It Is What It Is Damn It: HUSBAND'S MAN-CRUSH

Here's Husband and Willie a couple of weeks ago. Story to follow........

I've mentioned Husband's love of Willie Nelson before. He's been a Willie fan for a billion years. Husband and I grew up in a small town seven miles up the road from where Willie grew up. Willie was always a common, everyday, conversational topic while we were growing up. Not to mention a reason for drinking Lone Star, tequila, playing pool, dancing, boating, water-skiing, drinking, playing pool, drinking, etc. You get what I'm sayin'. Small town Texas.

Then Willie started having these 4th of July Picnics in the 70's, damn him! And, of course, what you did at these was drink, dance, get sun-burned, drink some more, dance some more. And have a great time. The 70's. We had fun doing anything in the '70's.

One particular Picnic at Bryan/College Station in 1974 almost caused Husband to not be husband, however. We were getting married in four weeks, and wedding invitations hadn't gone out yet. (The internet wasn't around then to tell us that we were ALREADY two or three weeks late sending them out so it really didn't matter!) Husband went to the Picnic with his buddies, anyway. I stayed home and did the wedding invitations. And cursed him for three days. There were tales of drunken escapades while he was there, still to this day those tales exist, but I IGNORED them. I don't think we talked for those next four weeks though - until the night before the wedding - when we both decided that we just needed to get married and get the hell out of small town Texas and on to the big city of Austin, then we'd work it all out. Which we did.

Then the next summer, right before our one year anniversary, we did it again, in Liberty Hill, with life-long friends. Well, let me tell you it was HELL. HELL. There were tears, yelling, broken fingers, yes, broken fingers, SUNBURNS, mud, mud, sunburns, torrential rains, and mud, and peyote-eating people sitting next to us who were having "visions".

We almost didn't make it to our one year anniversary, needless to say. Even after we almost didn't make it to our wedding day either. ALL because of Willie Picnics. That was the beginning of my lack of enthusiasm for Willie Picnics. I'm the kind of gal who likes to go camping if there is air conditioning.

Those 4th of July Picnics continued into the '80's, however. And the '90's. And are STILL going on, of course. I stopped going to the Picnics many years ago because of the bad sunburn part. And the long lines to the port-o-johns. And the fact that there were port-o-johns NOT bathrooms. And the mud. And the too many people part. And the drunk people stepping on your stuff, and the sober people stepping on your stuff, and the naked people who you never wanted to see naked and wish you hadn't, and mainly the sitting in the sun part, and the no ac part, and the long day part. And there's no TV.

Husband loves ALL that stuff, though. The stuff that turns me off about those Picnics. And, luckily, he has friends and children who love it with him. Wife bailed.

God love that Willie-man. I love a guy who never gives up. Willie's definitely one of those. So is Husband. Determination & dedication are his strongest assets right now, believe me.

I have so many pictures of Willie picnics over the years but I haven't found them all yet. This one is from ten years ago, July 4th, 2000, at South Park Meadows in Austin (long before it was a shopping center). I love this picture. I love cute Husband in it (in the middle), Son on the left, looking like oh shit they are so not playing my kind of music here. And Husband's good, good friend on the right. They had a great time, even Son.

Here are a few other pictures of this year's 4th of July Picnic at The Backyard. Husband is lucky enough to have some wonderful friends in the music business who made sure that he was taken care of for the day. Daughter did an even better job of taking care of Dad. And she was awe-struck by what she was a part of.

Husband bought this hat in the '70's as well. It's had a hiatus for many years (you can figure out why!) but he brought it out of retirement for this year's Picnic. He texted me that he was a "camera magnet" with it on!! I just said hum really? I told him it looked like he hadn't shaved since the '70's either. He had the fur trimmed up a week later!!

....and a few more pictures from this year's Picnic. Husband likes these because you see the BACKS of everyone on stage, hence, he was BACKSTAGE!!!!