I can't believe they have to tell you this...

The Tropical Tip of Texas... I sometimes call it "Mexico Lite."  It really feels different here, compared to most places in the US... and not just our sub-tropical climate.

The local news media feels it is necessary to put out this warning every New Years Eve: "Do not fire guns in the air to celebrate the New Year.  That is a dangerous practice.  People are injured every year due to this..."  Or, as I like to put it: shoot a bullet into the air, and it's gonna come down somewhere.  Fire it straight up and... well, you do the math.  Yes, it happens around here.  Really.


The culture is different here from most of the rest of the US.  People use fireworks here to celebrate special occasions: the 4th of July (obviously), birthdays, New Years, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Arbor Day, National Bring Your Cat To Work Day... really, any occasion will do.  I guess, if you aren't supposed to fire off a gun, fireworks are a close substitute.  Admit it: right now, you are thinking of the stereotypical bandito with bullet belts strapped on, firing into the air, while hollering, "Yi! Yi! Yi! Yi!" aren't you?)


South Padre Island has a big fireworks display tonight.  Usually billed as "the biggest fireworks display in Texas!"  Because that is important.  Texans like "big."  We have driven over to the island to watch... one way on, same way off.  The crowds are usually HUGE.  The traffic is just as bad as you're imagining.  Most of the time, when we are here, we anchor out on our boat; watch the fireworks, spend the night at anchor (not many other boats do this, so there is very little traffic on the water), then get to see the first sunrise of the New Year from the water.  It's supposed to be rainy tonight and tomorrow, so we're going to pass on that.


Some folks on our island set off fireworks, too.  Here's the problem with that...

While we were coming back in Wild Blue yesterday, we saw a family with a boat tied off to the shore on the other side of one of our canals... in what is generally called "the Nature Area."  Tonight, it will be known as "the fireworks area."  Less than a block from our house.  With lots of stuff "going up."  Southwest of us... with the wind coming out of the southwest.

Happy New Year!