Hey, Folks.
Just a quick bit to let you know where I’ve been and what I’ve been doing.
I think the above photo explains it quite nicely.
No?
You’re not sure what the image is and there are things going on that seem odd and it’s not clear what you’re supposed to get out of it. And the whole thing is off-centered.
Exactly.
Perhaps I should detail this out a smidge more.
The photo was taken a few hours ago at “The Swinging Door”, a barbecue joint/wedding party celebration spot in Katy, Texas. (Think “Houston”, and then shift your vision slightly west.)
The wedding in question involves one of Partner’s nephews. Those of you with sharp memories will recall that we recently attended a wedding for another one of Partner’s nephews. Apparently, this is the trendy thing to do right now in Houston/Katy, having and/or attending matrimonial ceremonies. And eating barbecue at some point because, Texas.
Have you ever noticed that many of the folks who attend nuptial-weekend events have very strong and varying opinions on how said events should be conducted? Yep, we’ve had some of that already, with the expression of said opinions ranging from whispered dissatisfactions to outright-hollering over a table laden with roasted pig and cow.
Oh, and then there’s the Covid thing. That’s been fun. To be fair, nearly everyone, so far, has been very mindful of such, with the masking and the distancing and the whatnot. Still, everything is tainted with the suspicion (and real possibility) that we aren’t being quite as safe as we think, despite the trying. It’s a surreal situation no matter what we’re doing these days, but it seems even more so as a happy couple plans to exchange their vows and start a new life when, frankly, so many other lives have been abruptly ended.
Excuse the downward turn, there. Just capturing my thoughts.
On a related note, I’m also trying to capture my creativity, at least 2,000 words of it a day, as I’m still in the midst of NaNoWriMo. It’s been a tricky balance, continuing with that effort whilst participating in the family festivities. It also explains why the posts at Bonnywood have been sporadic lately, along with my responses to comments. Only so much time in the day.
And this day is winding down. I’m tuckered and happy and tense and out-of-pocket. (As many of you know, I’m not really a people person. I just play one on TV.) Partner has just returned to our hotel room, where I’ve been tinkering with my laptop for the last hour or so as the various family groupings around the hotel dissolve and fade. I’m about to call it good, here in few minutes. Just as soon as I finish the leftover barbecue I dragged back from “The Swinging Door”. I was the only one at our table who took advantage of the to-go boxes. That’s fine, no shame therein. After all, if you’re going to eat a pig, you might as well be one…
Cheers.
Categories: Intermission
Bonnywood Manor 
You’ve made me hunger for pulled pork tots from Funky’s.
I remember the one year I really went to 4 weddings (2 catholic) and a funeral (also catholic)… I do not envy you. You eat all the pork you want to and drink all the champagne too… peopling is hard on hermits like us! 🥂
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I’m still jealous of the tots from Funky’s. Ever since you described them to me, I’ve had very gluttonous dreams about feasting on such.
Now, this business of four weddings and a funeral. That sounds like a memoir you really, really need to write. Perhaps you can do that when we get to Spain and we have more time on our hands…
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I thought that you had maybe taken up carving newell posts. Or, possibly you’re working on a work called ten simple steps for climbing the stairs to my newell post. 😉
Have fun with the socially distanced festivities and the left-over pig yummies (and good luck with your writing). 😉 We’re starting to lock down everywhere.
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PS, that second 😉 is supposed to be a :). Can’t miscommunication now. 🙂
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With the help of auto-correct, I just made that worse.
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The newel-post photo is even more complex than the image implies. Right behind the post were two staircases that led nowhere. This rustic dining emporium was truly a mix of right and not-right. (And very FAR right, considering the startling number of Trumpers who attended the festivities, much to my chagrin and personal anguish.) There were odd things everywhere, but the food was good, so I just tried to stay happy and concentrated on making notes for future blog posts… 😉
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I’m tuckered too. Good luck with NaNoWriMo.
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Thanks, Peggy. NaNo has been rather surprising this year, with me managing to churn out tons of new ideas. They aren’t necessarily good ones, but still, tons… 😉
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now I want bbq, and the swinging door seems like the perfect name for this nuptial venue – enjoy your writing and try to keep the sauce off the keys. that’s all the writing advice I’ve got –
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The poor keys on my laptop have been subjected to a lot of spilled trauma over the years. It’s amazing that they are still functioning and I don’t get electrocuted when I tap on one of them… 😉
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I hate to say it but Maine had extremely low Covid case numbers…. until a wedding. 50 people attended then went home and spread it widely. The preacher who presided went back to his church and spread it even wider. Be careful you!
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Trust, I was extremely tense about the mingling the entire time, doing my best to avoid risky behavior. I seriously considered not going at all, but it’s Partner’s family, and I’ve known them for over twenty years, so there was a certain degree of obligation. We’ve been home for several days now and, so far (knock on wood), no one has reported any malfeasance…
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Brian, we become the ball in the tether ball tournament- bap, the ball goes to one side and bap, back around the pole twice, bap – it’s hit REALLY HARD from the right and the left comes back with a gentle bip- and we wrap up the rope without so much as a sore winners dance. No one knows how one wins at tether ball. If there are sides it’s one against the other taking out our aggression on a ball whilst imagining the other persons face on it as we hit them directly in the nose. We feud, frustrated that the other side doesn’t quite know how to end the game or how to win a point. We hit that thing into oblivion to the end of lynching them on the pole. Like the wavering flag o’er the blood running on the plates of the Swinging Door – and I do adore it bless it’s heart, but as a big fan of the Salt Lick there’s no comparison to no liquor license and towing in the arcticly-cold Tequate in the red and gold cans in a radio flyer full of ice. Seated somewhere outside in the sweltering humid yet somehow slightly hilly beautiful country between San Antone and Austin brings memories pouring like a cold beer down my thirsty gullet. I feel for you – at work to raise doubts and arguments come familial and political forces we can but channel into the vain blog bonfires and stoke the rising tongue as they flick at the night sky. You’ve got yourself there a pretty piece of wood – the days when we needed an electoral college because the illiteracy of most of the US population kept them from exercising their right to vote.
May you stay well in strange times. The days of adderal lines and baby tantrums have two months to go, but in the meanwhile may we escape the virus and the bitter, illogical, and strange arguments potentially with 17 million losers who believe in a lying, raping, ignoramus president. The south will rise again and present us with another day in starched white capes and pointy hoods and the confederacy of dunces lives forever branded in our brains.
Whatcha gonna do when they come for you I quip half jokingly to anyone stupid enough to poke at a wasps nest. As you might recall this time of year has not been a tremendously good one for me, except for 2019/2020 I was in hospital with crazy ass cancer shit. But your efforts in building Bonnywood for me touched me so deeply I really hope you build it for yourself (and bless my heart, selfish little ole me) without tumping your canoe over into the cold water yelling but Hillary ! She won the popular vote and had the grace to concede. And maybe you can build a pizza place in her honor in Bonnywood this year, but don’t put a gate on the building.
Love you! Stay safe and mildly sane,
Ilene
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Dearest Ilene,
This comment is extraordinary and profound and beautiful. I’m not surprised, of course, because your way with words has been proven over and over again during our friendship. In fact, it pisses me off that more people have not had the pleasure of enjoying your wordsmithing. The world is so off kilter, annoyingly and brutally, with so much good transgressed by so much self-involved fuckery. Why aren’t we in charge of the world? We could stop the madness with some witty rebuttals and a few well-timed slaps on the faces of the indignant idiots.
Yes, I know I dream too big, but I will not stop dreaming. And frankly, I won’t stop slapping. I need to get me some cardio whenever I can.
Love you right back.
B.
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Wishing the best for you and for your creativity. J.
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The creativity has been surprisingly easy this time around with NaNoWriMo. I’ve scribbled pages and pages of twisted nonsense and whimsy. Here’s hoping that I can eventually get a nugget or two of usefulness out of the mess…
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I’ll spare you a ribbing. Only twenty four hours in the day.
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I’d happily take a ribbing from you any day. In a purely platonic manner, of course… 😉
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Aha, Brian, you will be pleased to know that I have eaten the bbq at the Swingin’ Door on numerous occasions. My parents moved to the Rosenberg/Richmond area in 1964 and never willingly left. My dad died in 1976, but my mother lived in Rosenberg until 2007 when I took her to a memory care unit in Houston. I never attended a Fort Bend County wedding, but loved the TexMex at Larry’s in Richmond and the bbq everywhere! My favorite was Dozier’s in Fulshear. You were in my old stomping grounds, as they say.
Stay safe and sane, my friend.
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I am definitely pleased to know. I think you are really swell, and if my adventure in your former stomping grounds brings us a smidge closer in the digital world, I’m all for it. I firmly believe that kindred spirits gravitate towards one another, even if in odd and random ways, and the image of you once dining where I just dined is satisfying in an ephemeral but gratifying way…
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I’m not jealous of the food, I’m jealous of that newel post! I love old architecture (I was going to say old wood, but thought that sounded a little naughty) and those carved finials are to die for! Hope Nono-rhym-o is going well for you!
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I also adore old architecture. As soon as I spied that newel post, I was ON IT with my phone camera. Of course, most of the folks around me were all “what is that fool doing?” I didn’t care. I knew the image would somehow work on Bonnywood, so click away I did…
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It’s so cool!
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And here I was worried you weren’t doing NaNoWriMo — seems to me you’ve been doing a fine job of keeping up with the comments and such. Glad to know you’re sticking with it.
Interesting you should be in Katy, Not sure if you remember, but I’ve commented before there’s a TX gal with my name whose emails I sometimes get. She lives in Katy! I don’t suppose you’d swing by her place and let her know her daughter’s dental appointment has been changed to next Tuesday? Thanks so much!
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In a moment of kismet and happenstance, I swung by her place. It went something like this:
KatyChristi: “Why are you banging on my door? I have a gun.”
Brian: “Hmm. I wasn’t prepared for the gun angle, but I suppose I shouldn’t have been surprised, considering we’re in Texas. Please don’t shoot me. I have a serialized Halloween story on my blog that I haven’t finished.”
KatyChristi: “That means nothing to me. State your case or you’ll get buckshot where you really don’t want buckshot.”
Brian: “Um, lot of pressure here, but I thought you should know that your daughter’s dental appointment has shifted.”
KatyChristi: “Oh, I thought that email was about NowYankeeChristi’s daughter. Thanks for the banging, sorry about the gun. Now go away.”
I went away. Rather quickly.
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Always good to see your posts Brian and glad you made the best of the occasion. Good to make use of that swinging door by completing the ‘pigging out’ at your own convenience. 🙂💁🏻♀️
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Thanks, Margaret. I will always depend on the kindness of strangers offering food… 😉
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😉😉😉
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