A Wilson Hurley Painting

One of my favorite artists is Wilson Hurley. If you want to see a painting of his with all of its rich detail, fly to Albuquerque and enjoy his paintings as you leave the airport concourse on your way to the parking garage. His works are simply magnificent. Tonight we had a brief and mild rain shower which cooled our area down considerably. I went out to do some errands about 7:30 and noticed the absolutely gorgeous clouds. They were white mixed with pinks and greys, and I had to get HW2 out to see this lovely fantasy. If only Wilson could have been here to paint this scene. Any observer would say, "How could he have imagined such a scene?" I would have answered, "It was right over our heads." Such a lovely ending for a day when Murphy's Law had been in full tilt. Happy travels.

Murphy's Law

Murphy's Law must have been in full force here today. This law states that if it can go wrong, it will. We have a new work camper who is a rather young guy but a good worker. He works for us three days each week and goes to college three days. Today JD was mowing with the John Deere tractor when a bolt sheered off and one of the cutting blades shot off. We put the tractor up to see exactly what had happened, and it had to go visit the nearby John Deere sales dealer. They will remove the remaining piece of the bolt, sharpen the three blades, and we will go to return the tractor to our place of work. Fortunately, no one was around, and no one got hurt when the blade shot off from under the tractor.

Later in the day JD and I got an urgent call from the boss to drop everything and hurry to the pond area. We did not have any idea what had happened but did as requested. What we found was that Gordon, another work camper, had been driving our large Grasshopper mower on the flat down by the river and was attacked by a swarm of killer bees. He left this tractor and ran to get away from the bees but was stung 20-30 times at least. He finally returned and shut off the tractor, and we all left the area. Tonight at dark the Terminex guy will return to immobilize the swarm. Gordon took Benedrel and then had his wife remove the stingers. Fortunately, he is not terribly allergic to bee stings and suffered but did not really get into a fragile medical state. His right ear did swell, and he iced it down. He was a good sport about the whole thing, but you know all those stings hurt. For sure, Murphy's Law was in full swing here today. Happy travels.

Chili for ten or more

When HW2 makes chili, she makes a pot full. It was good as usual, but there was enough left over that she decided to add some more to the mix and invite all our work camper buddies over for dinner. We also invited several other park regulars and sat outside in our gazebo and visited and ate. I think that there were 11 altogether. The chili was enjoyed, and folks added onions, cheese, sour cream, or red chili as they wished to the mix. We also had guacamole dip and vegetables with dip as appetizers. We finished the whole thing with brownies. The party kept up until about ten and then most went home as we finished the evening talking with Dave and Lois. It was a fun evening and those that had worked on Saturday did not have to come home and cook. We got cleaned up by eleven and hit the sack.

We put up string lights around the top of the inside of our gazebo and a few more concrete blocks around the patio to make the area more hospitable. Max even had company in his pen as Mark brought his dog and Bob and Pam brought theirs. I think that there was chili left, so if you are hungry drop by, and we will gladly share. Happy travels.

Catch up

We are in the middle of our four days off, and today is a catch up day for us. This means laundry, a bit of shopping, and anything else that we need to get done on our days off. We are planning a trip for the month of December where we will go to see Ashley, Tom, and baby Harper (our first great grandchild), then on to Williamsburg, VG and then NY to see brothers and Mom, Christmas with Kim's family, and finally a brief visit to Omaha and then back to Kerrville for New Year's Eve. All of this is weather permitting, of course. We also hope to talk Phyllis and Pat into meeting us in Virginia for a couple of days together.

Meanwhile, we continue our jobs as work campers. Lately I have been trying to save one of our pools from becoming green with algae. This has required several trips to the pool supply store, significant instruction, and many and varied chemicals. I have been adding specific amounts of these chemicals, and the condition has improved, but we are not through quite yet. So on my days off I continue with this pool, as it seemed wiser that one person do the whole treatment rather than have several of us do it in turn. I guess if it all works as planned, I will be quite happy, as it has been a park investment of several hundred dollars.

We have the Texas Rangers here this weekend for a dinner and that has also kept us very busy. They are the equivalent of the FBI here in Texas and have extensive investigative abilities here in the state. I keep wanting to see how they view that activities of the Lone Ranger and Tonto but have managed not to ask so far, since I think they might think this a frivolous question. We do feel quite safe though, with so many Rangers staying here. Last night they cooked prime rib and pork loin for us with sides of beans and fruit cobbler. All was tasty, for sure.

We also went to San Antonio to get my new glasses and run errands and found a great luncheon place. They had excellent chips and salsa, and we want to return for sure. We also got supplies for several work campers while there.

Well, the laundry is about done so I had better finish this post and get on with my catch up duties. Happy travels.

Salads, aka damn rabbit food

I have an opinion about salads, and if you noticed this title, you now know how I feel. God made green vegetables for animals to eat and for us to eat the animals. We are supposed to get our rabbit food second hand. I like to eat rabbits since I think they taste like chicken. For the past 20 years I have endured salads. HW2 loves them; I merely endure, although not always quietly.

When we were growing up, we had a large garden and ate whatever vegetables were harvested and ate them in their season. When the season was over, you ate vegetables that were home-canned. Otherwise, you did not have to eat them. There is a commie plot to ship vegetables to the USA from all over the world, and that means that there is always rabbit food available for HW2 to buy. I have tried to explain that if we had to have salads, it should be in SMALL amounts. This means you put them in a very small dish. They are quickly eaten and forgotten. In France you get a salad at the end of the meal, and you can then explain that you are full and do not have to eat it. Here we get dessert at the end of the meal, and if you have too much salad, you are too full and do not have room for the dessert. I may have to move to France. HW2 will probably tell you that I have it wrong about France, but I am sure that somewhere there, they serve food with the salad optional at the end of the meal.

Since I have regained four pounds, dinner tonight will consist of a LARGE SALAD and vegetables and meat. No dessert for this person. I will eat the damn rabbit food and love it. Happy travels.

Waiting

How well do you wait? I do get impatient when driving behind another slow driver, seemingly long traffic lights, and other things that can exasperate me. Generally though, I think that I wait well. Others might disagree. I do like to be on time and expect others to do the same. HW2 is really good at being on time but does not like to be early at all. Most older people we have met are good at being on time or are in the 'get there early club'.

Lately I have been thinking about how one waits to die. This is not being morbid or depressing; rather it is speculation for me. When we are young, we have no concept about this. As teenagers or young adults we discover that all of us die at some point but generally put it out of our minds and act as though we will live forever. Perhaps that type of thinking causes us to be surprised when a young person mets their demise and then many show up for the funeral.

When you get older, you are likely to come to terms with death and in some ways, wait for this event. So I have been waiting. My dad lived to be 70 years of age and some months, and I hope to outlive him. Perhaps when I surpass his age, I will put waiting on the back burner. I do know that most of the time I get on with life and thoroughly enjoy each moment. I do think that it is a blessing that we do not know when our ending will be. I willingly leave that to God. Still I wait and wonder. In many ways, I look forward to the passing on process and think it will be lovely to be in my heavenly home. It may take quite a time in purgatory though, before final arrival. Happy travels.

Seekers pot luck and game night

Sam and June opened their lovely home to our seekers group for a pot luck and game night. They have been in charge of the group this year. About 30 of us gathered at their home and enjoyed the varied foods and good conversation. After dinner we then played games like Mexican Train Dominoes, bridge, and Left-Right-Center (a dice game). This group also raises funds for the local food kitchen and donations were taken during the evening. We enjoy these folks very much and hated to leave. Driving home we saw lots of deer along the road and had to drive very carefully.

One of our members is Alejandrina who came to this country from Mexico when she went to The University of Michigan to learn English. She went on to be a Montessori Teacher and then later in life fell in love and married. She and her husband shared 25 years before he succumbed to pancreatic cancer. Widowed for the past five years she keeps busy with church work and belonging to groups like Seekers. It was fun to sit next to her while playing dominoes and to hear her story. Happy travels.

We have moved to a new site here today

We decided to move from our old site to this one because this site had trees on either side. After spending the summer in Texas we have learned the value of good shade. We liked our previous site but it had a great tree on only one side. Now we should get morning and afternoon shade until the trees lose their leaves in the fall. We actually did the move in two stages. We got our neighbors Pam and Bob to help us move the gazebo last evening. Each of us took one leg and we walked the gazebo over to the new site. We then moved all the chairs and other outside paraphernalia including plants until it got too dark.

Then today we moved the motor home, golf cart, car and connections and hooked up water, electricity, phone, cable TV, and sewer. This site had lots of pavers which we moved to fit our door and then went to Home Depot to get more and extend the patio area. Lunch in town was our treat for a good moving day. So tonight we are back in our home, just in a different spot. This is site 111 for those of you that know our land line you can call the same number but change the extension to 2111. Happy travels.

Max learns the steps

For some reason Max has been afraid to come down the steps of our motor home. Perhaps it is because to him the steps seem a long way down or maybe it was the time he tried to do them and fell and rolled on the ground. For whatever the reason, he would not come down the steps. Instead he would lie down at the top of the steps and look out into our world and whine if he saw one of his doggy friends or one of our acquaintances go by. Our friend Clayton even brought over his dog Angel and had her go up and down our steps several times while Max watched. Finally I took to putting Max on the top step and gently pushing him until he had to go down. He managed this without falling but resisted going down until tonight. I wanted to take him out for his evening walk, put on his leash and went outside calling and whistling to get him to come to the top of the steps. He finally came to the door and crouched down and finally went down all by himself. This will really help HW2 as he is too heavy for her to now pick up and take down the steps.

Of course we now have the problem of getting him to go up the steps. I have been placing him midway and he is gradually beginning to get the hang of it but not really successful yet. So we are half-way there in this learning exercise. Not bad for a ten month old puppy. Happy travels.

Date for Eight

Last night eight of us gathered for a 'Date for Eight' dinner at one of our members homes. The Presbyterian Churches that we have attended seem to have some version of this to enable members to get together for food, fellowship, and a chance to get to know each other better. We have enjoyed this type of gathering for many years and last night was no exception. We met at Joyce and LeRoy's home and were joined by Ann and Jerry, us and Fred and Puddin. We found out that Puddin is a nickname for Kathleen.

We had snacks, drinks and visited a lot. Dinner was pork loin roast with potatoes, green beans with onions and sauce, salad and rolls. Dessert followed which was a meringue type cake. We had been asked to bring a favorite bible verse and proverb. This proved to be quite fun to share. All had a good sense of humor and we laughed and talked the evening away. This group meets once each month for the next four months and then again in the spring the groups are reformed and you can again have a chance to meet others in the church.

In other churches where there were similar organizations a group might meet for a year or longer. As new members it is nice to meet for the four months and then a chance to meet with another group. We also belong to 'Seekers' which is an outgrowth of a date for eight group that wanted to continue to meet. This group has grown to about 40 members and meets monthly.

It is interesting that our church is beginning a discussion on how to encourage younger people to attend and become members. We do not want to become a status quo church with mostly older members. This discussion will get quite interesting. PCA Presbyterian churches seem to have a better track record when it comes to attracting younger people. Perhaps we need to adopt some of the PCA style of worship.

We have thoroughly enjoyed belonging to this church and meeting members. Happy travels.

More Rain

It started to rain just as I took Max outside to do his morning business. Then it really dumped and interrupting the poor dog, so we hurried back in to wait for better timing to finish this. Well, needless to say, the rain continues and Max could wait no longer so we went out again. This place now smells like wet dog. Poor guy!

We need this rain very badly and are thankful that our long drought is over for the moment. Our river actually has water flowing in it. This should give the river a much needed flushing out of stagnant pools and other stuff.

Another amazing thing was how quickly the grass greened up again. We have gone from brown to green with a few days of rain. Our trees have been shedding leaves and in some cases dying back. I can only hope that the rain helps curtail this process too.

The sound of raindrops is not only soothing it seems to induce me to snooze. I do not need anything to get me to snooze other than some sonorous voice on TV. Our kids call it, "Dad's news and snooze hour." Friday with the intermittent rain I snoozed all afternoon and woke up to realize that I had been sitting on my glasses. The snooze was great but the newly broken glasses was not. So on Saturday we headed to San Antonio to try to get new frames. We succeeded and ordered another pair. The old ones can be used for work and the new ones for reading or less strenuous things. The old glasses were getting scratched so I am looking forward to having clearer reading glasses. Enjoy the rain and happy travels.

Max is learning to talk

Now this may seem silly to you the reader, but, clearly, Max is learning to talk. He wants to talk so badly that he tries various sounds out that I have never heard another dog make. He barks to go outside to do his business but that is not really talking. When I put on my work sneakers in the morning he really gets into it. He carries on quite a conversation with me and does his darnedest to interrupt the process. He play chews anything he can and squirms under my feet all the time while I try to get the shoe laces tied up. He vocalizes throughout and seems to me to be saying, "Don't go to work!" "Stay home and play with me!"

If I ask Max a question he tilts his head and looks me square in the eyes and tries his darnedest to answer. If I try to make the sounds he is making, he really gets hopeful. So, I have concluded that Max is trying his best to talk. I hope he succeeds. The world need another Dr. Doolittle. Then maybe Max could translate for me what other dogs are saying and I could then intercede between them and their masters. Wouldn't that be fun? I keep encouraging Max in this endeavor. Happy travels.

Rain on the roof

We had a couple of rain showers yesterday afternoon, which were needed here. Then last night as we prepared to go to bed, we could hear the patter of rain on our roof. What a wonderful way to go to sleep! How long it gently rained, I cannot say. This morning it was very wet but not raining when Max and I went outside about 6:30. Now it is raining again. We have been dry here for so long that the trees have begun dropping their leaves, making it look as though fall had arrived early.

At one point we were repairing a broken water control valve, which was 2-3 feet below ground. Fortunately we were able to use a back hoe to do the digging, and the dirt was crumbly all the way down. There seemed to be no moisture in the ground. Maybe this nice gentle rain will begin to replenish this much needed moisture. Almost over night the grass has begun to green up. It is amazing to me how resilient the grass is. Before the rain it was a wasteland of brown.

We are thankful for the rain and hope it keeps coming to this area. Maybe we can even go off our water restrictions and be able to water the lawns again. Happy travels.

Max meets Mr. Toad

Last night I took Max out to do his business, and he was well into his sniffing routine when he discovered that another creature was there, too. That spooked him, and he backed up, then inched forward trying to determine exactly what creature this was. Mr. Toad endured all this unwanted attention and then jumped to a slightly different location. Max nearly jumped out of his skin, and his jump was straight up. Our neighbor Clayton started to laugh at the antics and started encouraging Max to investigate Mr. Toad some more. It was a picture of three cautious steps forward, movement by Mr. Toad, and more spooked Max. Clayton would encourage Max to investigate, and so it went. Any thoughts of getting down to business were gone. Max decided that barking would get Mr. Toad to move, but it was only a partially successful strategy. What a funny scene.

Early this morning Max and I went outside for his first morning constitutional and almost immediately ran into Mr. Toad. This time Max was more secure and decided to nose Mr. Toad, which caused him to hop away followed by a much more decisive dog. Finally, Mr. Toad hopped under Clayton's car, and Max was dragged off by me to get finished with his morning business. I wonder what he will do with the next creature that crosses his path. Happy travels.

We survive Labor Day

Labor Day is a huge holiday here at the RV park. We were completely booked, which means that all 220 spaces and 17 cabins had folks planning to use the facility. This figures out to 3-4 people per space, and if you do the arithmetic you can figure out how many people we had to deal with over the weekend. On Friday night we had a live band (very good one) playing at the saloon on the new stage we built several weeks ago. Then on Saturday we had three bands playing in turn at our outdoor amphitheater, and we fed everyone barbecued brisket, potato salad, beans, bread, pickle, and beer or soda. This food is provided by the park free to the guests. In the middle of feeding everyone, it began to rain and continued for about an hour. No one seemed to get mad about the rain because we need it desperately. After the rain quit, the music continued, and all had a great evening. By eleven we closed up and gladly headed for our motor home. Most of the guests stayed until Monday when about 130 sites checked out and headed home. Yesterday, Monday, we started the cleanup which meant collecting lots of garbage. The best part of this detail is taking the tractor and mashing the garbage down into the bins so that we can put even more in. I have done this activity two times now and thoroughly enjoy mashing the garbage. You have to get your kicks any way you can when you get to be my age. Now things are relatively quiet here with more cleanup scheduled today. Labor Day is over for another year, and we are thankful. Happy travels.