Enjoying a fantastic rodeo. What I wouldn't give to barrel race. ;)
I promise I brushed my hair although the above picture is tying to tell you another tale. Let me explain. We live in the windiest region in the universe. There is never a moment without wind... and I'm not just talking a gentle breeze that would work in your favor like the Finesse Shampoo commercial ... I'm talking constant gusts. What does one even do to control their hair in this type of environment? I may have to resort to the 3rd grade french braid.
Here is Jon. Not a care in the world. Happy to be at the Carnival. Happy that the wind doesn't mock his hair.
Oh! What do you know... a couple more "hold out your arm and take a pic of yourself" pictures. These aren't just any pictures, however; these are celebratory pictures. For we looked death straight in the face and escaped! No. I'm not talking about the rides that operate with a few missing nuts and bolts here and there. That is just living on the edge. I'm talking about escaping the wrath of a very angry
carnie.
So, here's what happened. We were jubilantly strolling by the game booths, admiring the lights, smells of cotton candy and kettle corn... when out of nowhere we get a "
Pssst". You know, the half whistle, half hiss to get your attention. Mr.
Carnie operating the "throw the ball into a Rubbermaid tub (literally, a Rubbermaid tub) and win this 4 inch neon snake with tiger stripes" game booth, wanted to tell us something! Scared, but more scared not to obey his whistle, we make our way over there. He leans in... looks around, makes sure the coast is clear...and then gives us information we never asked to hear. We now know things that can't be erased from our minds... he revealed TOP SECRET
Carnie information to us!
"Want to know how to always win the
Rubbermade bin game? I'll show you." So he does.
"Oh
ok, cool" we say. "Thanks".
I observe the amount of tear drops that he has tattooed to the corner of his eye.
I also observe the well-placed, well-thought out spider web tattoo in the corner of his other eye.
We had no idea that he was luring us into an unspoken transaction. He tells us a secret we never asked to hear... and, in exchange we play his stupid game and win the tiger snake.
"But we don't have any tokens," we reply.
No words...just a filthy finger pointing over our shoulder. We turn around to see a token machine conveniently positioned in front of his booth.
"No thanks, but thanks for showing us how to win."
Wrong. Wrong. Wrong. Not the right thing to say to a man who has obviously 1) just escaped prison 2) is attracted to the
carnie lifestyle and 3) has
earned every single tear drop on his face.
Needless to say, the judge-ordered anger management program served him no justice... as he began to murmur and mutter things that, at the very least, could merit a restraining order.
Ok,
ok. He didn't threaten us. But he was angry and frustrated and felt entirely betrayed. We betrayed his trust, took advantage of his
carnie knowledge, didn't play by the rules of the unspoken transaction... and wasted 15 seconds of his life that he will never get back. And that was a tall list of accusations that I was terrified we would have to pay the consequences for. So we did the only thing we knew to do... walked away and walked away quickly. My only goal was to get out of the reach of his hand so he could automatically rule out
shanking us. And by the time he reached for his
carnie revolver, lead pipe, candle stick, rope or whatever other weapon he had behind that booth...we would be out range to get an accurate shot.
So I watch too much Forensic Files and have a vivid interpretation of events. At least we were able to document the fact that we cheated death....by
carnie.
So back aboard the finest public transportation that Corpus Christi has to offer.
Yes, I took a picture of the bus in case I had to prove that I was on board.
haha AND... to mark my first public bus ride. I remember as a child... maybe 11 or 12... my friend Angela and I wanted to take the public bus to go to the movies...but mostly just to ride the bus. I couldn't fathom the big, fat NO that I got from my mom when I asked if I could go. Unbelievable... does she just want to take ALL my fun away from me? Doesn't she understand that I will be perfectly safe on board the public bus??
Umm...yeah. I didn't realize how rough a bus station could be. Thanks mom.
haha
Big, open prairies... with tall grass and oak trees.
And pretty little wild flowers.
Kind of blurry since I had to zoom in... but he was there... perched in all of his pecking glory.
Here I am.
I just loved the long wheat-looking grass. So prairie-ish. :)
Anyone who knows my dad... will completely nod with understanding in this next picture.
Away we went down the old dirt roads.
Look at this old wonky house!! Built on a platform rock foundation... twig railings... amazing on all levels.
On the same old, abandoned property was this good looking barn...
That's like a gazillion wishes right there! Jackpot!
We got out of the truck to get a closer look... just wondering how long it may have been abandoned... who might have lived there... looking at the porch and the surrounding structures. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary... BUT!! When I got home and went through my digital pictures... I saw something on the porch that wasn't there when we were looking at it earlier that day...
Isn't that weird? I'm just saying... call it what you want... but I didn't see those there in person.
A windmill... and a well. My dad was such a good sport... I wanted to see some water... so he pumped the well for me. haha
That pretty much concludes our day of adventure... we were tuckered out! ;)
