Virtual-Doug

Small City Doings, Part I

Some background - -

Mission, Texas, is a small city of approximately 50,000 people.  It sits right on the border with Mexico.  In its early years, it grew because pioneer agriculturists planted citrus groves.  Though trade with Mexico and nearby maquiladora plants are eclipsing citrus as the main industry, Mission still celebrates the annual Texas Citrus Fiesta as it has for 71 years.  Mission is really an overgrown small town, and the flavor an agricultural, rural culture is evident during the festivities.

A festival requires a Queen (and king, but he’s secondary) and of course, that also requires a Royal Court.  The local high school gym becomes a coronation ballroom for the night as pretty young ladies of all ages became part of the pageantry.  This was not a beauty contest per se and the girls were dressed in elaborate gowns representing various fruits.  There was a Duchess of Watermelon, a Duchess of Ruby Red Grapefruit, and a Duchess of  Papaya – and many more.  Each was introduced with such formalities as saying they from “The House of Gonzalez”, or Smith, of Hughes – or whatever her family name was.  Of course, they didn’t come from the towns of Mission, Edinburg, or McAllen – they came from the “Royal Province” of . . . Each Duchess walked the runway, bowed to the King and Queen, then joined the rest of the Royal Court.  The gowns were so huge the girls had to have help to sit down.  For some reason, Americans are fascinated by royalty, even though our Constitution expressly forbids having hereditary titles.

(As always, be sure to click on each photo - you'll see the full sized image that way.)

There are costume contests too – mostly little kids, but a few adults too.  This little girl was dressed up as if she was at a sock hop in her poodle skirt.  Most times I enjoy watching kids performing in public, but I often sense they are pushed into cavorting before crowds by parents trying to live out their dream through their kids.  But this girl was having a ball. When she saw a camera, she turned on the charm.  She loved walking the runway.  Not so with this tyke – she walked half way down the ramp, and burst into tears.  Mom was right there to help,  but I have my doubts she will want to do this again.

It was a long night for little girls and old photographers.  There were endless awards, but then again, why shouldn’t there be?  A lot of people put a lot of time and effort into the evening, and everybody should have their fifteen minutes of fame.  The long list of kudos certainly kept the announcer busy.

As I looked out over the gym (the same gym where I’ve taken innumerable basketball and volleyball photos), I wondered how much longer events like this will continue.  They come from a day when America was mostly rural -  country fairs, festivals, and church socials were a way for people to get together.  Today, air conditioning and television keep most people inside, and for younger people, at least, a lot of socializing is done over the Internet.  The city of Mission, Texas, is no longer a small town.  In reality, Mission is part of a group of cities that include McAllen, Pharr, and Edinburg – and unless you look for the city limit signs, you won’t know which city you’re in.  It is now a metropolitan area, not rural.  The low attendance at the Royal Court festivities were self-evident.  In fact, I took this photo from a balcony area where I was the only person.

It was a fun night.  In the next few days, I’ll post stories on the Fun Fair and the Parade – both parts of the 2008 Citrus Fiesta.

Education System

Can there be little doubt the school system in the United States is failing?  According to the U.S. Department of Education, more than a quarter of U.S. schools are failing under terms of the No Child Left Behind law.  A least 24,470 U.S. public schools, or 27 percent of the national total, did not meet the federal requirement for "adequate yearly progress" in 2004-2005.  (Washington Post)

Of course, we don’t stack up very well internationally either.  An interesting new documentary has come out titled “Two Million Minutes,” which examines the daily life of individual students in China, India, and America.  Compared to the U.S., China now produces eight times more scientists and  engineers, while India puts out up to three times as many as the U.S.  Here in deep South Texas, there has been a lot of discussion about some high schools being “drop-out factories.”

This is a crisis that will bury America in the future.

Connections

Funny thing – for no particular reason I can think of, I’ve been connecting with people lately.  People I’ve known for a long time, and another whom I have never met face-to-face.

I connected with Jim.  We hadn’t talked in a awhile, and I’m not sure I know why.  We’re busy, I guess.  The problem is compounded by the fact that it is difficult for him to talk on the phone about Alzheimer’s within ear shot of his wife. You see, both his mother and his wife suffer from the disease.  In talking to him, my own attitude is  always refreshed to see how strongly he faces his difficult life.  In our reconnection, we learned from each other that there are deep life lessons we are learning – lessons we would not have learned if we weren’t going through this experience with Alzheimer’s.  In my case, I have slowly come to realize that my mother is still teaching me – these are the final lessons she will teach me in this world.  She is teaching me humility and patience.

I connected with Keith.  I’m extraordinarily proud of my son – he is a good father, a good husband, a good teacher, and a good coach.  Mostly, I enjoy just listening to him recite the paths of his life.  He meets the good and the bad with equal aplomb.  Last Sunday we talked for almost five hours – this from me who generally hates the telephone.  It was mostly guy talk – all we lacked was a cigar to enjoy while talking.

(Be sure to put your mouse on a photo, then click on the photo.  You will see a larger version of the photo that way.)

I connected with Jeff.  We go way back to the early 70s when we worked together in Atlanta.  He’s attuned to my situation caring for a mother with Alzheimer’s.  Being a  Jimmy Buffett fan, Jeff told me of Buffett’s dealing with his father’s Alzheimer’s.  He even sent me a copy of one Jimmy’s stories through the mail.  I truly identified with how Buffett’s father went through periods of excellent long term memory while not being able to remember what he had for breakfast.  I took this photo in August 2006, not much after my mother moved here from Florida.  Over dinner, she leafed through old scrapbooks and remembered incredible details.

I connected with Barry.  Though I’ve never met the man, we first connected when he read this blog back when we lived in Việt Nam.  He has made his own trip – and rode a moto from Saigon to the border with China.  Our obvious connection is a country we both love and admire. It was a thought provoking and interesting conversation on many topics, including being a veteran of the war America fought in Việt Nam.

Finally, I connected with Trang.  She is one of my former students and graduated from the University of Huê at the same time the Mystery Guest Blogger and I returned home.  She now works in Sài Gòn for IBM.  Because most of the clients are in the United States, she works at night – which of course makes it perfect for the two of us to stay connected.  As she comes in to work, I am sitting down at my computer with my morning coffee.  On many days, we IM and stay connected.   A few days ago, things were slow in her office and we even had a chance to turn on the “voice chat” feature of our IM and talk.

Connections.

Important, they are.

The Dark Side of Girl's Basketball

Gimme a break - these dainty little high school girls are anything but delicate when playing at the varsity level. I thought it would be fun to explore the "darker" side of high school girl's basketball.

Make no mistake - I do not want one of these athletes mad at me. If they treated me half as roughly as they do each other when going after a rebound, this old man would be in the hospital.

(As always, be sure to click on the photo to see a larger version of it.)

And, when shooting these games, I try to stay out of the way. I like to sit on the floor near the baseline so I can shoot up towards the basket - but I worry that I will get clobbered one of these nights. A referee laughingly told me one night that I was due to get run over. (Actually, my only worry is that one of the players could get hurt running into my lens.) This player was tripped and was out of control when she made this shot - but she missed me.

Yeah - this may look like it was a soft place to hit, but at the velocity the ball handler was moving, this must have felt like she was running into a wall. The post player was big!

I wonder if these two reverted to three-year old behavior and kept screaming "Mine - mine!" at each other. (No - I would have heard it, I think.)

"Ooops - was that my foot you just tripped over? Hee hee."

"Lets see who can do a face plant first."

The Long Absence

This blog has never had a huge readership, though I admit to being amazed at the number of folks who read the silly thing when we lived in Việt Nam.  But, its hard to have any readership when I don’t post.  You gotta have something to read before you can have a readership.

Too busy?  No, though I am working 15-20 hours per week in addition to the 2-3 freelance photo shoots I do and in addition to seeing Mom almost every day.

Sick?  Naw – I had a cold for a few days, but not a cold since December 26th.

No muse?  Maybe I can blame her for not visiting me, but the truth is, I  seem to have just stopped observing the world.

My friend Tom emailed me and asked if I had gotten out of the blogging business – and wondered if I wouldn’t post between Christmas and Valentine’s Day. 

So – if Tom is my only reader, I guess I had better get back to work and write something, eh?  I wouldn’t want to upset my only reader.

EDIT:  I'm writing this after five of you have posted comments.

I had no idea!  Truly!  I am honored and flattered that five of you have posted comments within only a few hours.  Sorry Tom - you're not the only one.

And now, folks - you need to get a life!