High Water Mark

Excavations continued apace yesterday after work although I’m a little disappointed in the hand soreness and blisters. I thought the whole deal with wearing gloves meant you avoided the damned things, this is not the case. Yet another indication of what a soft civilian I’ve become. I know my hands would be in better shape if I’d been doing this type of thing more regularly. It’s a poignant comment on how long it’s been since my infantry days. The worst part is hitting a hidden rock with a full pick ax swing. That creates the friction for the hands, as well as the spine-tingling shock not to mention the added benefit of rock chips and dirt sprayed into the face. Despite my rapidly failing body I did make some progress and think I’ll reach the end of the trench either tonight or tomorrow. Buddy, at least, is impressed.

Buddy Checking Out My Progress Last Night

I was lucky enough to get a video call in with my far flung female accomplices last night. My wife is rangering her way through the challenges offered by her ailing father. I shouldn’t be surprised at the depth of her love and commitment to her parents but I stand in awe of her, yet again. On a decidedly upbeat note the California girls also checked in with one of those calls where my granddaughter can actually see the screen. I had just come in from my trenching operation and felt the wear and tear immediately lifted. She actually seemed to recognize her former breakfast making companion and bestowed a smile upon me. Of these type things is happiness born.

Dateless date night saw me in a movie theater, of all places, seeing Hell or High Water. This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long while. It is so . . . Texas. West Texas permeates the film.  It should get billing as an additional character because the story of two bank robbing brothers pursued by an aging Texas Ranger plays out on those dusty, oil soaked plains. Anyone who’s visited Texas will see the infinite detail in casting the minor parts and the exterior shots that will bring Texas, with all its warts exposed, into the limelight. Ben Foster and Chris Pine get down and dirty as the brothers on a quest against a bank trying to steal their land and future. There was a convincing rhythm to their interaction that seemed more real than most true brothers. This movie belongs to Jeff Bridges though, out for his last ride as a Texas Ranger. A vestige of pre-political correctness, his dogged pursuit defines an era passing, as do so many other smaller elements in the movie. It’s not a typical cops and robbers flick as the there was a lot more gray area explored in the search for justice. The final, underplayed confrontation between Pine and Bridges crackled. I don’t think anyone would voluntarily visit West Texas and you now don’t have to, go see this movie and you’ll leave with some grit between your teeth. Loved this movie, in case you hadn’t figured that out.

I also finished the penultimate book in CG Cooper’s excellent Corps Justice series with The Zimmer Doctrine. Cooper once again wanders into politics more than gun fights and that mitigates the readability for me. The hero, Cal Stokes, is an emotional wreck after the events of the preceding book and is brought back into the fold to help solve yet another threat to national security engendered by an evil British billionaire. The threat wasn’t as well defined as Cooper likes to keep his reader guessing along with the good guys. While this wasn’t one of my favorite books in the series, too much politics, not enough door busting, Stokes has firmly captured my attention and I’m already into the final book.