Me & the Mrs. managed a three-day weekend before Memorial Day to beat the holiday rush and went to Rockport, Texas. There is a beach down there and a nice little drive out of the big city. During all the looking around, we got to see George Strait’s beach house in Rockport, Texas – not close up, mind you, but interesting. Like most rich folks, they enjoy their privacy. This one was right on the water on Aransas Bay just off the Gulf of Mexico. Lots of low-hanging palm trees and nice indeed. Fort Worth did not even cross my mind.

Also saw a Caracara, aka a Mexican eagle; a pretty bird which is spread all over south Texas down into Central America. The Caracara is a member of the falcon family, but it does not fly fast. Part of the anticipation for this trip was looking forward to seeing birds seldom seen around the Houston area.

Hit a little used bookstore down there and the Mrs. introduced me to a new author of mysteries, Sue Grafton. All of her books go down the alphabet, for example, “A Is For Alibi.” I read a little of one of the books and think I might like it.

All in all, a relaxing weekend.

Whooped up a batch of chow chow on Memorial Day. Sure enough, when one gets the canning and cooking pots out, the Mrs. makes herself scarce. A hot job it is, and lots of cutting and chopping of onions, hot peppers, cabbage and tomatoes. End product resulted in 12 1/2 pints of fire. There were more than 200 pods of Tabasco pepper cut up with a food processor. When the top was removed to dump peppers in the cook pot, I had to leave the room. The aroma from the chopped peppers would literally take your breath.

Had some chow chow on a cheeseburger for lunch and more with the evening dinner. The chow chow is hot and has a good flavor; burns twice. Hands burned for two hours afterward, you would think I would have learned by now. The steam from canning makes hands hot too but not as bad as the burn from hot peppers.

LaGrange native Charlie Farrar is a retired banker living in Texas. He can be reached at xuscg@ yahoo.com.