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The Three Ts at Thanksgiving

All three of them were here:  Trang, Thanh, and Tuan.  While Trang and Thanh are graduates students at the nearby university, I drove to San Antonio to get Tuan.  The four hour drive gave us a good chance to talk.

It was more than Thanksgiving - we celebrated two birthdays as well; Tuan's and the Mystery Guest Blogger's.  Trang gave a lovely shawl to the MGB which occasioned a chance for a nice group photo.  That's Trang in the green, Thanh in front and Tuan flashing his charming smile.

(Please don't tell anyone about this, but after 38 years of marriage, I forgot my wife's birthday.)

Tuan's birthday was actually a few days prior, but it was still a good opportunity for baking cakes. Though the Vietnamese don't have the sweet tooth we Americans have, we enjoyed the cake. At age 26, he is just finishing up the first semester of his doctoral studies in environmental science.  I glanced at some papers next to his laptop - - and didn't even understand what the paper was about much less the directions given for working on the project.

Thanh had a chance to relax - and learn a bit more about American cooking.  The MGB put her to work making Tuan's birthday cake.  For both Tuan and Thanh, this is their first year of seeing the American culture close-up.  It was also a chance for the MGB and me to pull them into the fold of being in a family.  Having been through the experience of learning how to live in a very different culture, the MGB and I want to provide these three a place of shelter - of refreshment - of love - of a family away from home.

But, not all was turkey and birthday cake. We live in a citrus area.  Nearby is an orchard that lets folks pick their own fruit.  I haven't quite figured out why three graduate students want to work as field hands, but they had a lot of fun - and let me tag along to take a photo or two. 

No way I was going to pick fruit - I have too much dignity to protect!

After a lot of goofing around - and occasionally picking some fruit - the 1/2 bushel bag was full.  The orchard provides a pull-along wagon to help in getting your fruit to your car, and this provided an opportunity for a battle of the sexes.

And women call themselves the weaker sex.  Yeah, right!

Football is Over

The last of the local teams have bowed out of the playoffs - high school football is over for me.  This was my third year of shooting football - and I'm glad its over.  I'm also sad its over.

Much more work goes into shooting football than other sports.  Not only are the games longer, but I have to get to the stadium earlier to set up, and buck the crowds when I leave.  Contrary to popular thinking, photos do not flow from the digital camera to the Internet  - they have to be selected and processed.  When over 800 shots are taken at a game, it takes more hours to process them than it does to shoot them.

But what fun.  High school sports are the last bastion of true amateur athletics and I love watching the kids give it all they have.  Though I am sure most have visions of future NFL glory in their heads, most know they won't even play in college, much less the pros.  That doesn't keep them from playing as hard as their talent allows.  I believe there are a lot of life lessons to be learned through sports and the good coaches try to do more than just win games.

(Yeah - go ahead.  Click on each of the photos.  You will see a larger version of the picture if you do.)

The day after I shoot a game, I have many people ask me about some play or pass or strategy used.  It also surprises people that I take pictures of the scoreboard after each point change.  Its because I have no idea whats going on - my head is buried in a viewfinder.  When the play is over and my camera is  digesting the shots, I am either moving to a different place or thinking about what kind of shot I want next - - but I am not thinking about the game.

" . . . thinking about what kind of shot . . " you ask?  Yes - if it is third down and 8 yards to go and I am shooting a team with a passing quarterback, I anticipate a throw, then check to see where the best receivers are and try to get this result.

I see the unusual too.  To the best of my knowledge, there is only one other blue artificial turf field and that is at Boise State University,   but there is a high school stadium with blue turf in south Texas - and the home team plays in blue just as Boise State does.  Funny thing - when you are in the stadium you don't really notice the blue, but in photos, it looks just plain weird.  One good thing about artificial turf (at least for a photographer) is that the stuff reflects the stadium light upwards making for better exposures.  Only one of my local teams plays on an artificial turf field.

I even shot a junior high game - or I should say games.  The two local junior high schools have a 7th  grade red team and a 7th grade white team, along with an 8th grade red team and an 8th grade white team.  I have no idea what the differences are between "red" and "white" teams, but when the two schools played each other for the mythical city championship, there were a lot of people in the stands.  The caliber of play was predictable - lets just say the kids have a few things to learn, but they still gave it their all.  Their were bands playing and cheerleaders cheering and all the rigmarole of a varsity high school game.  I may do more of junior high games next year.

One of the things that makes shooting football different from other sports are the ancillary activities that go with it.  The band doesn't play at softball or soccer games.  Sometimes there might be cheerleaders at an important basketball game, but its not the norm.  Ah - but there are both varsity and JV cheerleaders at football games.  They do some spectacular stunts.  I'm not sure that the best athletes aren't on the sidelines rather than on the field.  They are also very difficult to photograph because cheerleaders are on the sidelines and are not lit directly by stadium lights.  I can use flash for some shots, but not for the truly fast moving feats they do.

Every game has at least one spectacular play. The "regulars" - the other photographers I see at many of the games - all like to ask "Did you get it?"  Of course, I usually miss it,  but occasionally I get the interception or tackle-breaking run or the open field tackle.  I am always intrigued by how the editor chooses the shots to run in the paper because his tastes seem to be quite different from mine.  Of the 800 (or so) shots I take at a game, about 80-100 are posted to my web site, I turn in 10 to the newspaper, and one shot gets run in the sports section.

As the season end draws closer, it becomes time to photograph the thrill of victory.  (I don't have the heart to photograph the agony of defeat)  One of the local schools (the one where Tom Landry played his high school ball) won its first district championship since 1993.  The place went nuts - crowds on the field, coaches high-fiving and big linemen jumping in the air like ballerinas.  But it was fun dodging the delirious fans.

I'm sad the season is over - - but I won't miss staying up until 2-3 in the morning either.

Trang's Birthday

Its not polite to reveal a lady's age - so I won't.  You will have to figure out for yourself the age of a second year graduate student who spent two years working after she finished university.

She came over for an abbreviated weekend - this is a tough time of the year for students as there are only a few weeks left in the semester and she had to be back to do research in the library by Sunday afternoon.  That didn't inhibit the fun.  The Mystery Guest Blogger wanted to bake her a birthday cake, but as she didn't have a particular favorite, I got my favorite - Boston cream pie.  (Yeah - I sounded ridiculous saying I had no idea why a cake is called "pie", but then Trang already knows I don't know everything.)
 
Her reaction to having birthday balloons and presents?

Next week is T-Bone's birthday, but he won't be here to celebrate - he will be in Houston - but he'll be here for Thanksgiving.  Looking forward to having our three Vietnamese members of the family here as we say thanks over our "western chicken."  (Turkey to you.)

For the MGB and I, our thanx will be for having our lives graced with these three wonderful people from Viet Nam.

An Addition

I used to write postings about my mother - I called them The Mommy Report.  It chronicled her life and how it interacted with mine.

As Yogi Berra said, "Its deja vu all over again."  Well - - - not quite, but close.  The past month, the Mystery Guest Blogger has been in Ohio with her mother.  The decision has been made for her to move south to sunny Texas - but not right now.  She is with us for the Thanksgiving holiday, will return to Ohio for one last Christmas with family, then move here permanently in January.

You won't read any mother-in-law jokes on this blog - I've always gotten along very well with the MGB's mom.  She is a warm-hearted woman - well read, quiet, and unobtrusive.  Being deaf herself, it was she who made me realize that I was compensating for my own poor hearing by lip reading.

This morning, she enjoyed the beautiful weather as she watched her daughter doing outside chores.  Welcome to deep south Texas, Mama.

Monthly

Halloween with Trang

She was cheated out of it last year, so the wife and I just had be sure she had a chance to carve a jack-o-lantern this year.  Even though the Mystery Guest Blogger is in Ohio visiting her mother, I didn't want her to miss out on the American cultural experience of pumpkin carving.

After getting her into my usual Friday football game as my "assistant", and getting a shot of her with the Mission High School Eagle, we spent Saturday morning having fun!

Having fun carving up a poor defenseless pumpkin, that is - one she had picked out herself for the  slaughter.  After checking the web and some photos, putting a bunch of old newspapers on the floor, warning the cat to stay out of the way and selecting the right knives, she began.

I was reminded of the danger of provoking a woman with a large knife.

 

And I watched as the creativity started.  Not content with merely following somebody else's ideas, she soon figured out what she wanted to do with her pumpkin.  Since the Mystery Guest Blogger was absent, she wanted her pumpkin to speak for her - "Mommy - Where r you?"   Outlining her cut marks with a magic marker, she soon had her pumpkin talking for her.

Is this life imitating art or art imitating life?  (Don't blame me for this photo - it was her idea.  If her  mother sees this, be assured Trang does not usually stick her tongue out at me.)

And the final product.  She took it with her when returning to her apartment - just so there would be some kind of Halloweeny kind of thing on the front door step.  The two candles I sent with her should have lasted the evening.

My reward for showing her this deep American "cultural experience?"  I was treated to fresh home-made pumpkin soup - Vietnamese style.  (As soon as I post this, I'm heating up the left-overs for supper. It is very yummy.)  Though she put me to work grinding some peanuts, she did most of the work - while my stomach growled in anticipation.  Once again, I was reminded of the dangers of provoking women with large knives. She obviously knows how to handle knives - she told me she has been cooking for her family since she was in the sixth grade.

In addition to the soup, she prepared a delicious entree of rice noodles, chicken hearts (yes, they are very good - and tender too), cilantro, and of course, some fish sauce.  I know I have bragged on Vietnamese food before, but it really is delicious, fresh - and very healthy.  I love it!

And Trang knows how to make it right!

Weekend at Dougie's

Friday nights in the fall mean shooting high school football games.  I sell the photos online at  www.rgvsportspix.com as well as to a local newspaper.  This week was more fun than usual as I had Trang with me.  After getting her permission to be on the field as my "assistant", we went up to the press box to get team rosters.  It was the perfect opportunity to get a photo of her in an unusual setting.

(Go ahead - click on the photos.  You'll see a larger version.)

The game itself?  Boring!  It ended with a score of 63-7 - - the winning team's quarterback went down on his knee for the last four plays of the game.  But there were a few fun moments - this player was on the winning team, but loosing the fumble obviously didn't make much difference.

Many people are surprised at how many photos I take at a game - its usually somewhere around 700-800.  Out of all those, I will have about 100 that are decent enough to sell.  Why?  Lots of shots are sequenced - the same scene taken with split seconds of each other.  My camera takes 10 photos in one second - the better to catch the action at its peak - and I may have five photos of the running back scoring a touchdown, but only one will be of his actually crossing the goal line.  Many are out of focus (operator error) or just a lousy shot.  It takes a lot of time to dump all those photos into my computer, sort out the keepers, then process them to look nice for printing.  Because high school stadiums are quite dark, I have to lighten up the images, crop them tighter and otherwise improve them.  Of course, then I have to upload them to my web site and send them off to the newspaper's server.  All this means I am up until 2 in the morning, though I often crash and finish the job Saturday morning.  Exciting stuff, huh?

This may be filed under the category of "TMI."  A friend told me not long ago that he thought he was taking far too many pills.  When he told me he took three a day, I called him a beginner!  A rookie!  In the top row are the ones I take regularly - on the left are the "morning pills" and the top right are the "night pills."  But, I've had a nasty nasal infection recently, and the pills on the bottom are the ones the doc has me taking to clear that up.  I wonder if all those pills fight in my stomach.  See what happens when you get old?  I always advise my much younger friends to not get old, but of course, they never listen to me.

Weekends mean worship for me - Sunday mornings will find me enjoying the music and message at Baptist Temple  - sometimes described as the most unBaptist church in south Texas.  It is anything but staid - the music rocks and the multimedia is wonderful.  But what I really like is that its an active place.  They don't want people to just study the Bible - they want people who believe to live the Bible.  I've been going there about a year now - and love it when Trang joins me.

But this is not a typical weekend.  The Mystery Guest Blogger is still in Ohio, preparing to move her mother here to South Texas.  I miss my lady - I guess we've gotten rather attached to each other after 38+ years, eh?

See you soon, Gril.

New Mexico

My soul lives in New Mexico.  I miss living there.  While others may dislike the 54 shades of brown of the high desert, I revel in it.  I love that I can be in a large city one minute, on top of a 10,000 foot mountain 30 minutes later, or sitting on a hill side in the northern mountains listening to the coyotes yip at each other across the valley.  It is a magical place - and we wanted to show it to Trang.

The northern New Mexico mountains are part of the Rocky Mountain chain - and in early October, it just couldn't be prettier.  The nip in the air is just enough to waken the spirit even if the lungs pant for a bit more oxygen. The golf course at Angel Fire won't be open much longer (though you can play in the snow if you know where the greens are located).  The summer crowds are gone - its mostly locals on the course now.

(As always, be sure to click on each photo - you'll see a bigger image.)

Purely by accident, we arrived when the aspen were in the peak of color.  Another week, and the trees would have been bare.  Trang was in awe - and so was I.  Its hard not to be amazed by such beauty. There are many homes built deep into the woods in the mountains of Angel Fire.  Wouldn't it be nice to pour your morning cup of coffee then sit on the deck and look at the colors?

Angel Fire is near Taos, but we found the famous Taos pueblo was closed.  Not to worry - the ladies had shopping to do - and since the Mystery Guest Blogger knew where the good places were,  she had to take Trang.  There are lots of "junk" stores in the area where pottery, Mexican blankets and such are available.  But, of course, there are also some very high end shops, such as Overland Sheepskin Company.   Trang has been into cowboy stuff since I first met her in Hue, and this place was a treat for her.

Then on to see the Rio Grande Gorge.  This mini-Grand Canyon isn't so mini when you stand on thebridge and wait for 8 seconds for your spit to hit the canyon floor.  I've been there a number of times, but I'm still awed by the deep cut in the earth so near to towering mountains.

Winter comes early at 8,600 feet above sea level.  Though the days are brilliant and warm, the nights are already cold - and this was Trang's first experience with freezing temperatures.  The thermometer read 32 degrees Fahrenheit, but to her (and most of the world) it was 0 degrees Celsius.  She was surprised that she didn't feel colder, but without the humidity in the air she is used to, the dry cold is less bitter, but she still needed a jacket

One last treat before we headed out to Albuquerque for the balloon fiesta - we stopped and watched real working cowboys beginning the drive to lower winter pastures.  Soon, the high mountain meadows will be covered with snow - and much too cold for the cattle.  We watched and listened as they worked, then they disappeared around a bend in the trail.  The old west - real cowboys - real horses - the real deal.

And I still miss New Mexico.

Albuquerque Balloon Fiesta

I don't know which was more fun - watching the balloons launch in the crisp morning air of New Mexico or watching Trang.

We used to live in Albuquerque and the balloon fiesta is an annual fact of life.  Tens of thousands of visitors overrun the city, snarl traffic, and generally annoy the populace.  But the fiesta is well worth the visit, especially if you've never been around hot air balloons.  Spectators are invited to get right out on the field among the huge balloons as they inflate and take off.  It is a whirlwind of color and noise and movement.

But - it starts very early in the morning.  Dawn has not yet cracked on the field when the crews arrive in their trucks and vans and begin to check the weather.This is the time for a New Mexico breakfast of hot coffee and a green chile breakfast burrito.  A little fire in the tummy helps you to wake up as you wander around the field.

(As always, be sure to click on the photos to see the larger version.)

Sipping coffee and checking the weather, the pilots decide they will fly - and soon somebody fires off their burner.  If you are near one of them and you aren't ready for it, the sound will startle you.  Soon, bursts of fire appear around the field and crews begin to lay the big nylon bags out on the ground.

 Trang wasn't quite sure where all this activity would lead - until she saw the first balloon with fire being breathed into it - and she saw how huge a hot air balloon can be.  An ordinary balloon is about between 75 and 100 feet tall.  By this time a crowd has gathered around the balloon.  As it leaves the ground, people applaud and cheer.  If you are focused on that one balloon, you'll miss the others around you - until another blast from a nearby burner makes you jump.  Now, they're lots of balloons standing up and launching, and Trang was quick to record this new experience.

By now, the balloons are everywhere.  Though it seems there are thousands of them, the balloon fiesta limited the number of balloons allowed to launch in one day to no more than 600.  As soon as one clears the ground, another crew moves into its assigned space and begins the fifteen minute process of setting up another balloon. Each must wait for a fiesta official to give the thumbs up to launch - just to make sure a balloon doesn't go upwards into another balloon overhead - but it seems they are all around you.  The sensation of sight and sound is euphoric.  It didn't take long before Trang filled up the memory card on her camera - that's my point & shoot she is using while her own camera dangles from her wrist.  It seemed like she couldn't take pictures fast enough.

It was a great morning - one of those magic times when God's earth is so full of fun and joy.  I was in the middle of this awesome place with the two most important women in my life surrounded by beautiful machines floating in the air over my head.  It was worth getting up so early in the morning (we had to get up at 1AM to drive to Albuquerque from Angel Fire - more on that in another post).

As the chill wore off and the last of the balloons were off in the distance, the field began to empty.  Chase vehicles went to find their crews and pilots while the spectators began to look for souvenirs and trinkets - and maybe a cinnamon roll or another breakfast burrito.  I was more in the mood for people-watching than shopping, so I let the ladies go off on their own while I drank the last of my coffee and watched the crowds dwindle.

And smiled.