Tag: Personal Thursday

Thursday – A Little Personal – Random Photos

~ John W. Howell ~ 53 Comments

I was going to post about the fact that I’m putting together a bundle for Kindle that is all three books of the John Cannon Trilogy. I decided that I should wait until it is actually for sale before I start making noise. In about a month I think the box set will be ready. I do have a cover though. Here it is.

John Cannon Boxset
John Cannon Boxset

In the meantime, there are a few photos that have been on my camera and the thought was to write a post around them by getting more. Unfortunately, they are pretty much stand alone pictures, so I hope you like them.

The first is a shrimp boat that is very close to shore. They don’t normally operate this close

Shrimp boat

The next is Lucy watching the waves for any signs of wildlife or a taco.

Lucy

This one is a shot of a neighboring subdivision. I don’t think they want you to go in there.

No trespassing

A picture of Peggy enjoying some time in the surf. She has her caddie with her.

Peggy the Blue Heron

Here is a flight of pelicans in the V formation

Pelicans

The next is a shot of the town alligator. He had just missed capturing a Coot. (no not me)

Alligator

Well, I’ve cleaned out the file of anything worth keeping. Thanks for viewing.

 

Thursday – A Little Personal

~ John W. Howell ~ 24 Comments

One thing about living close to the Gulf is everything of metal is subject to deterioration due to salt spray, sand and the wind. This includes automobiles, bikes and houses. Of course, there are no houses made of metal but they do have metal roofs and fixtures. I thought you would enjoy seeing some of the effects of the elements on a few things around our house. The first is the outdoor lamps. These lamps are the most durable that we could find short of putting up vinyl. The material is stainless steel with enamel reflectors. Take a look.

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The patina is beautiful but we have ten of these lamps at various places on the home, and I can’t wait to come out and see them laying in pieces on the porches. The material behind the fixture that looks like wood siding is Hardy Plank, which is a concrete product.

The next photo is of one of door handles.

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These knobs are also stainless steel. You can see the same pitting that is evident on the lamps. The lock above the handle is also stainless steel but is looking like it is made of copper. The door material is vinyl so it is pretty impervious to the weather. The strikes on the right side are stainless and are now crumbling. I did not take photos of the knobs when they were new, but I did take one of the inside that will give you an idea of how they looked when installed.

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The final photo is of the front door knob. You can see rust on the top strike on the left. I replace the strikes once a year otherwise the door locks would have no place to go. When we ordered the hardware for the doors we paid additional money for a better grade. Since we have eight doors, replacing them might have cost a lot of money. The Kwikset company has sent replacements at no charge. I will have a good time this summer doing the replacements. Those pits in the molding on the right are in the paint and not the material.

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Thanks for reading.

 

 

 

Thursday – A Little Personal

~ John W. Howell ~ 13 Comments

I shot the following photo on a bike ride Monday of this week. Typically I tell stories about the beach on Tuesday but I couldn’t resist taking a little detour here. In case you don’t recognize the object in the picture it is a life vest with the name Cubierta Skandinavian. Loosely translated the words mean Cover Skandiavian. I tried searching many boat name data bases, and this one doesn’t show up. I also searched drilling rigs off shore with no luck. So with nothing to go on I had to make up a story.

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Cubierta Skandinavian by John W. Howell © 2015

“So where you going?”

“I’m going for a swim.”

“You crazy? We are in the middle of the ocean.”

“Yeah I know. I thought I would tire this rope around my waist and let the ship tow me along. It will be like waterskiing.”

“This sounds dangerous. You know the water is thirty feet below right?”

“I used to be a high diver and went a lot higher than that distance.”

“You drunk?”

“No. Well, a little high why?”

“I wouldn’t do that without a life vest.”

“Great idea. Here is one. Look it has the name of the boat on it .”

“I still think you are nuts.”

“Okay, here I go.”

“See ya. Don’t forget to tie the knot.”

“The what?”

“The kn-. Aw, gee too late. Bon voyage.”

Thursday – A Little Personal

~ John W. Howell ~ 44 Comments

One thing I miss living on the coast is the profusion of flowers that are able to be grown away from the salty sea air. We have very few species that can withstand the salt and wind that is part of living by the water. We have tried to cultivate some standard flowering plants with little luck. This time of year, the flowers are few and far between. Later in the summer and through the winter we can look forward to the Birds of Paradise and others. I thought I would give you an idea of what we have right now and I think you’ll agree it is pretty slim pickings.

The hibiscus always does well and this year seems to be doing better than ever. I think several feet of rain has done wonders for them.

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The lowly Oleander  (we call them highway trees) takes on an unusual importance when it becomes one of the few flowering trees able to make it in the harsh environment.

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Tha Natal Plums have little white star-like blooms.

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And, of course, we can try to keep a plant sheltered from the elements and hope for the best.

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This is the second year for the Portulaca and since it sits on the west side of the house (away from the water) it does well. Other plants in the same location have met an untimely end.

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Here is another plant on the West side. It is an Ice plant and usually has a chance.

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On the Eastern side we are going to try a Moss Rose. I can almost hear the eulogy now.

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This little Jatropha has been with us for three years and lives on the east side. She faces the Gulf but has a lot of friends around her to keep the salt spray from causing harm. She is just beginning to bloom so I thought I would give her an honorable mention.

 

Thursday – A Little Personal – Noah on Speedial

~ John W. Howell ~ 28 Comments

I have been discussing the fact that we have been getting a lot of rain lately. I thought I would put it into perspective with a couple of photos. On Monday night, our area received six inches of rain and wind gusts of thirty-five miles per hour. The net effect was a lot of flooded streets and flood warnings all night. Here is a photo showing how full the collection pond is behind our house.

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That thing made out of concrete is the storm drain with the pond behind. The street is flooded. The next photo shows Wednesday morning’s result of three inches more.

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That house on the right is ours and as you can see the water is getting serious. We are fortunate our builder put the house on a high mound of fill. The next photo gives you a bird’s eye view of the water level.

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This is a photo of the backyard from the sundeck above. You can see the water making an incursion into the palm tree bed and the flooded street. We expect more rain and won’t be clear of the weather until Friday. We have also had a few tornado warnings as well.

“Hello. Is this Noah? Yeah, a question for you. Got any room on that Arc? Port side cabin preferred.”

Thursday – A little Personal #RRBC’s Behind the Pen with Bethany Turner

~ John W. Howell ~ 21 Comments

Last Saturday I was Interview by Bethany Turner on her Blogtalk radio show titled Behind the Pen. Since I did not fall on my own petard I thought I would make the interview available should you wish to listen. It is a half-hour and If you can’t sit that long I understand. Below the link to the broadcast is a picture which will at least make your visit worthwhile.

a-behind-the-pen

Here is the link to the broadcast. http://www.blogtalkradio.com/ravereviewsbookclub/2015/05/02/rrbc-rave-waves-blogtalkradio-behind-the-pen

Here is the photo payoff for the visit. It is a stormy sunrise.

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Thursday – A Little Personal

~ John W. Howell ~ 30 Comments

Last week I showed some pictures of the beach where I live. This week I would like to give you a peek at what it is like to live in a beach town. I’m not going to give you a view of boats, fish, and tourists. That may come later. I am going to let you see some of the shops and sights we have in the downtown area.

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This first photo is of two old salts that watch over the happenings of the town. They are over twenty feet tall and quite imposing. That boat in front of them is a cement Farley boat that I talked about a couple of weeks ago. Behind them is the Islander souvenir shop.

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Here is another view of the Islander shop. It is one of the nicest looking buildings.

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These shops are across the street, and the one on the right is a surf shop and the one on the left jewelry and gifts.

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What would a beach town be without a Henna tattoo shop.

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Here is another gift store and you can see a pink octopus on the roof. I mean everyone should have a pick octopus. Right?

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This picture is also of a souvenir shop that features a giant shark. You can see the size when compared to the station wagon parked nearby. Yes, you can go inside the shark and pose for a picture. (which no one else has ever done. Ever.)

 

Thursday – A Little Personal

~ John W. Howell ~ 30 Comments

Thursday is the time for me to post some things about myself or my surroundings and today I thought I would give you an idea of some of the watering holes around our town. The residents describe our city as a drinking village with a fishing problem. This tour will give you some idea of the places folks go to have a couple of drinks and talk about the one that got away.

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This place is called Bernie’s. It is one of the most popular night spots since there is a band on Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. Inside there are three bars, pool table, and table bowling machine. If you fancy yourself as a pugilist you can always find a partner.

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Shorty’s place is an institution. It was started by a woman named Shorty. Their motto is “Oldest and Friendliest.” They have a sign welcoming spring breakers put there by the Budweiser Blu guy. They don’t mean it.

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Right next door to Shorty’s is The Flats. In the spirit of competition, their motto is “Not the Oldest but the Coldest.” They are referring to the beer, not the people. They also have music on the weekends

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The picture above is the Salty Dog Saloon, which boasts of being the Coolest Honky Tonk on the Texas Rivera (slang for our Island). If you look closely you can see there is Karaoke Wednesday through Sunday. They also want you to know there is no bait here.(this is an important notice since most people don’t want to stray too far from their bait.) Yes, that is a totem pole on the roof.

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This last bar photo is of a place that closed recently. (surprise). It was an institution since it hosted some exciting events. Through the years, most anyone in Texas music played here. Also, there were a number of  sanctioned Chili cook-offs held at Sharky’s. Yes, the trailers were there when the place was open.

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The words on this airplane are hard to see so what it says is Sharky’s Flight School. Open 2AM. The airplane is outside Sharky’s near the driveway and was kept in place in honor of the first student.

There you have just a few of the number of places available. Another time I’ll give you  a look at the restaurants.