Baboon Pirates

Scribbles and Scrawls from an unrepentant swashbuckling primate.

My Photo
Name:
Location: Texas, United States

Wednesday, May 08, 2013

Possums, Poker & Poptarts

Alliterative Fun In Swamp City

There's at least 5 dogs and upwards of a dozen cats that freely roam the cul de sac most evenings.  Since none of the neighbors seem to have heard of leash laws, you can count on at least half the 4-legged residents to come say hello while you're out with a book & a cigar on the front porch.

This isn't a bad thing, necessarily.  I like most of the critters, and two of the dogs and three of the cats are downright friendly and will hang out while I pet them.  The problem comes when you start assuming that it's a dog or cat coming to visit.

Take last Wednesday, when I reached out my left hand while reading to pet the approaching white furry critter.   Imagine our joint surprise when I glanced over and noticed I was about 3 feet away from fondling a wandering possum...     The A/C condensation drain pipe dumps out onto the front porch, and I imagine Mr. Possum was looking for a drink.

He brought a friend last night.  I was deep into a Lee Child novel and a San Lotano cigar when I heard a snapping sound off to the left.  I looked over to see a pair of possums clicking their jaws at me, perhaps hoping I'd run off.  No dice, stupid stupid rat creatures!!

They're gonna need to find a new watering hole.  That drain's getting re-routed into a rain catchbarrel, anyway...


I've avoided Pop-Tarts for quite some time.  They're mostly empty calories, but got-damn those are some tasty empty calories...  I succumbed to temptation and had a pack of the strawberry and (my favorite!!!) the brown sugar/cinnamon.   I'd eat those things by the bushel basket if I could...


Poker night last Friday evening, one of the last ones up in the Cypresswood locale of the Cisco Kid.  He & his blushing bride of 5 months are moving down closer to downtown, and our fireworks-friendly locale for July 4th and New years will soon be on the market or rented out.

Not a bad night as far as poker nights go.  I barely made 75 cents in profit over the course of the evening, but there was this one hand...

Pretty straightforward game of Spit In The Ocean.  It's a draw game with one community wild card.   Wild card is a 3, and I'm dealt a pair of 6s and a trey.  So, at least trip 6s.  The draw comes around, and I dump a king and a 5 for... another 6 and another 3.  Score!!  Now to keep that poker face on...

Got into a betting war with the Cisco Kid.  Each of us was telling the other one "You don't want to do this! Back off!!" while pitching quarters into the pot as fast as we could.

Eventually the call came around, and Cisco Kid's royal flush (courtesy of the other two treys) was just edged out by my 5 of a kind.  Sweet...

I love winning a good hand, but I'd prefer not to hand a bad beat down to a friend to do it!!