Texas Prairie Grass and Prickly Pear Cactus

I took these pictures during one of my site visits to Salado, Texas. It's amazing how beautiful such ordinary landscapes can be.

Me and Raul Senior

This past weekend was one of the most fun I have had in a long time. My dad came into town to retrieve the BEAST of a truck I've been borrowing to move apartments. That was his cover anyway. He was really here to see Texas beat the crap out of Missouri. We even went to a tailgate before the game. He watched me down like 48 ounces of coors light in about as many minutes. He looked worried until I reminded him that you didn't have to be sober to ride a rickshaw halfway across downtown Austin. At any rate, we made it to the game and our seats without incident.

That's when I learned that there are two versions of almost every UT longhorn cheer. This was my first time sitting in the non-student section. I don't which cheers are the originals, and which ones evolved out of necessity, but lets just say that they both get the job done. From our seats we also had a clear view of Bevo 14, the most beloved walking piece of steak in all of Texas I think. Actually i have been informed that Longhorn meat is rather tough and not used by butchers. Did you know that? The game wasn't even close. I think it was like 35-0 in the fist half. I was enjoying my pretzel too much to care about the bet I (unwisely) made on the spread.

It reminded me of when I was a kid, and I would look forward to Rangers games almost completely because of the food. Seriously, when you were like 8 or 10 years old, weren't you excited about a place that had nachos, hot dogs, M&Ms, ice cream, cotton candy, pretzels, peanuts and corndogs. ALL IN ONE PLACE! It wasn't like I could get everything... it was just the selection that was overwhelming. I don't know how many stolen bases or diving catches I missed because of a mouthful of hot dog. I'll tell you what I never missed though. Homeruns and foul balls. Why? Because I was terrified of getting hit by one. Everytime we went to a game I was sure the day had come for Rafael Palmeiro to hit the one-that-was-coming-for-my-nose. I realize now what an irrational fear it was, but I was just a kid. Plus I saw a guy get nailed by a foul ball at Fenway once. They had something like a bed sheet behind the plate. At Fenway, no one was safe.

My dad and I spent Sunday getting the washer and dryer loaded into his truck to take back to Dallas. The dryer was easy, but the washer was no joke. I don't know if front-end loaders weigh more than top-loaders do, but this thing put my table saw to shame. I guess it didn't help that the Toyota's tailgate was a good 4 feet off the ground, but eventually we managed to flip the appliance into the truck bed. My hat is off to the guys that deliver those things daily. I have to admit it was hard watching the truck get loaded up with pieces of my past, but I guess the new apartment just has no room for those kinds of things. The hardest part was watching my old man leave. It was nice to have him here, even if just for a few days.

The Table of Contents to My Life

If I were to write an autobiography of my life up until this point, these would be my chapters; one chapter for every year.

1. Glue
2. Faded Photographs
3. No Running
4. Escape from Daycare!
5. Soccer
6. Reading books and Hershey's Kisses
7. Legos
8. Braces
9. Tolkien
10. Driving the Golf Cart
11. Farewell Ennis, Texas
12. Tony
13. My first Razor
14. Rosie
15. Friends
16. Nighttime with the window down
17. Mary
18. The Peak
19. Burnout
20. Good Stories
21. El Jefe
22. Campus Walk Apartments
23. Jenny
24. Bliss & Boredom
25. The House in Madison Heights
26. Moving Mountains
27. Pain, Sadness and Hope

More of Emma

The dog took some convincing

So I have moved Emma to the new apartment. For about 15 minutes she thought it was a cool place to visit. Nice floors, cool view, smells like Lysol. Then she wanted to go home. How do I know? Because she proceeded to stick her nose on the doorknob and kept it there. When I didn't get the hint, she would come find me, lead me to the door and repeat. I've only seen this trick when she's had stomach pains, so I know she wanted out. But I just patted her head and told her this was going to be her home for a little bit.

Later in the day, as I was getting out of the shower, I turned the corner, and my dog, my furry companion for the last 6 months, my walking buddy, my wrestling partner .... was glaring at me like she wanted me dead and buried. Its funny to see a dog glare, and Emma can do it with the best of them. No panting. It was hard to tell if she was even breathing. Just sitting there in front of the door, eyes lowered like she was pissed beyond all canine comprehension, and motionless. I really wished I had my camera, but it was in the truck and that would involve getting around the dog and through the door. And that wasn't going to happen.

So I pulled up a stool and proceeded to explain to my dog that this was our new home. That there were good things about this place, even if it was different. True there were far less squirrels and cats to bark at. Her nemesis, the old dog with the limp, was gone. The deer would no longer flee at her approach. Small children, on which she would bestow life-long phobias, were nowhere to be found. But we do have a nice view. At night, she sits on our 4th floor balcony and listens to all the sounds of downtown life. She enjoys her two daily trips to the dog park. She likes stopping by every apartment door and doing a smell-check to see if she has dog neighbors. No, no, yes, no, yes, no is the order of my hall i think. She hasn't quite figured out the elevator yet and gets upset when we get out on a different floor than the one we got on from. We've been taking the stairs. But she's adjusted for the most part. Dogs are incredible animals and they have a love and devotion that any of us would struggle to maintain. Even when they glare. ;)

Thats a toy squirrel I bought her to replace the real life variety. She just carries it around everywhere in the apartment.

Strength

You think you are strong. People tell you the same. But sometimes you feel like you just want to rest on someone else. But you're alone. It's just you and an 80 lb funny-smelling, furry pillow with 4 paws and a grouchy, don't-touch-me, late-night mood. I guess you take what you can get.

Life as a Pitcher

Sometimes Life throws you a curve ball. And then sometimes you get beaned. By a fastball. In the head. But I'd like to think that I have another at-bat in me. I have gotten up off the ground and have opened my eyes. My swing isn't the same. I might look a little cross-eyed. My knees are a little shaky. But I will not go back to the dugout.