The Good 'Ol Days

I got this lovely surprise in my inbox about a month ago. It's one of those $5 photos some enterprising individual was walking around selling. The photo itself must be 20 or more years old.

That's me getting beer poured on my head and -- dare I say it -- my current boss doing the pouring. That cute thing standing in front of me is my sister and the hero in the white hat, coincidentally, lives fairly local to me, about 70 miles south of our old stomp'n grounds. We stay in sporadic contact, but isn't that how life takes you way onto way.

Boy did we have some good times. Some crazy times. Looking back, I see a lot of it makes its way into my writing. Some 'incidents', but more than that I use the attitudes and situations. Good friends and Good Times -- friends good enough to stick with you through the tough times. Loves lost, marriage (divorce) kids and the roller coaster economy... amazing that we're still together and amazing how much that silly picture means to me after all these years.

Localisms

I saw some Texas Starfish in the road and wondered if they're indigenous and local or how widespread the species might be. Are these critters you find alongside your roads? What kind of odd things do you find 'out back' when you go walking?