Ever since I got back from my vacation I have felt like a wet noodle. It’s been a long time since I’ve been stress-free. I’m sure it will all come back at some point but I’m enjoying it while it lasts.
Big thanks go out to brother Ken for coming to finish last week’s issue and get a good start on this issue for me, and for being there for dad while he recuperates from hip surgery. Dad is doing great, by the way.
I was mostly just a beach bum all week in Galveston. The only thing I spent money on was three meals at Gaido’s, my favorite restaurant in the world. That place is sentimental to me because we ate there every single year of my youth since we rented a beach cabin in Galveston every summer and always ate at Gaido’s once every trip.
Gaido’s is a very fancy restaurant with delicious seafood, but there is no dress code. You can dress casually, which is why I like it. One fancy thing they do is bring you a finger bowl at the end of the meal. It’s warm water with a slice of lemon to clean your fingers after dinner, an old tradition that they still do. White tablecloths, welldressed and attentive waiters, the whole nine yards. The restaurant was also started in 1911 which is the same year my great grandfather bought The Rockdale Reporter.
When my family is sitting around the table at home talking and laughing someone always tells the story of my youngest brother, the late Kevin, picking up his finger bowl and drinking it thinking it was soup.
I had crab cakes, stuffed flounder and red snapper. All were delicious. I rarely drink martinis, but they do such a good job with them that I indulged all three times I went.
But the part of my vacation I enjoyed the most was taking walks on the beach. There is nothing more stress-relieving than that. To me anyway. I walked at least six times every day. And, because it was off season, I had the beach almost all to myself.
One day it rained but that was OK because I had a covered deck. That day the wind picked up so badly that I had to go inside for a while. I tried looking up how fast the wind was blowing and the website I looked at said 14 miles per hour. It was way more than that. I went through several hurricanes living in Houston, and it was almost that bad.
But I fell asleep as soon as I walked inside and took an epic nap. By the time I woke up the wind speed was back to normal.
I have to admit that when I got to work Monday, I had trouble concentrating. I guess my mind was still in vacation mode. The 39-degree temperatures on Tuesday morning woke me up though. I was not expecting that! —kwc— Turn to page 6A in this week’s paper for a treat. At Monday night’s city council meeting mayor pro tem Lin Perry read a proclamation for Hispanic Heritage Week. Rockdale’s first Latina councilwoman, Esmeralda Ruelas-Olivares, was unable to be at the meeting because she’s a Registered Nurse and was working in Waco.
But her family stepped up in a big way with husband, Jose, and sons Luke and Matteo representing her. Esmeralda had prepared a speech to go along with the proclamation which was read by son Luke, and he did a great job. Her words are presented along with a story.
Happy Hispanic Heritage Month! —kwc— I’d like to give a shout out to Jocelyn Lewis at Rockdale Signs and Photography. She always takes the photos of the children’s pageants and Miss Rockdale Fair Queen and shares them with us so we can share them with you.
You can find them on the back pages of both sections this week.
She’s also going to take photos at the fair of all the winning animals and I always appreciate that as well.
Yesterday I saw the carnival coming into town.
Enjoy the Fair!
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