Live Music Mania

Seeing Chicago at ACL kicked off a live music extravaganza that included two stops at the Arena Theatre.  We almost had to miss the April 27th show with Boz Scaggs because of a freak storm that flooded the entire southwest side of Houston.  Enough about that, since I've vowed to never complain about rain again! 

Getting Lowdown with Boz ...

Jewel was also at the Arena on May 2nd and has more talent than she is credited with in mainstream media.

Photos aren't great, but the shows were awesome.

Rose in the Rain

With the drought in Texas, I'm not sure what is more beautiful ... the rose or the rain drops!




Back-to-Back Austin Trips ... ACL and Chicago

We normally hit the Capitol 10,000 and the Crescent City Classic in New Orleans, but this year Jerry's nephew, Steve, had purchased tickets to see Chicago at Austin City Limits for the Monday evening following Cap10K weekend.  We love Chicago and hadn't seen the new ACL facility, so we ditched New Orleans and opted for a second weekend in a row in Austin ... starting with an Austin High School picnic in Columbus at classmate Herman Wehner's home on Saturday.

The gang was back together ...

Frazer Dealy, Herman, Jerry, Jean Watt, David Smith & Darrell Cherry

Beautiful Town Lake during our Sunday morning walk ...

Sunday we met Steve and his middle son, Will, at Austin Country Club for golf - what a beautiful course.  The holes along the lake offer stunning views!

Jerry on the Tee Box

Jerry, Will and Steve Helble

Will Helble ... future golf PRO!

Monday evening we grabbed a quick dinner and headed to ACL's beautiful new facility.  As usual, Chicago put on a great show.

We had lots of fun with the Helbles!

Model Squirrel



After falling behind in my blogging, I thought I had caught up last month ... until I brought out my camera and found photos of this beautiful squirrel we saw in Austin this spring.

When he realized he was being watched - and photographed - he decided to spruce up a bit!

Now he's ready for his close up!

A 63 Minute 10K

We made the trip to Austin for Capitol 10,000 and had a great time ... Jerry on the phone at SECOND, where we ate fried olives as an appetizer (delicious!).

While certainly not a record, I was proud of pounding out another Capitol 10,000 in a very respectable time.  Photo of Jerry at the start ... waiting with the other 25, 000 runners.

He even got into the spirit and enjoyed running about half of the race - nearing the Congress Avenue Bridge, headed to the finish.

Our beautiful Capitol ...

They're still keeping Austin weird - this was parked outside our hotel!

Pretty wildflowers ...

2013 Rodeo Houston

The Salt Grass Trail Ride in February marks the kick-off of Rodeo Season and, this year, we made it out to see two shows:  Kenny Chesney and George Strait.

March 12th we took advantage of Brenda's Rodeo connections and enjoyed Kenny Chesney from the comfort of Chairman's Club seats. Here we are after the show, enjoying a nice bottle of wine in the Director's Club.  It's nice to have friends in high places!!

Although the ticket prices were astronomical, we had to see George in his final Rodeo performance on March 17th. 

Everyone knows the story of how George Strait became a star - in 1983, when Eddie Rabbitt became ill, Rodeo organizers called George to ask if he would fill in.  Surprised and honored to have been asked, he said yes and they flew him in from San Antonio an hour before show time.  He debuted to a crowd of 34,599 Rodeo fans and the rest, as they say, is history!

George appeared almost every year during the 30 years since that life-changing performance, closing out the schedule for the last Rodeo in the Astrodome and opening the Rodeo the following year in Reliant Stadium ... two incredible performances that Jerry and I were happy to have attended.

As you can see from these shots, the place was packed - he sold out Reliant.  It was a great show and he seemed a bit sad to close out that last set.   The Cowboy Rides Away, indeed.

The Boys

The boys ... chillin' out after having company for 4 days!

Return of the "Bobcat"

This post marks both the return of the "bobcat" and my return to blogging. 

 

At the first of the year, I really weighed the balance of blogging vs. social media and vowed to keep the blog up and running.  Since that time, I've worked a lot, had some fun and basically stopped shooting photos with a "real camera", making the blogging a bit more time consuming.

 

My years-old Kodak digital camera is ready for the camera graveyard, but I've never figured out the best option as a replacement and it seems that there's always something else to think about.  Since I've been using my iPhone 4S camera(s) almost exclusively, I just haven't taken the time to transfer, PhotoShop and organize months and months worth of photos ... a situation I know I'll regret.

 

So, with the "summer rush" of events behind me, I'm back-dating posts to catch up!

 

After a 12 year absence from the Houston area, Bill "Bobcat" Hudson made an appearance - lasting a pleasant 4 days.  Jerry organized a fun get together with many of the guys & gals from Austin High School on Thursday night when he arrived.  Friday night we had a great seafood dinner at Segari's, followed by Pizza at Star on Saturday and Bill's departure on Sunday afternoon.

 

Here are Jerry & Bill at Segari's toasting a life-long friendship ...

 

This isn't a great photo of me - I was actually having a nicer time than the look on my face might imply ... ;)