It’s Shade And Iced Tea Time

Greetings from the island everyone. Hope all of you are doing well and enjoyed your July 4th long weekend. As usual, Barnacle and I stayed put on the island, having no desire at all to tackle the crowds and misfits around the dock and mainland. I enjoyed watching the POC fireworks display from Leroy and Karen’s cabin, after they hosted a great little BBQ island get-together with fellow islanders. And my broccoli salad, along with Leroy’s great brisket, was a big hit. The nice holiday weekend weather meant more people coming out to the island, but then Sunday evening came and they all left. . . double yay!

Well the gulf breeze has kept the beginning of summer at a tolerable level out here. As long as there is a little wind during the heat of the afternoons, along with finding shade and a glass of cold sweet iced tea, all is well. Of course, come mid to late August it will certainly be a different story. The wind normally goes thru a 2-3 week stretch during that time where it pretty much disappears, creating a sultry and humid day from about 11-4 pm. Those days and times are definitely meant for an after lunch, cool shady nap in the good ole hammock.

Not getting much rain at all this summer has not helped matters with the heat. There was a two day stretch a few weeks ago where 1.7 inches fell on the island, but everyone else seemed to have gotten 3-6 inches. For some reason the heavy rain cells just seem to miss the island by going entirely around it. I’m happy with the rain that I have gotten, but I sure could use more, as my rain tanks are down to about 500 gallons, which might sound like a lot, but I can assure you it’s not when you use it every day.

The seaweed is still washing ashore on the beach, with this summer possibly being the largest amount I’ve seen out here in my 14+ years. Most of it is at the rotting stage right now, so the beach is not at it’s most pleasant sight or smell at the present time. But no worries, in several weeks, hopefully, the seaweed will stop washing ashore and the leftover grass will be covered with beach sand and disappear, leaving the beach nice and clean.

It’s about this same time that the gulf winds die down and the surf water turns a beautiful emerald green, indicating that it’s time to tie on a Corky lure and bring a few trout back to the house. Other than walk floundering, my favorite fishing is wading the surf guts in the summer. There’s just something about stalking those big trout, while wading in crystal clear thigh deep water, that is very satisfying. Fishing usually alone, I make myself to not venture out any deeper than that, always mindful that bull sharks are very abundant and patrol the surf.

Well, the Spring garden is at the tail end of production now, the heat and lack of rain causing everything to pretty much play out. I’ve got maybe 75 medium tomatoes left on the ten remaining plants, and I’ll keep them watered until they are all ripe and picked. Another six nice watermelons and the same number of cantaloupes are still on the vines, and I’ll let them mature before pulling all the plants up. I’ve got a dozen watermelon seedlings started in the greenhouse, hoping for at least a few sweet melons for a small Fall crop.

Well that’s it from the island for now, everyone take care, stay cool and have a great day.

Participation by the Port Lavaca Amateur Radio Club in the annual Field Day event, sponsored in the US and Canada by the American Radio Relay League, was an unqualified success by any measure. The number of club members who came together increased by half, compared with last year. Moreover, the three newest club members were responsible for a lion’s share of the 44% increase in contacts with other stations. In 24 hours of continuous operation, the operators were able to talk with stations as near as Victoria and as far away as Denmark, while making contact with 48 states and all but one Canadian Province. During the demonstration of communications capabilities, several visitors were welcomed, as well as representatives of local government.
More information about the Port Lavaca Amateur Radio Club can be found at www.w5ktc.org.
-Ed Campbell

A fascinating thing about history is how one thing leads to another. History is a flow that the beginning does not necessarily know where the end will be. And such is what happened in San Antonio Jan. 9, 1840.

This was the start of what is known as “The Council Fight” which was a series of atrocities by both the Whites and the Comanche Indians. You can read the gory details in the book “Empire of the Summer Moon” by S.C. Gwynne. He tells of the Comanche war era here in Texas.

One upshot of that fight was that Buffalo Hump, a Comanche chief, had a vision where he would lead a raid and drive the white man back into the sea. Buffalo Hump was every inch what we think of as an American Indian. His name is somewhat untranslatable in to gentle English. It took him a while to gather enough warriors and followers to reach a thousand. They got assembled and started on their warpath to raid the settlers.

By Ausgust 6th they reached Victoria where they caused much death and damage, as well as stealing some 3000 horses. By August 8th they reached Linnville. In Linnville Buffalo Hump accomplished his vision. The folks of that little customs post had nowhere to run except to their boats and out into the bay. He literally drove them into the sea. As in all of those raids some were killed some were captured.

One who was killed was Major Watts the customs agent. One that was captured was his wife. The Indians were thwarted because they couldn’t accomplish their customary stripping prisoners naked. Her steel corset befuddled them. So she was just tossed over a horse with the rest of the loot. What a loot it was. There were bolts of colorful cloths, iron items and top hats along with other sundries in the warehouse. After looting and burning they headed home.

The journey home was not uneventful. Several Texans were after these raiders. They caught them at Plum Creek and did battle. The Texans were winning so the Comanche decided to get out of there. They tried to kill the captives but the major’s wife’s corset saved her, their arrows couldn’t penetrate the steel. Comanches escaped so it might be considered a draw. This group of Texans evolved into the Texas Rangers. One of them was John Coffee Hays who became famous as a Ranger.

Buffalo Hump escaped Plum Creek. However Dr. Ferdinand Roemer as described in his book, Roemers Texas, met him seven years later. This was when John O. Muesbach of Fredericksburg and a leader of the German Immigrants that came to Texas through Indianola made what is believed to be the only unbroken Peace Treaty between Indians and U.S. settlers The Indian chiefs were Old Owl, the Political Chief; Santa Anna , the War Chief; and Buffalo Hump. The once warrior of Linnville became a peace maker of Fredericksburg. His Linnville raid was our main encounter in the Comanche wars.

Every once in awhile I write up a basketball article, usually surrounding the San Antonio Spurs, which in June became NBA champions for the fifth time in franchise history. Right now, I await the decision of a man named Carmelo and whether or not he will join my beloved Chicago Bulls, so basketball is just on my mind, I cannot shake it, like some great defender sticking to his match up in the post (see what I mean).

Although I will not have the answer I seek by the time I send off this column (but will by time it is published and hope I can look back at this with a smile not a sneer), there was too many bouncing basketballs in my head for this month’s Fish Out of Water to be about anything else.

So I figured I’d tell you guys why I am so adamant that the people reading this column take some Texas pride in the Spurs, because in the football heavy atmosphere that drifts across the Lone Star State like fog over the bay, basketball’s hair is red….deep red.

First off, before you guys get out the torches and pitchforks, there is nothing wrong with football. Besides being a Bear fan, which I am sure has me being mentally lynched by a couple of readers, it is a fine game and my second favorite team sport.

However, today a man named Lebron made the decision to go home to Cleveland to repair the damage left in the collectives mouths of NBA fans when the man spurned his own home town to chase glory in Miami in 2010 and although successful, his abandonment hurt his image.

Lebron also had an ESPN special devoted to himself to make this free agency choice, with his endorsers taking part. This TV special also made the fan bases of a few NBA teams holding their breath for thirty minutes. They did this only to find out he had chosen the easy route to a title, joining up with two other superstars to form a team that seemed more Hollywood the hard work.

Through all of this there was the Spurs, plugging along, never missing the Playoffs since the 1997-1998 season and doing it with an ‘old school’ sense of what makes a team, a way of looking at the game of basketball that has projected dedication, hard work and loyalty.

Being that these values seem to be in abundance throughout most of Texas to a degree, it is amazing that so many native Texans outside the San Antonio area do not hold the Spurs in higher regard.

Perhaps the Spurs are too good for their own good.

When an accomplishment is achieved time after time again, like the Spurs have been doing for well over a decade, people tend to forget about it because it becomes so commonplace. Only failure is acknowledged, like a mini bout of culture shock brought on by a constant becoming unstable, a small flux in the universe.

Maybe Texas is also spoiled by having three great NBA teams in the same state.

There is the Dallas Mavericks, which have a great owner and organization themselves and won the title in 2011, which was right before I moved back to Texas the last time. There are also the Houston Rockets, who besides being champions in back to back titles in the mid 1990’s, currently have a good roster and a shrewd front office, so there is an abundance of good pro basketball teams in Texas.

In my heart though there is a warm spot for the Spurs and I’d even go so far as to say they are my team after the Bulls. Some might accuse me of jumping on a band wagon, but honestly, I have said this before in this space at some point, but over the last month I feel a new kinship.

In a time when the NBA has become a place where one or two high quality players control the entire league, I am proud of the San Antonio Spurs for being champions built from the ground up.

They fit Texas like a boot…with spurs of course.

Now that the Warriors’ Weekend has concluded for one more year and the sand sculptures are being taken down, it’s time to meet the artist, Gloria Fric aka The Dragon Lady.

A citizen of the world, as she describes herself, being born in Japan, educated in France, Germany and all over the United States, Gloria finished her schooling in Victoria, Texas. Returning to Victoria when her father retired after being stationed earlier at Foster Field, her family then became a vibrant part of that community. Gloria graduated from high school in Victoria, and has remained a part of her graduating class by composing a newsletter to her classmates informing them of upcoming celebrations and news of other classmates.

Gloria is a beach lady, never happier than when she is walking on a sandy area, watching the waves crash and roll, turning her face to the sun and smiling with joy. And her love of many beach days gave to her the artistry that she gives to others today. Gloria said that as she was walking the beach at Port Aransas one day, she saw a sand sculpture being formed. Stopping to talk and gaining more information, she decided that she wanted to learn more about carving in sand and creating a figure. Luckily she had made the acquaintance of several artists in this genre, and each were more than happy to share with her their knowledge and guidance.

And then, later Gloria started working on her own special design and figure, a dragon of almost 30’; thus her adoptive name of The Dragon Lady. Entering the Texas Sandfest Contest held yearly in Port Aransas, she has captured both first and second places to the delight of her friends and family.

Being a member of an Air Force family, contributes to her interest in sculpting military scenes for our community. Additionally, her work and dedication to thanking returning military veterans evolves from seeing the scene her husband was exposed to when returning from Viet Nam, as many were during that period. Her ideas for the figures she designs and carves come from all fields of information; i.e., scenes from television, studying areas of the internet, suggestions from friends, photographs and news stories; everywhere. Gloria has given to our community her talent for the past six years, and we can only hope that she will be able to do so for a longer period of time. Port O’Connor is so very grateful for your talent and time and we look forward to the coming year.

Meeting Gloria you are struck by her very expressive face, conveying her warmth and congenial attitude; there are no strangers for her. She has very warm dark eyes, a constant smile, and a blond ponytail that is always moving. THIS LADY SPARKLES!