Clint & Barnacle
Even An Island Recluse Enjoys Close Friends
Greetings from the island everyone. Hope all of you are doing well and enjoyed a nice Labor Day weekend with family and friends. The threat of rain in the forecast kept some of the weekend islanders away, but there were still quite a few out to enjoy the last weekend of summer.
The first day of Fall ( I always refer to this season as Fall instead of Autumn, not sure why – I think Autumn sounds too yuppie ‘ish for me), begins in a few days – thank you Lord! I simply cannot tolerate the heat as well as I could in my younger years. I am an entirely outside person, regardless of what season it is, so not being able to enjoy my outside time is a real drawback.
Early summer mornings and late evenings, especially the moments just prior to sunset, are my favorite times of the summer months. It has pretty much gotten to the point that between noon-5 pm during the summer is lunch time, then a short hammock nap and then the last hour or so sitting in the shade drinking a glass of cold iced tea. But I mean think about it, isn’t that the schedule that a retired persons life should be anyway? Umm, heck yes!
I don’t believe that there is any doubt that I am a recluse, favoring a solitary life; it’s simply who I am. However, in my semi-aging years, I have found that immediate family and close friends are an absolute necessity for a happier life. During the long Labor Day weekend, six close friends came out to visit the island guy. Nita Bobbitt, Alice Ozuna, Marion Garner Spencer and her husband, Randy Spencer, all of whom I grew up with and started first grade in Seadrift, came out during the weekend. It was very nice sitting around and reminiscing about the “old days”, plus they brought out sandwiches and pizza, yay! All of us went our separate ways after high school, but it’s refreshing to know that we have never forgotten each other, and never will.
And then on Monday, I ran in and picked up two of my closest childhood friends, Ben Plummer and Tommy Minatrea, and they came out for the entire day. The three of us were pretty much inseparable during our elementary thru Fannin Pirates Junior High years, very possibly our most enjoyable three years of school education, period. It was kinda funny listening to these two friends talk about their lives after school, the ups and downs and family/kid issues – and all the time I’m thinking to myself, “Clint, you got it pretty dang good out here on this island”. I fried up some beautiful shrimp, size 6/8 count, that day, which passed way too quickly. But we will all do it again soon, I promise you that.
Well that’s it from the island for now, everyone take care and have a great day. And for you yuppies, Happy Autumn!
CLINT BENNETSEN is a retired police detective and now lives full time on Matagorda Peninsula Island for nearly 9 years, writing a monthly column, Island Life, for this newspaper. To comment or ask Clint questions, you can contact him at ccbennetsen@yahoo.com or dolphin1@tisd.net.
