Outdoor Odyssey - Random Thoughts

Sweet Potatoes

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Mon, 26 Jul 2010 08:05:00 -0700

We enjoy sweet potatoes several times a week. They’re healthy, provide fiber and are low on fat. Yesterday, for lunch, we tried something a little different.

At lunch, Layla and I split a t-bone, but of course she got the tender side. Along with the steak, we had green chilies and onions and we halved a sweet potato. Now, regular potatoes are a natural with steak, but being on a healthy eating kick and trying to loose weight, we thought we’d have a sweet potato too.

It turned out that the sweet potato was great with the steak and green chilies and onions, I even mixed all three together in one bite and the taste was excellent! Sweet potatoes are easy to prepare in the microwave. Just puncture the skin several times, place in the microwave, cover with a paper towel and cook for five minutes. Take the potato out of the mic, cut open and apply a butter substitute. They are very, very tasty.

Now for the green chilies and onions. Clean and slice up a fist sized onion, then take a good sized skillet and with the electric stove on low/simmer, or the gas stove burner set on real low, put a half of a stick of butter into the skillet, then, add the onions, cover and simmer for a few minutes, until the onions turn glassy looking, or lose their whiteness. Then, take a can of diced, Ortega chilies and add to the onion/butter mix and cook for ten more minutes. Serve hot, feeds two, double or triple recipe for more folks, are great over steaks and scrambled, eggs and probably will “go along” with almost anything.

Sunday afternoon, we also made some home made, peach ice cream, with peaches off one of our trees, used skim milk, along with Splenda, but, I don’t think I’ll try to put any green chilies and onions on the ice cream. One of these days, I’ll post the recipe for our peach ice cream too.

Fixin’ The Barn

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Sat, 24 Apr 2010 08:05:00 -0700

The spring before Brad joined the Army, he and I went up to help a friend Rick Haney, repair his barn, hunt some turkeys and, since it was very comfortable for early spring, both nights we slept out on the “sleeping porch”. The screened in porch was on two sides of Rick’s old ranch house. We noticed that Rick was sleeping, piled up under covers, with his AC roaring, but said nothing to him about it. Maybe it covered up our snoring!

The next morning, sunrise found us along a creek, in a makeshift blind, making hen turkey sounds. Brad leaned over to me and whispered, “Dad, did you hear those animals bumping around under Rick’s house last night?” Whispering back, “Yes, Son. It sounded like someone walking around the porch, or a herd of ‘Dillos!” (‘Dillos is Texican for Armadillo.) I continued, “They were even “bumping” right around my bed.”

The second night there was more “bumping around”, but barely waking, we both slept right through it. As we were leaving for Houston, I mentioned to Rick, “You need to trap those animals under your house and close up where they are getting in.” His short reply was, “I’m going to.”

After years and years and many trips up to Rick’s we found out that he had never eliminated those ‘dillos. There weren’t any ‘dillos either. In fact, those ‘dillos turned out to be some kind of unearthly beings. We saw ‘em, we chased ’em and one friend almost shot at one. They chilled us and continued to bump around his old ranch house, while through it all, summer and winter, covered up in blankets, with his A/C roaring, Rick slept right through it all!

But all of these unearthly happenings are stories to be told.

A Tribute To Brad, April 16, 2010

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 08:05:00 -0700

Yesterday I talked on the phone with S/Sgt Charles Bunyard. S/Sgt. Bunyard, Charles, himself wounded multiple times, is assigned to the Wounded Warrior Brigade at Ft. Hood and was Brad’s platoon sergeant, during the last stages of his battle with cancer. Charles also happens to be a native Texan, from Liberty, Texas and is very familiar with the Trinity River bottom area around the Kennifick Fire Tower, the scene of two of my earlier posts, “An Unusual Catch” and “Four Wheel Drive And A Hand Winch”.

Brad had spent a lot of time at the rifle range sharpening up Charles’ skills and this time was certainly well spent! Charles let me know that next Monday he was off to Ft. Benning for a months’ training with the Army Marksmanship Unit (AMU). Previously his shooting skills had gotten him an assignment with The University of Texas, Marksmanship Team and his solid progress helped him win a spot in the Para Military Olympics. The events will be held in May in Colorado Springs.

Charles will shoot prone, kneeling and standing and, with the approval of his and Brad’s Commanding Officer, has dedicated his participation in these events to Brad, who was a former member of the AMU.

A fitting tribute!

Sometimes, March 20, 2010 Version

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Sat, 20 Mar 2010 08:05:00 -0700

Trying to keep up with some of the best “lines” that I have posted, I’ve researched them for the past quarter and come up with, not the best, or the funniest, but different categories that vary from profound to confounded.

Sometimes I write profound statements:

The birds were perched on the small branches in the tops of the trees and it never ceases to amaze me, how can those little limbs hold up a big, turkey?

We were told that we would keep all the barracuda that we caught and I didn’t want any part of that.

Back then, early February 1973, Tom Mix wash was rough country, now it is probably million dollar homes!

Men and women were tough and had to be strong just to exist from day to day. Where has all of that strength and toughness gone?

Sometimes I Write About The Weather

Who are we kidding, global warming is a hoax!

All of my life I have tried to beat nature and weather forecasts, and, one more time, I lost again!

Sometimes I try to be funny:

I find it very relaxing playing in the dirt!

When I was 7, his watermelon patch was the scene of my first “crime”.

It was a big, big fish that Carl couldn’t stop. Maybe it was one of those Russian subs?

Sometimes it’s about sports or exercise:

This year The Texans are pumped for a good season having a good, experienced (at our age we have a lots of experience) nucleus.

Sometimes I Write About Indecision

Then I used my head for something other than a hat rack, and figured out what to do.

I’m thinking twice about buying a snow shovel!

Sometimes I just get confounded:

I didn’t have a gunfight this past Wednesday afternoon, however I sure did need a bigger gun!

I even blew on my predator call several times, didn’t wheeze or cough and quickly pronounced myself well! That is until I told Layla where she could find me. Promptly, she told me that in five minutes she better find me back in bed!

Now let's see what the next quarter holds.

New Blog Links

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 08:05:00 -0700

This past Sunday I added two new links to blogs that should be interesting and informative to everyone.

The first is Ghillie Suit Source and offers a range of Ghillie Suits, the max in camouflage for the serious hunter. Check them out!

The other is Camping Tourist and provides the reader with the best of camping destinations gear, tips and recipes for outdoors cooking. A real neat site!

A Personal Update

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 08:05:00 -0700

You talk about “cabin fever”! The last day of our State’s special doe/spike season January 17th, one of our Army friends, SFC. Tim Albee shot a nice doe, a fitting end to the season. Things kinda’ went down hill from there.

On January 20th I visited the Fondren Orthopedic Clinic in Houston to see the “El Primo” knee repair doc. Hoping that I could get away with a partial knee replacement, in no uncertain terms he told me that either in 2011 or 2012, I could come back and get a full one. My knee hurt all the way home!

Luckily from the 20th through the 27th I was able to get a lot of things done around the place. Things like spreading fireplace ashes on the garden, trimming the peach trees, tilling the garden, cutting and splitting firewood and finally, getting my onions planted.

Then it rained on Friday, the 28th. It not only rained, it flooded! Four and a half inches of rain left everything in a mess. Then on Saturday I had a relapse of “cedar fever” that left me in bed until this past Monday.

Still not recovered from my malady, late Tuesday afternoon, I got myself ready to go predator hunting. I even blew on my predator call several times, didn’t wheeze or cough and quickly pronounced myself well! That is until I told Layla where she could find me. Promptly, she told me that in five minutes she better find me back in bed! End of hunting adventure!

It started a misty rain Wednesday morning and has continued through Thursday, one and a half inches worth. My malady is better, the chance of rain is diminishing and, if it’s not too wet, on Friday, Mickey Donahoo and I will try to get in some practice time, however, six inches of rain over the past seven days makes this unlikely.

Saturday looks good for some outdoor activities like softball or predator hunting, but, more rain, thirty through sixty percent daily through next Saturday. Wow!

You talk about cabin fever!

Special People

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 08:05:00 -0700

During my life I have met many interesting people, and recently, after a several hour visit with a WW II American flyer that was shot down and spent 18 months in a German prison camp, I started thinking back to some of the people that really stand out in my memory.

I have met a former President of The United States; a past Secretary of State; numerous other politicians; Medal Of Honor winners; a Jewish man who was held in Dachau by the Germans and had his prisoner number tattooed on his right forearm; a victim of the Batan Death March who was a Jap POW for three years, and not met, but watched, numerous German Afrika Corps Troopers behind the wire at an American POW camp in Temple, Texas.

Once, in Las Vegas, as I was walking into Caesars’ Palace, over my shoulder, I was watching Batman and Robin. Head turned, going in one door, Jimmy Hofffa was coming out the same door. There was a crash between us, his bodyguards stepped in, but both of us smiled, offered excuses and I chose another door! Where is he now?

When I was four years old going on five, my Dad made sure that I spent a lot of time with his family on their farm outside of Marlin, Falls County, Texas. At that time, prior to and during WW II, rural farmers and ranchers in Texas did not have electricity, propane or butane, strictly kerosene lamps and wood stoves. The Rural Electrification Agency and electricity didn’t get to Falls County until after the war.

Now, what really sticks out in my memory was meeting two very remarkable people. Uncle Tom and Aunt Betty, Tom and Betty Norwood, who owned a farm across Rock Dam road from my Grandma Bryan. Both had graduated from college, both were retired teachers. Uncle Tom was in his 90’s, tall, straight as a ramrod, silver hair and still farming. When I was 7, his watermelon patch was the scene of my first “crime”.

Aunt Betty, short and smiling, a master quilt maker, helped my Grandma around her house. When I was visiting, Aunt Betty immediately took me over. She made sure I had plenty of cookies and lemonade, guarded over me like a mother hen and made me feel that I was “special”.

Tom Norwood was a former slave! Betty Norwood was a child of former slaves! They were great people and, in spite of their color, had risen from nothing to property owners and respected members of the community. Some of my most cherished memories are of those two special people!

Sometimes

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 08:05:00 -0700

Trying to keep up with some of the best “lines” that I have posted, I’ve researched them and come up with, not the best, or the funniest, but different categories that very from profound to confounded.

Sometimes I write profound statements:

The most important thing is thanking God every day for his blessings; His Grace, our family, our jobs our health, our friends and our wonderful Country!

One thing remains a constant, our country’s freedom is more important than politics or political correctness!

I believe every star in our hemisphere was out too!

Today, our country is on a very, slippery slope! When are all of us going to wake up, or is it too late?

Nothings better than a Son getting a deer on his first hunt!

Sometimes it’s about the weather:

Four degrees wind chill, along with snow, was almost too much for me!

About this snow, this is central Texas, not Iowa. Am I going to have to get me a snow shovel?

Sometimes I try to be funny:

“That makes 4 deer and one buzzard you’ve hit. This Suburban qualifies for ‘Ace’!

We ate the pheasant that night, Houston continued its sprawl, and now, this once prime hunting area is a golf course! At least it’s not a shopping center!

Laughing, we told Jake, “That rearing horse looked like Roy Rogers and Trigger! Ride ‘em cowboy!” And, off he galloped into the darkness back towards Scottsdale Road.

A thankless job was cleaning out the outhouse! I don’t remember ever doing that chore.

Sometimes it’s about sports or exercise:

At least walking works up a good sweat!

It would be something if each mornings walk would be this exciting!

Who knows what will happen when you play with a round ball and a round bat on a square field?

Our next tournament will be in Pensacola on May 15, if it rains we can still load up on the fried mullet!

Sometimes it’s indecision:

Once, we jumped a black bear, did not offer chase, or try to “count coup” on him and the dogs also showed no inclination to give chase.

It’s always unnerving to run into a rattler, and this was no exception, so we called a break and headed to town for an early lunch!

Someone once said, “The best deer blind is your back porch!”

Sometimes I just get confounded:

I never thought about taking a picture of the calf in the hog trap!

The boys and I “snuck” back in once but we felt very awkward carrying our shotguns through our neighbor’s backyards.

Having put all of this together, now I can go back to the football game!

Merry Christmas, 2009

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Thu, 24 Dec 2009 08:05:00 -0700

Tomorrow, on this most special day, take the time to stop and think what we are really celebrating. It’s not a celebration of the bright, shiny ornaments on the Christmas tree, not the presents stacked under the tree, not Santa’s “surprise” early morning visit to our houses, not the upcoming feast, none of these things.

We are celebrating the birth of our savior, Jesus Christ and the wonderful gift that our loving God sent to us over 2,000 years ago. He sent His Son, Jesus, his greatest gift, so that each of us might have forgiveness of our sins! Remember the reason for the season is Jesus!

Merry Christmas to everyone!

Merry Christmas

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Thu, 03 Dec 2009 11:39:53 -0700

This morning Layla sent me an e-mail that really got my attention and I want to share it with everyone, so I’ve summarized its content as follows.

“This Christmas season I will be making a conscious effort to wish everyone a Merry Christmas. This is one my ways of celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ! So I’m asking everyone that if you agree with me, please do the same.

By doing this maybe we can prevent another American tradition from being lost in the sea of “Political Correctness”!

Remember, JESUS IS THE REASON FOR THE SEASON!

Thanksgiving

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 08:05:00 -0700

Our sick friend and his wife asked us to get them another doe, so this past Tuesday, Mickey Donahoo went out on my ranch and complied with their request. This one was another nice, mature, white tail.

For the first time since last week, I hunted Wednesday evening, but didn’t see a big one. This chilly morning, thirty degrees, Paul and Wesley are out trying to Get Wesley his first deer. Who knows?

Today, Layla and I will have a house full of folks. The count, currently, is twenty-one with two more coming tomorrow. Anyway, family and friends, that’s one of the things that Thanksgiving is all about! The most important thing is thanking God every day for his blessings; His Grace, our family, our jobs our health, our friends and our wonderful Country!

We wish everyone a very, happy and safe Thanksgiving!

Veterans Day, November 11, 2009

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:05:00 -0700

President Woodrow Wilson designated November 11, 1919 as the first Veterans Day honoring our troops that helped to end, WW I, “the war to end all wars”. My family has served in almost all of our Country’s wars before and after WW I and we have generations of veterans all the way back to The Revolutionary War!

All of us were proud to have served our Country, but I, for one, am now concerned at the track that we are on. Unending wars in the middle east; appeasement and apologies to our enemies, a terrorist attack at Ft. Hood being called a tragedy. Hurricane Ike was a tragedy. This was murder by an enraged, radical, terrorist!

When, are our leaders going to wake up and right the ship of state? Will they ever? Do they want to? While our current regime is busy tearing down the capital structure of our Country, our enemies are clappin’ their hands and stompin’ their feet! Today, our country is on a very, slippery slope! When are all of us going to wake up, or is it too late?

Have a thoughtful, Veterans Day!

Still Limpimg Along

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 08:05:00 -0700

My PC will be fixed today, but I can't get down to San Marcos to pick it up until next Tuesday, so I'm still "limping along" on the old PC. No telling how many e-mails I have?

Last Thursday I went over to Scott & White Hospital in Temple and had the stent removed from my bladder and, just like my doc said it would, it healed up fine!

Then, the next day, Friday the 11th at 12:30 PM, I went back over to the dermatology clinic to have a small cancerous spot, about a quarter of an inch in diameter, removed from my nose. To go after this one, the doc was using the Mohs Procedure. This procedure entails removing the cancer in slices, freezing the slices, then, to be sure that all of the cancerous cells have been removed, observing the slices with a microscope.

To observe the progress of the operation, I was provided a mirror, but after the first cut I quit looking and then doc told me to get as comfortable as possible because this one looked like a long one. Long it was! At 7:30PM, after seven iterations, the doc finished and announced that all of the cancer on my nose had been successfully removed and that the cancer hadn't grown into the cartilage! The skin graft and bolster holding the graft in place was ready and the resident docs assisting attached both to my nose and I was on my way home.

My instructions were simple; do nothing for one week, don't get the bolster wet and come back on the 18th and have the stitches and bolster removed. By tonight I'll see how my nose held up and what it looks like. The doc took "before and after" pictures and will send them to me, but I tthink That I will decline to post them.

This past week has been something; no going to football games so the rain, we have been blessed with, won't get the bolster wet, no dove hunting, no work, no morning walks, nothing but sitting around reading and watching Fox News. It has ceased being "fun"!

As I mentioned in my September 7 post "Limping Along", if obamacare passes I would have been told, "Just go home and wait for your nose to fall off." I'm still in the process of getting everything fixed before it's too late!

Limping Along

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 08:05:00 -0700

My September 2nd post said that I was going to Dalton, Ga. to play in the Softball Players Association, World Championships, September 3rd through the 6th, but plans have a way of changing!

Starting off, the disk on my PC crashed on August 27th and since then I have been limping along on a very old, IBM ThinkPad, model A20p. This was one of my old PC's years ago before I retired. Randy, my Son, almost has the new PC fixed, but I'm really limping along now.

Not feeling well on Sunday, Aughst 30th, I stayed home from Church and to be a good husband, made our Sunday dinner. By the time I had finished preparations, my left to side began to hurt, didn't stop or lessen, only increased and by 3:30 PM I was flat on my back, on the way to the hospital in Hamilton, Texas. I was really limping along!

A CAT scan showed a large kidney stone, 1 cm, lodged in my urethra and by then, because of its size, it wasn't going anywhere. Early Monday morning I was transferred to Scott and White in Temple, and prior to the removal of the stone, a stent was run up into my kidney. Thursday was set for the doctor to go in and "blast" the stone with a laser. Amazing what docs can do now! Just think, if obamacare becomes the law, I would have been given pain pills and turned out to die! I'm getting everything fixed that needs fixing as soon as I can!

Obviously no softball tournament, no morning walks and not much of anything else for me, except that dove season opened on September 1st. Missing the morning shoot, to give time for all of the drugs to clear my system, Mickey Donahoo and I drove down to San Saba and after a very hard hunt with a lot of stooping and bending over to pick up the shotgun shells and doves, I called it quits early.

Here's Mickey heading out to his shooting spot.

All of this with a stent in my kidney and needless to say, my doctor wasn't impressed. He did ask how we did and I told him that we got a mix of sixteen white wings, mourners and ring necks, using only twenty-five shells.

There is a big size difference in the doves. The ring neck is on the bottom, white wing in the middle and a mourner on top, graphically showing their sizes.

Last Thursday the doctor "blasted" the stones, but to promote healing, kept the stent in for another week. My PC is still out so I'll be limping along with the stent and old PC for a few more days.

About The Texans, through the round robin phase of the big tournament, they were seeded number one, however they returned to their sloppy ways and quickly lost two games and were eliminated. As the old softball saying goes, "Oh and two and barbcue!" They are limping along back to our fine State now and will try to salvage the year in Phoenix, in October.

El Shrimp Bucket

jbryan@centex.net (Jon Bryan) — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 08:05:00 -0700

Being a good Texas boy, my only exposure to Mexico had been to the sleezy border towns and now to see the budding metropolis of Mazatlan, its traffic, 500,000 inhabitants, beautiful harbor and recent awakening to Gringo tourists, was a real eye opener.

My first trip’s accommodations were at the Playa Mazatlan, the ‘primo” spot in town. Right on the beach, clean rooms, but no air conditioning and once you got past the night sounds of Mexico, music, horns, laughter and the roaring surf, you slept like a log.

Sleeping in the first morning “south of the border”, getting up and renting a “Yeep”, a Volkswagen Monster, we headed south from the Playa Mazatlan to the harbor to set up a fishing trip. On the way to the harbor, on the left, as we rounded a slow curve, there, on the corner of the first floor of a multi story building, was “El shrimp Bucket”. “I’ve got to stop there,” I shouted, did a “uwey” and parked right in front.

There was a big patio inside the building, like the atriums we have now in our prime office spaces, and to the left was “El Shrimp Bucket”. Little did I know that the patio was part of the restaurant, but twelve years later I would witness a very strange display in that very patio, which is, as they say, another story.

Entering and picking a booth with an ocean view, I checked the menu. A bucket of shrimp for $4.95US and since it was 10:45 AM, why not eat an early lunch. Lunch was served and mine was a full bucket of fried shrimp, not as good as Christie’s in Houston, but probably the second best. Fried onion rings and Guacamole was brought out separately and washed down with Margaritas, was a true feast!

As we were leaving, I noticed a picture of John Wayne hanging over the door and he had signed the picture, as best I remember, “Best shrimp ever! Duke”.

El Shrimp Bucket became my headquarters in Mazatlan too, but I never saw “Duke” there