Thursday, September 25, 2008

Extreme (Weather) Sandsculpting in Virginia Beach

Can't carve in 40 mph winds -- so might as well make a movie about it :)

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Monday, September 22, 2008

Stupid Weather


I hate a whiner but man, it is hard not to whine about this weather. Enough of the wet stuff already!!!!

I am about to get packing for my next contest - leaving for Virginia Beach tomorrow and (of course) there is a weather system out there which could likely rev up to something like a hurricane that could quite possibly be heading to the same place I am (and Walter, too).

:(

On a happier note, the rain held off long enough yesterday to celebrate 30 years of beer and wedded bliss. Congrats to Ken & Brenda - aka BeerPeople! (See JW's video of me in action here.)

Sunday, September 21, 2008

John Elliott in concert at the SandBox Inn


Unflappable: hummingbirds and bikers


So I got a lazy Sunday morning at home when I thought I would be on the beach teaching a sandcastle lesson. The daybed provides a comfortable viewing spot for my yard, Padre Blvd and the bay beyond. The river running down my street was no cause for immediate concern and the purple shower petunias - which have gone berserk during this wet season we have been having - were attracting seemingly jillions of humming birds, darting sipping, parrying and feinting to protect their immediate territories. The steady rain appeared to bother them not one little bit.

Over on the boulevard, a pair of bikes zipped through the puddles at high speed - hurrying to get out of the downpour, I guessed. Incorrectly as it turned out. That pair was followed by about a jillion other bikes - obviously a race of some sort. “Looks like a fairly miserable way to be spending a rainy Sunday morning,” I observed to Peach from my comfy vantage point. Though I had to admit, the steady rains appeared to be bothering the bikers not one little bit.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Watch John Elliott LIVE at the SandBox tonight!

If you don't find yourself on South Padre Island tonight, you can still catch the action on the SandBox Inn backyard webcam. The downside is that you won't be able to hear anything, which of course is really the point of tuning into a concert, isn't it?

As someone once famously said: What it is is what it is.

Saturn Street Strummers will kick things off around 7 PM, Texas Time. Hope to see you here.

Link

Monday, September 15, 2008

Dock rebuilding and repair service

Some good friends of mine are looking for this type of work. They are licensed, bonded and insured here on SPI, they build to windcode specs and I can personally vouch for their abilities and dependability. They are finishing up one job this week and are eager to line up more work. If you or someone you know has a dock in need of repair, please contact John at (956) 299-6002.

Saturday, September 13, 2008

Bye-Bye Ike



The island got a bit of a smack from Ike on his way by but I am sure everyone on SPI woke up feeling lucky and relieved. In my little universe (the area my dog and I traverse on a regular basis) SeaBreeze had a lot of ocean in their swimming pool and a bent fence where the waves have obviously pummelled it. Over at Suntide II (the other dune-less property in my universe) first floor condos had their doors boarded up against the same thing while plant matter and surf trash was piled up on top of the seawall. Surftrash and a lot of sand had also been pushed into the parking lot of beach access #16 through the STII breach, though the dune built up and vegetated by the city there last year held.

Frankly, I think the city should send the HOA of STII a bill for clean up costs.

In my little universe, the properties protected by established dunes were untouched. It was sad to see our beautiful dunes so shopped up and diminished, but they will come back -- quickly if storms stay away and we leave the vegetation and intact roots alone.

Hopefully this little lesson will drive the message home to the last holdouts who still think their right to a first-floor water view supersedes the rights of all the property owners behind them to dune protection.



See you at Boomies this afternoon!

Nancy Marsden writes:
We have incredible beach -- it's just higher. Went out at 4:30 a.m. thinking I would see disaster on Gulf-side but all is fine. The waves are calming down, surfers were already out there when I went on my second walk around 8:00 a.m. Now I would like EVERYONE on this forum that's in town to meet me at Boomerang Billy's at 2:00 to pick up all the beach debris. Bring your own garbage bags because at this time there are still no trash cans on the beach. And if you have one of those "grabbers" (and most of us should because we are sooooo old) bring it. See you on the beach!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Ike already affecting us

The beast is something like 900 miles away and water is up a good two feet! I shot these photos a few minutes ago - they show how the dunes are doing their job -- and how the breaks between the dunes are compromising the whole system.

Wednesday, September 10, 2008

Safe on SPI


Well, Dr. M on the wunderblogs just took Brownsville off the list of coastal areas threatened by a direct hit from Hurricane Ike. If you live in Corpus or points north, you might want to consider evacuating here. We hear that rooms in San Antonio are at a premium - if you can even find one. Here at SPI we have plenty of empty rooms and innkeepers who would be happy to give you a cozy spot to ride out the storm....

Wanna Wanna isn't a bad spot to be right now...

Thursday, September 04, 2008

World Championship 2008 - Party Carve Party!


This year's event is well underway, here in beautiful Harrison Hot Springs, BC. The duo category is completed - I was again asked to judge and it was very hard to do -- it was a very strong field of something like 24 entries. I have posted pictures of what I felt were the best of the bunch on my flickr stream. The picture I am posting here is of Laurie Gaudi, official unlitterer of this event, hard at work.

Tomorrow the solo and team categories start -- I am raring to go!

I wrote a new verse to Amazin's "Hey Let's Party" song -- one of my favorites. I am trying to write a verse every place I travel. Here is Harrison's:

Well I partied in Harrison, on the banks of the Lagoon
Partied in the hot springs, neath the bright, Canadian moon
I've seen the northern lights, and the sky all ablaze
Partying with Sasquatch, and the ghost of Joe Maize...