the tindog coffeehouse

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving, probably the greatest holiday dedicated to the mass consumption of food ever. Except of course that it’s not really about the food, per se, but a time of, well, giving thanks. We all know that the holiday dates back to the first Thanksgiving feast in 1621, which celebrated the Pilgrims’ first successful growing season since arriving in America a year earlier. (And actually the tradition dates back to the Pilgrims’ days in Leiden, Holland, when the Dutch held a Thanksgiving feast every October.) But what’s cool — to me, at least — is that my ancestor was one of those early pilgrims.

From everything I’ve researched and read (and admittedly I’m not a genealogist, so I could be completely wrong), the first Spooners to arrive in America landed at Plymouth in 1637. Ann Spooner (born in Nottinghamshire, England, in 1598) arrived with her young sons William (my ancestor, age 16 at the time) and Thomas (age 14).

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As a father I’ve tried to prepare for the delicate, difficult, and even sometimes embarrassing questions that my kids will inevitably ask. Ask me anything related to religion, morality, or the human anatomy, and while I may not have all the answers, I’m at least not surprised to hear the question. But nothing — and I mean nothing — could’ve prepared me for the question Megan asked me last night:

“Daddy, what would you do if I went to Texas A&M?”

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I’m thinking about quitting Twitter. Along with any other social network I’m on. And no, I’m not joking.

Of course, I know I won’t. But maybe I need some time away, an extended break from that online world that may or may not be reality.

Truth be told, I’ve been struggling lately. I touched on some of it in my last post, but honestly, that’s just barely scratching the surface. I feel like I need to talk about it or at least vent some of my frustration, but Twitter isn’t the place to do that. And really this blog isn’t either. So I’ve been kinda quiet lately, not wanting to say something online that I’ll regret or that could be misinterpreted.

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It was like the day was burning
Everywhere he turned, he saw the fields on fire
Captive by the wire

Home fell like breaking china
Fear was the only thing they shared at all
Bearing every soul

Oh, give me rest tonite

– Hoi Polloi, “Rest Tonite”

Texas is in the midst of one of the worst droughts in the state’s history and suffering through one of its hottest summers. Here in the DFW Metroplex, we racked up 40 days straight of triple-digit high temperatures in July and August, two days short of tying a record, and have so far had 57 days total over 100 degrees, with that number climbing daily. Further south, it’s much worse. Austin has already had 69 days of 100 degree-plus weather and much less rainfall. Losses in crops and livestock due to the drought have cost Texas $5.2 billion, and much of the state is under severe water restrictions.

And there’s no sign of relief any time soon. While the temperatures will eventually subside in a month or so, meteorologists are saying we’re probably in for another drier-than-normal La Niña winter. Which means things will probably get a lot worse before they get any better.

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As if I didn’t feel old enough already, today is the 30th anniversary of the launch of MTV. Let that sink in for a minute.

Of course, trivia buffs know that the first video ever shown on MTV was The Buggles’ “Video Killed The Radio Star”. But the first video I ever saw on the basic cable network (you know, back when they actually showed music videos), was “Centerfold” by The J. Geils Band.

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It was exactly one year ago today the I broke my leg. One long year ago. But I’m still reminded of that moment daily.

Our house backs up to an undeveloped greenbelt, and we have a 4-foot wrought iron fence along the back. Because the HOA wouldn’t do any landscaping behind our house (like they were supposed to), we had a hard time keeping the grass trimmed along the fence, so I took matters into my own hands and decided to trim it myself, which required climbing over the fence because we didn’t have a gate at the time. While Christy was busy studying for school and the girls were watching TV, I climbed up onto the fence and hopped over. And that’s when everything went to hell.

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