Staying Busy and Preparing for Winter

Greetings from the island. Hope all of you are doing well and adjusting to this cooler Fall weather and rain. I don’t mind the excessive rain we have been having lately, with more in the forecast for this week, but I could certainly do without the added island marsh mosquitoes being hatched out in the standing water. And I’m talking about jumbo sized blood suckers too, nearly half the size of a dragonfly and with dang near the sting of a yellow-jacket! –the kind that laugh in the face of a fly swatter being brought down on them, only to buzz away after being swatted! Now those are big mosquitoes. But hey, if island life was easy there would be many others wanting to partake in it, and I certainly don’t want that. . so I’ll live with my fellow mosquitoes.

I’m currently in the process of finishing the floor on a 12’x26’ garage building, my latest project out here. My intentions are to get a used crew cab 4wd truck out here, but I wanted to construct a building to keep it inside prior to getting it. This is such a corrosive environment out here, trucks simply do not last very long being left out in the weather. So even though the building is fairly costly, not to mention labor intensive doing it by myself, and the cost of having the truck barged out, it will be worth it in the long run.

I’m not sure why I waited so long, but I finally got me a wonderful set of wind chimes a few weeks ago. These things sound like heaven! I never liked the tiny high pitched clanky sounding chimes, so I researched and found a father/son in Austin, TX, Davis Blanchard Chimes, that hand makes their chimes. These have eight 1” tubes, total length of 40”, and the melody is called Westminster Quarters, it is a wonderful sounding tune, and there are many melodies to choose from. The chimes aren’t cheap, just under $100 with tax and shipping, but worth every dime, and have a free lifetime repair with them. If you are looking for great sounding and quality chimes, I suggest you visit the website, where you can actually play an audio of every melody they sell, 45 in all.

I’m stocking up on my books, to be ready for nasty winter weather when I’m stuck inside for several days at a time. My favorite readings are non-fiction survival books, mainly true shipwrecks and lost at sea type stories. I finished one recently, In The Heart Of The Sea, about a whale ship, Essex, that was sank in 1820 after being rammed by an enraged sperm whale. It was an excellent book, and on December 11 it will premier as a movie at the theaters, I’m looking forward to seeing it.

Well that’s it from the island for now, everyone take care and stay warm.

CLINT BENNETSEN is a retired Police Detective who now lives full time on Matagorda Peninsula Island, since April 2006. Clint tells of his island life, experiences and findings in this monthly column of Dolphin Talk. To comment or ask questions of him, Clint can be contacted at ccbennetsen@yahoo.com, or at dolphin1@tisd.net.