FRIDAY FOTO: LONGHORN ON THE LEX

September 25, 2020 / The Coastal Crone / 32 Comments

Photo borrowed from the Facebook page of the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay

Tex, the Longhorn steer, recently visited the USS Lexington on Corpus Christi Bay for a first-ever fundraiser for the WWII aircraft carrier. It was a show streamed live on the ship’s Facebook page from the flight deck and featured Brian Black and his band. Yes, he is related to Clint Black (brother) and plays country music. Tex was available for photos as he was saddled up, literally, for a good cause. This historic ship was closed for two months because of COVID-19 but it is now open for visitors.

In December the Lexington will host another fundraiser on the flight deck. This time it will be put on by the Professional Bull Riders (PBR) and will benefit charities that support the military and their families. The event will be professional bull riding right on the flight deck. Yes, real bull riding by real cowboys. Only in Texas!

Link to the Lexington website is here.

FRIDAY FOTO: DEATH AND HOPE

June 5, 2020 / The Coastal Crone / 49 Comments

A couple of weeks ago we went out to Freer to celebrate my brother-in-law’s 92nd birthday. It was a beautiful clear crisp day with just enough warmth to make you want to soak up the sun after being hunkered down at home. Then we saw the vulture perched defiantly on a light pole as if waiting for something to die. Yet to its right and just below was an equally defiant bird – a male cardinal resting on a dead limb. Neither flew away as Husband took a photo.

The tranquil scene seemed to me a perfect relection of this time in the middle of a pandemic. Yes, there is death and the threat of dying, but along side the darkness there is hope. While a vulture conjures up thoughts of death and decay, the cardinal is seen by some as a sign of a departed loved one or at least a good omen or good luck. My mother always told me to make a wish if I saw a cardinal. That day I put two fingers to my lips, made a wish and blew it a kiss as my mother had taught me when I was a child at this same place.

FRIDAY FOTO: CAT IN A CAR

April 24, 2020 / The Coastal Crone / 50 Comments

On one of my walks this week I had to stop and see who was driving this car parked in front of a house. No, it was not the cat and the car was not running. The window was rolled down. The cat turned to look at me and seemed to pose as I took my phone from my pocket to take this photo. It just calmly looked at me as I continued on my way. When I came back that way it was gone – the cat, not the car.

Cool cat! I wonder where he wanted to go?

FRIDAY FOTO: CAPTAIN JACK

July 12, 2019 / The Coastal Crone / 51 Comments

Our Jack (as in Jack-o’-lantern) is now Captain Jack for the summer! He lives on the bar in our kitchen and changes hats for the seasons and holidays.

FRIDAY FOTO: MUMMIES IN THE NEIGHBORHOOD

October 27, 2017 / The Coastal Crone / 36 Comments

While out for my morning jog I found this new couple in the neighborhood. They seemed timeless, classy and trendy.

FRIDAY FOTO: MONKS ON NORTH BEACH

July 7, 2017 / The Coastal Crone / 23 Comments

Wednesday Son and I drove to North Beach to see Daughter who works on the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay. As I stopped at a stop sign, we looked up to see these monks walking single file and looking rather out of place amid the tourists.

Where had they been? Had they toured the Lex? Were they going to visit the Texas State Aquarium next? Son captured the moment with his phone.

FRIDAY FOTO: El Dia de los Muertos Street Festival

November 5, 2016 / The Coastal Crone / 45 Comments

Dead of the Dead (Dia de los Muertos) is a holiday celebrated in Mexico and in parts of the United States that honors the dead. Traditions include making private ofrendas (altars) to remember and honor the dead and visiting graves with gifts for the departed. A form of it was celebrated in Mexico prior to Spanish colonization and was gradually integrated into the Catholic church’s holidays, All Saints Day (November 1) and All Souls Day (November 2).

On October 29 Husband and I attended El Dia de Los Muertos Street Festival in downtown Corpus Christi. Here are photos by Husband, of course.

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2016-10-29-day-of-the-dead-54 Entering the festival on a beautiful afternoon.

2016-10-29-day-of-the-dead-1 Cute couple!

2016-10-29-day-of-the-dead-11 Ofrendas (altars) were set up in an old movie theater, the Rialto. This was a public one where people could participate by bringing photos, gifts, chrysanthemums or remembrances of loved ones.

2016-10-29-day-of-the-dead-7 This ofrenda was not traditional but it was playfully wicked.

2016-10-29-day-of-the-dead-21 Flowers and fruit were left out for Harambe, the gorilla who was shot in a Cincinnati zoo this year to save a child.

2016-10-29-day-of-the-dead-20 This beautiful one was for Abraham Lincoln.

2016-10-29-day-of-the-dead-9 This more traditional ofrenda honored many deceased family members.

2016-10-29-day-of-the-dead-13 For a token donation for the restoration of the Rialto Theater, one could choose a paper flower and write a message in memory a loved one. I left a message for a niece who would have appreciated the art.

2016-10-29-day-of-the-dead-28 A happy face!

2016-10-29-day-of-the-dead-27 A handsome hombre!

2016-10-29-day-of-the-dead-29 Not a typical festival couple.

2016-10-29-day-of-the-dead-44 What is a festival without a car show?

2016-10-29-day-of-the-dead-33 Nice Caddy!

2016-10-29-day-of-the-dead-43 Ready to rock and roll!

2016-10-29-day-of-the-dead-50 Mural on the tunnel from uptown to downtown Corpus Christi.

A native American Indian group performed songs accompanied by drums. At the end the older leader reminded us that we are all brothers of this Earth and that we should care of each other as we take care of our home, Earth. We should all be able to agree with that.

FRIDAY FOTO: Monterrey, Mexico, June 1991

February 5, 2016 / The Coastal Crone / 35 Comments

In June of 1991 Husband and I took a train from Nuevo Laredo, Mexico to Monterrey, Mexico. The cars were not air-conditioned except for the club car where it was cool and the cervazas were cold.

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Husband reluctantly posing for me between cars.

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View of Saddleback Mountain from the roof of our hotel.

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Neptune Fountain at the Gran Plaza or Macroplaza

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Faro del Comercio (Lighthouse of Commerce), a column 230 feet high and 40 feet wide erected to commemorate 100 years of the founding of the Monterrey Chamber of Commerce. At night it was lit by laser.

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Note the admonition on the building to “Vote like this – PRI – on July 7.” The Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) continued to hold political power in Mexico for seventy years until 2000 when Vicente Fox with PAN (National Action Party ) was elected President of Mexico. Today the PRI has gained back some power with the election of President Enrique Pena Nieto. 1991 06 Monterrey Mexico 016

The Bishop’s Palace sits on a hill in heart of the city. Built in 1787-90 it was involved in the Mexican-American War as U.S. forces under General Zachary Taylor stormed up the steep hill and overwhelmed the Mexican garrison at the top on September 22, 1846. Now it is a museum – The Regional History Museum. One can drive or walk up to it. We walked and the view of the city was worth it.

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Courtyard inside the Bishop’s Palace

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The white in the distance is a cemetery. Beyond that is the industrial part of Monterrey.

FRIDAY FOTO: Boobs and Betty Bombers

October 23, 2015October 23, 2015 / The Coastal Crone / 59 Comments

OCTOBER IS BREAST CANCER AWARENESS MONTH

On Saturday, October 17, I participated in a walk to raise money for the American Cancer Society as a member of the BETTY BOMBERS team from the USS Lexington on the Bay Museum where my daughter works. Husband trailed along to take these photos. My daughter and I walked in honor and in memory of my niece, CHERYL LYLES SMITH, who died in 2012 of cancer. There were 16,000 walkers who raised $460,000; the BETTY BOMBERS raised $5,374. Below are photos that Husband took on a gloriously beautiful South Texas day.

Some of the Betty Bombers getting ready to walk.

Young walkers arriving.

Pink Men from Radiology Associates, a sponsor.

Walkers checking out the booths before the start.

Harbor Bridge and floral sculpture

The Water Garden was turned pink.

Crone and Daughter

Source of the “pink” fountain with the original part of the Art Museum in the background.

Old Glory raised with a pink crane.

They’re off and walking/running along the bay front!

The pink gorilla in the walk.

Cooks walking for a cure! Their aprons read, “Cooking up a recipe for a cure!”

The marina is in the background; many of the boats had pink flags.

This blood hound and his parents wore tutus.

We made it! So did the pink gorilla!

At the pink Corpus Christi fire truck with ribbons for each type of cancer.

Husband/Photographer

This post is dedicated to those who survived breast cancer and to those who fought and lost and to all whose bodies have been marked with cancer of any type.

FRIDAY FOTO: Espinazo, Mexico

October 16, 2015 / The Coastal Crone / 22 Comments

In the fall of 1989 as part of a class that I took on Mexican folk medicine, I went to Espinazo, Mexico to celebrate anniversary of the death of a curandero(healer), El Nino Fidencio. He died in 1938. All the photos were taken with a disposable camera.

Railroad station in Espinazo