Bootfest Victoria Texas

As summer winds down and the days become more tolerable, lots of towns put on some sort of festival and Victoria, Texas is no different, hosting it's own Bootfest.

(clicking on the photo increases the size and resolution)

It's pretty much the same as other and the idea of a Boot festival in south Texas is like having a Southern Drawl festival in Hattiesburg, Mississippi...everyone has one.

Young and old gathered, some young enough to be in strollers and others old enough to be in wheelchairs and walkers.  Around the square, the usual booths were there such as funnel cakes, barbeque, ice cream and of course, ... beer.  There was a line up of bands and of the couple I heard, they were pretty good.

One group from Cuero was a blend of country, hiphop and rock with a heavy dose of Mexican thrown in with the front man singing and speaking Spanglish   Another band played a mix of 70s music and country. I was really enjoying them until they tried make Van Morrison's Brown Eyed Girl into their own style.  That ended it for me.  Don't be messin' with Brown Eyed Girl.

Other venders included home crafted art, leather, boots and t-shirts.

What I found most interesting was the car show.  There was the usual restored 58 Corvette, 66 chevys, sports cars and trucks but what really stole my heart was a generous exhibit of Rat Rods.

Here's a few of my favorites that should be right at home on the set of Mel Gibson's Mad Max.

Never forget 9/11/2001

There are events you'll always remember where you were when it happened.

For me, I was arriving at my office in Baton Rouge, finding long line of people were waiting for the Tuesday Morning store to open just before 8:00 AM..  Two or three people had just received cell phone calls informing them that a plane had hit one of the World Trade Center buildings.

After logging on to my computer, I walked back to my break room and flipped on the TV to check the news.  Sure enough the crash event was on and I saw smoke billowing from one of the buildings.  Of course, my mind was racing on how in the world such a tragedy could have happened when I looked and saw the second airplane hit.

It didn't take long to process that and know, I had just witnessed an attack on America.

At that point, our lives had changed forever.  I'll never forget.



photo courtesy of www.pabloescobar.info
http://www.pabloescobar.info/world-trade-center-bombing-escobar-suspects/

Harvest Moon - Victoria County, Texas

The moon was beautiful but the mosquitoes were more than plentiful.  

 

Checking my compass trying to decide where this thing was going to come up, I stood just off the road across from a small pond waiting for 8:09 pm to arrive when this moon would appear.

Just before the rise, it began to become much darker and I could hear a swarm of mosquitoes approaching with a whine like a loose fan belt on an old truck.  As the moon rose, I found myself 25 yards or so too far to the north so I scurried through the weeds trying to get this shot with the windmill in it.  When I stopped moving and began to focus those blasted insects finally caught up with me.

Sure I'd love to have taken a bit more time setting the camera just right on the tripod but I found it nearly impossible to do so swatting those things off my legs. *Note* It's foolish to go into the weeds wearing only shorts and sandals.

Anyway, a day later, I'm still scratching what is probably a hundred or more bites.

Hope I remember this in August

Blizzard conditions in South Dakota.

More Whales

Out today on the Mahana Naia for a snorkel trip.  The fish were ... eh...so-so but the whales coming back were crazy good.

Ahhhhh...

Kamaole Beach I, Kihei, Maui, HI

More Whale Tails

More whale tails and a couple of highly manipulated (no shame) 
shots at Kamaole Beach 1 in Kihei, Maui, HI.

Whale Tail

Skeptical at first, Ms Darlene and i took one of those 2 for $30
whale boat tours from Boss Frogg's.
















It was packed with people but it turned out well for a 2 hour tour.
We saw lots of whales.

Flying Fish!!!

Calm down, I know it's not a fish.  Darlene and I were cruising the Piilani Highway between Ma`alaea Harbor and Lahaina and stopped off at McGregor Point (lighthouse) to watch a pair of whales show out in front of boats.  This shot was about 500 yards out near a very small boat.

Changes in latitude; changes in attitude.

What a difference in a week and a few thousand miles can make.

Before

After