Warmer weather is on the way

This had been an unusually cold winter here for Texas. Now I am not really complaining since so much of the country has been inundated by snow and very cold weather. In addition, we have had lots of rain which we desperately need, as this area has been in a severe drought mode for two years. The other day on the television weather report of the local evening news, the reporter pointed out the return of springs feeding local creeks and rivers. This means that the water table has risen to near record levels, and our drought is gone.

So we are really thankful for the rain. It is also predicted that we will have a record crop of Texas Blue Bonnets. Their millions of blooms along the hill country many winding roads are simply spectacular. As we drive and see this beautiful country side, we often thank Lady Bird Johnson, who was the force behind beautifying the roadside with local wild flowers.

So we are having many benefits of our rain and cold. Hopefully this year's peach crop will not be wiped out as it was last year by a late frost. For the last two mornings we have awakened to temperatures in the low twenties and maybe an upward trend will now occur. Happy travels.

A wood working we go

Don wanted to extend the outdoor patio at the saloon in time for spring and summer visitors. That part is now done, but then we needed more tables and chairs so that people have lots of places in which to sit. It was decided that we need to make five more tables and eight chairs per table. For the last few days we have been making all of the pieces for the tables and chairs. This translates into making about 1000 various pieces, routing edges, and sanding the results. As you might infer, we have been working on this project for several days now.

Today we finished making pieces and started in by putting together the tables. By lunch time we had three of the tables together and not much more time is needed to finish the remaining two. Then we start in on making 40 chairs. We do not expect to complete this part of the project today but to make significant inroads. Tuesday is not one of my work days, but I volunteered to come in and help so that we could get this part underway. It has been fun particularly since this is rough work not finished wood work. I am much better at the rough wood working projects. It has been fun and a nice change of pace to do this project. Happy travels.

Who's the ugly kid on the left?

Maurice recently received a picture of boy cousins from our cousin Ruth-E. She found two copies of the picture in question and gave them to him. Being a generous soul, he sent one of the copies to me to e njoy on my birthday. Written on a sticky attached to the picture was, "Aren't we all cute?" When we talked this morning, he mentioned that Ruth-E. laughed and laughed as she handed the picture to him.

This picture was taken in 1942, probably at Uncle Harry's (Ruth-E.'s dad) house. The boy cousins in order from right to left are: Maurice, Bill, Bob, Bruce, Dick, and the ugly kid (me). The first four boys listed were in a line, and several were even smiling. Three of the boys were in shorts. Maurice had on a nice looking jacket, and then there was the ugly kid.

The ugly kid had long, curly hair, and he really needed a haircut. There is a strange looking knitted cap on top of the head of the kid. The kid has on overalls which in themselves are OK, but the jacket over this outfit has a rolled up cuff on the left hand and is completely turned inside out on the other hand. Maybe the whole thing would be acceptable, but the facial expression says it all. The ugly kid does not want to be in the picture, and the look in his eyes suggests that someone should be done in for forcing him to be in the picture.

My only excuse is that I was three years old in 1942. I am told that whenever someone took pictures of me in my childhood, I cried. I guess I did not like to have my picture taken. Foxy could not believe that I was the ugly kid. It is me. All I can say is that as I grew up there was only room for improvement.

I have known for years that we were not rich. Indeed we were poor enough to only be able to rent and not own our home. I was a mid-teen when we finally owned our first home. This picture brings back for me my intense dislike of hand-me-downs. No parent in their right mind could have bought the clothes for the ugly kid. They had to be hand-me-downs. Happy travels.

Milestones

Well, I made it to 71 years of age. That is my personal milestone for today. We went to a Valentine's party and dance last night here at the park. It involved dinner and a live band with great dancing music. Foxy and I thoroughly enjoyed ourselves. They even sang happy birthday to me later on during the evening. It was great fun to celebrate in such a way. To continue this celebration we are going out with friends for breakfast in about an hour. I am not getting on any scale for a few days for sure. After today it is back to the diet and losing a few gained pounds. Can you have a birthday resolution? I think this one is mine. Now, can I make it to 72?

Maurice and I had a quiet conversation about reaching 71 years of age. He did this a couple of years ago, and I cheered him on. This year he cheered me on. Both our father and grandfather only made it to 70. You can see why we thought 71 was a milestone for each of us. Probably if either of these men were living in these times, they would have lived to be much older, as medical progress helps more of us to live longer. I must admit that I read obituaries each morning, not to learn much about the person, but to see how old they were. Lots of people make it into their 80's or 90's and beyond. Mom has set us a great example since she is currently 97. I think that she will easily make it to 100 or more, and we all encourage her.

Thanks for listening to a Real Old Fart who made it to 71. Happy travels.

Kindle e-book birthday present

Yesterday a birthday present arrived in the mail for me. Foxy had ordered me an e-book from Amazon.com called a Kindle. It is really quite something. Once I went through the setup rituals, I was able to order several electronic books from Amazon, and within minutes they were stored on the e-book. It is very readable, weighs little, quite slim, and about the size of a paperback book. It is quite easy to use and will take the place of most, if not all, future book buying. This means not so many books lying about in our limited space in the motor home. It is amazing to me to be able to order a book from Amazon and have it on the reader and ready to be read in about a minute. E-books are also much cheaper than buying either a hardback or paperback version of the book.

I am a bit challenged by technology and have my troubles with computers but get along with Foxy helping here and there. I like to do banking and add to my blog but care for little else except for playing solitaire. Now that I have an e-book which seems to be very user friendly, I may use the computer even less. The cool thing about the e-book is that you can read more than one book at a time, and it remembers where you left off when you last were reading. So Foxy can read a book as well on it, and we can share the Kindle. It has a function that will allow it to read the book to you. I doubt that I will use that function, but who knows. What a lovely birthday present. Thanks, Foxy! Happy travels.

Haircuts and other necessities

Yesterday both Max and I got a haircut. Max went to a nearby groomer, and he sure needed the attention. He had recently eaten a few peanuts, shell and all, and later during the night threw up the shells, mostly on himself. Needless to say he did not smell great after that event. It was time to get him groomed and a necessary bath. I would have done the bath, but it was so cold here that I hated having him wet and running around outside to get dry. The groomer did a good job and Max returned home in much better shape.



Once Max was home it was my turn to go see Jimmy, who cuts my hair. Jimmy gets a bit distracted and does not always finish everything but generally does a passable job. It was good to get tidied up. Now I am ready for the Valentine dinner and dance which will occur this Saturday. Happy travels.

More Zebras and fireworks

We usually get to bed sometime after 10 pm and then have a nightly ritual of rubbing each others' back. Last night was no different except that Foxy had on her zebra pajamas, and when I began to rub her back soon noticed that I generated lots of static electricity. It must have been very dry here for this to happen. It was like having 40 or 50 lightening bugs just under my hands. It really was quite spectacular. I do know that if you take a glass rod and rub it with fur you can generate static electricity. You can get enough to get a significant discharge. I guess that Foxy's pajamas did their part even though they are not fur, but the fuzzy material works. I hope to get that effect again. Foxy wanted to see the effect and turned over so that I could rub her arm and then she could see all of the small static charges. It was great fun, and we enjoyed our home made mini fireworks display. Those zebra pajamas are the gift that keeps on giving. Thanks, Susie, for the gift to your sister. Happy travels.