Riding with the window down…

Okay, so I am about a year into this “change of life” that culminated in my marriage and the addition of three amazing kids to my household - so what’s the verdict?  Duh - you KNOW I think it rocks.

A lot has changed in the last year.  Again - duh.  I am writing this post sitting in our new chocolate shop - Sweet Wimberley, located right off the square in Wimberley, Texas… who saw THAT coming?  Dawn, the kids, and I own five acres in the beautiful hill country that surrounds Wimberley.  I drive kids to school in the mornings, take them to scouts and Young Women’s at the church and barbecue in the backyard.  My long-time friends ask, “Who are you and what did you do with Chris?”  He just grew up is all.

I spend each day more thankful than the one before.  I am thankful that I was born in the United States, thankful that I grew up and live in Texas, thankful for my beautiful, intelligent wife, thankful for the blessings that are Kenzie, Logan and Dallin, thankful that I have the best Mom ever, thankful for life lessons taught by my father, thankful to have intelligent and fun siblings that wouldn’t hesitate to give me the shirt off their backs, thankful for the opportunities I have had to learn and to grow along the way, thankful to be surrounded by great friends, thankful for my health and thankful most of all that, despite a lifetime of stubbornness and pride, I have learned to stop and be grateful - to acknowledge just how lucky I am.

When something goes right for a person, you have heard them exclaim, “must be good living.”  I hope where I find myself now is a reward for trying to do the right thing, but even if it isn’t - I’ll take it.

Dawn has been away and we felt it was appropriate to create a show welcoming her home. Included in this episode:

Travelin’ Prayer - Billy Joel
A special message from the kids to “the momma.”

(Time: 7:54)

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Upon discovering a scorpion in the bathtub of our new house this morning, I was reminded of a poem that absolutely enthralled me as a child of about 7 or 8. The piece, called “Hell in Texas” was in a book of poetry that my mom kept around the house and has stuck with me to this day.

We had recently moved to Texas from Minnesota and for a wide-eyed kid to find himself smack dab in the middle on the biggest of the big places in the world - Texas, was amazing. I instantly fell in love with the larger-than-life characters of Texas history as well as the rugged, individualistic swagger that said (without a word) - Texan!

When I discovered the poem, I read it over and over until I had it memorized. This is the only poem in my life I have ever memorized. It just meant that much to me. Without further prefacing, let me post it:

Hell in Texas

The Devil, we’re told, in hell was chained,
and a thousand years he there remained,
and he never complained, nor did he groan,
but determined to start a Hell of his own
where he could torment the souls of men
without being chained to a prison pen.

So he asked the Lord if he had on hand
anything left when he made the land.
The Lord said, “yes, i had plenty on hand,
but i left it down on the Rio Grande.
The fact is, old boy, the stuff is so poor,
i don’t think you can use it in Hell anymore.”

But the Devil went down to look at the truck,
and said if it came as a gift, he was stuck;
for after examining it careful and well
he concluded the place was too dry for hell.
So in order to get it off his hands
God promised the Devil to water the lands.

For he had some water, or rather some dregs,
a regular cathartic that smelt like bad eggs.
Hence the deal was closed and the deed was given,
and the Lord went back to his place in Heaven,
and the Devil said, “I have all that is needed
to make a good Hell.” And thus he succeeded.

He began to put thorns on all the trees,
and he mixed the sand with millions of fleas,
he scattered tarantulas along all the roads,
put thorns on the cacti and horns on the toads;
he lengthened the horns of the Texas steers
and put an addition on jack rabbit’s ears.

He put little devils in the bronco steed
and poisoned the feet of the centipede.
The rattlesnake bites you, the scorpion stings,
the mosquito delights you by buzzing his wings.
The sand burrs prevail, so do the ants,
and those that sit down need half soles on their pants.

The Devil then said that throughout the land
he’d manage to keep up the Devil’s own brand,
and all would be mavericks unless they bore
the marks and scratches and bites by the score.
The heat in the summer is a hundred and ten,
too hot for the devil and too hot for men.

The wild boar roams through the black chaparral,
it’s a Hell of a place he has for Hell;
the red pepper grows by the bank of the brook,
the Mexicans use it in all that they cook.
Just dine with a greaser and then you will shout,
“I’ve a Hell on the inside as well as without.”

Thank you Mom for having the book in the first place and for instilling in me a love of reading, thank you Dawn for the conversation this morning that reminded me of this lost gem, and thank you Hap for doing the legwork to track it down and send it to me.

Most of all - thank YOU for reading.

0:38
On one of our bike trips we discovered Jacob’s Well Nature Area… now we delve further into the woods.

I got my hands a country promo disk and thought I’d take a second to review the new tracks. Here are the tracks and my gut reaction to them:

Rain Is A Good Thing - Luke Bryan (Good tune, but very simplistic if not downright stupid. Will it do okay? yeah - people like stupid. Will it be on my playlist? Not long.)
Free - Jack Ingram (I do like me some Jack Ingram and I think this one will do okay. It is just deep enough and touches just enough heartstrings to make you like it.)
Wrong Baby Wrong - Martina McBride (Martina has a solid track record and this one fits her style. It has good sentiment, just not enough of a hook to last long term.)
Turning Home - David Nail (I nearly fell asleep listening. He sounds like he could put out a decent song if he had a better song. Has potential - just not there yet.)
This Ain’t Nothin’ - Craig Morgan (Pretty horrible song - a bit too morose for me. His voice is good enough - I’d like to see if he can do ‘happy’.)
That’s God - Jo Dee Messina (Okay, I am not saying I disagree with the song - its just so darn serious. I am sure that I will love this track when in “that” mood. Right now, it just sounds a bit preachy.)
Dirt Road Dancing - Matt Stillwell (From the first couple of notes, you know this is going to be a good song. I mean any track that talks about taking a left by the frog pond is bound to be fun. Good stuff!)
Stay Here Forever - Jewel (Jewel delivers again. What a voice. What a good song!)
Better Than I Used To Be - Sammy Kershaw (This is a good song. I think this one is a keeper. “I ain’t no angel, but I’ve been sitting out a few more dances with the devil.” Nice.)
I Keep On Lovin’ You - Reba McEntire (I admit I’ve never been a big Reba fan - or even a small Reba fan. Her fans will probably like this… just not my style.)
That Ain’t My America - Lynyrd Skynyrd (Weak - a derisive message hidden behind patriotism. MY America is positive and doesn’t put people down who have different opinions.)
Jenny - The Harters (It is okay, just nothing to make you want to hear it again.)
Daddy Phone - Marty Raybon (A bit too dorky for me)
Use Somebody - Margaret Durante (Liked it much better when Kings of Leon did it in 2008)
Kiss Me Now - Katie Armiger (Chicks will dig this one. It sounds like a grown-up version of a Taylor Swift song.)
Troublemaker - Suzi Ragsdale f./Rodney Crowell (Boring, boring, boring. It does have a good enough hook though that if played over and over on the radio, you would sing along.)
Kick Down The Door - Kate Russell (Now there’s a confusing message for boys trying to figure out girls. Kick down the door, but no means no. Treat them with respect, but they want you to push them around too. Oh, and the song is weak.)
White Liar (Acoustic Version) - Miranda Lambert (The acoustic version sounds better but I still don’t like the storyline. He is a cheating liar, oh, but so am I. Real nice. Can’t deny it is a catchy tune though.)

Any month that I like 1/4 of the new stuff is really good for mainstream music. I have April already and plan to review it when I have some time. Let me know what you think about these tracks when you hear them.

The family and I took a trip North of Fredericksburg Saturday to climb Enchanted Rock.  This makes my fourth trip up the huge slab of granite and it was an absolute blast.  First, it looked like bad weather was going to blow in and ruin the day, but I held firm to my belief that the sun would come out and it would turn out fun.  It did!

Every other time I’ve climbed the rock, it was sweltering heat and this time was a welcome change from that.  It was super windy and quit chilly at the start, but by the time we were halfway up, the sweat took over.

Here the kids pose for a family picture.

We then headed to the Auslander restaurant because we heard it was decent German food. I have to say that for $70 (without drinks,) it was NOT worth the value. Oma’s Haus in New Braunfels is MUCH more authentic and MUCH tastier.

Dallin and I took a timeout to record a quick video:

As the chill rolled into the town, the kids found the fireplace at the Auslander a welcome discovery. As it turns out, it is much closer to home than I realized and it looks like we may be going back to the area more often. Fun stuff!

There are two seasons where you can usually count on seeing a good movie or two - the Summer blockbusters and the Christmas blockbusters. This Christmas season has provided me with two good movie outings. Both of them made me skeptical at first, but in the end, both delivered solid entertainment.

First up was Avatar - the nearly HALF A BILLION DOLLAR blockbuster by James Cameron. Visually, this film was amazing. This is another notch in Cameron’s bankability belt - when his name is on it - you’re looking at a hit. Even lame films like the last Terminator do well - because Cameron is associated with it. (Interestingly, Sam Worthington - who played the lead, Jake Sully was also in the last Terminator and will be in the remake of Clash of the Titans, he has action hero star written all over him.)

This film really had little to do with Cameron or Worthington… it was all about the CGI and in that respect, it ROCKED! Sure, the storyline was weak and a very transparent political/social commentary. Sure, the characters were as stereotypical as anything to come out of Hollywood. But visually, Avatar made you overlook all the flaws.

It was slow in the opening third of the film and predictable throughout, but you just couldn’t take your eyes off the screen. I would watch it again just for the visuals.

RATING 7 out of 10

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Next was Guy Ritchie’s interpretation of Sherlock Holmes as portrayed by Robert Downey Jr. Now you have to understand that there is likely no more important fictional character in my life than Sherlock Holmes. I have always loved Holmes, and I have seen every single incarnation available. For that reason, I was extremely nervous seeing the previews for this film as it looked to be nothing like the legend created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Downey was nothing like the Basil Rathbone or Jeremy Brett Holmes (my favorite) but not nearly as quirky as the trailers made it appear.

Yeah, he did a serviceable interpretation, but in the end, there was too much Robert Downey Jr. in the character. He was no different than he was in Iron Man - no different than he was in The Pickup Artist - no different than he has been in ALL of his roles. Face it - Downey has no range. Don’t get me wrong, I am a big fan of RDJ and I think he may have a role that he could continue for years in Holmes. This is a great character for him to play because Holmes is so cocksure, smart, and witty. The fact that so many older people have played the character successfully leads me to think that he could be doing remakes for a couple more decades without missing a beat. This is one instance when typecasting is a good fit.

Because Holmes has been such an important literary figure in my life, I am sure that I will see each and every incarnation of the famed sleuth of 221B Baker Street, and although I will be skeptical, I will give them a fair shake. Robert Downey Jr. I can get used to - Jude Law as Watson I can get used to - Rachel McAdams as his tough-as-nails female foil, uh, I guess - Guy Ritchie, MTV-generation fight sequences in a period piece like this…. that may be a little tougher.

RATING 8 out of 10

We got some family photos taken shortly before Christmas and I just realized that I haven’t shared them on here. An excellent photographer and good friend, Beth Rasmussen, took the shots for us and Dawn organized the outfits etc. I think they turned out great. This first one was one of the toughest to get because someone was always blinking or turning away etc.

These next two are just gorgeous - look at those beautiful kids! The closer one does a great job of showing off those shiny eyes and bright smiles, the further out shows off what a beautiful location we chose for the session. (Gruene, Texas)

I can’t even begin to describe how blessed I feel to have all the changes that have taken place in my life recently. What a great Christmas season!

That is the exact question that Dawn and I pondered each time we took the small trip along Ranch Road 12 between San Marcos and Wimberley. Surely, THIS is just good marketing? What the heck makes a tamale ‘gourmet?’ Yes, this is Jean’s Antique Mall & Gourmet Tamales.

Well, after a few months of saying “hmmm… we should check that out sometime,” I stopped in on the way home from work today. At first blush - it looks like these are NOT just any old tamales.

When you take a look at normal tamales (which I love) you have a roll of masa with a portion of meat in the center. Rather than a thin line of meat surrounded by all that starch, THESE tamales are a huge wad of meat with a thin layer of masa spread around. That, in itself, seems to make these better tamales. I haven’t tasted them yet, but I picked up a half dozen chicken and another half dozen pork variety. Their menu lists more than a dozen varieties such as beef, chipotle, etc.

I will have to let you know how they taste after we get a chance to put them on the table - but my first impression is that they are going to be pretty good.

Mom, Avis (her sister) and myself took a trip out to Goliad, Texas today and it turned out to be a nice little jaunt. First, we headed over to the Presidio La Bahia, the mission where nearly 400 Texan captives were gunned down in cold blood by the invading Mexican army. This, along with the recent massacre at the Alamo in San Antonio, inspired Texans to rally behind General Sam Houston as his army conquered the Mexican dictator, Santa Anna at San Jacinto just outside the city that would be renamed in his honor, Houston.

The story of the Presidio La Bahia is fascinating and being able to walk the only fully restored Spanish mission in the United States is inspiring in itself.

For more pics, of the days events - head to my Flickr page

After that, we had a great lunch on the town square at The Empresario. It is a great little small town restaurant where everyone knows everyone else. It was great to watch the interactions. One gentleman, after finishing his lunch, walked toward the front door. It took him nearly 20 minutes to cover the 30 feet as he had to shake hands, and stop and talk with nearly every person in the place. I really dig small towns.

After that, we walked across the street to the courthouse square and particularly the “Hangin’ Tree.”

What a gorgeous old oak! The legend says that as soon as someone was found guilty in the courthouse, they were escorted outside, a rope was tossed over the tree limb and justice was meted out on the spot.

All in all, it was a fun excursion just a few miles outside of Victoria and a great opportunity to have more conversations with Avis and Mom. Fun stuff!