Fred is a glass sign painter. I had totally forgotten that these artists once thrived in towns and cities all over the world. Fred says he's one of the last one in these parts. A native of Nacogdoches, he currently lives in Harlingen, some 470 miles away in the Rio Grande Valley, about 30 miles east of the Gulf and 30 miles north of the US/Mexico border. He was just back in town for a few days and doing a little work while he was here. In Harlingen he also owns a cactus nursery. Before I knew it, someone else had joined our conversation. Meet Poogie!
Poogie (aka Nathan Alders) just happened to be driving down the street and saw his good friend Fred talking to this old grandma. Wondering what was up, he whipped his big diesel-engine truck into a parking space right behind Fred's van to investigate. That's one thing nice about living in a small town ~ there's always plenty of parking places! It turns out that Poogie is a retired fireman, is supposedly the mayor of Shirley Creek (off to Google I go and learn that Shirley Creek is a campground and marina down on the Sam Rayburn Reservoir - a HUGE lake that spans the Texas/Louisiana border in this region) and is the co-star of Maule In the Morning, a local radio talk show hosted by Brad Maule, the former soap opera star of General Hospital. Goodness, what a lot of information. I even found a short video of Poogie getting thrown by a donkey on YouTube! Yep, that's him.
So, Fred and Poogie, thanks for making my day!
On another note, just before running across Fred and Poogie, I had just photographed one of the most beautiful ads on brick I have ever seen and one which is in pretty much pristine condition just around the corner from where Fred was painting his window sign. In doing a little research on glass sign painters, I learned a little about both of these dying artforms. The artists are called walldogs and what I termed ads on brick is more appropriately called brickads (I wasn't far off, was I?). I'm starting a series depicting this type of art on my other blog which depicts daily life in a rural setting if you'd like to see the first of the brickads.
10 comments:
Great strangers you found. Might try this myself.
What a nice way to meet new friends. Maybe these guys were checking out the new gal in town. ;)
Love that first picture of Fred!!!
Well done -- two stranger portraits at the same time! Fun story...I feel like I tagged along with you on your shoot and met Fred and Poogie (great name, by the way).
You meet the most interesting people no matter where you are!
You do have a knack for finding interesting characters - and getting them to talk to you! Great shots, too!
On another note, you made me laugh when you commented on my blog recently . . . the one where you described yourself tramping through the woods in your boots and night clothes - in the fog!!
Good for you! 78 more to go!
I love the pictures - especially the first one of Fred. I also love the story. But I think I love the name Poogie the most!
People have such strange and wandering lives. You've shared two here.
Yay, two for one. They both make in interesting tale too.
You must be a wonderfully friendly person to find out so much, Kathy. I admire that!
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