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.