Lake Jackson – Page 9 – South of Town: Notes and Scenes from Texas' Upper Gulf Coast

101 Days Into the Lockdown: LJ’s Slow Awakening

Our summer opens to the thrilling possibility that the Trump Show may be cancelled after a four-year run. The Tulsa MAGA-palooza fizzled, and the embarrassed president could only wave his arms and blame everything “democrat” for the half-filled arena and the yawning media response.

As Trump’s poll numbers plummet, I wonder if our senators will begin to behave like independent agents with the responsibility for bearing the needs and wishes of Texans into the legislative arena. As “the base” falters, Republicans slowly, ever so slowly, seem to be growing spines of their very own. It was a sad thing to see educated men like Cornyn and Cruz dragging themselves past capitol reporters, unable to stand erect, able only to shout out a quick, “I haven’t seen his tweet.”

Meanwhile, people of my age who may not be science-educated but who nevertheless have developed an appreciation for the medical profession – including the public health specialty – are staying home and stepping out only when necessary. Grandchildren have been available in Zoom and Facetime meetings. Church has lost some of its power without the warm hugs and handshakes of real Methodists. Even my pharmacy has succeeded in persuading me to have prescriptions mailed. And the HEB Curbside Pickup service has become my regular contribution to our shopping. So even grocery store and drug store outings are becoming things of the past.

But life goes on in Lake Jackson. I still get out for evening walks if it cools enough by seven. There are a good many people walking. I have run into former colleagues from Brazosport College, other volunteers from the Center for the Arts and Sciences, and just pleasant people whom I have not met but share happy greetings with, nonetheless.

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The World Burns with Moral Outrage: What Is a 76-Year-Old White Man to Do?

I am probably becoming all too comfortable with my coronavirus-imposed solitude. I have rather enjoyed turning my home in Lake Jackson into my own little hermitage. But how can one not get out and do something while the rest of the world rages in the streets in the call for justice. Something besides calling a U.S. Senator’s office and letting off steam to a 25-year-old aide.

It seems especially important to act because, frankly, so little is expected of someone occupying a slot in my demographic. White, Vietnam-era veteran, not rich but comfortable in retirement. A Texan living in the reddest of red districts, who has been represented in Congress by Dr. Ron Paul and Tom DeLay. Whose school district issued a diploma to Rand Paul, the close friend and colleague of Mitch McConnell of Kentucky. Really now, wouldn’t you expect me to be ensconced in that mass of voters popularly known as “Trump’s base”?

Well, that’s not the case. And I feel remiss for not being on the street doing more.

But there is one thing I can do that will not expose me COVID-19 and it will not encourage more of those little carcinomas I have to watch for so carefully. It won’t hurt those aging bones in my legs, hips and back. And it is something anyone, at least a white person, can do without exposure to police violence. Better yet, it does not involve posting or re-posting memes that will embarrass my family. This is so easy no one else will probably even notice your action. Yet it may be the most effective thing you can do to combat racism in the United States.

I got the idea from an opinion piece I read in the New York Times the other day. The article by Dr. Kihana Miraya Ross carried the title “Call It What It Is: Anti-Blackness.”

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Now in the 73rd Day of Lockdown; Walking in Lake Jackson.

It is time to show a few scenes from walks around town leading up to 73 days in lockdown.

Only a few houses down, this family was celebrating an Aggie graduation. I enjoy seeing the yard signs and they offer a nice way to celebrate during The Year of the Plague. They will always remember 2020. And Lacie will always remember that they did this for her.

This year’s class will miss out on some of the usual joys of their college graduation. Their families are doing their best to make up for it. Congratulations, Lacie.

Just around the corner on That Way, one family has planted flowers around their mailbox to add a touch of beauty to the neighborhood. I was a couple of days late. By this time they were a little droopy but still bright in color and attitude.

They were much prettier two days earlier. I am sorry I didn’t have my camera along then.

Our Old Water Oak Goes Down

We had to take down one of our old oaks yesterday. I took a few photos as the crew worked to bring it down. (For the time being, they show up in the right column where current Flickr postings appear.)

Mr. Hughes cuts across the trunk of an old water oak in our back yard. Note the vertical crack that runs from the base all the way up into the low branches.

The tree was alive still, but as you will see from the photos, it was dying a slow death, full of bugs and now cracked along the length of trunk and just waiting for a good wind to take it down into the power lines.

No rings to count. The old tree fed a lot of bugs and woodpeckers over the years. A family of raccoons once lived on the bottom floor. We could see them with a flashlight through a hole in the root just above ground level.

There was no way to know the age of the tree since about 75% or more of the interior rings had been eaten away by insects. The remaining wood, about two inches deep under the bark, was still very dense and heavy. But with the structural break, it had to come down.

The power company came out and disconnected the power line and stayed to reconnect, so we were only out of power about thirty minutes at most. Hughes Tree Service of Lake Jackson did the job and they were totally organized and planned it well. All done by 11 a.m. Good price, too. Call Mr. Hughes if you need help with a tree.

A little bit of old Lake Jackson gone. But we will plant another one there. Thinking about one of those Meyer lemons. It’s not an oak but it’s a tree. And lemonade is going to taste good in the summer. Notice that, after the water oak goes down, there is still lots of shade under another bigger, older live oak in our back yard.

More Coronavirus Spring photos at Flickr.

Coronavirus Walk: Day 40, Downtown Lake Jackson

Yes, there is a downtown in Lake Jackson. It is formed around a fan-shaped layout of streets designed by Alden B. Dow when his family decided to build a chemical plant here in 1943 to make chemicals and to mine magnesium from sea water to support the war effort. The streets have names like Parking Way, Center Way, Circle Way, This Way and That Way. I have lived here thirty-eight years and I still get lost in the downtown area and it runs less than three quarters of a mile from one end to the other.

I was tired of walking the same route from our home around the nearby blocks. So I drove over to the mid-town area and parked the car in front of the State Farm office. The town was locked up. On a normal Tuesday afternoon, there would be a goodly hum of business in the restaurants and professional offices. Today, nothing.

It turned out to be a good day to see some things that I had never seen before. And some that I have seen and just ignored. Here’s an example of the latter from the outer wall of the Fill Station BBQ joint:

49786021916_efacc13147_k — Courage as defined by America’s Cowboy: “… being scared to death but saddling up anyway.” It is what America’s health care workers are doing at the beginning of every shift.

Moving on down the block to the area behind the old, restored offices of architect, Alden B. Dow I stumbled across something I had not seen in Lake Jackson – homelessness. I knew we had it but somehow it had always stayed hidden from view. No longer.

49788759821_14f4e07774_k — Home (temporary) for a few LJ residents.

And then, on around a few more turns, I found this stone in front of the Lake Jackson Library with good advice for the newly homebound from the Friends of the Library.

Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are. –Mason Cooley

There are all kinds of little treasures you can see only if you carry a camera around on your coronavirus walk. Get to know your own town a little better and share your pictures with friends. You can see more of mine on my Flickr site.

Then wash your hands.

Day 32: Lake Jackson Coronavirus Lock-In.

We tackle the garage again. It is an adventure in which we travel back into our past, winnowing through our collections to sift out the treasures and tote the rest out to the trash. And we do it all in service of making space in our suburban two-car garage for two cars.

I threw myself into the project with relish when I spotted my U.S. Army duffel bag on a high shelf in the back of the garage this morning.

My Army duffel bag contents 50-plus years after being released from duty ca. January 19, 1970.

It was fifty years ago this January that I dragged it off the luggage conveyor at the brand new Houston Intercontinental Airport. I threw the bag into the trunk of our car and took it home where I changed out of my travel uniform, stuffed it in as the top layer of the bag and threw it all in a closet. I kept it just handy enough that I could find it in case international politics required me to get the haircut again during my four year reserve commitment.

There it has stayed fifty years unopened except to pull that travel dress uniform off the top layer to have it adapted into a Halloween costume for our son. (DOD, be at ease. There was no official insignia displayed that would have caused the enemy to think the United States was drafting children.) He was dressing as General Eisenhower, five stars and all. I think he probably copied the fruit salad of medals from an encyclopedia and I would bet he had them pretty close to true.

Continue reading “Day 32: Lake Jackson Coronavirus Lock-In.”