Christmas Holiday Update

Well, after travel to Oklahoma, Cameron Tx, back here and then to La Porte to see mom and dad I now have a chance to do whatever. Naturally, I am trying to get a nasty head cold. It was good to see everyone at my parents. My brother, all his kids, and my sisters with all their kids were there. My mom and dad had a house full. We had plenty of food, and of course we fought over my mom's coconut pie, and chocolate pie.

On the downside, my parents are starting to look frail. I spoke with my parents about making sure their will was in order, and that we knew what their wishes were if something were to happen. I told my sisters and brother I would get with them in them in the future to put some sort of plan together. My mom and dad have over 23 grandkids, plus several great grand kid.

As far as the rest of my holidays, and I am just going to play it by hear. I know I must do a little shopping.( I really don't want to go near a store) I've am thinking about getting some hunting in, an if the wind lays, I am going to try to fish some. Of course I am going to get out and take few pictures.

Oh yeah, my dad has bought his first computer. My nephew is teaching him how to use it. My dad is learning to type, and practices a little everyday. I've got his email, and now will try to email him to try help him along, and communicate with him what is happening with us on a regular basis. I admire him for trying to learn some new things.

Hey, you haven't seen pictures of my boys in a while here ya go. Josh is on the left, Zach is on the right.

Christmas- Tragedy and Joy

After the last few days of travel and emotion, I have a different perspective about this Christmas.
It all started when I got a phone call last Wednesday informing me a very good friend from Hollis, had passed away suddenly. For what ever reason, it really hit me hard. Then later on that same day, that same family from Oklahoma called me and asked me if I could come and sing at funeral. My heart broke for this family. Here it is Christmas time, and a wonderful husband, father, and a leader in the Baptist church, and a very popular school teacher, is to be buried.

Honestly, it was one of the hardest things I have had to do in a long time. My former church was really hurting over this this. The pastor, who is a good friend of mine, struggled in doing this
funeral also. Through lots of tears, and lots of kleenex, I made it through it. I know it was only because of God's grace and strength I could even maek it through the songs. During the long drive going and coming( 9 hours each way) I thought alot about my family, the many friends I am blessed with, and what really is important in life. It is not presents, of gifts, but my family, my friends, my relationship with God.

May each of you be blessed this Christmas season, not with many gifts, but with time to spend with those that are most important to you. Take the time this Christmas season to tell your loved ones that you love them, and give your friends a hug a thank them for all the things they have done for you this past year.

It's Christmas Time

Christmas Time?
How do I know? Well, being on the coast:
1. I don't have to mow grass but once a month instead of twice a week.

2. I am finally wearing a long sleeve shirt every now and then.

3. I did turn the heater on briefly.

4. The bugs are all almost gone, especially the mosquitoes.

5. Wally World tried checking my bag again. (without success I might add, I would not cooperate)

6. Sonic is trying to sell a pumpkin shake for the holidays. Talk about nasty, yuk!

7. Because of peer pressure from my other neighbors I put my nativity scene out. Naturally everyone has lights, but I've got the only homemade nativity scene in town. No plastic for me.

8. I know it is Christmas because I got my first batch of holiday tamales. Boy are they good.

9. I am making up a batch of biscuits to accompany my jar of Johnny Fair syrup I got as a gift.

10. Because I am finally getting to go squirrel hunting so I can have some squirrel dumplings.

More than a Bump in the Road

Saturday we drove over to hear Abby sing in the UIL All region Choir. Stopped and ate at Taco Bell (Abby's choice not mine) and made our way home. On the way home my driving skills were put to the test. Around 9:00pm a wild hog ran across the road. I had set my cruise on 65 and really didn't have much time to take evasive action. I have seen what happens when someone tries to swerve and hit the brakes when trying avoid an animal. For whatever reason I had just enough time to say hold on, grabbed the steering wheel, did not touch the brakes and hit the hog dead center right on the license plate. He went under the car and exited right behind the front wheel on the driver's side. Oh yeah, I was driving my Nissan Sentra. It will get airborne when hits a 2 to 3 hundred pound hog.

It did get my heart pumping. None of us are hurt. The car will need a new bumper and various other parts, but is ok to drive around. By the way, dead wild hog on your car really has a strong order. Several folks have said the Lord was watching out for us. That kind of impact at that speed should flipped us over. The air bags didn't even deploy, of I never hit the brakes. I'll be getting estimates tomorrow and the Nissan fixed up.

I am sure glad I had my car sighted in, it's one bad hog killer. All jokes aside, He was with us that night.

Classic Car Show

This last week end our church sponsored a Classic Car Show. We had 28 different kinds of cars and trucks. We had the car show going on while we had Upwards Basketball games taking place, so there was a big crowd here the entire day. The old motor above was neat. You had to turn the big flywheel to get it started. It will run clockwise or counter clockwise. The man that bought it got it going would put tennis balss in the exhaust pipe and shoot them in the air for the kids. It was really a fun day and a great way to reach a group of people our church doesn't normally come in contact with.

The County Fair

I did something I have never done before. I entered 4 of my pictures in the county fair. I don't why, it seemed like something fun to do. Anyway, last night we went to the fair to check the results. Wow! I was really surprised. I entered my pictures in the adult amateur division. I entered a picture that Becky took of me in my boat, and it took first place in it's division. I entered 3 others in my name, in landscape, candid, and wildlife division. I was awarded one second place in landscape, first place in candid, and grand champion in wildlife. The pictures will remain on display the rest of the week. I know it sounds like I am bragging, but hey it's kind of neat to see what others think of my photography skills.

Naturally, no fair is complete without a funnel cake and coke. So Becky, and I split one, and spent the rest of evening wandering around looking at the other exhibits. getting free samples, pens, buttons, and calendars, etc. I couldn't get her on the ferris wheel, oh well.

Moo Moo Burger

In my post last night, I forgot to tell you that I stopped at Moo Moo Burger yesterday on my way out to Goliad. The place hasn't changed much. Still kind of a hole in the wall. (my kind of place)
I ordered the original Moo Moo burger. It is a half pound burger made from two patties, with two slices of cheese, mustard, lettuce, tomatoes, onions, and pickles. It came with real hand cut fries, and I got a root beer to top it off. The taste was the same as I remember when we all went on that mission trip to the children's home back years ago. Man was it good. It was so big I didn't eat any supper last night.

Here's the question- when was that, Becky and I can't put our finger on the year? I wanted to see
if you or Sharon, or maybe your kids could remember. I think I have some pictures somewhere.

P.S. Get my Becky to tell where I took her on our 30 wedding anniversary. ( It involves Moo Moo Burger)

Allergies, Woods, and South Texas

It's allergy season here in South Texas, where at least this year, everything is still sickening green. I am ready to see some dead grass, and the brown tumble weeds of of West Texas. So, being tired of going through kleenex at the rate of a box day, I went to see my doc. He gave me a steroid shot, some antibiotics and some prednisone pills. He stressed I should the pills first thing in the morning and lay off the caffeine. I took the pills alright, but had my regular 4 cups of coffee. Talk about flying high and being jumpy. I have been all day. I think I will lay off the coffee tomorrow. I just hope I can sleep some tonight.

I went this afternoon to Goliad, to so some scouting for deer hunting, and locate some squirrels. I found a couple of buck rubs, and saw a nice doe. I was in the woods for about 2 hours, and got really hot. I told Becky, I didn't know if it was the drugs or not, but I feel way too hot, so instead of hunting this evening, I just came home. I am going try again tomorrow evening, maybe the temp will drop from 95 down to something in the 80's. (that's a cool spell down here, this time of year)

Alright I am posting a couple more pictures for you. I think the red flower is a Tropical Sage. What say you? The other is of the San Antonio river, which runs along one side of the property. This place is right behind the old Spanish Mission there, so there is alot of Texas history in this area.

P.S. Moon Pies and Goober Wheels will be shipped in a day or two in care of the Nara Visa Cowboy. Who knows, I might find a R C Cola and add it to the deal. Nothing better than a R C Cola and Goober Wheel, unless it's Grapette Pop

A Little of this and a little of that

Okay, I tried to find out what kind of plant this is by looking in my wild flower book, no luck. What is it? I'll send the winner a goober wheel and a banana moon pie.

Our men's group went dove hunting down south at San Paticio last Saturday on the Lonesome Dove ranch. We didn't kill that many doves, but we had a great time. It's a neat place, with a trap and skeet range. We all got to shoot for free, as much as we wanted.
To me the best part was being to teach some of kids how to shoot a shotgun for the very first time. We even had a couple men that had never been bird hunting before, so that was kinda neat. The ranch is connected with Man to Man Ministries out of Victoria. Their idea is to being men together through outdoor experiences, to teach about being Christian men. It is a good organization, with a great concept.

Well, I just got through taking some cough medicine. I have got a case of the crud. I think I need the Nara Visa Cowboy's recipe for cough syrup.

50,000 Mile Check Up

I went in to see my doctor, who happens to be a member of my church, last week, because of some bleeding. He t0ld me no big deal, just a hemorrhoid problem. He said, eat more fruit and drink more water. He also told me it was time for a 50,00 mile check up, so to speak. Well, I had some blood work, it came back yesterday. All is good except for my triglycerides( bad fat) was over the limit. The top limit is supposed be 149, mine is 190. He put a note at the bottom of the page which said, "decrease fat, increase vegetables and exercise." I saw him last night, and asked him if eating more french fries and potato salad would be considered eating more vegetables. Also I informed him that Dr Pepper has not fat in it, and a banana moon pie was labeled low fat. He didn't buy into my theory.

Question: if triglycerides are bad fat, then what is good fat? I thought fat was fat, and it was all bad for you. Well, as you can see, becky has her hands full. Gotta go, I prunes to eat and water to drink!

This and That

A couple of things. First our church is sponsoring Upward Basketball for grades k through 6th grade. Well, we are short a couple of coaches,
(We have 120 kids playing) and I am now coaching a team of k & first graders. What a hoot! We have had our first practice, and spent the entire time learning how to dribble and the right way to shoot the ball. The way I figure it, if we can make 2 baskets a game, we got a chance to be in the game. But, hey, these little ones are going to have fun, and be fun to watch. Second, one of the senior adults has got a place on the San Antonio river, where I can go deer hunt some. I stomped around for about 2 hours in the woods last Thursday. I saw lots of sign for deer, and even jumped couple. The wild hogs and turkeys seem to be everywhere. It's about 400 acres in size. I took a picture of one of the ponds on it. I think it hold some perch and a bass or two.

Ok, the bonus question for you resident biologists out there, what kind of purple berries are these? They are everywhere.

Back to It

It's been awhile. No excuse, I have just been busy. Busy doing what, well, life I guess is all. I made a rack in the garage to put, my piryak on . My wife seems to think the garage should be a place to park the a car, and not my personal place to play or put my stuff.

Also, I included a picture of my green machine. I have had the bike awhile. I enjoy riding it when I can. Here's the deal, I am a mile from the church office. When I drive my little truck it takes my around 6 minutes to get of the office. When I ride my bike, it takes me about 7 or 8 minutes to get there. Go figure! I found some lights at the thrift store for a dollar and bought a rear view mirror at the dollar store. I can ride at night now, and I can see what's coming up behind me. The side benefit is I can get a little exercise.

I have done some work around the deck. Becky persuaded me to buy a grill. We found it at Home Depot. It works pretty well, although looks like something out of a science fiction movie.

Last visit before school

Our son, Zach, his wife Renee' and his son Austin, came down for a week end visit before school started. Zach and his bunch seems to be doing ok. We worry some about their situation. Renee' has fibermyalgia, and her medication doesn't seem to working very well. She really couldn't do much while they were here. I could tell she wasn't feeling very well. Austin has a mild form of autism, which really manifests itself socially with Austin. But aside from him being a little moody at times, he seems just like any other 7 year old boy. I took them to the beach and they really has a great time. Zach took Austin out in my boat and now Zach ready to build one so he can go paddling back in Marble Falls.

Zach is taking courses in the evening to finish up is degree to become an x ray tech. It's funny Zach tells me that working for National Oil Supply is a young man's game., and he doesn't want to do that kind of work forever. I guess they do grow up after awhile. Also, Becky and I like the idea of being grandparents. Austin was a hoot while he was here. of course, I filled him up with sugar and caffeine and sent his on his way.

A little Get Away

I was down on the Frio River this last week end for a Singing Men of South Texas Retreat. I took a few pictures and sang alot. Basically, for two days I did pretty much what I wanted to do. It was very relaxing. The river was up from all the rain, but you could still float down the river.


I have a question about the picture in the middle. The one with the vine growing in the tree. What kind of vine is it? I am not exactly a nature buff, but would like to know.



I really like this picture to the left. I stayed there for awhile just admiring what God had made. It's good to get away. Everyone needs to get alone at times and re-focus and get a new grip. Life can be a pretty rough ride.

Another valuable saying from the wrapper of my Dove Milk Chocolate candy " Smile, people will wonder what you've been up to".
Gotta run!

The 50thWedding Anniversary

Here is my follow up on the Shindig at the Fellowship Hall in the Baptist Church.
There were about 150 people there. Most of them over the age of 50. We had planned to play for about 45 minutes, because of the crowd we were asked to play for about an hour and 1/2. Let's see, some of our song list was:
Heartbreak Hotel, Crazy, Walking After Midnight, Can't Help Falling in Love, Bye Bye Love, Fly Me to the Moon, Last Date, Going to the Chapel, Because, I Love You Truly, You Send Me, and so forth.

The roof didn't fall in, and yes we did have a few folks get up and dance. I even had one little old lady ask me where she could buy our CD or tape. I thought that was really funny. I told her we didn't have one and she told me when we got one to mail one to her.

As a joke I put a tip jar on the piano, and would you believe, we picked up $30. I am going to put it in the music fund for something.

Everyone had a great time, even the preacher. He needed to loosen up a little bit anyway. Well, was opened, and it can't be closed. The Jolly Elders ( Sr Ad) want us to play at their Christmas Party, and at their Valentine Banquet. You might know , it's those wild old folks leading the charge. Hey, it was a hoot, and I would do it again in a heart beat.

Another Week in David's Daffy World

Well another hot week. It finally decided to turn into summer, with high humidity and and heat. Oh yes, making memories like, clothes sticking to you, eye glasses fogging up when you step outside, and cooling down with a cherry lime snow cone. Speaking of memories, this week end should prove interesting. We have a couple in our church who will be celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary. They asked me if our praise band could play at their shindig in the church's fellowship hall. I said, sure thinking they just wanted some hymns or an old song or two from the fifties when they got married. Oh no, they want us to play some rock and roll tunes. Being the ever gracious one, and not wanting to offend anyone, I said great we'll do it. So I got with our praise band, and we are got out our gee-tars and drums are going to do a little Elvis, some Patsy Cline, songs like Blue Moon, a couple of Frank Sinatra songs, a Dixie Cup song called- Going to the Chapel and so forth. Ok, here's where it gets funny, one of our other older couples comes up to me Wednesday night, and asked me if it would be ok, if they got up and danced to some of the songs Saturday . I told them just to dance the night away, and we would provide the tunes. Ah yes, the Senior Adult Revolt is on, dancing in fellowshiphall! Who knows, next they'll wanting to play bingo and who knows what else! Now the pastor hasn't got wind of this, yet. I want to get a picture of his face, when some of these old folks start sliding across the floor doing a waltz, or worse, may be even the boogie woogie! You know me, I would never cause any trouble. By the way, isn't this the same age group that told me we needed to sing more hymns and be more traditional. Makes me wonder what's going on here???

Just Sittin'

Since it hadn't rained in two days I decided to sit out on the deck I had built. I bought one of those cheap white rockers from Wally world. It works pretty well. I 'll be lucky if it last a year, but I got it cheap, so I can't complain. I decided just sit and see what I could see. I took my camera with me. I bought a old lens off of ebay just to see if it would work on my camera. Well here, are two pictures. One of a knot in the deck. Weird, yes, but no one ever accused me of being the sharpest knife in the drawer. The other is of some china berries growing right over my head. Not bad for a $7 lens that is about 40 years old. Of course it is all manual everything. I know I am about to show my age, but I am so glad I can still take pictures without the computer in the camera telling me what to do.

Speaking of china berry trees, at least that's what I call them, I hate them. They are messy, the branches break off easily, and they never stop growing. With all the rain we have had, and now the heat, they are growing like crazy. Who brought these things into our country anyway? Had to be foreigners. Since we all were at one time, who's to blame? Alright, I need the origin of these stupid things. Surely one of my better educated friends will know.

The last picture is of Abby singing in the Texas Baptist All State Choir. They were pretty impressive. I am not into stained glass, but I thought it was rather nice.

Lastly, for now, my wife needs Tom's wife personal email address. I guess that means that I can't see what they are saying to each other. Where's the trust?

Here is a saying off the Dove chocolate wrapper- "Sing along with the elevator music"
Who would do that? I would but it would have to be a Willie Nelson song.

Further Response to Much ado About Nothing

A rare occurence this morning happened this morning, the sun was shining. All it really means is that I'll have to mow the grass. There is nothing like waking up to the sound of the city truck going by spraying for mosquitos. Ah yes, summer in South Texas.

A report on the Wagon Wheel Restaurant. I had the Chicken fried steak. Real Meat, not that processed stuff, gravy guaranteed to fix leaky tires and once hardened would make great glue. I almost forgot, homemade rolls that stand about 4 inches tall. You walk into the place, and there is a deer head with at least 6 points over every table, along with an autographed John Wayne picture. to add to the atmosphere there was even a pencil drawing of a mountain man with his horse. It's a real romantic hotspot. Oh yeah, they have signs on every table saying we don't credit cards, debit cards, or checks, cash only!

A perspective to think about:
It times we argue over a lot of things, most of which don't amount to much. Before I waste to much effort here is the principle I try to remember to use( about half the time I forget)
"Is it temporary or eternal." If it's temporary, does it really matter? If it's eternal, then let's put the boxing gloves on duke it out and come up with the right solution. Not mine or yours, but the right one.

In Response to the response

Response #1
The Weather is still the weather. It's wet and going to get wetter they say. I was coming out of the church office and saw tree frog perched on the top hinge of the door, maybe he knows something I don't. The mosquitos are the size of nickels and if you smash one you will leave a red mark the size of your fist. Typical south Texas weather. Here's a picture of a water spout that touched down Wednesday. Picture is not real good, but I was in a hurry.

Response #2
God and voting. Well, as I remember, in the Old Testament, Moses sent a committee over to check out the promise land. It was just like God said, but it did have a few giants, pagans and such. not much to worry about really, with God on your side. The committee came back with a split vote. A couple of guys, Joshua and one other fellow held out and said it could be done. The children of Israel took the committees advice and decided not to go. God said, ok you voted, now you get to wander around for 40 years until all of you who didn't vote the right way die off. My point, we got a lot of churches wandering around in the wilderness, because they didn't do what God wanted. Hopefully some people will allow God to change them before they die off. I don't want to be on the wrong side of a vote.

Thoughtful Say:
I heard this said once, " I have never really been wrong, but I have been a little weak on being right."


Ok, I am sure I will have more later, but I've got to go. I am taking my bride out to a place called the "Wagon Wheel." It's my kind of place, so greasy you can slide out of the seat.

Summertime Fun

We are right smack in the middle of Vacation Bible School this week. For the second year in a row I was able to delegate most things out and be floater and put out fires. After 3 years plus of me being here, they are finally starting to do it the right way. We had our backyard Bible club the week before, right in the middle of town where all the drug deals go down. We didn't really have all that many kids come, but we had a lot of comments and drew a lot of attention from those folks around there. Picture this in your mind, bible school is going on in a city park, and around the edges of the park are some of the drug dealers and a drunk or two. Momma's with their baby's and little ones, and of course red snow cones. We did serve hotdogs two nights, and that did draw crowd. I had some interesting conversations with some of these folks. The police even ran an extra patrol car through the area. Why, I don't know? I wasn't really worried, although some of my church ladies were.

So this week, we have VBS at our church, and guess what all those folks are sending their kids over here. I love it! Attendance is up, I've had to break up a couple fights with some 4th grade boys, cookies and red kool aid being ground into carpet and we almost run out of everything last night. Some of my dear old church folks are getting a good dose of real world Christianity, and I am just sitting back and smiling, and thinking to myself God just might like this.

Oh yeah! Church on the go hi dee ho.

Why? Or , It makes me wonder?

I have been ministry now for 20 years, yet I am amazed sometimes at what people will say, or the attitudes they have. Can you tell I am about to vent or worse get on my soapbox?

Well, I had a couple of older ladies, (always a sign of trouble) come by to see me. They were mad because in their opinion we were not singing enough hymns, and we weren't using the piano and organ enough. One went on to say, that at her age she had the right to say whatever she wanted. The other complained that the organ wasn't loud enough. Let's see, on yes, the flowers were being moved around too much, and the lady that does the flowers is hurt because of it. And oh yes, one of the ladies doesn't read the Bible all that much, but gets from the hymns.

I smiled and acknowledged their complaints. I made nice in other words, and told them we were in a period of transistion, and that they needed to remember the pastor and staff in their prayers.

You know, I get sick and tired of this nonsense. Don't the Bible, gimme a break, I'm old I can say what I want, flowers! organ too soft! not enough piano! We are just playing church while all around people are dying and in need. Yet, we have made it about us. One day, if I don't jump off the cliff first, I will be old. I hope do not become of of these complainers who has lost focus of what the real purpose of a relationship with God means. And no, the organ stays the same, I am breaking out the tambourine to replace the piano, I am going to hide the flowers, and sing little diddys all the way ot heaven.

Church on the go hi dee ho!

Church- sometimes a good place to take a nap

It was kind of like re-living the past. I was at my mother-in laws this past week end, who lives in Cameron. I had the tv on, on Sunday morning, which I never so at home. A Church from Waco was broadcasting their church service. They sang the slowest version of “All Hail the Power of Jesus Name” I have ever heard. It just about put me to sleep. Then the camera panned the congregation and caught at least two people asleep. I was glad , I thought maybe it was just me. Then, the camera moved back to the poor preacher, and there were two guys on the back row of the choir taking a nap also. It brought back memories of Groesbeck and hiding flowers, and such things . Of Course, back then, there was this Cole fella who was a bad influence on me, at the time.

Is it just me, or most of the good sleeping church found in Central Texas

Vapor gets a seat

I got the trailer up and working for the boat. It works great. The Vapor only weights 58 pounds, so the trailer carries no weight really at all. As a matter of fact, if I need to I can pick up the trailer with the boat on it, and move it around.

I got the sliding seat designed and installed, put a thwart or brace in, just off center, and put the final touches of paint on. I took it out for an extended paddling session today. I can tell that I 've got to perfect my paddling technique to really get the hang of it. It paddles real easy. I did notice however, that when I got through, my back was hurting and stiff. I had some adjustable footpegs given to me, and I think I will install them, so I can get my whole body into the paddling stroke. This, I am told, will relieve the tension put on my back. All in all I am more than pleased, and once I get used to it, I will outfit it for fishing with some rod holders and such. But for now, I am going to use it to help get this old body of mine back into some kind of shape, or maybe I'll just paddle out away from shore and just set there, and watch the sunset. Who knows, maybe I can rig some sort of sail on it.

"Vapor" is launched!

I got the boat trailer ready to go, and got a break in the weather this evening and took "Vapor" for a test run. I needed to figure out how far forward or aft I needed to put the seat, and high the seat needed to be. Becky took some pictures of the test run. She paddles great, with very little effort. It is not like some of the plastic ones that really take some effort. I had the seat too tall about 4 1/2 inches and she felt a little tippy, so I lowered it to 1inch and that feels really good. As can see in one of the pictures I filled it up with water to try to sink it and couldn't. My watertight compartments work.
So now the adventure can continue, as I begin to explore places I can paddle to, and hopefully can find some fishing too.

Finally, something easy, ha!

Well, I have been debating whether or not to build a rack for my little pickup to hold my piryak. My boat( Vapor is it's name) only weights 58 lbs, so weight is not the question. But it is over 15 feet long. So I got to thinking about the old boat trailer that came with my sailboat. I decided to convert it to carry Vapor. No big deal, new lights, get a license plate and away we go. This is where the fun begins.
First problem, going through the red tape of trying to convince the hard headed lady at the county tax office, that there was no title to this trailer. Finally, after arguing for about ten minutes with her, I think she could tell I was starting to get a little hot. I had already made my mind up that I was not going to leave. Well, she finally gave in and got me the right forms. I paid my money, only to find out they were out trailer license plates, so I had to make another trip a few days later to pick my plates.
Second problem, trailer lights. No big deal, I bought a universal trailer kit from Wally World. I hooked everything up the way I was supposed to. Hey, I even read the directions! Here's the deal, I've got blinkers and running lights, but no brake lights. I checked my wires and decided I must have tapped into the wrong one. Now I've got blinkers and brake lights but no running lights. Come to find out the engineers at Nissan made the wiring were you have to have a special relay in order to hook up trailer lights. Ok, so I go to the parts store, naturally they do not have one, but can special order me one, and have it here overnight. I pick it up the next day. You guessed it, it was the wrong one. So today, I finally got the right part. I hooked it up , and no lights at all. Being the calm, mild, mannered person that I am, I threw a fit right in the middle of the drive way, then spent the next half hour cleaning up my mess. After calming down and thinking it through, I discovered it was a bad ground wire. All lights are working now, and I have a legal and licensed piryak trailer. The only one in Texas like it.

The Summer Heat is Here and Projects are being Finished

The piryak project is coming along. It's to the point I need to put it in the water so I can set the seat in the proper position. I have the outside completely finished, and the inside almost done, except for the area that is unpainted for the seat. If I can get the trailer lights working, I will have the boat out this week end for the first test run.

The deck is done except for steps. I used the left over 2 x 6 metal studs for the foundation. It saved us a a lot of money. I put my rocking chair out there and tried it out. Nice and pleasant, if you like heat, humidity, bugs, and mosquitos, other than that it's great.

Piryak, Deck, and Heat

I have two different projects going on at the same time. My wife wants a deck out back. So I am using some of the leftover 2x6 metal studs from the storage buiilding project. I got the studs free when the old walmart store went out of business when they remodeled. We need a deck so we can set in the backyard and sweat on those cool summertime days here in south Texas. Additionally, it gives us an opportunity to swat and kill mosquitos at our lesiure as they swarm us while we are seting on the deck.

The piryak is coming along. I am painting the outside with several coats of red paint. I hope to put it in the water this week, to set where the seat needs to go, then finish the inside, with IBC cream soda color interior. As you can see I have been busy, but hey I like it that way. It keeps me out of trouble.

It's Starting to Come together

Having never built anything like this before, I am glad I did a couple things . One , I spent alot of time reading and researching how to build and fiberglass. Two, being a person who has made multiple mistakes through out my life, I come equipped more or less, to spend endless hours sanding out mistakes. Well, I have spent at least 8 or 9 hours just sanding. I have found out that fiberglassing and making it look good is an art. But you don't have forever to work with it. Once it starts drying that's it. Here are some pictures of my progress thus far. I am out of resin, so I am waiting on an order to arrive before I can go much further.

Name- I am thinking about naming it "Vapor." Why? Because life is like a vapor. We are today, but gone tomorrow. Moments in life are precious and unless they are written down or passed on someway, the fade away like the morning midst. Enough of that, just building the thing has been an experience and being able to use it will be special.

Color- I have narrowed it down to John Deere green and yellow, or Fire engine red and creme.

The Piryak Saga Continues

I am learning alot about boat building especially when dealing with 2 part epoxy glue and fiberglass. I made a paste out of epoxy and wood flour ti fill in all the joints. I am in the process of fiberglassing. I have the entire outside done, and I am now working on the inside. I still have 2 watertight compartments to build and gunwales to install. I do have a couple of decisions still to make. First, I am going to paint it, but I haven't decided on what color yet. I think I want to paint some eyes on the bow, so I can see where I am going. Second, I haven't figured out exactly what to name it. Anyone got any ideas. The only real thing slowing me down is this nasty head cold I picked up, and time.
P.S. Bethany has moved back to Oklahoma. She was able to save some money, and we got her a car. Wedding plans are in the air.