Happy Thanksgiving!

This wasn't actually taken today. It was taken last weekend.

Mountain Sunrise

Recap

Hard to believe it's been a month since the reunion. I still need to burn some CDs for the family, so I will try to do that this week.

I have discovered some tricks my iPhone can do, and one of them is upload photos to my Flickr account, and to my Facebook page. Now I have to remember to send the photos there when I take them!

Happy Labor Day!

Map to the reunion

View Larger Map

Reunion Photos

We want to be able to share family photos with everyone. We also want to be able to share the photos we take at the reunion. The way we are going to do it is to have a computer set up with a memory card reader. Whenever your memory card on your digital camera gets full, empty it onto the computer. On Saturday night or Sunday morning, we will burn all the shared photos to a CD for you to take home. I will even try to bring Mom's scanner or an old one from work, and we can scan any older photos for you.

Let me know if you are interested.

Time to Decide!

Gary and I need a final head count for the reunion. We are putting together a shopping list for food and need to know who will be there on what day. The deadline for the final head count is July 15. If we don't hear from you by then, we assume you aren't coming because you hate all of us.

There is nothing organized for Thursday, except visiting. Gary and I will be spending the day cooking. There will be some folks there and we'll have a meal on Thursday night.

Friday is when we expect most folks to arrive and is another day of visiting. Lunch is on your own, so that ex-pats can hit the Whataburger in Brownwood.

Saturday is the big day with a barbecue lunch around 1ish. I am hoping to have a photographer present to record the momentous occassion. Saturday dinner is leftovers.

Breakfast will be provided Friday, Saturday and Sunday.

And if you have any food issues, let us know: allergies, can't stand, picky eaters, etc. We already know Sam can't eat onions, Leslie dislikes avocado, Rodney's not a fan of celery, Sean doesn't like coconut, Bob won't eat okra and I can't abide tomatoes in the larval stage.

It Never Fails

At 2:20 I decided to spend some quality time in the bathroom.

The phone started ringing, the doorbell started ringing. It was like Grand Central Station while I was in the bathroom.

Turns out, Shelby stopped by today, and he was the doorbell culprit. He and a buddy rode their bikes down from New Mexico to Brownwood, where his buddy has a cabin, and they've been riding the Texas back roads for the last couple of days. They were about to leave when I got to the door. We visited for a few minutes until I told Shelby his favorite potato pancake restaurant was about to close. They roared off towards town.

Since I've been off the toilet? Not a damn thing.

Squalls Out On the Gulf Stream

Tryin' to Reason With Hurricane Season

Squalls out on the gulf stream,
Big storms coming soon.
I passed out in my hammock,
God, I slept way past noon.
Stood up and tried to focus,
I hoped I wouldn't have to look far.
I knew I could use a Bloody Mary,
So I stumbled next door to the bar.

[Chorus:]
And now I must confess,
I could use some rest.
I can't run at this pace very long.
Yes, it's quite insane,
I think it hurts my brain.
But it cleans me out and then I can go on.

There's something about this Sunday
It's a most peculiar gray
Strolling down the avenue
That's known as A1A
I was feeling tired, then I got inspired.
And I knew that it wouldn't last long
So all alone I walked back home, sat on my beach
And then I made up this song.

[Chorus]

Well, the wind is blowin' harder now
Fifty knots of there abouts,
There's white caps on the ocean.
And I'm watching for water spouts
It's time to close the shutters
It's time to go inside.
In a week I'll be in gay Paris;
That's a mighty long airplane ride.

[Chorus]
Yes, It cleans me out and then I can go on.

An Autumn Day

Who took the keys?

Aidan & Rodney

Easter 2008.

I am so smart! S-M-R-T! D'oh!

Click Here To Take The Test!

Dorothy Wilson (1918-2008)

On March 11, my grandmother, Dorothy Wilson died. She was 89. She had Alzheimer's Disease and had been gone several years prior to this. In fact, about three or four years ago, she called the house and I answered the phone. She complained about how lonely she was and she didn't know if she had any grandchildren. I said, "Well, I'm your grandkid." It took her a few minutes to say that she guessed I was. In retrospect, I don't know if she really believed it.

Grandmother's passing wasn't easy for my cousin Lori, because she was particularly close to Grandmother. Lori was a little angry that no one else was as upset as she was. But Lori was closer to Grandmother than anyone else. For many years, she spent every summer in Brownwood at Grandmother's house. Rodney and I spent a few with her as well.

One summer, Grandmother took Lori, Rodney and me to Carlsbad Caverns. Lori was four or five. And Rodney and I took turns carrying Lori through the caverns because she was tired.

My grandmother was, frankly, a mean old lady. In her life, she managed to alienate most of her daughters and her almost all her grandkids. She had a way of using words as weapons. Most of the family were wounded by those words, and kept their distance. If you could ignore her verbal jabs and thrusts and just accepted her, she could be kind and lovable. I know she loved me. I loved her.

The Back Pasture

Mountain Vista

Peaceful River

Mountain View

The latest.

I wanted to paint a big mountain. I wanted to paint a lake. And, well . . .

First RSVP

Now that Donn's home from the hospital after his surgery, we can all exhale.

Wheww!

I have the first confirmed "Can't make it" for the reunion in August. Rodney's Eldest stepson, Shawn (or as we refer to him "Squid Shawn") has been deployed to Japan for three years. Obviously, he will not be able to get to Talpa.

For those of us who have been to Japan, maybe we can send him tips on where to go and what to see while he's there. I have asked my old Nagasaki Wesleyan Junior College friend Seiji Koyanagi, who currently lives in Fukuoka, if he would show Shawn his Japan. Seiji said he would. Though what a 40 year old man would show a 20 year old, and if a 20 yoear old would want to be seen with a 40 year old, remains to be seen. (Seiji is a talented caricaturist, and currently works in Canal City Hakata Shopping Center. If you are in the neighborhood. . .)

Mountain Respite

I know some of you are tired of me rehashing yet another Bob Ross scene.

Look. I can paint it in an hour or so. I don't have to spend weeks planning things, and then another month painting. I like to paint quickly and finish before I lose interest.

So here's the latest, composed at the easel.

River Tranquility

I finally got a chance to paint last weekend, and painted this river scene. The nature of the paint gives off this shiny spot on the canvas.

Reunion Quilt

Mom has started working on the Reunion Quilt. It should be ready by the reunion. We will have a drawing to see who gets to take the quilt home on Saturday, August 2.

Reunion Update

After extensive executive consultations with Gary, the exact "official" dates of the Holt Family Reunion will be August 1 and 2. Gary and I plan to arrive on Thursday to begin preparations on the food, making as much stuff in advance as we can. We will have some food available, but won't serve an actual meal until Friday night. That gives Rachel time to stop at the Whataburger in Brownwood for lunch for her fix.

You are welcome to join us, but you may be drafted into doing some menial labor. Or you may watch Gary and I perform the menial labor. Admission for the show is beer.

Possession ISN'T 9/10 of the law?

I can't tell you how many times I've watched "COPS" and seen the following scene:

A car is pulled over. The driver is pulled from the car and searched. Nothing is found. The passenger is pulled from the car and searched. Nothing is found. The passenger behind the driver's seat is pulled from the car and searched. Nothing is found. Then the police search the empty car and they find a small bag of drugs under the back of the driver's seat. The driver denies that it's his. The back seat passenger denies it is his. The police officer tells the driver that unless someone confesses to putting the drugs there, the driver, who was sitting in that seat and was in control of the car, will be charged with possession of drugs. When the passengers deny even knowing the driver, the driver is "cuffed and stuffed" for possession of narcotics.

Keep that scenario in mind.

In Austin, Texas, a curious cat pokes its nose into a hole in a wall in an apartment complex. The renter, thinking she would find some food the cat was interested in, finds some DVDS. She watches a DVD and learns it is a stash of child "p0rn" (that's to keep my "G" rating). The owner calls the cops. They check with the previous renter who confesses to hiding the DVD.

Did the police even threaten to arrest the current renter? If it had been drugs, would they have checked the previous tenants? ANd if the previous tenant had denied any knowledge of the p0rn, would the current tenant have been charged, since the p0rn was in her possession?

Super Hero Dating Quiz

Gary the Enchanter

Gary came for a quick visit. He tried out my Tim the Enchanter hat.

"Uncharted Desert Isle"

I had this idea: A tropical lagoon, a mountain on the far shore with a spectacular waterfall, and a few palm trees. All this needs is the SS Minnow on the shore.

The Ballad of Gilligan's Island
by George Wyle and Sherwood Shwartz


Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale,
A tale of a fateful trip
That started from this tropic port
Aboard this tiny ship.

The mate was a mighty sailing man,
The skipper brave and sure.
Five passengers set sail that day
For a three hour tour, a three hour tour.

The weather started getting rough,
The tiny ship was tossed,
If not for the courage of the fearless crew
The minnow would be lost, the minnow would be lost.

The ship set ground on the shore of this uncharted desert isle
With Gilligan
The Skipper too,
The millionaire and his wife,
The movie star
The professor and Mary Ann,
Here on Gilligans Isle.


So this is the talel of the castways,
They're here for a long, long time,
They'll have to make the best of things,
It's an uphill climb.

The first mate and the Skipper too,
Will do their very best,
To make the others comfortable,
In the tropic island nest.

No phone, no lights no motor cars,
Not a single luxury,
Like Robinson Crusoe,
As primative as can be.

So join us here each week my freinds,
You're sure to get a smile,
From seven stranded castways,
Here on "Gilligan's Isle."

Turn, Turn, Turn

Last night, while dreading going back to work, I was watching TV. I saw an ad for H&R Block. In it, one of the guys said it was tax season. It's official. Tax season begins on January 1 and lasts until April 15. Kinda like the way Christmas starts at the end of September.