LensOfTexas.com

One Tuesday evening (May 4th, 1976), when I was a DJ at Trini’s Jolly Beggar, located in the middle of the Bay Tree Apartments on Ocean Drive, I started talking to this girl. Her friend was there talking to a friend of mine, (now the Rev. Tom Deviney) so we started talking. I asked what kind of music she liked, where she was going to school, etc. She said she liked John Denver, so I started playing “Looking for Space”. At that moment, my relief DJ arrived so I asked this girl to dance to the song I had just started. From the moment I held her in my arms, I knew I was going to marry this girl! We sat with our two friends and visited with them and each other for a couple of hours. My DJ buddy played Joan Baez’ Diamonds and Rust and I asked this girl to dance. During that song, I stole my first kiss! We went out a couple of more times that week, and after waiting a week (to be sure) after we met, I asked her to marry me! We married about 15 months later which happens to be 47 years ago on August 20th!

Happy Anniversary, Susan Abarca! I’m glad I took that extra shift that Tuesday night or this story would not make any sense, as do most of my stories!

USS Lexington located in Corpus Christi

This photo, and others along with a series of interviews with several South Texas ranchers, earned me a spot to present at the Arts in Society Conference in Zaragoza, Spain. Due to the extreme Covid restrictions, imposed worldwide at the time, I chose not to present. I could not justify spending 2 weeks in quarantine, both before AND after the conference, for a three hour presentation called “Life and Death on the Sout Texas Border. This photo shows how many ranchers filled these bright blue 55 gallon drums marked with the word”AGUA”(water) and a Red Cross flag on a 30’ PVC pole located every 1/4 mile along the southern edge of their propertythese drums were filled every morning with 1 gallon jugs of frozen water. The photo also shows how ranchers built sturdy ladders into their fences to prevent the costly destruction of their fences. The ranchers I interviewed were politically varied, however they were united in preventing loss of life on their ranches.