... well we do have one public restroom to serve 5 miles of beach, I guess. Sometimes I worry about this place.

Second Causeway, A Boondoggle?

Recently there has been a big push for a second causeway on the north side of the Island. The traffic volumes don't support it right now and the Town's "position paper" is riddled with faulty conclusions and misleading assumptions. To be clear, I'd like to see a second causeway but the way we're doing it is all wrong, wrong, wrong.

The people who want a second causeway more than any other group are the developers of expensive condo property on the north side. They don't give a damn about hurricane evacuations, health, and all those silly justifications ... and to the buyers, paying five to ten bucks for the tollway to avoid the gruesome Padre Boulevard while speeding in luxury cars is appealing. Last I checked only one large condo tower was going up - if it doesn't fall down because it's leaning, or at least the garage already is. Simply stated, nobody lives up there now except a few coyotes and birds.

I'm certainly not paying big bucks like that and our friendly Winter Texans and Valley residents aren't either. Like the last Texas Legislature dictated, we're tired of all these tollways and want them stopped. Yet down here in La-La Land we think that's exactly the way to go, with a regional authority that has no representation from SPI. Folks, this is way out of control and signing some petition you don't understand is sheer stupidity. Of course we support a second causeway! It is all in how it gets done in the details.

It's a great reason to elect a new Governor because with Perry in place, such madness will continue amongst the Republican profiteers. And if you think a bridge twice as long as the Queen Isabella Causeway will only cost a hundred million, dream on teenage queen. Williams, Zachary, and others will gladly double or triple the price for you by the time the project is actually let out for bid in maybe five years.

I'm not that gullible and I'm fighting against the SOB right now, as is proposed.

Aftermath

It was a big Saturday on the sand spit. On Sunday morning the island is very quiet, some possibly nursing varying degrees of a hangover … or just being Sunday morning quiet. It is completely becalmed and you can hear birds for miles, or a loud motorcycle going over the causeway.

The election was a big deal, with Bob Pinkerton, JoAnn Evans, and Rick Ridolfi winning by large margins. Jake threw a big election party with free booze and a band. Congratulations to all the contenders and the winners. I wonder if other towns have so much fun just for voting?

From Jake’s we motored up Gulf Boulevard to the Wanna, which was being rocked by the Bongo Dogs. They were in fine form and yes, I was their star Frog Player once again. Everything was going very well until a lady in a red dress did an incredible back-flip into the musicians. It looked painful but she recovered after revealing that she obviously wasn’t wearing any panties, which didn’t seem to bother anyone. She could have been electrocuted. All seemed OK.

Except for Cathy’s trombone.

I didn’t know until the close of the last song that the lady in red had bent Cathy’s trombone, right in that part that slides back and forth. I was wondering why Cathy started looking cross-eyed in those last few songs. David her husband told me “well yeah she’s pissed, she broke her ax!” I hope it can be rescued.

Otherwise it was a wonderful evening although we had to navigate carefully on the way home because of all the midnight traffic. I don’t recall it being so busy in the weeks just before Memorial Day.

Lucky with the camera today

Aye, see the umbrellas, inviting surf, and really cool sand castle done by grand master Sandy Feet? We bombed in on one of those political things today at Wanna Wanna and had a wonderful time. It was very fun and thanks to all, including a guy named Jeff (hope I remembered right) who is the new Wanna manager. Rick, Bob, and JoAnn are running for office and today this was very fun. Below, and aside from my bean-pole friend Chas topping over 6-foot five, are the girls assembled in "power mode."



From the left, that's Nancy with her turtle proclamation and yes Turtle Week is coming up soon. World champion Sandy Feet is in pink next, and Ann is looking great. Next to Bean Pole Chas is Diane of slight build but an excellent yoga teacher and a jewelry maker like her husband standing there. Gosh I wish they let men watch them work out. And Stephanie on the far right is giving us a look that is just priceless. It's kind of like "hey you California chicks who think you're hip, don't mess with us." Naw, I made that up ... but that's a bunch of my favorites in that picture. Below, I took one more just wanting a field shot of the beach.




As you can see the volleyball freaks were at it pretty hard - or hardly playing - but everyone was having fun. Nice party and afternoon on the beach.

'Splain this, Kirk!

Before I got my master's degree I was an English major at UT-Austin took lots of classes or stuff like linguistics, technical writing, and rhetoric. So imagine my confusion and consternation today when I read a political advertisement by Kirk Mills, who is running for Mayor of our humble town of SPI. First he writes:

"I keep reading in the Mayor's advertisements that he has all the contacts in Austin and Washington D.C. - this a a shame because what it shows is a complete failure ..."

This ends with a horrible run-on sentence of horrible composition that completely lost me. Perhaps Kirk is jealous or something, but let's let it stand. The real zinger comes a few sentences later when says he has close ties with Dr. Tara Rios Ybarra, "our new State Representative," which he helped elect with lots of cash and political gamesmanship.

So let's see here, current Mayor Bob Pinkerton can work the lobbies and committees and agencies and that is bad, but putting money on an untested freshman state rep is good? People who know about logic, rhetoric, and debating know better. A direct & clear contradiction!

Sheesh, that's like saying you're against all drugs while smoking a big ole fat marijuana doobie. My purpose is not to slam the good man, but point out that that's some horrible writing. One wonders if 17 years of law practice in the Valley has improved his ability to communicate effectively.

You have to read a bunch into the advertisement to really understand what is going on, since without the clarity the motivation can only be suspect. Early on, Kirk presents a message for "a new generation" of leaders and a very Obama-like message of "your choice for change." This seems strange because while the Town Mayor doesn't please all people all the time, and surely has made a few enemies, he rarely ever votes except in a tie. What changes does he mean? Expanding the travel budget so that three or four people have to go to Austin or Washington on a juggernaut trip when only one or two are needed? I must confess you cannot learn that from the words written in the recent issue of the Island Breeze.

Kirk might well turn out to become a good mayor after a year or two and that is not my argument. My argument is all about really crappy writing. Thank goodness I can see the humor and satire in it ... not that I would ever compare myself to literary geniuses such as Mark Twain, Ambrose Bierce, H.L. Mencken, William Faulkner, or Earnest Hemingway.

Five Stinking Years

On May Day 2003 President Bush held a news conference on the aircraft carrier USS Abraham Lincoln to say that we had won the war in Iraq. Behind him was a poster flag claiming "Mission Accomplished."

You know all the gory details about how that didn't work, but let's just say May 1 is President Bush's least favorite day of the year. He simply can't put a positive media spin on it other than "stay the course."

If you want to know the truth, the entire event on May 1, 2003 was a staged affair. The aircraft carrier had to go out 40 miles to sea off Los Angeles because the handlers didn't want media shots of the LA mountains in the background. The "Mission Accomplished" banner is even more mysterious, not planted by the crew of the Abraham Lincoln ... or supposedly the White House. The latest spin is that the banner was meant for the aircraft carrier's crew, which I guess accomplished something by having a Presidential media release on their flight deck.

Ahem.

I used to love May Day even when there were bad stories about parading commies with armed rockets during the Cold War. But it was supposed to be a spring thing with may poles and fun. Now I feel ripped off.

Odds and Ends

Well the storm did come through here with maybe an inch and a half of needed rain, followed by a super bird fall-out that pleased hundreds. The wind then turned tail to the south and started blowing again, although a few stragglers like some warblers and grossbeaks are still around.

But the birds! A whole bunch of locals stopped by such as Scarlett Colley and Nancy Marsden, both having bazillion-dollar cameras and binoculars just like the pros, nearly a block party there for a while. I learned about 20 new species.

During the rain Lori noticed a wet spot on the floor and said "watch out, I think Malia [our dog] needed to pee." Nope, that was a leak in the roof. So handyman Sam went up on the ladders and with a bucket of black roofing goo and sure enough, a few seams in the felt paper were cracked. We have a slightly sloping flat-top in case you're wondering.

As I completed the job, noting that I didn't get a speck of sticky black goo on me anywhere, I saw the view which was spectacular. It made me feel good about being here. It was very calm and the water was almost an azure color.

Soon the water will warm up ... the cold front knocked is back down to 73 degrees which in my book is FREEZING. The only bummer with this approach, waiting for warm water, is that when it does reach the magic 77, the wind stops and the surfing isn't as good ... until a tropical storm comes by. But I don't care; no waves I'll fish.

Soon it will be Tiki Time on the island again, so we'll be preparing for that. Oh well, no rumors or politics, just some odds and ends from the island.

Sam the Weatherman

Well, it's usually "damn the weatherman" or "dammit, Sam" but as a geographer and amateur weather freak it is always of interest to me. For example, later this afternoon or evening we're expecting a major cold front to come through SPI, and while the radar looks innocent right now the gurus say to prepare for the big one.

I guess we'll have to see it if and when some rain happens, since we're technically in a severe drought right now. One to three inches of rain sounds great! The smart money seems to be on development of the tail of the front right over the coastal counties of Willacy and Cameron counties due to lift, moisture, and other dynamics. So we'll see.

I might believe it because yesterday there was an outflow boundary that came through in the morning, a day ahead of the actual front. That means that this storm has something technically known as "boogie."

However, us Islanders know better because sometimes these squall lines come through, nail the mainland, skip right over SPI, and then form a coastal trough offshore. Sea breeze storms do it the opposite in the summer, a huge rage out at sea, side-wind right around SPI, and pummel the mainland with massive thunderstorms.

Last year we were flooded about this time of year but this year the La Nina event pushed most of the rain up north. I heard that many Central Texas were full, with Travis only running a few feet below basin level (678 today out of 681 max, or three feet down from flood stage ... it used to be 20-40 feet down). So obviously we're missing some serious winter and spring rain.

So anyway, let's hope for a nice farmer's rain of about an inch, which I think is possible. It's fun and I blog with the big boys and girls on Jeff Master's Weather Underground site to learn some of their tricks. I also have been helping the folks on the outer islands of the Bahamas called the Abacos ... and so far they haven't complained TOO much. That's a tough area to call because of persistent Bahamian low pressure cells interacting the Gulf and Bermuda high pressure, which can result in screaming easterlies when Miami seems fair with mild winds.

Time to go check my PWAT and k-factor indexes ... see you later!

De Hotta De Flesh

This cheer thing is called an air conditioner, or at least the outside guts of one that is common in our area. They come in all sizes and prices but after about 7 years ... well let's just say if I poked it with a hoe handle it would probably explode, or simply fall into a pile of rust and corrosion. Probably the latter.

On the beach-side, they only last about 3 years, said my A/C dude. Remarkable, since up by Austin you'd expect ten years at minimum, and they didn't look rusty when they failed. I guess it's salty and corrosive down here, huh?

Now in case you're wondering about the title, that was how I heard the Marx Brothers in an old comedy movie say "hot flashes" in the Italian-American lingo of the time. It's pretty descriptive but sorry no porn here. And if you are lucky enough to have a wife with that condition, one of those "outside A/C things" is looking real good. I'll be under the covers some nights, ya know!

Another VW Story

Back when we grew up, the SUV that revolutionized Mommy Transportation was the VW bus, and our family had several fairly similar to this 1965 and a late 70's camper version. Everyone has a VW story, and in fact the old VW engines and vehicles are collector's items if not dependable transportation still today.

And boy do we have some memories. Please forgive me Father for what I am about to say.

* * *

Our family was six kids at the time, me the oldest about 13 at the time, down to the little baby of three. The twins were a boy and girl about the age of 5. The twins often rode in the way-back compartment above the engine, which they really liked for some reason. Hey if they were happy and not wailing, the world was happy.

But on one particularly long trip, and maybe a mile or two from the house, almost home, the twins declared that in no uncertain terms they needed to pee. There were some nervous laughs but a quick look back said they were dead serious.

Right as Dad motored from the stop light - the only one in about 15 miles - them twins got real quiet. Yup, both cut loose right over the hot, hot engine. A long, long time.

Steam billowed into the air both inside and outside the car. Now everyone was gasping for air, screaming and shouting. Stoically, Dad drove with white knuckles the last blocks to the house with his head out the window not even waving to the town cop or anybody ... who watched the promenade with amazement, their lips forming a big "O".

Great day for the birds

Today wasn't phenomenal by Island "fall-out" standards, but the bird drop today was quite satisfactory with many warblers, orioles, buntings, and such. Not as many Orchard Orioles as in the past but the light rain and cool north wind pushed them down pretty good for a while.

Unfortunately my camera isn't good at zooming distances for close-up shots so if anybody would like to share a picture, please email me at swells22@swbell.net.

I stopped feeding the red-wing blackbirds on Scarlet Colley’s advice, since those pigs were running off all the smaller birds. We threw some seed out by other huisache trees where the migrants were roosting. They seemed to like that. A good Friday even if cool and a bit rough for the beach or fishing.

Why I Play Blues

That's a picture of Clifford Antone courtesy of Wiki. I wrote this stuff earlier knowing that may readers really don't care for - or even hate - the blues. I think the right answer is 'it's about the only thing I know how to do!'. I mean while playing guitar. Anyway, here's what I wrote earlier:

##

Whew, I broke out the old ax – a 1972 ‘Grenada’ Spanish classical guitar – and soon found that my hands and coordination were way out of shape. Lori says it was some mean blues but I need to practice those hammers, rolls, slides, and sevenths more. If you can’t play the blues with feeling I just don’t know if it’s worth it.

I grew up in the finger picking days of Taj Mahal, Ry Cooder, Leon Redbone, Jorma Kaukonen (Hot Tuna and Jefferson Airplane), and Eric Clapton unplugged. It was more like ‘white boy blues’ than the real black heroes like John Lee Hooker, Muddy Waters, and Albert King (no offense to B.B.). Learning all their swag and grooves was really cool.

No, I don’t play commercially and I just jam out with friends of late at night when the sound carries. My singing sounds like geese farts on a hot muggy day (Leo Kottke reference) so I’ll just hum or whistle.

In the stairwell of a big building you don’t need an amp and one particular night I played against my own reverb. For four hours straight. Wow, it was like ‘Boogie Chillen’ all over again, that feeling that goes up your spine when things are good. It was one of my finer moments and I wish I had a recording, including the hoots from all the peeps on different floors.

Back when Stevie Ray Vaughn was younger I used to play some backyard parties up in Austin and show them rockers how to cut loose on a big one on just a rhythm guitar. They were somewhat baffled by my use of weird chords and couldn’t quite follow. Little Stevie (he hated being called that) finally took some lessons from a few greats courtesy of Clifford Antone and as we all know, Stevie Ray Vaughn went on to be the best rock/blues guitarist in his style. If you listen to Stevie in his later albums you can hear a distinct dissonant chord and a jazzy lick or two. And it rocked Carnegie Hall.

As to me, please never ask for a song. I’m a method player. I play the boogie until it plays itself out, however it sounds and whatever it is. I’m not very good but I like it … it is like catching a really good surfing wave sometimes. It's infectious.

The Cockpit

There's yours truly sitting at his new workstation supposedly "working." My son came into town and was pushing Tecate beer on me, as you can see. I think I had just successfully joined together a 100 megabyte database and was pretty happy about it, anyway.

The front door is still open except when it gets hot and Lori wants to cool the house down ... people call and can't believe all the squawking birds in the background. Those are Everett's red-wing blackbirds from Block Island and I've never seen them here so late in April. Must be all that global cooling you're having up yonder in the Northeast.

After tons of bad news things are looking up. The taxes are sent, a great punishment this year. Due to lack of funds we had to put off our trip to the Bahamas but those beautiful out islands will always be there. The kids are doing much better after some bad luck, and both have new jobs. Even my work is doing better, whew!

A few rare migratory birds came through such as the yellow warbler and indigo bunting, although not the loads of orchard orioles like last year.

A rarity was the first siting of a Kemp's Ridley sea turtle nest of over 100 eggs, all saved for incubation now, just in time for the Island's 35th birthday. The turtle was tagged as indicating its age was 35 years old too, a true coincidence. In fact, we're off to raise the sea turtle flag down by the visitors center.

Things are getting good now. I love this time of year before Memorial Day.

Bad Fence, Bad Fence!

At any given time there are hundreds of little wars and battles all over the world. You don’t hear of more than a few because of the media. Most people can only remember a few besides the big ones like Iraq and Afghanistan. Half of Africa seems to be at war of some kind. But the most curious one is right on our doorstep, our border with Mexico.

There is a real condition of war there and don’t let anybody say otherwise. Mexican army troops fill the border towns in a cat-and-mouse game with narco-terrorists and corruption. The US Department of Homeland Security has thousands of agents as well.

In addition, the US intends to build a border wall and occupy it as a demilitarized zone, like the border between North and South Korea. I guess everybody knows that but never heard it said that way. But can you imagine how people in Mexico feel, being treated like Palestinian or North Korean terrorists?

Even the phrase “de-militarized zone” has connotations of Vietnam as well. What a stupid term, DMZ, since you never have one unless you’re at war and killing people. From most accounts, we’re doing a pretty good job of killing people, although nobody is keeping a body count because it’s not a sexy war like our very generous stupidity in Iraq. If you include the hundreds of people shot by narcoticos, the wetbacks who didn’t make it past the checkpoint, the few killed by US agents, the coyote smugglers who let their people die, and all the related violence the numbers could be a thousand or more.

We the people and the Congress and states all said “yes we want border protection” and fell for it hook, line, and sinker. Now the Secretary of Homeland Security Chertoff is allowed to suspend all the laws of the land to militarize the border. It is a very sad situation with no endgame.

No Mo' Condos, Please

This time I’m going to come out and say I’m against any more condos on South Padre Island, plain and simple. Sure I know many will happen but I hate the new ones and hate the prospect of many more of them. Condos will be the ruination of the island and I’m dead set against any more being built.

It is time to call a spade a spade and say “no more condo-hotels.” The ones we have are just fine, but there comes a point where we just have too many people in a small part of a skinny sandbar. Sustainable communities have some high-density areas like downtown but we’ve taken it to a trashy extreme already here on the island, which as many as twenty more on the books in various stages of planning: all this for the benefit of a very few and a nice traffic jam on the peak days. It’s not sustainable and flies in the face of what is called “carrying capacity.”

There is plenty of land up north although for the foreseeable future all that traffic will be coming straight through town. This is nearing a recipe for disaster, should one ever occur. But beyond that there is the larger question of what all these people are going to do when they arrive on SPI. There’s only so much beach – indeed sometimes three rows of umbrellas deep – and bay access it at its lowest point since the island was first built up in the 70’s. There’s less beach as well because of high erosion rates. It seems more like the case that many transient people visit SPI on short stays, contribute to vehicle congestion, and then leave tons of trash behind.

Many resort areas are starting to become alarmed at the sheer numbers of people on their small islands, and have decided to place severe restrictions on multi-family housing. Some have sued to keep ferries and cruise ships from visiting their island or coastal community. Many tell of stories where the crowds grew rowdy and drunk and, lacking any public restrooms, urinated all over the place. It will be like spring break all summer if we keep going the way we are.

Not many people want to confess that condos are hurting the island and bad for the local economy. It is a very bold, unfavorable position, since a property owner in Texas should be able to build whatever they want to build – the reason why it’s such a complete and utter mess today. But I have the courage to come out and say no more condos. No, I’m not the first to say that, as the novelist John MacDonald said that back in 1971. To hell with any new condos, I say.

Save the end of the street!

Maybe it's time for me to get back into the thicket of politics after all. I want to save the end of the street. Plain and simple, that's what I intend to do.

Where's the end of the street that I meant? It's Texas Park Road 100 which is at the end of Highway 100 and then you take a left and go up Padre Boulevard, northward. At the very end there is a barricade and yes people drive right into it sometimes.

But at the end of the road is this incredible seascape to the east and on the bayside, some nice dunes as well. Tens of thousands of people go down there every year. You get out of the car and start walking. It's nice, and we call it the wild end of the island for a reason.

But it's all private land at the end of the road. The conservation land is a small distance to the north. So technically you're trespassing and one day there could be a giant condo there. No more magnificent bonfires, having some wine, watching the moon-rise, and singing some semi-dirty songs.

So we need to save the end of the road. I'm serious that we need the state, county, and town to pony up some money for access on both sides of the road and allow walking and bonfires and camping or whatever. Maybe the Conservancy or US Fish & Wildlife would allow a deed to allow limited access to beach and bay if the road was extended. I don't care how we do it: we need a nice end of the road.

There have been several instances of the town being involved in land flipping deals lately, like two street ends, considering buying a church (huh?), a wetland area for five bazillion dollars, and some worthless land donated so they didn't have to pay taxes on their swampland. All that is crazy, Mickey Mouse stupid stuff. Save the end of the road.

If we lose the end of the road we'll lose a major part of the town's soul, history, and vibe. Of course it's outside city limits but where ELSE are you going to drive on this island? I have been coming here for three decades and moved here because there was an end-of-the-road.

And I'll fight to keep it as a historical right of way.

Island's Birthday Coming Up

Starting on the 10th of April there will be the 35th anniversary since out little burgh was incorporated in 1973. You can catch a bunch of details here.

Friday is the big evening so come on down to Louie's for out favorite local band, the Bongo Dogs. And don't forget the Saturn Street Strummers (YouTube video) will make a cameo appearance as well! That's my favorite ukulele band and sometimes I play along with them. The theme is definitely "piratey" with a Hawaii influence so keep that in mind.

This is one of my favorite times of the year next to October. The water warms up, the birds migrate, the flowers bloom, and it's not crowded too bad between Easter and Memorial Day. It is a great time to get the "shoulder season" working a little bit - and thanks to the Town, the Historical Committee, and all the sponsors. Come on down; we're ready for ya!