How is it that we know so many old people?! :). Today we celebrated Paul’s big birthday with him and his crew. It’s getting hot out there!!!
Happy Birthday, Paul!
Tag: inspiration
John Boy live.
Today I ushered for the final two shows of the Broadway in Austin play, To Kill a Mockingbird. Richard Thomas, formerly John Boy on The Waltons, played the lead of Atticus Finch. He doesn’t have the physical presence of Gregory Peck, who played in the film version released in 1962. But he made a great Atticus. I really enjoyed the show.
Fun fact: the actress who played Scout in the 60’s movie version had a different role in this production. Pretty amazing that she’s still involved with the show and its message, 60 years on.
Happy Mother’s Day!
Heeling.
Monte and I crewed on Camelot for Kurt & Kevin this weekend during one of the Austin Yacht Club Summer Series races. It was a hot and steamy day on the water but we had a great time.
Throwback.
I worked the Easter Sunday matinee of Riverdance – the 25th anniversary show. 25 years ago I was knee deep in work projects, so I wasn’t a huge fan the first time around. My mother had all the DVDs, though – Riverdance AND the Three Tenors. So I signed up as a nod to my mom…and my Irish dad.
The show was pretty toe tapping good!
We got hitched.
Again. We just got the trailer hitch installed on our new Outback. We’re back in business to haul things!
Wishing everyone a most happy Easter with family & friends.
Two more parks.
We drove straight to Colorado on the way north, about a 15-hour drive, and stayed with Julie in Denver for a night. Then we headed to Gene and Jo’s for two nights. We made a side trip to Estes Park as well. The family get-together was very special.
On the way back south we had another nice visit with Julie.
Then we broke up the long trip home into a couple of days including stops at two national parks.
We stayed in Ft. Davis for a night with a reservation to attend one of the McDonald Observatory’s star parties. The skies were not cooperative for viewing at the observatory, but we had fun.
We left Ft Davis on Wednesday well before dawn, and on the drive up to I-10, I noticed that the clouds parted, opening up a clear, starry sky. So we pulled over in the middle of pitch-dark range land with coyotes howling all around and enjoyed a full-sky view of the Milky Way.
We enjoyed the view for a few minutes and then resumed our drive. A few minutes later the skies were filled in with thick clouds again. It was a treat to get that brief moment of star gazing.
A successful road trip, but it’s always nice to get back home.
Out with the old.
And in with the new! We are firmly in the Subaru camp. The outback is a fantastic car.
We are knee deep in user manuals. Stay tuned. But we are again imminently Road-Trip Enabled!!
Spring break.
We took our friends Tim & Fiona and their three kids sailing on Nirvana today. We’ve done it many times over the years during their Spring Break holidays.
The kids are now 13 or 14, and 19 years old. It’s amazing to watch them grow up. They all have an intuitive feel for the helm. Monte and I didn’t need to steer much at all. It was a beautiful day for a nice long sail. I’m glad we got to spend it with them.
Old dogs learning new tricks.
Monte and I both hang on to the cars we buy a long, looong time – one is 26 years old, the new one is 13 years old. It’s time for some new blood in the garage.
We’ve been thinking about getting an electric vehicle, as much of our driving trips are less than 70-miles roundtrip (to the lake and back) and much shorter errand-trips around town. We have been shopping for a month or two. Last week we found one we were looking for in San Antonio. So on a wild hair, we hopped into the fossil-fuel vehicle (ironic, right?) and drove 75 miles to see it, sit in it, test drive it. We liked it, so we brought it home!
We picked a Chevy Bolt EV. Pretty roomy. It’ll hold our boat loads to and from the marina (ice chest and our bags) and lots of room for groceries and other things.
Nice!
Flying by.
Wow, that was fast. January and February flew by – only 8 months til Halloween. 🎃
After the brief ice age a few weeks ago, our temps are in the 80s here. Seems strange when the latest arctic front is hitting another part of the country. But I’ll enjoy it because we’ll be back in the 100s in no time.
Speaking of ice storms, our wall of broken tree limbs were thankfully hauled away this week. I can see the street again!
I’ve been craving fish tacos for a week. Last night the universe aligned and I finally made a batch. They’re so delicious. Here’s a link to the recipe I start with. Or you can just google ‘best fish tacos’ and it’s the top result. They’re that good. The sauce is amazing. And the cotija cheese makes them muy auténtico. I like to use mixed corn/flour tortillas, which Doray turned me on to years ago. They’re sold by H‑E‑B here in Texas as Mixla tortillas. They tend to hold together better than plain corn tortillas.
Pretty darn good.
Monte is experimenting with pizza dough again – which I am all in for. Friday night he whipped up a few doughs. I made one of our favorite toppings, a mixture of sausage, portobello mushrooms, onions, garlic, and rosemary. We used some locally produced venison sausage that Kurt gave Monte. And it was delicious!
I used garlic infused olive oil for the “sauce.” Topped with the pre-made sausage and mushroom mixed topping. Added some grated Asiago cheese after it came out of the oven. So good! The crusts get an A+.
NYC from the water.
Today Lori and I left Port Washington and took Trident down the East River to an anchorage near Sandy Hook, NJ. I have been to Manhattan many times but today got a really unique view of many of its sites from the water.
The most meaningful, to me, was going close by Ellis Island and the Status of Liberty. In 1951 my father sailed into New York Harbor from Ireland and saw them for the first time. He was just 21 years old.
The surrounding views have changed over the years, but the promise remains the same.
The Wiz.
We ventured out tonight to see a friend return to the stage. Mike is a sailor, former B-Docker, and drummer in the band FatDog. They played at Infamous Brewery tonight. Kurt and Barbara joined us. It was nice to see him and Connie again.
The beer menu at Infamous is much improved since I was there last; more variety. I enjoyed a nice pilsner and a lager.
I have to give Infamous points for their very eclectic restroom art, best I’ve ever seen. 🙂
Sail on.
We just got home from a productive and fun weekend on the lake. Monte refurbished some of the cabinetry in the head over the last few weeks and re-installed it today.
Friends were seen. Noodles were floated upon. Laughs were had. And a really nice 4-hour afternoon sail with Kurt & Kevin aboard Nirvana.
Sheila365 