The Nutcracker

It had been a long time since I had seen Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. This past weekend our neighbors invited Ava and I along to see the Rockwall Children's Dance Company perform the suite over in Greenville. It was a fantastic performance. And I consider the Pas de Duex one of the finest pieces of music ever written. 

Musical String Theory

 

 

I discovered Jose Gonzalez a few years ago via the Mitty soundtrack. His music is entrancing and very relaxing. I especially like a project he did a few years ago with a musical collective called The String Theory. During stressful times I have found Jose Gonzalez and The String Theory a nice respite in the storms of life. 

Guess That's Me Now

 

Well, I guess that's me on the right these days. It does get annoying...

Everyday Things

It has been pretty stressful lately for a variety of reasons. It's in these times of stress I have to remind myself to do (or attempt to do) some or all of these practices every day...

Pray and Meditate

Read from the Bible

Write in my Moleskine

Read a book or magazine

Exercise

Kiss my wife

Hug my son and daughter

Play some music on my guitar or trumpet (I honestly don't get to this as much as I would like)

Drink green tea

Blog

Do a Duolingo language lesson.

Random Pics

 

 

World Cup Winter

Yes, the USA-Iran World Cup match was on the screen as my students wrote their essays today. Glad the U.S. advanced. Not a big fan of a World Cup during November and December. I've never had the WC conflict with school before. But, guess that's what you gotta do when you decide to put the tournament in a corrupt, authoritarian desert kingdom.

The Enchanted Rock

 

During our stay in Fredericksburg we drove about twenty minutes north to visit Enchanted Rock State Park. The weather was drizzly and cool but made for great hiking weather. We are used to hiking in 90 degree temps so the mid-50 degree temps were very nice. Enchanted Rock is a spectacular display of pinkish granite. The terrain almost seemed Martian. Everywhere you hiked provided fantastical views. Unfortunately, due to earlier rain the trails to the summit were closed. But the loop trail was super fun nonetheless. 

Fredericksburg

 

 

Over the Thanksgiving Break we traveled down to Hill Country and spent a few days in the quaint German-Texan town of Fredericksburg. Fredericksburg was settled in the 1840s by German immigrants and retains much of it's Bavarian character. It's a cool place to see. We also went to nearby Enchanted Rock State Park and experienced great hiking. We enjoyed our AirBnB which was just a couple of blocks from Main Street and right next to a field where we saw deer each day. It was a nice quick getaway.

San Antone

 My son's high school marching band qualified for the State Marching Competition this year. So that gave us a nice opportunity to visit one our favorite cities in Texas...San Antonio. We always enjoy our visits to the Alamo City. 

 

We had a rooftop pool at our hotel on The River Walk with a nice view. 

 

We stayed at the Homewood Suites by Hilton. This is us on our boat tour passing by our hotel. 

 

We are suckers for the River Walk boat tours. We do them every time we're here. 

 

Mi Tierra is also a place we always go. The best fajitas in the world. No joke. 

 

The Alamodome where the State Marching Competition takes place 

 

 

fire of dragons

"Well...I have thought, perhaps I may come to work with the Master in the Tower, to be one of those seek among the books and the stars for lost names, and so...do no more harm, if not much good...."

"Maybe," said Vetch, "I am no seer, but I see before you, not rooms and books, but far seas, and the fire of dragons, and the towers of cities, and all such things a hawk sees when he flies far and high." 

- from A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin