Critters

Max and I were outside, he in his pen to do his business, and I sitting in our gazebo. A wren flew into our bird house, perhaps chased there by some hummingbirds that were trying to decide whether to enjoy our feeder or worry about Max who was watching the whole thing. Then, one of the feral cats ran by, which got Max's attention and so it went. I think the hummingbirds have a nest in a nearby tree and they were defending their territory from the wren.

This morning Max and I enjoyed our walk, and he got to visit with two other dogs. Max thinks everyone is his friend and probably will play with him, given the chance. A boy on a bike followed us long enough to be able to pet Max and to discover that indeed he was a male dog. About the only time you can enjoy a walk here is early in the morning when it has not returned into the high 90's or higher. Today we are scheduled for 102. I can only hope that it is not too humid as well. We are in a continuing drought here that has been going on for over two years. I hate to see the grass brown, and some of the trees lose their leaves. We have lost several trees here to the dry times, and they have to be cut down and used for firewood. We get ready for church and see what else the day brings. Happy travels.

Parade of homes

This morning we went on a parade of homes. The cost of the parade was donated to charity and we decided to see how the other half lives. My goodness you can spend a great deal of money on a home in Kerrville. We saw a condominium that overlooked the Guadalupe River that went for about $400,000. It was nice. The most expensive house went for 2.2 million I think. It had so many rooms and bathrooms that you would need a full time staff to keep it clean. The kitchens were lovely and Marlene you would have liked the views, marble top counters and other accouterments. I guess we enjoyed the tour but I came away preferring our life style and simpler lives. I did not want to either purchase one of these homes or envy anyone who might end up in them. Happy travels.

It is HOT here

We have been having hot weather for several weeks now. By 2pm it hits 99 or hotter, and we hide. Most days that we are not working, I take an afternoon nap. But 5pm is generally the hottest. We have been in the low hundreds at this time of the day. The only thing to do is to get your errands and jaunts finished before noon and then hibernate in the afternoon. As long as the air conditioning works, we can stand it.

On work days, HW2 gets to work in her air conditioned office. I work outside so drink lots of water and look for shade or indoor jobs or shady jobs. So far we have managed to survive. You could get heat stroke or too much sunshine very easily. Think cool please, and send some cool weather our way. Happy travels.

In water up to my neck

We have new pool regulations that required us to replace the covers of the drains with a cover that little kids cannot get their fingers in or get caught. We tried to replace the old covers by diving down and removing the old covers and then putting the new ones in their place. Except for the diving part this sounded do-able. In fact it turned out not to be easy to do even the first part. We succeeded, we thought, but when some kid was playing Frisbee with a pool cover, we realized that we had not gotten them on tightly enough. It turned out that we had to drain the pool, and then we could do a good job on replacing the covers. Of course, it cost us over $1000 to refill the pool with new city water.

The first pool was completed by Ken, Clayton and Bob. It fell to Roy and me to do the next pool. Roy and I thought we might be able to do this by hooking a screw driver to a long pole and not have to empty the pool. So this morning Roy and I went to work. We created the long screw driver and started to work. It is hard to hit a screw down under 5 1/2 feet of water. We tried for several hours and finally gave up and began the process of draining the second pool. By 3pm the pool was empty enough, and we were able to fix the covers in about ten minutes. So we spent a second $1000 to refill the pool and had quite a day trying to save this expense. On a hot day it was a cool job. Happy travels.

Life is precious

When I was four years old, we were traveling down a four-lane highway in our 1936 Ford. This car had doors for the front and back that both opened from the middle. I was playing with the door handle when the door opened, and I was thrown out of the car onto my head. Cars following swerved in all directions to miss me as I hit on my head in the road. The next thing I knew was that I was back in the car, blood everywhere, and wondering why mom was crying. "I am the one hurt. Why are you crying?" I asked. A trip to the emergency room was next and lots of my screaming as they cleaned the blacktop out of my scalp. I am sure I had a concussion as I was under watch for several days and not allowed to play with the other kids.

In my late twenties I helped sponsor a trip of high school kids to Monzanillo, Mexico. This took several days, and we stayed at a great resort in Monzanillo. The best part was swimming in the Pacific Ocean until I was caught in a rip tide and unable to get back to shore. One of the kids swam out to see if I was in trouble, and I admitted that I was and that I could not make it back to shore. He quickly swam back to shore and got a plastic air mattress and swam back to get me and told me to hang on as he towed me into shore. When I got there I fell on the beach and took some time before I could move. My arms and legs felt like there had lead weights on them.

In 1996 I felt the onset of a heart attack and got several assistant principals to walk with me on campus. The next day I stayed home, and the feeling came back. Not wanting to go to the hospital dirty, I took a shower and then called 911. The biggest problem I had was getting to and unlocking the front gate so the emergency personnel could get into our house. Through the whole heart attack I was calm.

Why do I relate these incidents? I think that the recent death of Herb has again put into focus how fragile life is, and how quickly it can be over for any of us. The amazing thing to me is how calm I have been in these situations. I guess you can excuse the screaming when I was four. In times of stress, we all react differently. Life is precious and to be enjoyed.

Luckenbach, Texas

Luckenbach brings to my mind a song that is sung by Waylen Jennings or Merle Haggard or maybe even the late and great Johnny Cash. The reality is a town? Of population of three. There is a bar and a place for a band and lots of dancing. Tomorrow in Luckenbach, they will celebrate Waylen's Birthday with a concert of country music singers and bands.

We visited this famous place today to visit a car show of antique, roadster, and hot rod cars. What a kick!, I constantly thought of Maurice and his love for old cars and his Ford that he treasures and takes to car shows. We saw several like his but not in as good condition, of course. We saw Thirties' coups that had been updated into powerful roadsters. Some of the paint jobs were spectacular. One Corvette in particular was just beautiful with its gold fleck maroon paint job. I enjoyed all the vintage Mustangs and missed my 1968 gold colored Mustang convertible again.

So now we can say that we have visited Luckenbach, Texas, even though we will not get to hear Johnny or Waylen or Willy. Should you go there, you can buy the shirt. I did! Happy travels.

Herb

Herb died today. He was in him mid-eighties, and still it was a shock to learn of his death. He has been in declining health since we have known him. When we first met Herb, he was encased in a halo since he had some type of fall and broke his neck. He wore the halo for some months while his body repaired the break in the vertebrae. He seemed to take his misfortune in stride and never complained of his predicament to us.

Recently, Herb fell onto the floor and his wife, Connie, could not get him back up, so she called the office for help. Several of us responded, and one who had medical training examined him, and finally we got Herb back into a chair. His next accident was to break his foot, suffered in another fall. He wanted his walking cast off and demanded that Connie bring him scissors so that he could cut the cast off. Wisely, she ignored him even though in his best military manner he demanded that she follow his orders. Yesterday they went to see the doctor and on the way home stopped at the James Avery jewelry factory, and Connie left Herb in the car while she dashed inside to get some jewelry for a grandchild. When she returned, Herb was gone out of the car. He had gotten out and had fallen, hitting his head, and was lifted by air ambulance to a hospital in San Antonio. The pressure of the fall was too much for his head, and he was declared brain dead. Taken off life support, Herb, later this morning, died.

So no more old curmudgeon to talk with, but I suspect Herb is in a better place, and Connie will no longer have to try to care for an increasingly unwell husband. Herb, I will miss you.

Working when it is 90 degrees plus

We have had high temperatures here for the past two weeks. It makes working outside a bit of a challenge, and you have to change your work habits. For one thing, I am not much of a water drinker, but you have to keep hydrated or suffer heat exhaustion or, even worse, heat stroke.

Usually in the morning there are clouds and sometimes even a breeze. This makes the morning bearable. But by 2-3 in the afternoon the clouds are gone, and the temperature rapidly climbs into the upper 90's or even 100+. We find ourselves thinking of jobs that can be done inside or under the shade. Lately we have been repairing lots of water sprinklers as we need the water system functioning to avoid the grass browning or burning up in the heat. I cannot go full tilt in the heat, either, and must pace myself. Fortunately, we have our golf carts to get us around and this helps a lot. Yesterday I mowed all morning and finished the middle section of the park by early afternoon and was glad to be done, as it was certainly getting hot. Roy, another work camper here, was on the big mowing machine doing out-lying areas and came in about that time just covered with dirt. I asked him if he left any dirt out on the lawns. He laughed and said, "No." He said he would like to jump in the river, but it is not deep enough, and he did not want to scare any old ladies. I bet his shower was very muddy when he got through with it last night.

Fortunately HW2 works in an office where there is air conditioning, and this helps, since she is not quite so heat tolerant as I might be. Happy travels.

Central Texas Crossfire road trip

John P. talked us into joining the Central Texas Crossfire club and then into attending one of their monthly road trips. This trip started in San Antonio and then went north to San Marcos. Four of us met up in San Antonio. We had gone there on Saturday to see Kristy, Tim, and 5 kids who are on their way back to Omaha from South Texas. We bid them all good-bye this morning and met up with our first group. We had met John P. and Skip from Kerrville and now got to know Bill. We four then met up with other members of the club in San Marcos. Now, San Marcos is known for its shopping and HW2 was a good sport about not stopping.

We then drove through the central Texas Hill Country highlands and traveled such famous roads as the Devil's Back Bone and other roads that went up hill and down dale and around many curves. The whole idea was to drive as fast as reasonably possible and keep the club together. Altogether we had eleven cars as Fred and Mollie joined us at lunch time. They hail from Hunt which is not too far north of Kerrville. We had several convertibles and more hardtop cars. What fun! I had not ever done this and enjoyed the whole thing. It was nice to meet people from as far away as Houston and Austin, as well as in more central locations. We had about 20 people sit together for lunch in Blanco, a town that was holding a Lavender Festival. We had the added attraction of visiting the festival. HW2 found some earrings and was quite happy.

Home in time to rescue Max from doggy camp and try to get the AC unit functioning AGAIN. A wonderful weekend. Happy travels.

Air conditioner and estate sales

Now what do air conditioners and estate sales have in common? Nothing, except when you are planning to go to an estate sale, and your air conditioner breaks down; then you have a change of plans. I stayed home waiting for Greg to arrive to check our broken motor home air conditioner, and HW2 went forth to an estate sale. She came home with some new belt buckles for me and a Texas baseball hat. Terrific! Greg had not yet arrived but finally got here and rewired the thermostat, and we were back in business. I guess we need a new thermostat, but since they cost $200, I am not in a hurry.

After getting the cooling back on we went north about 35 miles to a second estate sale and came home with some more treasures. The best were five stuffed animals for Max. He got to pick out the one he could play with and started tossing it into the air with happy puppy abandon. All in all, it was a good day. We had a bit of fun ,and the cooler is working. Happy travels.

What?

One of the guys that works here will ask you, "What," when he sees you. This is not a clipped version of what but rather a long drawn out version as if the word had many a's. The other day Don came by, and HW2 said, "Whaaaaat?" In return Don said, "Whaaaaat?" This caused another round of what's, and then Don said, "We're turning you into a redneck." HW2 said, "I cain't believe you said thaaaaat." All dissolved into laughter.

Today at the Shell station check out, HW2 commented, "What is beer salt?" The guy next to her said, "What part of the North are you from? Didn't yo daddy teach you nothin'?" Beer salt is required when you drink beer, and you can either salt the beer foam, or take some of the salt in your mouth as you drink it. "Don't take too much though, as it will cause the beer to foam up." Now knowing much more about beer salt than she wanted to know, HW2 left. In Texas you never meet a stranger. Happy travels.

Threads again

I continue to mull over the idea of threads in relationships. If every one who has interacted with you spun an invisible thread of connection to you, there would be quite a thicket of threads spreading out from you to all your friends, family, and acquaintainces. I can imagine this thicket of invisible threads supporting you through good times and bad. This thicket would get more dense as you grow through life and meet and make new friends or as new family members are added.

Famous or important people would have a veritable cloud of threads as they might be on the minds of thousands of people. Religeous leaders, such as Jesus, would have two thousand years of believers adding to the cloud as they turned their thoughts to his teachings. These threads, being invisible, are maintained even though the person being connected to is no longer in this life. What a lovely way to continue to treasure someone and to send kind thoughts. Threads give me peace. Happy threading.

Goofs

I can really goof up. Yesterday I was mowing with the John Deere Tractor, working on the middle section of the park where most of our visitors park their rigs. I have to be quite careful not to hit rocks or get too close to the rigs, and we also have another man or two coming along behind the mower and weed whacking anything missed. I was about to the middle of completing this section and rotated the mower around a tree when I really did it. There were lots of shoots around the base of the tree that needed to be trimmed, and I did not see the standing water pipe next to the base of the tree since it was in the middle of the thicket of shoots. You guessed it. I neatly took off the pipe with the mower.

You can imagine that this action released a fountain of water about 6-8 feet high which I unintentionally drove through. Now soaked to the skin and very surprised, I got the mower stopped and yelled on the intercom for, "Help!" Bob quickly arrived, got the water turned off, and repaired the water pipe. Did I ever feel stupid. I had to go home to change completely. What a goof. I am going to try not to do that again. Happy travels.

"Get me the old plumber"

Don, our owner manager here, told HW2 when she was in the office the other day, "Get me the old plumber." Now HW2 did not know who the old plumber was, so being the clever person that she is, went to the phone book and looked him up. She looked under The Old Plumber, Old Plumber, Plumber, Old, and The. No luck. HW2 called Don and said, "I can't find The Old Plumber in the phone book." Don said, "Call Ken." HW2 said, "Call Kent. Who is Kent?" Don yelled back, "Not Kent. Call Ken. You know, call Kenny."

"I did not know that Kenny is the old plumber," said HW2 and called Kenny on the intercom. Kenny, who happens to be 72 works here as a maintenance man and has worked for Don for many years. So Kenny came up to the office to talk with Don, and all had a laugh over 'The Old Plumber'.

Last night we laughed again and HW2 wanted to know if Roy, who is 75, is The Old Electrician. "Yeah, commented Don, "and HW1 is the Old Lawn Mower Guy." I guess since I am 70, that puts me in with the old guys too. At least now I have a title, too. Happy travels.

Musings

I had a wonderful call tonight from Jerry, and we talked about things that are important to both of us. I treasure our interactions and conversations. I especially enjoy watching him as he fills his various roles as breadwinner, husband, father, son, friend. How he find the time for all his responsibilities is amazing. He wants me to always tell it like it is, so I dedicate this entry to him, and I must say how much I love him and am so proud of the way that he lives his life. He is a splendid role model for his kids. He is a great son and makes me proud. May his kids try to emulate him as they grow and become adults. I am so glad that he is a part of my life. Happy travels.

Relationships take two

I have been thinking about what makes a good relationship between two people for many years. I treasure my friends and try to maintain that good friendship. It takes both people to maintain the relationship and cannot be maintained by only one of them. This lesson seems to be a fundamental one that needs to be learned by all who treasure their relationships. I am puzzled about what characteristics bring two people together to found the relationship in the first place. Is it always similar, or is is a combination of opposite characteristics? Apparently, it is both for me. The common bond is created, and the relationship gets a chance to blossom and grow.

I have three children and two step children and daughters and sons in law as well as thirteen grands and now one great grand. I feel very blessed by these children and grands. I find it very interesting as to the degree of a good relationship maintained with each. Some give freely and constantly maintain their end. Others, only when it is in their interest. Others seem to be closed off and maintain only the bare minimums. We all use the phone and internet to stay in touch and seem to need to talk at least weekly. These conversations keep us up to date on each others' activities. Some ask questions about what we are doing, and others are reluctant to ask. We try to find out what is going on with each of them. These conversations are worth every penny spent and minutes quickly go by as we keep in touch.

At other times there are tokens to maintain the relationship. These involve birthday cards and cards for other occasions. They may also involve presents for the birthday or Christmas. We hope to get a response and frequently do so. Some seem too busy to say 'thank you' but most try. We do feel sad when one of our days does not get acknowledged, but we try hard to forgive, knowing that cards, phone calls, or presents are purely voluntary. We do know that we love and are loved in return, and that is what holds us together.

As our lives draw to a close, I, for one, evaluate my many relationships and wonder how I will be remembered. I think about many that have gone from this life and feel that relationship thread is still vibrant as I send thoughts their way. We each have notions about the hereafter and act accordingly. I hope some of you continue to send thoughts my way. With much love. Happy travels.

A Sunday off from work

We have been work camping since late March and most of that time have had to work on weekends. So we have not been able to attend our church. Tomorrow we actually will have the day off and can again attend. We enjoy this church and have begun making many friends there. I expect that some will want to know where we have been these past months and we will have to account for our lengthy absence. We can only hope that we can continue to have weekends off at least part of the time. I look forward to tomorrow and the Sunday service. Happy travels.

Joys of Grandparenting

We have had the five Omaha grandkids here for a few short days. They arrived on Wednesday rather late, and we got to play with them on Thursday and Friday. They depart for South Texas today. So it was a short if busy visit. We visited Fredericksburg yesterday, and all enjoyed shopping. Grandad had given each $5 to spend since he had learned that Sarah only had 21 cents to spend, and that just would not do. Sarah was the first to get rid of her $5, but the others managed to shop and enjoy the whole experience. Finally, lunch at a brew pub and a chance to try out the local version of good German food.

It wasn't the shopping, it was the hugs that make our days. Sarah gives great hugs as do all of the grand kids. James is growing tall and thinks he should shake your hand, but HW2 will not let him get away with that. Hugs are the order of the day, and it is a joy to watch them enjoy their busy lives. We will miss them when they head South but may get to see them briefly when they return North on their way back to Omaha.

One of the pleasant things about aging is the possibility of grandchildren. We are fortunate to have 13 and now one great grandchild, in addition. We love them all and look forward to visits and treasure our moments together. Happy travels.

Blogging and working don't mix well

I love to blog and try to write on a daily basis but find that work-camping cramps my style considerably. Somehow after a long day of work I do not find the energy to add to the blog very much. I will try to keep adding to the writing but bear with me as I try to find the time. The fun things that happen will get commented on in due course. I must admit that the work keeps me fit and trim and I am now weighing in the 170's. It has been years since I have been this weight. So I guess this work camping gig is good for me. Happy travels.

HW2 has a birthday today

It is June 2nd and HW2's birthday. With everything that is going on it has been hard to get prepared for a celebration but we managed with the help of co-workers Susan and Clayton. During our lunch break I ran to town for cards and Susan went for a cake. We managed to surprise her as all the co-workers gathered at the River Rock Saloon for a dring and cake. What fun. She did not suspect a thing. Tomorrow it is back to work as usual.

She received lots of cards and phone calls which always makes her day. My present will have to wait for our next trip to San Antonio. I think it is earrings. These make good presents. Happy Birthday to HW2. Happy travels.

Jerry and Marlene celebrate their 25th anniversary

It is absolutely wonderful to have kids that celebrate 25 years of marriage. Jerry and Marlene did this last weekend and we flew to Albuquerque to celebrate with them and their many close friends. Their best man Rod was there as was Sue and Mike and Jim and Margaret, close family members. We had a wonderful time and enjoyed the whole weekend, our first weekend off since we have begun this work-camping gig.

Now we are back in Kerrville and back at the work camping. This week we have been busy mowing outside and doing reservations at the office. Kristy and kids arrive tommorrow for a three day visit. It never seems to slow down here but we are looking forward to their visit. hAPPY TRAVELS.

Wood carvers

We have talented wood carvers parked on either side of us. The Texas wood carvers were here in Kerrville for about two weeks and had many sessions that they could attend as they learned more techniques. Each evening they had a wonderful band and singing that we could listen too as well. Jake and his wife were parked next to us and we got to be friend. One day his wife Sue told me that they were going to send us something. A week or so went by and we received a carved Westie, cute as he could be. What a wonderful thing to do for us.

Then we were talking with the folks on the other side of us and learned that they like to make bird houses and other thing of wood. They brought up a bird house and it was immediately taken over by a Wren. The following weekend they gave us our very own bird house that was labeled with our names and Max of course. What a treat and it looks good in our tree but no Wren for us so far. Happy travels.