A South Texas Chronicle
14 May 08Leslie knew there were fruit stands with good, cheap, clay pots if we drove down close to the border. And she was right. Along the way we checked out a few small towns.
Riviera, Texas, pop. 350? was once somebody’s dream of a boom town. Because nearby, less than a ten minute drive, is Baffin Bay, saltwater, and a fishing destination which could take you all the way out into deep Gulf waters. A few substantial homes and stores are left along with a school and vacant lots – all are nestled in this sweet, wooded valley called Riviera. It’s a place out of time whose glory must have been back in the 1940-50’s. And not much has changed.
Lots of places up and down the coast like Riviera where speculators figured to find prosperity and power, and built seaside houses, boats, docks and businesses – only to go bust. Further south, we drove through a piece of the powerful King Ranch, and through cotton fields that went on forever, as far as you could see an emerald green carpet. Money is made on the land in Texas, not at the ocean. And we’ve had a warm spell of late which has everything green and blooming.Exhibit A: we have a bunch of bananas growing in the front yard. They popped out two weeks ago and are fun to watch. The hummingbirds are back now, too, as they load up with food before they begin their journey north. We have two feeders up and have seen 20-30 come by. The size of your little finger when they land at the feeder. After about 20 sips they look like your thumb and fly off and you can hear them: Burp!
Leslie never told me about her attraction to Dracula until she brought home a big jar of bat guano (thirty dollars!) from the Botanical Garden plant sale last month. Turns out, she reads on the label, that if you mix one tablespoon to a gallon of water and let it make “tea” overnight, and spray it on your plants, it will keep the mosquitoes away. Plus, it’s good fertilizer. Bats eat skeeters by the hundreds, and you get the connection. And so far, it seems to work, but it is a nasty, black brew. So now L is handing out packages of bat guano to her friends with gardens. Not cookies or lasagna (hers is killer – she lived in Italy for two years).
Amazing how things and times change. And how difficult some of these changes are right now. Spending fifty bucks on gas to drive somewhere nearby is a real change of perspective to me and you.
Turning 60 is a change of perspective for me, too. I still feel like I am 18 inside and am startled when people call me “sir” and open the door for me. They don’t see how light on my feet I really am (sorta), but they do see the gray hair. Although I can forget someone’s name for a day, it comes back with capital letters in my mind when I quit thinking about it. I also think: 60 is just a number. The Bull in me barely takes notice.
Oh Gawly, you're only 5 years older than me, but I already know what you're talking about. Young'ns no longer see me as their authority figure Dad, like when I was in my 30's & 40's. Now I'm thier Grand Pa, so they're a lot kinder. But as it is written (and I think YOU wrote it) Times Change…and so it goes for the rest of eternity, and several days thereafter.
— Franky Edder May 15, 05:43 AM #Lance, I've got about 11 years on you. And take it from me: I feel better, MUCH better, physically, emotionally, mentally, and spiritually than I did when I was in my 30s. I got so good at handling the myth of time that I wrote a book about it called “Alternatives To Aging.” 60 is indeed just a number. So are all the other numbers, which is why they call them numbers and not facts or truths. Choosing your own belief cornerstones and taking it one moment at a time will get you all the way there and beyond. In style.
— Stephen Kravette May 15, 01:43 PM #Tell Leslie to spray for mosquitoes with Listerine, the old mediciny kind, even a store brand. Spray yard, picnic tables, bodies. Everything. They don't like it.
— Pam May 15, 02:50 PM #Signed, Just-turned-60 in December and I've NEVER been happier!!
Hey Lance,
— Beth Greer May 16, 01:28 AM #As Al Gore says, 60 is the new 59!
Happy birthday Lance! Here's looking atcha and all that you do so very, very well. You rock!
— Didi May 16, 05:39 AM #Lance,
— Judy May 16, 10:31 AM #Thanks for the comments on 60—my turn is coming the end of June….the crab in me is skirting the issue, but I'm trying to get into the mind-set of “60 is just a number”!
Have you read about bat colony collapse? It's here in New England and the Adirondacks. In economic circles they say we no longer live in a diversified enough ecology. And speaking of which, I was wondering if putting sugar on a plate in the sun is adequate to replace some kind of rotting fruit that is no longer found much in New England, since most of the orchards are gone.
— smileandrelax May 16, 11:37 AM #Oh crikey love – 60 is the new 40!!!!
You have another lifetime ahead of you! Happy Birthday good man.
— Patty May 16, 09:25 PM #Happy Birthday Fellow Taurus.
At 23, the world does feel like my oyster. = )
— Shama May 17, 12:23 AM #Happy Birthday Lance!
You're a sparkly gem in Texas' cowboy hat.
Your Uncle,
— Hannah Slattery-Quintanilla May 17, 01:03 AM #“Ham Pea Burp Day!”
— PeaceBEE May 17, 07:48 AM #Happy Solar Return! What a wonderful year this can be for you. May you have many Birthday Blessings.
— SailingStar May 18, 07:22 AM #Happy Happy Birthday Lance,
— Rosemary Field May 19, 07:27 PM #Growing great since ‘48 and many many more.
Your not gray, YOUR SILVER….at least moi is, from one Okie cowboy to another, We're still here and rockin….I'm a 56 year young gemini….. Keep Cool!
— Cindy May 30, 09:33 AM #