REFLECTIONS - PECANS - THE LAST GUIDE - GUMBO - BOB HOOVER - WIDEN THE MOAT

REFLECTIONS 

I tell my son that he has a natural eye for great photography. 

I am always pleasantly surprised at some of the photos he takes, seemingly with such ease. These kinds of photos present themselves quickly and are not easily re-created. 

JUST PECANS

Gifted a bucket of pecans from a friend of a friend. We borrowed a nutcracker for the pecans and set to work learning what locals already knew about pecan shucking. 

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THE LAST GUIDE 

An excellent story. Good for the heart and a slice of days past. Take the time to enjoy this story and the telling. From Bustedknuckles blog.

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GUMBO

Two years now living in east Texas and this is our first try at homemade gumbo (using a package seasoning base). 

Followed directions. Used half homemade chicken broth and half chicken base seasoning with water. One pound of sliced sausage as the stock heated to boil. Added 3 pounds of uncooked shrimp the last three minutes of cooking. Could have added more sausage and shrimp as this made a big batch of stock. 

Served alongside hot, white rice. 

 The heat and the flavor were perfect. 

My wife, having history of living in and working out of New Orleans, says this flavor was great, but the gumbo she is used to "had more moving parts."

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An early morning drive down to a lake.

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A BOB HOOVER DOCUMENETARY. "FLYING THE FEATHERED EDGE."

I saw Bob Hoover perform at the Reno Air Races. I knew the name and new of his skills as an airshow performer. I never knew the whole story.

Regarded by many top aviators as the very best fighter pilot ever. Take the time to watch this documentary. Excellent storytelling and remarkable pilot/man. 

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We have finally gotten some soaking rain here in east Texas. The garden explodes when the rain is followed by a couple days of sun. It is magic in my view. (Pole beans sprang up last night.)

Her flowers are also in tow, pushing out color and cascading growth from hanging baskets. The simplest of times.

.............. 

All of the sky-is-falling predictions, the constant barrage of news that is no more than words on pages, media dancing purposefully out of step and a president looking to shake hands with thin air causes me to look over my shoulder as a new default.   

There is a quiet in this world that screams, "widen the moat and tend to the drawbridges."

Thank you for the visit this week. Happy Easter and God bless.