11 December 2008
He doesn’t even know it, yet, but this is the fabric I’ve chosen for the lapels and such of Kyle’s new dressing gown. I didn’t get the project completed before Dickens on the Strand, but my goal is to get it done in the next few weeks. Unfortunately, I also have official orders I need get to work on soon. And there’s that whole trip to the UK thing happening in the middle of all my work! (I’m not complaining, mind you!) But, there are never enough hours in a day.
~MB
8 December 2008
A leisurely start to the day as we broke fast and bade goodbye to loved ones turned into an adventure hunt as Stephen & Marita Beth chased down clues. We drove or strode through 4 different graveyards (3 of them connected by a single drive, but technically different graveyards) in separate & distant parts of Galveston Island.
I’m not beholden to the concept of burial, preferring for myself the finality of cremation; however, I fully respect the sanctity of the decision and the necessity for the family to have a gathering place. I do, however, marvel at the intricate works that are erected in honour of the deceased and hold in my heart a special fondness for ancient cemeteries such as these on Galveston. This lovely statue was unravaged by Ike and stands silent sentinel over her ward in the first graveyard we visited:
. I took many other photos, but unlike these stone sentries, I am not immune to the irritation of the mosquito and retired to the vehicle rather quickly abandoning the photo safari I had, briefly, undertaken.
After our tour of graveyards we returned to the Strand to gawk at a structure (the Fadden building) that holds special interest for both Stephen & Marita Beth. We then took an unexpected, but glad-we-did-it detour to the end of the island. The devastation near the tip of Galveston was nigh on complete and depressing to view. It did, however, bring home just how lucky we are as a species that we have the knowledge to learn from an experience such as Hurricane Ike and rebuild lives where we may.
Departure for home was much delayed due to our travels, but we were content & happy in each others’ company, although a certain sadness always accompanies the Monday after Dickens.
Cheers.
~KR (Written on 11 December 2008 )
Listening to:
Vegas by Two Tons of Steel
from Vegas
Camera: Nikon D70
Exposure: 0.002 sec (1/500)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 135 mm
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
ISO Speed: 200
Software: picnik.com
10 December 2008
I’m enjoying being caught up on my writing and posting to The Daily KRuMB. I really hate being behind.
Today was day two of the reclamation project that should result in Kyle and I having a house that looks more like a house than a storage unit. I’m on my fifth load of laundry and our bed is fresh with a new memory foam pad, new heated mattress pad (heat rises, after all!) and flannel sheets! I repacked the center aisle of the trailer, and made room for more stuff out there, so there’s less stuff in here. It’ll be another three months plus, before we need to look again at most of what’s out there.
Our resident lizard once again has free range of my workshop. Terrill posted (the only) a response that wisely reminded me that if she got in, surely she could get out. So, I turned on the space heater out there, warmed her up real good and let her go.
My photo today is nothing special. This candle isn’t much to look at, but once again, I wish the KRuMB were scratch and sniff-able! It smells so good—a spicy orange food sort of smell. Sort of holiday-ish and just downright yummy. I’ll be sorry to see this jar be empty.
~MB
7 December 2008
Day 2 of Dickens on the Strand and most of us are only barely recovered from Day 1 – part of the fun, I suppose.
I didn’t take as many photos on Day 2 as I did on Day 1 with only 248 making the cut; but once again I was faced with the challenge of what do I post? This is the one I settled on:
While it does not show the entire group of us, it shows enough to prove the incredible & imposing sight we can be. Some years back some other friends of ours, who flutter along the edges of this core clique, labelled us the Ostentation. I think, looking at the photo, that not a one of us can complain of the label, and in fact I think many of us take pride in the term.
In this photo from left to right, front to back we have:
Front Row: Ginger, Denise, Marita Beth (my wife), BJ (new this year) & Kat
Back Row: Allyson, Larry, Rod (also new this year) & George
A large number of our Ostentation are missing from the photo, sadly, but that certainly didn’t stop this little pose from being one of the most photographed things on the Strand this day. There must have been more than a dozen photographers stopping & shooting over a 5 or 6 minute period. I’m proud to be part of the beauty.
Cheers.
~KR (Written on 10 December 2008 )
Listening to:
From the Edge of the Deep Green Sea by The Cure
from Wish
Camera: Nikon D70
Exposure: 0.005 sec (1/200)
Aperture: f/3.5
Focal Length: 28 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV
Software: Adobe Photoshop CS Windows
6 December 2008
Galveston has recovered from Ike sufficiently that the 35th annual Dickens on the Strand took place, albeit smaller & more intimate & shorter than normal. This is a weekend I look forward to every year because I get to play. I get to play with friends that I don’t see often enough. I get to play in a manner of playing that suits my sentiment and makes me happy.
On this particular Saturday of Dickens I took 348 photos (that made the cut). It was difficult to decide on which one to use as my Photo of the Day. I eventually settled on this one:
.
Larry is a dear friend that lives too far away in the hinterlands of North Milwaukee. In this photo, he epitomizes all that is good & great about Dickens on the Strand. And behind him, you can see the fuzzy colour of the hustle-bustle that is the festival.
Thanks Galveston Historical Foundation for providing us this festival.
Cheers.
~KR (Written on 10 December 2008 )
Listening to:
Don’t Let Me Die Still Wondering by Flogging Molly
from Within a Mile of Home
Camera: Nikon D70
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 200 mm
Exposure Bias: 0 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire
ISO Speed: 400
Software: picnik.com
5 December 2008
Friday of Dickens on the Strand. Most years we’re already on the island and preparing for the Gingerbread Ball. This year, however, with the destruction that Ike brought with him, the ball didn’t happen so we went down a day later.
Also this year, we stayed at the Galvez rather than the Tremont which is still closed. Not as convenient as the Tremont is the Galvez, but just as lovely in different ways. I especially loved the view over the Gulf of Mexico we had from our room
Cheers
~KR (Writtenon 9 December 2008 )
Listening to:
Maybe Someday by Cure
from Join the Dots: B-Sides & Rarities, 1978-2001
Camera: Nikon D70
Exposure: 0.008 sec (1/125)
Aperture: f/5.6
Focal Length: 145 mm
Exposure Bias: 0/6 EV
Flash: Flash did not fire
ISO Speed: 800
9 December 2008
In this case, when I write the words “hand warmer,” I’m not referring to mittens or heat packs, or pockets . . . I’m not referring to anything for warming my hands, at all. Instead, I’m talking about my hand acting as a warmer for this beautiful little Texas Spiny Lizard that has taken up residence in my workshop.
I first spotted her a couple of weeks or more ago, scurrying between bolts of fabric when I moved one. Once after that, just last week, and now again today; she (assuming there’s only one) gets around! We have quite the community of these lovely little creatures around our home, and we love it. The pesty ant population is certainly less than it used to be! The lizard population has grown in the last ten years or so, since before that, our indoor/outdoor cats kept them from multiplying! But, it’s not too often that one gets indoors, and when it happens I usually catch them and put them outside.
But, it was cold here today—it actually was sleeting at about the time I first corralled this one into a large Rubbermaid tub. I simply didn’t have the heart to put her outside. So, I gave her water and fabric to burrow into, and I hope it’s warm enough tomorrow to let her out, ’cause I really don’t want to have to go buy live cricket-food!
So, here’s my quandry: I’ve kept a lizard as a pet, and I really don’t want to do it again, at this time. So, my other two options are: 1. Put her outside where I would think she’d be behind the eight ball in terms of burrowing in for the winter. If I do that, am I condemning her to freeze to death? I can’t find any evidence in my research that these creatures hibernate . . . would she survive? Or 2. Let her go free inside my garage workshop where it’s certainly warmer, but not “warm,” and worry about her not getting enough food to live. I’d hate to move a bolt of fabric and find her dead of starvation someday. I mean, how many bugs can there really be in my workshop? I don’t deal with bugs out there, that I know of—can there be that many that I don’t know about?
I’d love to hear the opinions of our readers on this question. What would you do? Okay . . . if you were me, and you really like lizards, what would you do? 
And, by the way, I’m pretty sure she is a “she”—I did some research and came up with the fact that the male of this species has blue markings on the belly, and my little lizard does not have those markings. Hence, I believe her to be a “her.”
I’ll be watching for your comments, replies, and suggestions!
~MB
8 December 2008
We are home safe and sound, now, from a wonderful weekend in Galveston. After breakfasting and saying our goodbyes, packing up our stuff, checking out and moving out of the hotel room, Kyle and Stephen and I went adventuring. We wanted to go back downtown and look at a couple of old buildings, so we did. And we followed a hunch to first the Old City Cemetary, and then to Calvary Cemetary. At Calvary Cemetary, between 61st and 65th Streets, we were surprised at just how much damage there had been—most of it, presumably, from Hurricane Ike. Toppled and broken stones lay everywhere, including the cemetary’s own beautiful Stations of the Cross statuary. This broken tombstone above, really caught my eye and my heart, and so I turned over the broken off piece so that it now lays with the departed’s name facing the sky. I thought the weeping, mourning angel was heartbreakingly poignant and seemed to transcend the generations between the year of it’s original placement, and the now.
We grabbed some lunch at a Sonic on the Seawall, and took a drive down the south end of the island and back. We ended up leaving the island much later than intended, and got stuck in some nasty Houston area traffic, but other than that, it was a great day.
~MB
7 December 2008
Sunday gave us another beautiful weather day in Galveston. The only thing that could really have made my day better, was if the streets were paved in playground rubber! I really wish I could find a pair of period-looking shoes that would be comfortable for two long days on concrete . . . but I don’t think they exist!
We had a nice breakfast at the hotel, with an excellent server—our first good experience in that restaurant. ‘Bout time, I guess. Kyle and I got to the downtown zone just in time to get a phone call from our friend BJ telling us she was on the island, too! Her company was a wonderful surprise, and we have to remember to make sure she joins us again next year.
We did a lot of sitting still today; I’m not the only one who’s feet hurt! 
While we were occupying one particular curb, we managed to pass off a couple of our cameras to a trustworthy passerby, and get this photo. He also promised to email us the photo he took, so we’ll see . . . I’m very pleased with the photo I chose for the KRuMB today. Kyle and Rod and George all three looked marvelous (despite the fact that Rod was really pretty sick all weekend) and they stood in one place all together for long enough for me to remember I had my camera!
Our day ended a little earlier today—we really were tired and sore . . . but we were happy. Back to the hotel and a quick change of clothes, and out to dinner at Willie G’s! Yep! They re-opened on Friday, completely remodeled and re-menued and re-staffed. The place is modern-looking now, and even though I preferred the old world feel from before Ike, the new look is lovely. And, it’s symbolic of the changes that Galveston has to face in it’s post-Ike existence. It’s a new world.
Our weekend draws to a close. Sunday night means packing to go home. <sigh>
~MB
6 December 2008
At Dickens on the Strand! The official re -opening of the tourist industry on Galveston Island, after the ravages of Hurricane Ike. And what a day it was! The weather cooperated perfectly and the people came out in numbers higher than anyone had anticipated. It was easy to see that although this little island is down, it is NOT out!
We arrived at the Hotel Galvez on the Seawall, Friday evening before five o’clock. That gave us plenty of time to unload, check in, settle in, and gather at the lobby bar with our friends before dinner. It was pretty quickly decided that Gaido’s would be the perfect place to celebrate our first evening on the island. One of the older dining establishments on Galveston Island, Gaido’s was also among the very first to re-open after Ike. So, with a well-placed call by our friend, Jackie, the world’s best concierge, we piled into a couple of different vehicles and headed south on Seawall Boulevard.
Our meal there was wonderful—a sharp contrast to our Saturday evening dining experience . . . but that’s another story . . . really.
We changed into our Victorian loungewear after dinner and relaxed in the Hotel lobby, enjoying the company of our dear ones we don’t live near enough to, or get to see often enough. It’s different at the Galvez, than at the Tremont, but it’s a beautiful place, full of turn of the century ambiance and inspiration for the weekend’s event.
Saturday dawned bright and sunny, and we gathered for breakfast at Bernardo’s—the hotel restaurant. We quickly learned that speed was not a forte of this restaurant, and tried to resign ourselves to the notion that we are “on holiday” and therefore not in a hurry. We did all break our fast, and finally get dressed and get ourselves to The Strand before noon. Everybody looked marvelous, of course, and we had a marvelous time! The Strand was busy and full of life—it was lovely. Most storefronts were still closed, of course, but many more were open than I expected. Some were open just to sell cans of soda or bottles of water, but they were open. And there were a good number of street vendors there—many familiar ones, and a bunch of new ones, too. I personally did my best to buoy the local economy!
One of the highlights of my day was an all-too brief visit to an “after party” at the home of our new friend, Alice Melott, of Galveston’s Keller Williams Real Estate. She owns a stunningly beautiful loft condo on Market Street in downtown Galveston. After “meeting” online through our blogs, she offered us a generous invitation to her holiday gathering, and we couldn’t resist. We had barely greeted each other and completed introductions when I realized she was about to introduce me to an old theatre friend I knew back in the 1980s! What a small world! Another delightful surprise, there, was getting to meet Frank Billingsley, the Houston weatherman who was so active in getting the word out about the condition of the island right after the storm. Kyle and I were greeted warmly by everyone we met at the party, and made to feel really very special. Our costumes were a big hit. And, even though we really couldn’t stay long, we felt as though we’d have fit right in. It was a delightful experience, and I told Alice, when we’ve made our fortune and can afford to dream big—I’ll be sure to call her to help us find our island getaway spot!
Back at the hotel, dinner was an adventure I’d really rather not expound on here . . . suffice it to say, the details will be going into at least one letter to the management. But, it was the only blight on an otherwise comfortable, pleasant, relaxing stay at the Hotel Galvez. After dinner we again, changed into our period dressing gowns and such, and played a few hands of mah jong, before giving in to how tired we were.
We play hard! We know how to have fun! And tomorrow . . . more fun!
~MB
(There are lots more photos on my Flickr stream. Have fun looking!)
