Eddie is ready for summer by the pool; the hat, the ice tea pitcher and the blow up palm tree.
As I was ambling across Texas on Highway 60, I saw a large plume of smoke in the distance. At first I thought it was some redneck hauling ass on a dirt road, but as I got closer realized that no pick-up truck kicks up a trail that big; I must've been 30 miles out at that point.
But as the traffic (if you can count five or six cars traffic) came to a crawl and then to a stop, I decided to pull over on the shoulder for a minute or so. A; to figure out how long the road was going to be tied up and b; to get some pictures.
The blaze was quite large and as each building became engulfed in flames, the plume seemed to breathe; each puff larger than the last.
Now it's not unusual to see a driver lounging in his truck. Sometimes they don't always go into the sleeper, they just rest in the driver's seat watching the activities of wherever they may be.
Today was spent in Spavinaw, Oklahoma at the home of Eddie's relatives and their friends; an eclectic bunch of folks with down home warmth and high falutin' educations. A lawyer, a jack-of-all-trades, an English teacher, a trucker, a homemaker, a mother, a former Marine military aircraft mechanic and Ed's uncle, a Professor Emeritus who is also an author. Fascinating man, but SO over my head. Although really, you'd never "feel" it, as he truly is warm, personable, down to earth and so average. Would love to have had time to listen to more about his life. As it was, within the first ten minutes of meeting him, I knew I could sit and talk to him for hours! I was thrilled to have finally met him.
The kids were great! So excited to compete in the race. Everyone in a different "soap box" making their way down the main drag two by two. Check out the look of determination on this little guys face as he tries to get to the checkered flag.
Unfortunately, he didn't win; that title went to one of the girls. Go Danica Jr.!
No, he didn't get that tan line by wearing a thong on his foot....it's from the Crocs I finally convinced him to buy. But this is how he spent most of last week...feet up, with the beach nearby.She wrote back that she didn't get it, "What do you mean, is he going to be a Jihadist??" First, I calmed her down, then I explained. Once she got it, she laughed.
Obviously my mother's house is not the location of the next sleeper cell, as there is no knowledgeable leader there. I can see the raid on her craft room now...
"We have reason to believe this is a terrorist training camp, Ma'am."
"No, I swear officer, we were just making pillows."
"Uh huh."
"Really, look - here's my thread, here's the muslim....I mean, muslin! Muslin. Mus-LIN."
"Hmmm. Alright. Looks harmless to me. Let's go guys, nothing to see here, just some grandmother making pillows."
"Oh, thank you so much sir. Thank you!"
"No problem Ma'am. Just doin' our job."
"Oh, I completely understand."
And as he turns to leave, she smiles a sweet grandmotherly smile and holds out her hand. In it, the item she just finished.
"Burqa for your wife?"
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
1 YEAR AGO: Perfectly Reasonable Defense
2 YEARS AGO: Provocative
3 YEARS AGO: Sidewalk Sushi
4 YEARS AGO: $4,000 Worth Of Tupperware
(Photo courtesy of Google Images)
Sand castle on South Padre Island. 
He hadn't lost his touch. It took him only moments to pull up the sail and go cruising across the bay. I sat and took in a bit of sun, read my book and took pictures.
A bit later, I joined him in the water. At around a thousand feet from shore, the water was still only thigh deep. Ed even gave me a quick lesson and I tried to do it myself. I got up on the board and got the sail up, but couldn't stay up long enough to go anywhere. 
I took this picture on the northern end of South Padre Island. The dunes were lit by the setting sun and over them, in the distance, lies the Gulf of Mexico.
Last night, I couldn't decide what I wanted to make for dinner, so I took a look in my pantry and made something up out of the ingredients I had on hand. This was the result:
Have I mentioned lately how much I love my President? No? Well, I do. So much so, that I swung by his house last weekend to try to catch him at home; thought maybe he'd be watering the lawn or hanging out in the veggie garden with Michelle, or maybe walking the dog with the girls. No such luck. I even used my zoom lens to try and peek into the windows, but he was nowhere to be found.