On the back bumper of a Dodge Ram truck:

Bass tremble at the sight of me.

Ah, Texas.

technorati tags: bumper, stickers, Texas, Austin

The year was 1994.

I was walking to class at UT during the governor’s race. I noticed that suddenly on a campus of 50,000 students that no one was around me. I then noticed men in dark suits standing around trying not to get noticed. I then heard cheering, and a Texas drawl called out:

“I appreciate you guys!”

It was Ann Richards on the campaign trail. As she turned around to get into her car, I was the only person facing her, about 30 feet away. She flashed that infectious smile at me and waved. I smiled and waved back.

The year was 1995.

My then boyfriend (now husband) and our friend stopped at 7-11 at Lamar and 9th. I left them in the car while I went inside. As I entered the store a silver haired woman came out carrying a Big Gulp and some chips.

It was Ann Richards.

She again flashed her smile, and I said hello. She said hi back. I watched her leave as my boyfriend and friend waved their arms off at her.

So long, Ann. We’ll miss you.

technorati tags: austin, texas, governor, ann, richards

Like the swamps of Louisiana, Southeast Texas is full of ghost stories. The one I remember the most from my childhood was Crybaby Bridge, where supposedly a baby was thrown from a bridge in Orange County and on foggy nights you can still hear the baby crying. My cousin used to swear she heard the crying, but I never did.

Over the years I’ve often questioned religion and my beliefs, but one thing that keeps coming back to me are the stories of strange things that happen following a death. People telling these stories are often 100% stable and would not normally suspend disbelief, so it seems to me that there has to be something to it.

Take these stories that I heard this weekend:

• In the mid-1990s my father was concerned about some financial matters, and went home to take a nap. He woke up from his nap on the sofa and found his father’s business card laying on the coffee table. My grandfather had been dead since the early 1980s, and retired for many, many years before his death. We did not have any of his business cards, and to this day no one knows where that card came from.
• My cousin could make train whistle sounds with his mouth. He died in a car accident in the late 1990s. The night he died the family gathered at his parents’ house. About 2 am everyone heard a train whistle outside that sounded so much like the sounds he could make that his toddler son called out “Daddy.” The next morning my uncle, who lived next door, swore that he saw my cousin walking towards his parents’ house.
• My mom’s sister died from a lengthy illness last November. She had been in the hospital for several months before she died, and there were none of her medications at home. My mother, who had been her primary caregiver, spent several days straight cleaning out her room at my grandmother’s house, and finally decided to take a short break. She went back into the room after a couple of hours and found a pain pill laying on the nightstand — the type of pain pills my aunt took.
• My grandmother was worried about something a few years ago to the point that it was keeping her awake at night. She opened her eyes to find her aunt Kathleen (who had been dead for several years) standing there, and Kathleen said something to the effect of “Everything is going to work itself out. It will be okay,” and then she vanished.
• My grandmother has a very old rocking chair that has been in the family for generations. It has a very distinct sound when it rocks. Several people in my family claim they have heard it rocking at night.

My husband has a theory about when pets die. He says they die so that there’s someone waiting for you. And I think maybe I’m starting to believe that. Perhaps when you lose a pet and for several weeks after they die when you keep thinking you see them out of the corner of your eye, maybe you really are….

technorati tags: voodoo, texas, ghosts, loss, swamps

We’re back from our whirlwind trip to Orange, Texas. The Honda Civic Hybrid we bought back in May proved that it was worth the wait:

The Civic does well on long trips. Not only does it get great gas mileage, but it’s also a comfortable ride. Of course it has more road noise than the 2005 Acura TL we had, but with the upgraded speakers this isn’t really an issue.

I highly recommend upgrading to navigation, bass speakers, and an iPod link for your Civic if you are either thinking of purchasing one or have just bought one. This truly makes the car a driving experience, and I don’t miss the fringe benefits of the TL one bit. Who needs heated seats in Texas, anyway?

Saturday night we took everyone to The Schooner, a great seafood restaurant that has the best barbequed crabs I’ve ever tasted. This restaurant has been around for more than 50 years, and I’ve been going there my entire life. One of the things I like about The Schooner is that it always has the same menu — one of the most important components of a comfort food restaurant. On Saturday I had the blackened snapper, a favorite of mine that packs a little heat. And some barbequed crabs, of course.

On the way home Sunday we stopped at James Coney Island, a Houston institution since 1923. I had not been there in years, and my husband had never eaten there. We both had the Texas Style Chili Dog — mustard, chili, onions, and cheese, and my husband also had a Chicago Style Dog — mustard, relish, onion, pickle, peppers, and celery salt. Both were very good and I’m surprised that the restaurant was relatively empty. $10 for the entire order and we were out of there in 20 minutes.

Of course, no trip through Houston is complete without some minor damage to a car. Flying rocks broke one of the fog lights:

Oh well. Could’ve been the windshield…

technorati tags: hybrids, travel, honda, houston, dining, food

Or something like what Davy Crockett said.

The hounds have all been dropped off at their various sleepover locations (ah, live with special needs dogs):

• Daphne at my brother- and sister-in law’s
• Joey at his foster home
• Phoebe at the spa

Overnight bag is packed. Paper has not been stopped.

My husband and I will be crossing one of my unaccomplished summer vacation goals this weekend: visiting my family in my hometown of Orange, Texas.

This is the first trip we’ve taken in the hybrid and are looking forward to seeing what it will do on the highway without the Austin traffic stops. My guess is we’ll make the 600-mile round trip on one tank of gas. (Those who say hybrids don’t pay for themselves should see the savings when you have a 22-mile commute each way to work everyday.)

Have a great Labor Day weekend, all. Stay safe!

technorati tags: travel, texas, vacation

I grew up in what my husband refers to as the swamps of southeast Texas. A few years ago we went to the tourist bureau when we were visiting my family. My husband likes maps, and I like showing him where I came from.

That particular visitors’ center has a nice scenic deck that takes a person on a brief tour of the Blue Elbow Swamp, the swamp that snakes through Orange, Texas. While taking the tour, we came across two things that we still talk about today.

The first one was the alligator gar, a prehistoric-looking fish that I had watched boys catch in the local bayou as a kid. But if you didn’t grow up in a swampy area, chances are you’ve never seen one. My husband, being a native New Englander, had never seen one until that day. The conversation went something like this:

Husband: “What the hell is that?”

Me: “Oh that? That’s a gar.”

Husband: “Is it a fish?”

Me: “Yeah, I think so.”

Husband: “Are those teeth?”

Me: “Yeah, they’re really sharp too.”

Husband: “Do people eat gar?”

Me: “I suppose so.”

Husband: “What does it taste like?”

Me: “Probably like chicken.”