ISLAND OBSERVER: TONY AMOS
Weather extremes; Mexico memories

Tony Amos is a research fellow at The University of Texas at Austin Marine Science Institutte in Port Aransas

You've heard of mixed metaphors. Well, here are some mixed and mashed quotations: It is the driest month, it is the wettest month; it is the cruel month of July.

In Port Aransas, Texas, the only month of the year where we've had no measurable rainfall during an entire month is July, and that has happened five times (1986, '93, '94, '97, and 2000). The wettest of any month in the past 22 years was July last year when 18.33 inches soaked us. This year came close with a total of 14.95" in July.

The graph shows this amazing pattern. Data came from the official U.S. Weather Service Cooperative Observer Station on the grounds of UTMSI. And in case you need reminding what rain looks like, here's a portrait of July rain falling on the Mustang Island Gulf beach.

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The Chevy does Texas (and Mexico)

It must have been quite dry in the summer of 1961 in Texas when we drove our 1939 Chevrolet around the Gulf of Mexico. I have pictures of the Chevy in New Orleans and Mexico, but cannot find any obvious Texas pictures. Although I had what was a rare camera then (a Hasslelblad), the large format color slides I was able to unearth from the Amos archives have faded to pink and suffered from mold.

So, the question I've asked since making Texas my home is this: Did I visit Port Aransas and Mustang Island in 1961? I know we detoured to see the sea, and I vaguely remember a ferry. I must try and locate Roger Seymour who, I believe, lives in the Bahamas now. I wonder if his memory has faded like mine has (along with my pictures).

What I do remember is Laredo. The title to the car was not waiting for us at the Laredo post office, and so, with some trepidation we crossed the bridge. We had no problem getting an untitled car into Nuevo Laredo. It was a somewhat lawless town 40-plus years ago.

I did find a nice portrait of the Chevy taken in Mexico. I converted it to black and white using the magic of PhotoShop. Read about Matehuala, Mexico City, the not-so-easy border crossing getting back into the USA, the amazing drive back to Miami, hallucinations, Orange, Texas, and some big mosquitoes and the ignominious fate of the Chevy in future columns.