Summer 1992

There are summers that a person can never forget. Maybe they changed your life or altered your destiny in some unimaginable way, similar to the magical summer of 1962 that changed The Sandlot kids forever. Well, as we know, Laredo summers can be brutal and there is no escaping the sun or its death rays. For me, there was no escaping the Summer of 1992. It will forever be the line of demarcation that transcended my life into adolescence.

I was 13 yrs old in 1992 and I believed myself to be like Benny The Jet

A recent tweet from Keyrose sent me down to memory lane. He tweeted how it had been the 21 years since a Gonzalez-Bath had gunned down three people at the intersection of San Dario and Mann Road. Instantly after reading his tweet, I traveled back in time and I could see myself and everything I was doing in the summer of that glorious year.

The reason why that year is so clearly etched upon my mind was because it was the same year that my life was forever changed. My parents moved our family down from Dallas to Laredo and the change of scenery could not have been any worse. I had no friends and it seemed to me, a young boy of 13, as if the entire world had turned inside out.

We moved down here a few days after the Gonzalez-Bath slayings and this triple murder was all over the TV, family gossip, and the newspaper.

Nino Brown from violent New Jack City

"Did we move down to New Jack City?" I pondered to myself after first arriving to Laredo. There was no hip-hop (rap) station in 1992, I could not watch the TX Rangers on Paragon Cable and my mother kept buying some heidious chicken from Golden Chicken ("Pollito caliente, sabor diferente. Dime adonde vas? A Golden Chicken!") In short, 1992 was hell.

I cannot stress enough how unhappy I was that summer. The bowling alley was too far, the baseball Tecos team was having a lousy year, and it seemed to me that Laredo was a violent city right out of a Mexican Mario Almada movie.

It was 21 yeas ago but I can see see it clearly. My favorite show was Married with Children; my favorite Ranger was Ruben Sierra; Shortstop Burger filled my belly; Movie Palace was my favorite store, I rocked my UNLV cap everywhere I went, and I all heard on my cassette tape singles was Pete Rock and CL Smooth along with A Tribe Called Quest

It's strange how one little tweet by Keyrose can open the floodgates to a thousand memories. Memories to a time that will never return. Memories of a time when I was growing up and learning about the strange curves life can hurl at a person. The year 1992 was a tough one, and that summer surely did suck greasy Golden Chicken balls, but with time I began to adjust and acclimate to beautiful Laredo. Now, I can't imagine a time when I did not live in this slice of paradise we call Webb County. It's funny how some things work out.

Updates (Summer 2013)

People ask me all the time why I don't update as often as I once did. Honestly, I don't know. Maybe it's the heat. A person is liable to get a sunstroke blogging so often. Sunstroke, yeah, let's go with that. It's possible right?

Well, I have been doing lots traveling around lately. That's no joke either! Even DeLaredo finds it necessary to venture beyond the friendly confines of Webb County every now and then.  I hit Pearsall and San Ignacio, TX in the past two weeks. Both are great towns with lots of hidden treasures. Not only that, I plan to do more traveling this upcoming week (Carrizo Springs). I do promise to keep the updates coming fast and furious so be on the look out.

Don't  forget to keep stopping by our sister site, From Laredo. You'll find some pix of my trip to Zapata and San Ignacio, TX.

Also, I introduce to you our newest blog, VHS Horrors. With that blog we hope to document our growing VHS and movie library. As you have read here before, I personally detest RedBox and I yearn for the days of video stores. Stop by that blog and leave your comments. Also, if you have old VHS movies that you no longer want, feel free to write to me. I'll take them off your hands and give them a home.

The Hand goes on vacation

"A man needs to get out and experience the world," my dad would always say when I was a kid. Now that I'm a grown man I try to get out and view the sights in order to experience everything that the outside world had to offer. However,  it's hard leaving Santo Baby, TX, but since I had a few days off for vacation, I gathered the courage to venture out beyond Webb County.

Friends and relatives waste no time in gloating about their summer excursions. Co-workers always mention to me their trips to Vegas, Europe, and the Caribbean as if I should be melting with envy. Nonetheless, I too took a weekend getaway trip, but being that I have a limited budget, I could not afford to visit Amsterdam, so I took the next best thing, a trip to Pearsall, TX.

You see, every now and then, even DeLaredo needs to periodically travel beyond the city limits of beautiful Laredo, TX. As luck would have it, destiny and circumstances swept me to Pearsall, TX, a city about 100 miles north of Laredo. Here I present to you just a small sample of my Saturday afternoon in this hidden gem of a town.

I thought of just swiping the washing machine, but....

Every great town has a Radio Shack!



Awesome name. See you at "The Point".

Great place for lunch!

Who needs 3D?

 

With a new HEB on I-35, the old building sits vacant


 Sometimes it's great to just sit back and enjoy the scenery. I had an opportunity to do that in Pearsall, TX, a place I had never given much time of day. Most times I skip the town and avoid the business district. I was glad however, that I took the time to see this city and walk the downtown area. For some reason I figured this is what Laredo looked like circa 1977.

Lesson learned: Pearsall, TX has some awesome people, great places to have lunch and a brand new HEB! Also, next year, I need to save my money and take a "real" summer vacation. Asi se aprende.

Goodbye Super S

Changes are inevitable. They happen all the time. Laredo is quickly headed into the 21st century and along the way some things will be lost. For example The Play-more, gone forever, Narvaez on Saunders, just a memory, Cotulla Restaurant, faded like a presidential mandate.

New colors, new name

 

 

Setting up new sign

 

Now, my favorite store on Santa Maria has changed names and it feels like I've been backstabbed. While I had not been inside this particular Super S store since my 2009 blog post, I have passed by it countless times and the large Super S Store sign hanging out front of the store always brought me the type of comfort that only 1988 could bring.

Now that the store has changed its name, it seems as if the entire world is being ushered into a new era. And here I go kicking and screaming into the 2000s. But, it seems to be more than just a name change that makes me ponder of those days gone by. Maybe its my old age or maybe its my lack of Shlitz these days, but things just aren't what they used to be.

Lazy Sunday

Sunday is a hallowed day in Laredo.  It is a day reserved for carne asadas.  OK, some people observe the Sabbath.  Others nap.  But the real heart and soul of Laredo's existence is the cookout.  De Laredo blog kindly observes that tradition.

Weekend Roundup

Weekend time again.  The biggest news in Laredo is the collective sigh that was heard last night shortly after 10:30, when the mighty San Antonio Spurs were defeated by the annoying Miami Heat.  Of course, the players and coaches followed the NBA script on cue as David Stern, the ever-prescient puppet master, rubbed his hands gleefully after the pivotal Game 6 fiasco two days earlier.  Too bad.  It would have been cool to see the Spurs win again.

But life moves on and so does Laredo.  This weekend is a perfect example as summer officially begins.

Of course the big thing for all of the city is the beauty stuff going on in the LISD building Civic Center.  Misses and Teens from what I can gather.

It's a good thing that the pageant(s) were not set for last week because folks were building arcs and getting ready for the end of the world like it was 2012 or something.  I always wonder why Laredo can't take any heavy rain without flooding?

But this is not a time for rejoicing.  James Gandolfini died a few days ago.  The famed actor was on holiday in Italy when he collapsed from an apparent heart attack.  RIP "Tony Soprano."

 Nevertheless, Mijares, the Mexican crooner who was once married to Lucero, is going to be in Laredo.

So, hopefully you can enjoy the extra daylight today.  Much more than 12 hours for this Friday.  On an endnote, here is the spirit of the Spurs atop a religious iconography in the barrios of our fair city.  Sadly, the Spurs faded as bad as the tiny flag at the top of the doghouse.

Weekend Fun

The weekend has come once again to our sleepy little hamlet.  And, the LPD has not disappointed.  It had been quite a while without one of Laredo's own patented prostitution stings.  Sure enough, with the upcoming Fourth of July festivities on the horizon, the law enforcement types decided it was time for another roundup.

Sure enough, the names and photos are plastered for all to see on the front page of the LMT.  Thank you for making our city so much safer oh great city leaders.

Meanwhile, it was a slow newsday at the ol' newspaper.  Why you ask?  Oh because the front page featured a story on UISD Athletic Director, Bobby Cruz, being a fan of the San Antonio Spurs.  Really?  Shocking, I know.  In tomorrow's newspaper edition, a story on how the sun will rise in the east and set in the west.  Also, stay tuned for a story on how most Laredoans like Texas-based football teams.  Investigate journalism at its finest.

Speaking of the Spurs, a recent flurry of activity has surrounded young Mexican American boy, Sebastian De La Cruz, singing the national anthem for game 3.  Last night, in game 4, he sang the anthem again to much acclaim by the largely Hispanic city and its fans.  Orale.

 If basketball ain't your thing, then go catch "The Man of Steel" at the Cinemark. I hear its kinda dull.  But, at least its a summer movie.

And, in case you've been sleeping under a rock, the outlet mall is finally coming to Laredo.  Or, at least that's what they're saying. Stay tuned as more informed blogs have the latest.

Finally, enjoy the weekend and please don't litter the streets of Laredo with discarded plastic, baby dolls these next few days.  I hear they take decades to decompose.