Snowy Chateau Guentzel-LaRonde
Sorry for the unplanned hiatus from the blog. Must have been the winter blahs.
I will try to post more soon.
To you and yours…Merry Christmas, Happy New Year.
This is a picture of my uncle Glen who passed away this Tuesday. It was taken by a group of cook book authors from Sweden that were lost. Glen helped them find their way and they thanked him by taking the picture and putting it in the book. If you knew Glen, you would have said “Of course he helped them….” The picture is a personal favorite of mine.
There were so many Sundays that our family would meet Glen and Peggy at my grandmother’s house in Coupland and catch up from the time we were apart. Since he lived in Austin and we lived in Round Rock, he often would stop by Southside Market in Elgin and pick up sausage for lunch. Rather than heat the house up by using the stove, he’d set the whole butcher paper wrap on the engine block of his car to keep them warm. In later years (for the cemetery cleanings), he’d dutifully stop by Southside to provide us all with tasty Bar B Que. He would bring the requisite saltines and hot sauce too. At last night’s family visitation, I almost wanted to slip a bottle of hot sauce in with him.
My uncle was among the most pleasant, helpful persons I’ve ever known (next to my own father). He had a delightful Texas drawl that exuded friendship and kindness. At his funeral today, another one of his nephews gave the eulogy and told of the same types of experiences that I knew so well. He always was there to greet you when you arrived, he always waved goodbye to you when you left. It was a touch of Texas hospitality that I feel is fading away.
If I recall correctly, my name would be Christopher instead of Mike if it weren’t for Glen giving my parents gentle guidance on what to name a 10 pound 3 ounce newborn.
Glen, we’ll all miss you terribly – We love you. But I know if we ever meet again, you will be there to welcome us…and you’ll know where we can go for Bar B Que.
Yesterday was my birthday and thank you again to everyone who wished me well on Facebook. Before the internet, I’m not sure we could ever get that many people in one place to wish me a happy birthday.
I spent #42 at mom and dad’s. I didn’t want to make mom cook, so I insisted on ordering Chinese from one of my favorite places in Round Rock (Sichuan Garden). It was all good.
Now I’m gearing up for Kayla and Erik’s birthday and coast downhill into fall. 
I played around with Photoshop and churned out this quick pic.
I have a print of the original (unaltered) picture in my home office.
It’s now my background picture at my Twitter page.
Book Release Party for The Day-Glo Brothers.
1pm to 2pm
BookPeople – 603 N. Lamar, Austin TX
I can’t wait to go see Chris Barton at BookPeople tomorrow. Hopefully I’ll have some pictures to show for it.
OK…I finally got seriously hurt playing softball.
And by “seriously” I mean I had to be helped from the field and couldn’t play (well) any longer. Apparently, I tore my hamstring on my left leg and walking became a challenge. I decided not to take pictures of the nasty bruising…I would just want to post it here anyway. Consider yourselves lucky.
I’m on the mend, but no softball until fall…which is a bummer for me. I’m in the midst of physical therapy and get beat up a bit every Tuesday and Thursday, but it’s helping.
