Food, Family & Friends
Greetings from the island everyone. I hope all of you are doing well and adjusting to this south Texas heat that is upon us. Thank goodness there is usually a nice breeze out on the island, otherwise it would be simply miserable between about noon-4 pm each day. As it is now, I try to get my outside chores and projects finished early in the morning to beat the worst of the humidity and heat. I think I’m ready for Fall already!
I’m hoping that everyone enjoyed a nice Fathers Day with your dad last month, whether he is still with you, or you spoke to him in heaven. The siblings and I made a road trip and visited dad in Brazoria for the day. It was a wonderful day, and I had dad play Orange Blossom Special on his fiddle, and he played it amazingly well. I love you, Dad.
For the first time, I went to Indianola with friends a few Saturday nights ago and listened to the band, Gintonics. This is a very down-to-earth place with good food and the music was great. It took about 40 minutes to drive there by car from POC, but later I took a nice Sunday afternoon boat ride to Indianola in Britton’s 21’ Haynie Cat, with Susan, Lori and Don, and it only took 20 minutes. We had lunch and even scored a nice buoy to display in Britt and Susan’s new island yard on the way back.
On July 1, POC had their annual fireworks display off the pier on Front Beach, and it was amazing as usual. I watched the display from a boat anchored just a few hundred yards from the action, and it was great. I’ve always watched from the island in years past, but the boat view was much better. And then a few days later, I rode with friends to Seadrift and watched Bubba’s fantastic display of fireworks out at Swan Point. It was a full hour of a continuous beautiful display. Thank you, Bubba, for your generosity.
The baby chickens are now just over six weeks old, and have been moved to their permanent pen/coop area. A few weeks ago, Susan helped me move them by her climbing into the brooding pen and catching each one by hand, and placing them in a cooler. I was gonna use a dip net, but the hand catching had a much better result.
Well the Spring/Summer tomato plants are done with and pulled up, and I started seeds for 12 Fall tomato plants, which are a few inches tall now. The Spring plants did very well, providing lots of tomatoes for friends and family, and hoping the same with the Fall crop.
My friends and I are still having a few summer bonfires on the beach, some of which include a beautiful full moon in the gulf sky. It makes for such a relaxing late evening when we can have these. A perk of island life.
On Thursday evening last week, I made a trip over to the Big Jetties and watched the wonderful big POCO boats streaming outbound to head offshore for the big tournament. I love watching these boats leave offshore every year, they are beautiful. I took lots of pictures and several videos.
Congratulations to the POC Volunteer Fire Department on the huge turnout for their annual Fourth of July BBQ plate sale. I stopped by and picked up three plates and a few T-shirts to help support them. The BBQ was wonderful and the people were many!
A big heartfelt thank you to a man named Joe Rivera from Port Lavaca, for stopping and helping me with a blowout two weeks ago on the highway. Joe was a life saver helping me get back on the road after issues with the spare, and he wouldn’t take a dime for his troubles. Thank you, Joe Rivera!
Lastly, I attended a memorial a few weeks ago for a wonderful man, Jon Gravely. He was well known and loved by many, and was a welcomed smile at Froggie’s Bait Dock, where he worked. Jon loved to fish every chance he got, and he loved kids and all animals. Thank you, Carrie, for a great memorial tribute to Jon; he will be missed.
That’s it from the island, everyone take care and have a great day.
Clint Bennetsen (Island Life) and his dad, Henry, on Fathers Day.
