Yesterday morning my brother passed away. He fought a short battle with cancer before passing away at his home surrounded by family and friends. When Charles Dean Boyd was born on July 9, 1957, in Houston, Texas, his father, Horace, was 35 and his mother, Iris, was 23. He married…
Thursday, November 9th Happy 45th Anniversary Sherry When we stood before the justice all those years ago. I don't think I ever envisioned being here and now... Somehow.. after all these years.. we've become our grandparents. That was brought home to me as we went through mom's house and found…
Sunday September 24th Yesterday my mother passed away. She celebrated her 90th birthday just a month ago. So I will be a bit preoccupied for a bit as I process... I'll catch y'all on the other side...
WednesdayGary & Sherry's 44th Anniversary For Sherry on our 44th The years have been long, Some have been good, Some not so, But together we've made a family, A history of lives intertwined... Two into One. I may not be the easiest to love, I may infuriate you more often…
Dad was always full of stories. Any trip into his old home grounds of Wharton County would lead to side trips looking for this home place or that home place while he would tell about his family.
Sunday https://youtu.be/mcUdxdbiyPc I've got it all to myself now Crack the window just a hair Dark and close, the way I like it Black tobacco chokes the air I keep to myself, I lack the language I measure out my life with coffee grounds The trees are the color of…
I was surprised when I walked out this morning to find the temperature at 53°. It's been a couple of days since the " cool front " moved through, so I really wasn't expecting it. I don't even think the forecast called for it to be that low. Also, not…
Spent my morning Coffee Muses time heading up to Milam County thru Hurricane Hanna's rain bands. Three hours of drive time got us to the cemetery before the rains. We had a nice family service, gathered at the local church for sandwiches under the pavilion... then back thru more rain,…
It's overcast today, with just the slightest breeze causing a leaf to quiver here and there. A mockingbird was serenading me as I sat down... it's a song I've missed this year. Yesterday was a tough, long day. My mother-in-law, Sharon Moore, after a long fight with illness passed away…
Summer continues. I received word yesterday via a letter in a package of family relics that another of my first cousins past away last month. James Albert Boyd, Jim was 80. We only became acquainted about 20 years ago. It was at a family reunion where our love of family…
"Aaron Franklin explains the telltale characteristics of a finished brisket, when and why you'd wrap your brisket, how long to let it rest and how to slice your masterpiece. And if you're one of *those* who like the sauce, learn a basic Texas sauce to serve alongside your meat."
Warm, Muggy, Windy, Too Much Like Summer Morning Coffee Muses
So far, 2017 has started off warm and humid. That's about to change tomorrow. It's windy this morning and I'm seeing, and hearing, more of the winter birds around the area you see in the photo. Today will also be the last full day of a full house. My wife…
I was reading through my emails and Google Reader feeds today when I came across Jim Casada's December Newsletter. As I was reading his list of childhood Christmas Memories I found myself nodding on more than one occasion as my own memories mached up with Jim's. Here are a few…
OSAWATOMIE, Kan. — President Obama came to this tiny middle American town Tuesday to invoke the spirit of a long-ago Republican president in a speech that laid out, in his sharpest language yet, the economic and social arguments he will probably use against Republicans in 2012.(1) Osawatomie, Kansas...It's a small…
The number of people moving through the house this past week has higher than at any other time since we began. Stone work, texture, cabinets, trim carpenters, painters, electricians, plumbers, counter-top measurement techs, storage building delivery...It's been almost nonstop. We finished it off with a birthday party on Saturday afternoon...Whew. https://youtu.be/o5Ms6CSARg4 Happy…
One hundred and seventy five years ago today a group of men came together just a few miles to the northwest of where I sit this morning and proclaimed Texas and independent nation. I can imagine what it might have been like that morning walking the streets of Washington-on-the-Brazos. Early March…
Sitting at the computer this morning I looked out the window and saw my second Bluebird in my entire 57 years upon this earth. I was so surprised I had to lean forward for a closer look. I still remember the occurrence of my sighting. Sherry and I were new home shopping…
Yesterday we welcomed the latest addition to our family. Abigail Nicole... Abigail Nicole was born at 11:10 am on February 1, 2011. Both Mother and Daughter are doing well and will be coming home by the end of the week. I took Grandson #2 up to the hospital in the…
I put the little video together this morning after taking a few shots of the large plaster piece we put out at Christmas each year. I painted the piece about thirty years ago before we had any kids. Over the years many people have commented on the fact that the…
Last night I spent watching an old movie (1980's) I had never seen before. While the movie was playing I started musing about how home entertainment has changed in just one generation. In my youth, what we consider normal today was only installed in the homes of movie stars and…
We started our day taking the long way into Boone. We drove over Rich Mountain Road. This shot is from the highest point on the road as it passes between Rich Mountain Bald and Snake Mountain. From here it was all downhill. After spending some time on King Street in…
All week long as we made our arrangements to drive to Valle Crucis the forecast coming from Ray was for a chance of snow showers at higher elevations on Saturday night. I had no hopes that the snow would be around when we arrived even if it came down at all...Guess what...Snow it did.…
Under pressure from the F.C.C., Verizon Wireless has now admitted that it incorrectly billed 15 million customers between $2 and $6, on average, for data services they didn’t use. Apparently, Verizon’s phones are built in such a way that it is easy for customers to accidentally press the button that…
Sitting out on the front porch these past two weeks I've begun to notice the look of fall every morning. Sadly, so far at least, it's just a look...Not a feel. And truthfully, the look lasts all day...Most days anyway. I'm sure you've noticed it yourself. It's that hazy, near…
A cool front was moving through the area as I watched that morning. The day promised to be pleasantly warm and not as uncomfortably hot as it had been all week.
We headed north out of Houston on Tuesday before the sun came up and hit Oklahoma soon after noon. I had routed our trip to take advantage of the Arkansas Mountains...We had reservations at Queen Wilhelmena State Park for the first night of our travels.
You Are Not Spending The Summer In SE Texas The temperatures for the past week have started each day above the 75° mark on the thermometer. From there they just keep climbing. Yesterday we saw a high reading of 96°. It looks like we can expect even more of the…
Just to give you an idea of the area of the state we were covering here is an image of the page in The Roads of Texas - 5th Edition map book I use to travel our state... So, now that we have visited Friendship and Bryant Station it's time…
This past week my wife expressed a desire to visit the cemeteries where ancestors are resting up around Milam County in central Texas. Since the weekend was one of the few our daughter was off (thus no need for babysitter Paw-paw), I suggested we enjoy the the last of the…
Today, Texas celebrates 174 years of its Lone Star Identity. This past year has given me a closer connection to this piece of Texas history. Research has now connected our family to Willis West. Willis West arrived in Texas in March 1835 and is enumerated in his father's household (Richard, a widow)…
The sun has risen on more frost covered morns than I can ever recall. But by mid-day the temperatures will be pushing into the mid 60's...even over 70 degrees. Then after sundown the temperatures fall again into the mid to low 30's...Only to repeat the roller-coaster all over again the next day.
Blue jays and robins are a sign of winter in my neck of the woods. Over the weekend a notion of mine, one that has been percolating around in this head of mine, kept roiling to the surface. All winter long I have been noticing an absence...A hole in the…
Sitting behind my chair, at the back door, are two pairs of my shoes...I put on one or the other whenever I go outside. The remarkable thing about these two pair of shoes is that one is a pair of hiking boots for those cold frosty mornings like I talked…
The sun came up this morning over a frosty backyard. Frost two days in a row...Pretty unprecedented for this neck of the woods. It's been a different sort of "winter" already...And it's only really just beginning. These frosty morns leading up to pleasantly cool afternoons with highs in the 60's...What…
Houston Snow...Stayed north of us. Yesterday's weather event was a washout here at our place. As nice as it was to watch the heavy flurries fall off and on all day, the lack of anything sticking to the ground left us filling like a stood-up date...All dressed up for the…
My mom is very proud of being a Texan...And she collects birdhouses. Felder Rushing would be proud of her bottle trees and her use of all of the found "art".
We are spending the day with family...So from my walk yesterday... I hope everyone has a great day...
I've been falling down on my duties as a grandfather this past month. So to play catch up here are two slideshows...First of #2 grandson's first birthday... Second, of #1 grandson's third birthday...
Three years ago this month we were on Padre Island celebrating our 28th. Two years ago, it was the Blue Ridge Mountains and our 29th. Last year it was the Texas Hill Country and our 30th...This year we haven't made plans...Yet. Blogging has been slow here lately. I am not…
Two years ago we were planning our first fall trip to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina and Virginia...Life has conspired since then to keep me from the mountains I love. I look forward to next year and a visit to the mountains to beat all of our past…
Did I read this right? A heat index of 109... Today the high temperature will reach the low 90s, which is about 5 degrees above normal for this time of year. Coupled with high humidity — readings were over 90 percent this morning — it could feel like it's between…
After months of days on end with no rain hitting the ground at our home here south of Houston I was beginning to despair. But the last week has finally seen a small amount of precipitation. We went a couple of weeks with a weekly shower before this week when…
The grill was running for most of two days...Smoked meats for a 4th of July family feast. Brisket (this is Texas afterall), salmon, and sausage made up the choices...Pinto beans, slaw and potatoe salad for sides. Assorted soft drinks and wine for refreshments. The brisket went on to smoke Friday…
Growing up, we spent many summer days visiting my grandparents house in Orchard, Texas. Every evening, after supper was over and cleaned up, we would all grab a folding lawn chair off the back porch and set them up in a rough circle on the east side of the house.…
Down here on the Gulf Coast of Texas barbecue season starts not too long after it ends. This year I was a little late...I fired up the smoker on Easter Sunday. Today I put a brisket on the grill to serve tomorrow afternoon. This isn't one of our big family…
Some quick observations of no importance to anyone but me... ++++++++++ Living for a week or so on a laptop belonging to someone else is frustrating to say the least. Even a laptop that you set up for that someone else. Even with admin rights and my own profile, even…
Leave to a youngish mind in a middleaged, out of shape body to discover the hard way (always the hard way) that he cannot still do everything he once did. Yesterday I decided, at long last, to finish the distruction of our dog pen that Ike had started. Bearing in…
After hitting the 80's on Sunday, with morning rain adding to the humidity and clear afternoon skies letting the sun beat down on this part of the world, I made the walk to the road with my offering to the gods of the waste wagon while watching my breath fog…
I saw this announcement in the local news email this week... The city’s biggest family celebration begins at 9 a.m. Saturday at Discovery Green, a large green space in the heart of downtown. And as it happens, it’s one of those old-fashioned grass-roots efforts. via Earth Day Houston: We’re having…
You know, Tom Delay had been my Congressman for most of my adult life. I have been voting against him for that entire length of time. Today I am happy to say “don’t let the door hit you, Tom.” I look forward to enjoying your retirement from politics. The Washinton…
I continue to hear and read stories about how the business analysts cannot explain the general feeling of unease that the public keeps feeling over the “Robust American Economy”. The keep quoting all of the indicators that they say should make us feel great about where the economy is going,…
Daily Kos: Science Friday: Tis The Season: "Science Friday: Tis The Season by DarkSyde Fri Jun 02, 2006 at 03:41:48 AM PDT In the aftermath of the devastating 2005 hurricane season, the following soundbite was repeated incessantly, packaged in various ways, on every network news station by head meteorologists with…
You know as a resident of the Texas Gulf Coast, living less than 5o miles from the Gulf of Mexico I read articles like this and I am worried, very worried... Is U.S. Ready for Hurricane Season?: "'Last year we didn't have a clue,' said the acting FEMA director, R.…
I was sitting at the kitchen table this morning with the doors and windows open enjoying our unseasonably cool morning, answering email and reading the daily news and views (as in blogs), when my youngest daughter wandered in and wanted to know why the AC wasn't on. Now folks, the…
Fred First asks "Where Are You from?" and adds a template to help answer the question . Check out his page and make your own life poem. Where I'M From by Gary Boyd I am from books by the dozen that started me dreaming, from Lava Soap and bare feet…
