Fish.Fear.Me.

Originally Posted on December 29, 2010

I have been around the coffee cup hunting the handle. I'm certainly not the most well-traveled guy in the metaphorical room, but I've been fortunate enough of to have seen much of this country from coast to coast, north to south. This is especially true of my beloved Texas. If you had a map of Texas, looked at El Paso and followed I-10 to San Antone, then I-37 all the way to Corpus Christi, the area below and left of .the Interstates is the only area of Texas I have not seen, but I'll conquer that part of the state soon. Long story short (I know; it's too late for that), as far as the Lone Star State goes, I've been there, done that. One place consistently stands out in my mind in the approximately 200,000 square miles of Texas I've seen. The 3.2 square miles that is Woodville. Woodville has no 100,000 seat football stadium or behemoth amusement park to attract visitors or tourists. To me, it has some things much more valuable and welcoming, its people and the gift from God of the land that surrounds it. The scenery and natural beauty around Woodville offer a guy like me, thankfully, something that can't be unseen. I haven't been there but once in the last fifteen years, but my friends and the places in Woodville are as fresh and vivid as if I were there a few minutes ago. Martin Dies State Park, home of Dam B (B. A. Steinhagen Lake), is a great place to camp and fish. I will point out to you that when you see a sign in the park that says something like "Beware of Alligators", they mean beware of alligators! Dam B and the surrounding countryside are home to some of the best fishing I have EVER experienced. Ivanhoe Lakes, south of town on Hwy. 69, is a residential community with several private lakes on the property. These lakes harbor some huge bass. I was lucky enough to know some folks who lived there, and at Ivanhoe Lakes, Fish.Fear.Me. On the north end of Dam B is the confluence of the Neches and Angelina Rivers. (In the Angelina link, Sam Rayburn Lake is on the right and the river is below the dam) The spot where the two rivers merge into Dam B is a sight to behold. The Neches is muddy and brown, while the Angelina is almost Royal blue - the contrast is amazing, as if the Good Lord got out His Heavenly Paint Pallet and decided to make a colorful imaginary border between the two. South of Woodville is Village Creek and the State Park named for it. The creek is so wide that is almost a small river and it is loaded with bass, crappie and catfish. Village Creek and the Angelina rate as my two favorite fishin' holes out of the literally thousands I have decimated. Fish.Fear.Me. Just ask the ones in Village Creek. :) On the outskirts of Woodville are many small communities - Warren, Fred, Spurger, Village Mills and more - that play host to dozens of creeks that run like aquatic ribbons throughout the area. I was kind enough to leave a few fish to repopulate the local watershed, so you, too, can enjoy what has brought me thousands of hours and hundreds of days of what I call "goin' to Church" - just me and God. I talked, He listened and I was Baptized in the Spirit. Thank you, Lord for this piece of Paradise and giving me the privilege of reaping its Bounty and becoming Your son and you my Father. Amen.

Because Toby said so.

Happy Birthday to Number 1 Son

Thirty-two years ago today, I was in a delivery room at the hospital in Pasadena, Texas waiting for something I had wanted all my the-young life...a Son. I had gone through the Lemaze classes and all that stuff so I could witness up close and personal the birth of my baby. We had no idea whether the baby was a boy or girl, so the excitement of the moment was tempered with the question "Boy or girl". As it turned out, that day brought me a Son. I was overcome with emotion when the doctor said, "It's a boy!". I had a Son. Wow.

I remember one time when I was staying the night with my Dad at my Grandma's house after my parents had separated. Dad and I were laying in bed when he told me something that I remember like it happened ten minutes ago. Dad said, "I was so happy when you born. I prayed that I could have a Son for my first child." Then he went on to tell me how proud he was of me. It was such a simple occasion that produced a memory that has lasted up to today, and will continue tomorrow and every day that follows til the Good Lord calls my name. The minute my Son ws born, I thought of that story that my Dad had told me so long ago. I. Had. A. Son. Just like my Dad.

That baby that came into this world on February 29, 1979 is now 32 years old with children of his own, yet in my mind he's still that chubby little boy that I held mere seconds after he was born. That moment at that time was the happiest day of my life, hands down. I still feel the joy of that day when I think of the fine young man that my Son has become. I have never been more proud of him than I am right now.

My Son, Trey, and I have been estranged from one another for quite a few years, but that doesn't put a damper on the fact that I am his father. Quite the contrary. I love him more now than I ever have. I know that when I get to see him again, the memories of that February 26 of long ago, will come flooding back and the tears of joy will flow like Niagra Falls. I have faith that one day soon we'll work things out and everything will be OK. The Lord has said as much to me in my heart. I don't fret over when and where Trey and I will reconsile, that's up to God and His timetable. I will be here to hug my Son and tell him that I was so proud to have a Son as my first child. Just like my Dad told me. It's all good. Just like it says in 2nd Corinthians Chapter 5, Verse 7, "we walk by Faith, not by sight." It's all good. So sayeth the Lord.

Also Because Toby said so.

You Think You're Cold???!!! UPDATED! Scroll Down for Updates

Building a New Neighborhood in Maine

A few weeks ago, one of my friends in Texas saw where I had been Live Blogging the blizzard that hit here in Maine. I told him to hold on to his hat because he ain't seen nothin' yet. We are about to get slammed with the coldest weather we've had so far this winter. Before today, we had seen temperatures in the single digits with the lowest I have seen at 1 (one) degree a few days ago. Currently, it's snow at a rate of about an inch an hour and we are expected to get about 10 inches here in Augusta. I am expecting closer to 15 inches based on what I see right now and past experience. We shall see what we shall see. Below you'll see the weather forecast for Irving, Texas (my hometown) and Augusta, Maine (where I live now).

Irving, TX (75060) Weather

Save This Location

Updated: Jan 21, 2011, 7:05am CST

Right Now	Next 36 Hours

	Today	Tonight	Tomorrow
Partly Cloudy	Mostly Sunny	Clear	Mostly Sunny
23°F	47°	32°	56°
Feels Like: 23° Get FREE weather on your desktop	High	Low	High
Past 24-hr: Precip: 0 in Snow: 0 in	Chance of Precip: 10%	Chance of Precip: 0%	Chance of Precip: 10%
Wind: Calm	Wind: SE at 8 mph	Wind: S at 5 mph	Wind: SW at 8 mph

Augusta, ME (04330) Weather

Save This Location

Updated: Jan 21, 2011, 8:05am EST

Today Jan 21

Sat 22

Sun 23

Mon 24

Tue 25

Heavy Snow	Mostly Sunny	Partly Cloudy	Sunny	Few Snow Showers
22°F	17°	8°	6°	15°
High	High	High	High	High
5°	-1°	-14°	-11°	7°
Low	Low	Low	Low	Low
Chance of Snow: 100%	Chance of Precip: 0%	Chance of Precip: 20%	Chance of Precip: 0%	Chance of Snow: 30%

Notice any difference? To all my friends and family in Texas: I love you all with all my heart, but please quit bitchin' about how cold it is down there! :) Seriously, the average temps for Augusta for this time of year are something like 25 for the high and 9 for the low, so what we'll be getting for a few days is cold even for up here. I'll keep you posted on what goes on with the weather over the next few days as we graciously accept the weather that our neighbors to the North in Canada have been so kind to send us. Eh? Hosers.  :)

Because Toby said so.

UPDATE: The intensity of the snow picked up shortly after I posted this article. It's now snowing at about 2-3 inches per hour. That's gettin' busy. It would be a blizzard but the wind is not b;owing hard enough, but it's blowing enough to reduce visibility to around 150 yards. Here's an idea of what I am talking about. At 9:00 this morning  I had to run a quick errand. Before leaving I brushed off 6 inches of snow off the car. I just had to make a quick run to the dumpstaer and I had to brush off another 6 inches of snow off the car. Do the math. We are getting a good nor'easter as we speak and the snow is supposed to fall until at least 7:00 tonight. The current weather shows a temperature of 16 degrees with the Chill Factor at minus 3. I'll be updating again some time later this afternoon, I hope, and maybe I'll have some pictures to post

UPDATE 2 : I just received this infi from one of our Canadian readers. It's astounding!

Anonymous said...

*Ahem* http://www.winnipegweather.com/ Temperature: -24.6°C Wind Chill: -40 Wind: SSE 33 km/h Humidity: 69 % Dewpoint: -28.7°C Pressure: 101.6 kPa Tendency: falling Air Quality Health Index: 2 Visibility: 3 km

January 21, 2011 10:31 AM

Minus 24.6 C = minus 78.28 F
Minus 40 C = minus 104 F

Now that's cold! Thanks for the comment Anonymous!

UPDATE 3: The snow is tapering off now and will out of here in an hour or so. My best estimate is that we got from 15- 18 inches, a pretty good snowfall. Thanks to Anonymous for the Canadian Weather Report and thanks to all of you for living through this storm with me.  :)

Polar Bears and Polar Bears - Which Is Which?

Typical Polar Bear Club Member

It's the time of year where you'll be perusing the news over the morning's first cup of coffee and you'll happen upon a Human Interest story about various "Polar Bear Clubs" around the country. Now, these are not clubs for actual polar bears nor are they clubs for smackin' a polar bear upside the head. From what I can tell, they are social clubs of a sort where like-minded dipsticks all gather once a year so they can dress like it's Halloween or like they're at the beach in Cancun and simultaneously jump into near-freezing water all at once! What fun! If you're a penguin - or an idiot. Yesterday, on one of my other blogs, I wrote about a couple that got married on a water taxi and took the plunge into the Monongahela River. Can someone please explain to me the reason for doing this dumb shit? To prove your manhood? If that's the case, jumping into freezing cold water will do more to make your "manhood" play hide and seek than it will show it off. I just don't fucking get it. If the morons that do the Polar Bear Club thing had any sense, they'd realize the folly of this endeavor, so I'll offer them some free advise. Go South you dumbass! It's WARM down there! Let me put it this way. Given the choice, would you rather, a) drink a frozen beer in the winter time waiting your turn to plunge into ice cold water or would you rather b) be some place like Florida sitting on a nice warm beach slammin' margaritas? Any dickweed that answers "a" is either Canadian or needs to be deported to Canada. No offense to the hoser demographic of this blog, eh?

The whole diatribe above was a long-winded intro to the main subject of this post. A NYC Polar Bear Club Everyone Freeze Your Gazebos Off All at Once Extravaganza was attended by over 1500 numb nuts.Make that 3000 numb nuts as there were 1500 men. But, I digress. Here's an example of the type of nitwit that does this stuff, "It was like 10,000 knives stabbing you at once," Tim Henshall, 50, an Army reservist from Blairstown, N.J., told the New York Daily News.Now wouldn't you just love to feel like there were "10,000 knives stabbing you at once?" I know I would. For the record, I'm kidding when I say that. Give me the beach and some tequila and I've got a party! I'm sure that businesses along the Gulf Coast from Brownsville, Texas to Key West, Florida would love to rid you of your snowbird bucks. So, screw the Polar Bears (the animal kind and the people kind), given a choice, I'm headed South. You should be, too. lest you look like a hoser. Or a brain dead Northerner. Just do it.

Because Toby said so.

Fish.Fear.Me.

Fish Burger

I have been around the coffee cup hunting the handle. I'm certainly not the most well-traveled guy in the metaphorical room, but I've been fortunate enough of to have seen much of this country from coast to coast, north to south. This is especially true of my beloved Texas. If you had a map of Texas, looked at El Paso and followed I-10 to San Antone, then I-37 all the way to Corpus Christi, the area below and left of .the Interstates is the only area of Texas I have not seen, but I'll conquer that part of the state soon. Long story short (I know; it's too late for that), as far as the Lone Star State goes, I've been there, done that. One place consistently stands out in my mind in the approximately 200,000 square miles of Texas I've seen. The 3.2 square miles that is Woodville. Woodville has no 100,000 seat football stadium or behemoth amusement park to attract visitors or tourists. To me, it has some things much more valuable and welcoming, its people and the gift from God of the land that surrounds it. The scenery and natural beauty around Woodville offer a guy like me, thankfully, something that can't be unseen. I haven't been there but once in the last fifteen years, but my friends and the places in Woodville are as fresh and vivid as if I were there a few minutes ago. Martin Dies State Park, home of Dam B (B. A. Steinhagen Lake), is a great place to camp and fish. I will point out to you that when you see a sign in the park that says something like "Beware of Alligators", they mean beware of alligators! Dam B and the surrounding countryside are home to some of the best fishing I have EVER experienced. Ivanhoe Lakes, south of town on Hwy. 69, is a residential community with several private lakes on the property. These lakes harbor some huge bass. I was lucky enough to know some folks who lived there, and at Ivanhoe Lakes, Fish.Fear.Me. On the north end of Dam B is the confluence of the Neches and Angelina Rivers. (In the Angelina link, Sam Rayburn Lake is on the right and the river is below the dam) The spot where the two rivers merge into Dam B is a sight to behold. The Neches is muddy and brown, while the Angelina is almost Royal blue - the contrast is amazing, as if the Good Lord got out His Heavenly Paint Pallet and decided to make a colorful imaginary border between the two. South of Woodville is Village Creek and the State Park named for it. The creek is so wide that is almost a small river and it is loaded with bass, crappie and catfish. Village Creek and the Angelina rate as my two favorite fishin' holes out of the literally thousands I have decimated. Fish.Fear.Me. Just ask the ones in Village Creek. :) On the outskirts of Woodville are many small communities - Warren, Fred, Spurger, Village Mills and more - that play host to dozens of creeks that run like aquatic ribbons throughout the area. I was kind enough to leave a few fish to repopulate the local watershed, so you, too, can enjoy what has brought me thousands of hours and hundreds of days of what I call "goin' to Church" - just me and God. I talked, He listened and I was Baptized in the Spirit. Thank you, Lord for this piece of Paradise and giving me the privilege of reaping its Bounty and becoming Your son and you my Father. Amen.

Because Toby said so.