Vagabonds

Well it looks like we are pulling up stakes again and moving this carnival down the road. It looks like we will be even more remotely located. Internet and phone may be sporadic, if available at all. So we'll see how it goes with this blog. Hopefully I'll be back on the air in a day or two. Rattlesnake country here we come!

Shuffling on the pad

Recently we couldn't turn down an offer from facilities to improve our pad. The ramifications from that kept us busy for over half a day. Disconnecting the "umbilical cord" that keeps us powered up, water flowing and poop exiting is a labor intensive and involved process. Throw in re-positioning the Dish satellite dish and it gets even better. Plus the night worker (ME) loses sleep time whilst assisting. I am grateful (again) that we have an on board generator. Once we vacated the pad and found a temporary place to roost I was able to nap in air-conditioned comfort. Then there was the reconnecting process... When we first moved here our service person decided to leave the support trailers as is till we got settled in. Unfortunately that left the trailer with the generator right outside our living room. That had to go and yesterday we set about helping move the offending trailer. Again water had to be disconnected along with the power cords. Reconnecting and re-positioning the cords and adding a water hose added to the fun. BTW, it is sure quieter in the living room. At least we didn't have to move Jezabel again ( -; Nothing is ever easy in this business, but I guess if you had to move your stick built home, it wouldn't be easy either.

Bon Voyage

Well the mercury in the thermometer is climbing and the "winter gate guard" migration is in full swing. We have decided to stay and we couldn't leave anyway as we did not secure a workamping position for the summer. They say it takes a particular person to remain and work through a hot Texas summer as a gate guard. We think we are prepared along with our coach. We have had the air conditioners tuned up and most of the outstanding maintenance done. The flip side is that Missy is in a funk since she has grown close and become friends with some of the departing gate guards. Being semi confined as we are makes moments with friends even more precious than normal. They will be missed and I hope Missy makes more as time passes. I wish more gate guards were open to swapping gate duty and getting together now and again. As the title suggests I wish them "Bon Voyage" and hope at least some return next winter. I hope they get to their destinations safely.

Easter and Passings

Happy Easter everyone! I sometimes wonder how eggs (usually the ones from a chicken) and rabbits became associated with Passover, Lent, the Crucifixion, et all. After all, rabbits don't lay eggs and neither of them care much about religion. As far as that goes, what got the whole Easter egg hunt thing going? And, why do we traditionally buy/make dresses and put on our "Sunday go to meeting clothes" for Easter? I bet God or that power greater than all of us is kind of smiling about the whole thing. It's funny how we always seem to find a way to distort the true meaning of our religious holidays. Do I really need to bring up the whole Christmas thing? 

Passings: 

Ferdinand Porsche-My first memories of an exotic car were of my neighbors 911 Porsche. A terrifying ride in a 356 Speedster with a pal of my fathers remains forever embedded in my mind. It had no passenger seat and I sat on a small tool box. It was the first, and only, vehicle I remember that the driver up shifted through a turn. It was also one of a handful of times that I was too frightened to speak. God bless him and everyone else that finds the odor of burning tires, gasoline and leather upholstery to be intoxicating.

Mike Wallace-need I say more?

Thomas Kincaid-I was never a big fan, but I did like some of his work. He brought art to the common man and he should be lauded for that.

The Ladies Luncheon 'Que

Perfect brisket-the Holy Grail of smoking along with just as good ribs. My almost famous 'que for the ladies luncheon.

Mosquitoes, nudity and malaria

Why do I think nudity got your attention? Actually I am responding to a reader(s) request to regale you with the adventures of my father and I as we explored a lot of the world. I'll try to condense most of it so as not to bore you. My father was a proponent of "transmigration"; the belief that ancient civilizations traveled the globe long before most think it was possible. Those of you that were fed the distortion that is History in public schools might relate. Especially if you believe Columbus discovered America. Believe it or not "transmigration" is a hotly debated topic. My earliest memories of getting the explorer bug came from our travels in Europe (my father was stationed in England as a USAF fighter pilot). I was and am a horrible student and had a tutor that took me to many of the ancient castles and sites throughout Great Britain. From my earliest memories I was enamored with knights, Merlin, the round table, et all. My father packed the four of us in a Beetle (that's a Volkswagen) and we toured Europe. It was on this trip in a museum in Norway that I got first lesson in transmigration. It was there that I got to view the Kon Tiki, a raft made by Thor Heyerdahl that he used to cross the Pacific.The book written about that voyage makes a great read. More travels followed and we explored through the years. Along the way my father became enamored with the Mayan people and their culture as we toured many of the ruins, including Chicen Itza and Tulum. Some of our travels allowed us to explore deep into the jungles of the rain forest in Brazil. (Now comes the nudity, mosquitoes and malaria ( -:) As part of his position as one of the military attaches to the consulate in Sao Paulo, my father had virtually unfettered access to the Brazilian Air Force and their aircraft. (My adventures playing with the son of a Brazilian Air Force officer in and on a wide variety of WW 2 aircraft could fill another blog entry). My father and I, along with a few Brazilian officers, would take to the sky in a wide variety of aircraft and head into the Brazilian rain forest. The official version was that we were checking on the military radar sites that were scattered all over the Brazilian interior. If asked we needed the guns for protection from the natives. We had the fishing gear because what red blooded male would want to miss the opportunity to throw a line into the Amazon and its tributaries? We would fly up to Fortaleza and /or Belem, fuel up, and turn west into the rain forest. Crossing the Amazon and seeing the seeming endless sea of green that was the rain forest was an awe inspiring site. We would fly for hours and look for a break in the jungle, fly low over it, and if it looked good we'd attempt to land there. One of these stops resulted in us being met by a tribe of naked indians along with a few missionaries. Other than the missionaries, we were the first "white men" the natives had seen in over a decade. Here's the kicker-the indians had recently killed one of the missionaries. Some of you may remember the SX 70 Polaroid camera. Before digital photography, you took pictures with these unwieldy things and out of the front of it would come a still developing picture. Anyway my father whipped this thing out and snapped a picture. The resulting "miracle"of these indians being able to see themselves for the first time calmed things down. We also had a box of trinkets which included mirrors and beads that we traded. I almost forgot the mosquitoes. I have been in many countries in my travels and never have seen mosquitoes like the swarms in the Amazon. The indians used no deodorants or colognes and covered themselves in mud as a deterrent. We used pure Deet, I think. Anyway it was this stuff in small plastic bottles provided by the Air Force and it helped some. As far as malaria goes, it was an epidemic amongst the indians. One trip we forgot our malaria pills and I found out afterwards that the hut I had entered to trade with the indians was the tribal hospital (so to speak) and that most of the indians in it were afflicted. My father contracted it and it affected him for the rest of his life. I was luckier. There is so much more, but those of you still reading are probably falling asleep. Let me finish by saying that my father was later vindicated in his beliefs. Our travels showed that the items we traded for deep in the jungles of Brazil bore a striking similarity to the garb of the ancient Egyptians and Mayans-fascinating. My father would go on to become a celebrated member of the Explorers club, a fellow of the Royal Geographic Society and decorated war hero.