February 25, 2014  9pm cst   79 degrees

This weekend we went to the CAF Air Fiesta

Like good little winter Texans, we brought our folding chairs as one does for all outdoor activities and  paid what I thought were kind of high prices ($5 to park and $15 each to get in) only to find that for yet another $10 each you could get these bleacher seats  on the other side of the fence. And even better seats were available for some sort of VIP club. 

Apparently that is where they held the check on the PA system because we couldn't hear any one complete sentence where we sitting on the ground in our miserable little folding chairs.

 I  was a little irritated at this point .  Seems like we could have stayed in the parking lot and seen just as much as all this money grabbing outfit was offering us..... it is, after all an AIR show.

   Well, our vantage point wasn't so bad after all.

And we were right in front of the planes on the ground.  This is Jan Collmer and his Extra 3000

We got to see the pilots as well as the plane.  Paul Fiala in a great lakes vintage biplane.

As well as some great flying that even someone like me who knows nothing about stunt flying can tell that this looks dangerous.

Plus there were some pyrotechnics to give reality when the military type planes flew.

And once or twice the pyrotechnics left smoke rings.   Cool.

The pilots can't hear you if you applaud their act, so you show appreciation by waving.

Some of the pilots even gave autographs and posed for pics.

But this guy, Kyle Franklin, was the one everyone was waiting to see.  He comes from a stunt pilot family.  His father, father in law, brother in law and wife were all in the business.  The father and father in law were killed in an air accident in Canada years ago and  two years ago his wife who was a wing walker on his plane was killed in an accident here in  Brownsville.

  His plane caught fire and he called for her to come in off the wing of the plane but she couldn't make it and was very badly burned.  There was so much heat from the fire that her helmet melted on her head.

Someone asked Kyle did he think about getting out of the business and he answered, "It's all I know.  What else would I do?" 

So here he is in Vampire, a plane that he and his father designed and he personally built.  He gave a great show and the applause was deafening when he finally landed safely.

Kyle's brother in law, Matt Youkin also flew this weekend,  but the PA system was so bad that I couldn't tell you which plane was his. 

This is Issac, who told me the story of Kyle and Matt.  Issac used to be a government inspector and mechanic at this yearly show.

Last flight of the day: Aeroshell Aerobatic Team in AT6 Texans  which are vintage trainers originally used to train pilots in WW2.  They were awesome. 

 It was at this point that I drew in my horns and thought that the show was definitely worth the coinage.

There was an opportunity for kids to have their pic taken sitting in the cockpit of a fighter plane and getting a salute. 

There were, however, some pretty shady people in attendance.

I personally saw this pickpocket in the act.

This flasher kept dropping his drawers.

And this loiterer never did watch any of the show.

On the way home we saw this photo op where kids could have their pic taken with a whole passel of super heroes.   Man, kids today have so many great options.

 I wanted to have my picture taken with the heroes,  but Neil pretended not to hear me and drove right past.

February 18,2014     9:30 pm cst   66 degrees

Bird nerds

We've been doing a little birding this week at the Santa Ana wildlife refuge and at Laguna Atascosca.

Altamira Oriole

green jays

American Kestrel

great kiskadee

Most everything we saw was too far away for good photos from a rank amateur...these are snow geese all around the water in the top of the photo.

Not unusual birds but  kinda nice to see.  We did see one rarity....the Aplamado Falcon.  

This is what we should have seen, but

This is what we actually saw.

  With the scope, we could identify the bird but my camera wasn't quite that powerful.   That is the bird, on the left side of the platform. Squint a little.

 Nesting pairs of aplamado falcons were brought to Laguna Atascosca to  reintroduce them to this area  and that platform you see is where they released them so this guy was probably visiting the old homestead.

This is a Yucca in bloom but that could not happen without the inter dependency of the plant with a certain moth that only pollinates Yucca plants

This female moth  gathers up some pollen from a yucca blossom, wads it up in a ball under her chin and then goes to another plant where she makes sure no other moth  has laid eggs.  Her antennae can smell it if there has been another female before her.

Finding an unpollinated yucca blossom, she deposits her eggs.  Then she goes to the stigma of the flower and takes some of the pollen from under her chin (that came from another plant)  and places  it on the stigma.  Pollination has taken place which insures that seeds will be there for  the lavae.

Both plant and moth are happy and thrive.

The guide at the wildlife refuge says that there are about 70 varieties of yucca and each has it's own specific variety of moth for this interdependent process.  Remarkable!

This little western screech owl lives in this tube just up over  the door to the park office.  Apparently he is not much bothered by thecameras and  people coming and going .

How did this happen? If I am seeing this right, there appears to be a jeep on the second floor of this  crumbling building.

This dude on a billboard has my vote for the cheesiest mustache ever.

 Covered in bees!  This joke is only funny to those who are Eddie Izzard fans. ( This was an outside lemonade stand on a hot day)

Tuesday February 11 2014 10 pm 39 degrees

The continual bad weather has forced us to seek entertainment indoors  which  got us to the Brownsville  Cultural Arts center this week.

As I have said before, I am not able to understand art, ....modern or otherwise, .....but this sculpture on the lawn of the Arts center made me laugh so I thought maybe there is hope for me, artwise.

Well, that thought  started to fade as I was looking at these bronze sculptures also  in front of the building

So I read up on the sculptor..this is what I read:

                                

                      The sculptures of Jorge Marín reflect in bronze the intrinsic strength

 and force that emanates from its creation and

                                 permits him to construct dynamic bodies, full of movement,

                             which challenge gravity and rotate in space supported on one point.

                                      His work represents the struggle between the coldness

                                   of bronze and the diverse emotions that his subject's evocate:

                                  the perfect balance of the equilibrists, and his winged figures has

 become his particular seal.

Huh?

One thing I do know, his model had arthritis because his toes are just like my arthritic left foot.

In the same area is this untitled....what?  Mummy?  (The one on the right)

Ah, but inside the museum is a traveling exhibit of the artifacts from King Tutankhamen's burial sight.  This is the third of three coffins and actually held the mummified remains of the king.

We were not allowed to use flash in the museum so most of the exhibits were not well lit enough for me  to take photos.

These are the canopic jars which held the king's vitals:

The jackal head represents the east and contains the stomach.

The falcon head represents the west and contains the intestines.

The baboon head represents the north and contains the  lungs.

The human head  represents the south and contains the liver.

There were also paintings there, this one is Nefertiti asking Thoth  his magic powers

And here she is getting the keys to the netherworld.  

This was untitled but if I were to guess, I would title it 

"Watch the hands, Buster"

There were lots of school children .  This one might have been a little nearsighted

Maybe I don't understand it all, but seeing good art does makes one spread one's wings a little.

Tuesday, Feb 4,2014     8pm cst            54 degrees

This weekend we went to the Los Fresnos rodeo and I'm here to tell you those are the toughest men ever! Just take a look at that bull's eye.....I see pure meanness.  And after his time, that rider isn't losing any time getting off.

This was the first bull ride of the evening and if you look carefully, you can see blood coming from that cowboy's nose and mouth.

Saddle bronc riding.............., the cowboy has only the rein attached to the  horse's halter to hang on to,  so when the horse bucked him off, his hand was still wrapped in the rein and the horse dragged him all over that ring.

I guess that this is the idea, just lie back and go with the flow.  That horse can sure get elevated, can't he.

It cost $20 for bleacher seats and I don't know how much for seats right up at the fence, but this woman is ignoring the angry bull and brave cowboy and appears to be texting.

The women trick riders were impressive too.  

This is mutton bustin where the little kids try to ride the bareback sheep the way the cowboys ride the bulls.  They wear helmets and protective chest covering and there are men all around to take care of any danger.

but.....

Outside the show ring there was a  Alligator show where for $2 you could sit on the back of the gator.  

 Lets all pray for that little boy to grow up  unharmed with parents willing to pay money  for him do this. True, the gator's mouth is taped closed, but  there is still so much to worry about there in my book.
By the way, that gator in the background is stuffed.

This picture made me laugh because when I took it, I  saw a cowboy on a bucking horse, but it  looks like a man with a stick poking a two headed rider.

Mark Chesnutt  and Craig Campbell were on stage after the rodeo but  we went home.

What?

We're old, what do we care about young men strumming guitars and singing about how bad they feel when we have just seen the toughest men in the world get beat up by 2000 pounds of angry animal, and then stand up and walk away?

We had freezing rain a few nights ago. This is the orange tree in our yard.