Saturday was busy, but fun.

The trip to Fredericksburg Friday turned out to be a lot of fun. Dave and I got to town by about 11:30, found a parking place and headed to the Auslander for lunch. It was cold, in the low 40s, and there was a persistent wind blowing, so this time we avoided the outdoor tables and took seats inside the beergarten. I'm sittin' there, waitin' for the waitress to bring me my brew and take our order, I look up and guess what I see?



I knew she'd lived in Germany when she was younger, but I didn't know Denise had ever worked in a beergarten. Son of a bitch! We'll need to have a talk when she gets back Sunday night. She's got some esplainin' to do.



My drink of choice, despite the weather, was a Belgian Sunshine Wheat in a frozen mug. Good stuff. Goes great with the beer battered, fried mushrooms, and the same fat bacon cheeseburger I had last time I was here. They were all just as good as before. Dave chose the chicken fried steak and tea. We were both happy. After lunch we both had ice cream cones at the place next door (I know, it was cold, and people were in heavy coats, but when in Rome for Christ's sake), and then we headed over to the book signing.

I got in line behind this burly farmer/rancher type who was just gushing with praise for Mr. Kelton. He had a typed list of all the books he'd read and was tryin' to see if the store had any others. I enjoyed the hell out of meetin' him, and seein' how an author can influence the lives of people. It's a thing that has touched my own life, including the stuff I read on your blogs. You know who you are. "People don't realize how a man's life can be changed by one book". Malcom X said that. Pure wisdom. For me it was a book on Daniel Boone that I read when I was about 12. Never saw anything the same after that.

The line moved fast, and before you knew it I was shaking hands with the man himself. He was sitting in the back of a little book store with his wife, accepting the comments of admirers as he signed their books with whatever inscription they asked for. When I got there I handed him the two books I had and as he signed them I told him that I really appreciated him, that I loved his work, and that I hoped he would be able to keep doing what he was doing for a long time to come (He's at least in his mid-70s). He thanked me, smiled up at me and we shook hands again, a little tighter the second time, and then Dave and I were off.

Dave wanted to go to the East side of town and check out an old frontier fort, Fort Martin Scott, which was a big deal around here from the 1840s to the 1850s. It just so happened there was a rendezvous going on there, with reenactors having a good time portraying frontier life in the 1840s.



Now this is the kind of reenacting I could get into. One of these days I'll have a tipi.



There were all sorts of crafts and gear on display, and people selling cool stuff. We walked around for a while and I took pictures, and then we headed up to Enchanted Rock.



Dave had never climbed the rock, so I had the fun of taking him up the first time. The weather was chilly, but the exercise warmed us, and we made it in no time. Along the way, I took some nice shots and a lot of them came out.



I even took a few that I was able to merge later here at the house. This is a shot of Little Rock, which sits to the south of Enchanted Rock. The shots were taken from about 3/4ths the way up the big dome.



We made it up there, took a few pictures, made few phone calls, and then it was time to head out. I needed to get home in time to go get dad and take him to eat our traditional Friday fare.



This shot's for Bruno. Dude, it was Soooo good. Finger lickin' good. Look at those big juicy shrimp. I know. Never mind.

Anyway, many of the shots I took are already up at FlickR, so go check them out. A lot of them came out good, if I do say so myself.

I'll be up early Saturday. Dave and I are driving to Dallas to walk through a big gun show at Market Hall. I'll tote that new Garand around and see if I can get a sling and bayonet for it. It'll be fun. You guys have fun this weekend too. I'll see ya later. Cheers.

Postscript: Never mind. I ain't goin' anywhere today. It's pissin' down rain and about 40 degrees both here and in Dallas, and there'll be another gun show in a while. Meanwhile, that big bed of mine is warm and comfy. I'm out. Peace.

A few Fridays ago...

I took my dad to eat Chinese food and then we went out to Academy and we watched the Bees play their last game of the year. It was a blowout.



The Bees were playing Troy, another little town from up North a bit, off I-35. The Trojans were also playing their last game of the year. They came out like gangbusters, and started intercepting passes and running for touchdowns, and before we knew it poor little Academy was down by almost 30 points to nothing.

Dad can't handle too many stairs, so we have to take seats right there in front. People are walking to and fro and kids are always messin' around. Kind of a pain in the ass. There are usually all these little kids hangin' on the railing and gettin' yelled at by their folks for doin' it.



This one kid was just screamin' for me to take his picture.

I'm always amazed at how obvious it is, with these kids getting this early education about the games, and the social life surrounding the games, that kids in these little towns grow up the way they do. The girls gather in front of the cheerleaders, looking on in wonder, while the boys are focused on the games, learning everything they can, and looking to avoid their parents and have a good time. It's a window into the world that I missed out on somehow. Who knows why. It doesn't matter any more. Now I get to be here and take part, and enjoy it with dad. I love to watch it all go on in front of me, like a passion play. It fascinates me.



It's like readin' one of Mushy's old posts about growin' up in Harriman in the '50s. Only it's happenin' right here in front of me. It makes me wonder about the world these kids are gonna have to live in when they get to be my age. Scares me a little, but then I think every generation thinks that.



Anyway, Academy played like they'd already given up, and the Trojans were just too much for them. By half-time, the score was 40 to 0, with the Bees humbled on their own field. The teams ran off to the field house at the half, and the school bands came out. It turned out that they put on a better show than the football players.



The band from Troy came out first, and they put on an amazing show. The cheerleaders formed a line at one point and started doin' the... Well, what the hell do you call it? Watch this and you'll see. There's no sound, so don't hurt yourself tryin' to turn your speakers up.



After that the Academy band came out and put on a great show of their own. At one point they brought out The Freshmen and Sophomore band members to stand with the Juniors and graduating Seniors, and they all played together. It was cool.



Dad and I had a good time. The weather was warm, so dad didn't get too chilled.



We stayed until a little bit past half-time, and watched the Bees come running out again to try to get something started in the second half. But it was to no avail. I think they ended up loosing by something like 64 to nothing. Sad. Well, maybe next year.

Dad and I will head out to eat Chinese again tonight, even though the fridge is busting with Turkey Day leftovers. Tradition dammit! The Chinese food last Friday night was in rare form... Really good, so I'm lookin' forward to it. There are still high school playoff football games going on, but I'm not sure who or where. Also, we've had a "Blue Norther" blow in for Thanksgiving, so I doubt I'll be takin' the old dude out anyway. Hell, I don't want to be sittin' out there in the cold ether.

Meanwhile, my Friday is gonna start early. I'm headin' out this mornin' to take a day trip back down to Fredericksburg with my buddy Dave (Civil War reenactor dude in the earlier post). A local author of western novels named Elmer Kelton is going to be down there today signing books at one of the cooler book stores. He wrote one a while back that was made into a TNT movie starring Tommy Lee Jones, Sissy Spacek, and a slew of other great actors. It's called "The Good Old Boys". Maybe you've seen it? Anyway, it's great, and he's great, and I'm gonna get him to sign my copy of that book.

Dave and I will have lunch somewhere before the book signing. I might even get him to help me eat some more of those beer battered, fried mushrooms while I try another foreign beer at the Auslander. Then, after everything is done, I'm gonna take my buddy for his first trip to Enchanted Rock. He teaches Geology up here, and he knows all about the place, but he's never been up on the dome. We'll climb it, but we're not stayin'. I'll drive back up here in the afternon, go get dad, and we'll go over and work that buffet at Dynasty. It'll be a long day, but it'll be fun.

Well, you guys enjoy your Fridays off and your leftovers (always better the second time around), and I'll see ya over the weekend. There's a big gun show in Dallas this weekend, but I may just decide to lay around and vegetate. We'll see. And there's a blogger from Tennessee driving through this area this weekend on his way South. We may hook up, if everything works out. I'll tell ya all about it, whatever happens. Cheers.