German-Texans Rock!

German-Texans rock. No, they POLKA! DH is a member of a German dance band (as of 30+ years) that played at Night in Old Fredericksburg this past weekend. Fredericksburg is a small town in Central Texas that was founded by Germans who immigrated with Prince Solms. They were true pioneers who fought with and eventually made peace with the Comanche Indians. They hold NIOF at Pioneer Park in downtown Fredericksburg each year. They have music, food, craft booths, etc. Typical festival.

They've done a wonderful job of creating a park dedicated to the pioneers who settled the area. There are statues and a replica water wheel and lots of places to sit and contemplate the beautiful flowers in the beds. Sadly, however, the beauty was interrupted by the blaring of music from two of the three stages in the area playing German music. Not that the music is sad, it's just that's the only time I was able to enjoy the view.


On to more fun things, though. There was a fairly sparse crowed because of the weather, but that didn't stop the party. Colorful flags hung from the rafters of the pavillions and all of the covered walkways. People danced and drank beer of all different flavors. The main reason I was there was that my husband was playing in one of the bands, the Seven Dutchmen Orchestra of New Braunfels, TX. He's been in the band for over 30 years and they've played this festival for 27 years. And since his father and step-mother live there, we took the opportunity to visit.


It was quite a lot of fun to listen to the band (although I've done a LOT of that over the years) and watch people dance. That's one of the realities of being a band wife, you don't get to dance much. But watching people have fun is fun in itself. Neither of the kids went with us, DS#2 was working and DS#1 was chauffering.

At least I got to take pictures of the flowers in the park. This bee and I showed up at the same flower at the same time and I happened to get him in flight. I love this camera!

I took pictures of the in-laws, too, beer in hand. The background of the photo was a picket fence and she commented that if they weren't there it would be a great picture. I told them that with photo editing I could put them anywhere they wanted to be, including the top of the Pioneer Hall. So before we left for the day, I did just that. When I showed it to them, my FIL laughed so much, I thought he was going to fall off the chair. MIL couldn't quite comprehend what she was seeing and just smiled indulgently. That's okay. I'm glad I was able to make FIL laugh.

Sadly, though, the idyllic visit turned into a nightmare when we got home. We picked up DS#2 at church and then met DS#1 at Bennigan's for lunch. He's a big guy, so when he needs clothes it's a chore to find them. He discovered online that his favorite jeans were at Sears, so he was going to go over there after we ate. Since I had been crammed into the space behind the seat of the Sonoma after picking up DS#2, I decided to go with him. They didn't have the jeans there, so we went to the other end of the mall to check out JCPenneys' big & tall section, but they had nothing there, either. He spent the whole rest of the journey back to his truck railing about how he's being discriminated against and he's never doing business with either store ever again. I pointed out to him that stores in the mall don't cater to people his size, to look around at all the short people around him. They were the primary customers of mall stores. That did nothing to help the situation, but just made him madder.

Ultimately, between his lack of sleep and my lack of happy pills, we didn't speak all the way home and he was an irritant in my side all afternoon. DH was concerned that I'm completely out of control. Taking a nap helped, but I think going to my scrap room was the best choice. Creating a page with some of the pictures I had set aside was just what I needed. And what pictures did I come to first? DS#1's second birthday. I think we've made peace, but neither of us had apologized. All I know for now is that I'm going to bed early tonight.