Thanksgiving 2021

I hope all of you had a great Thanksgiving. We certainly did. We did the 2 hour and 15 minute drive to Odessa to spend the day with the kids. In typical West Texas fashion, we fought 20 mph winds up and back. But it was nice to get out on the road again, and it was great to spend a holiday with family again. I especially enjoyed visiting with eldest grandson, Xander. He's a college man now, and working some on the side, so we don't get to see him often anymore. 

The kids are having a good time in their home. They really enjoy city living after spending several years in a very small town. I like towns the size of Odessa, San Angelo, and Midland. They have everything you need, but they aren't so big that they overwhelm you. 

We're finally getting some fall color here, but when you don't have many trees, you don't get a whole lot of color. Still, I am thankful for what we do have. I enjoy the various seasons of the year. and autumn has always been my favorite season, hands down. Below are some shots taken around the neighborhood on a recent walk.

Rust colored oak

Pretty good range of reddish colors in this tree.

Three trees along the street, each with a different tint.

I was almost home on my latest walk when I came across several turkeys in a neighbor's yard. There was one big old tom with his feathers out. He was strutting and puffing his way among his companions, and doing a bit of bullying. I don't know what he was trying to accomplish as I know practically nothing about turkey culture. I snapped a picture or two as he strutted around the edge of the group. Suddenly, there was a commotion. I don't know if the turkeys suddenly realized I was nearby or if something else bothered them. I rather think there was an aggressive action from this tom that set things off. 

Regardless, those turkeys began to scatter like there was a fox in the henhouse. The tom flew off to the south, and some of the other turkeys flew in the opposite direction. Most of them, though, flew onto the nearest roof. I tried to capture these actions in the pictures below.

Here are the turkeys when I first spotted them. You can see the aggressive tom at left in the driveway. He has his tail feathers fanned out.

I snapped a couple of more pictures like the one above, and then the commotion started. In this picture, you can see the aggressive tom in flight at far left of the picture. At least one turkey is heading for a roof, but most are running away to the right (north).

This is the aggressive tom, flying away to the south. Note the clouds in the background, by the way. More on them later.

In this shot, at least 3 turkeys have made it atop one roof, while another at the bottom of the picture attempts liftoff.

This is a neighboring rooftop, with 2 turkeys already walking the roof. Note the turkey about to land at left, with another in flight at top of window on right.

This final picture of what I am calling "The Great Turkey Incident of 2021" shows at least 8 turkeys secure on a roof. Glad they survived.

The next two pictures are of the sky at the time of "The Great Turkey Incident of 2021". Some of the clouds have a pastel look, almost as if they were painted on the sky. Donna and I both love watching the sky out here, Donna more than me, probably. Donna's vivid imagination allows her to see all sorts of things in the clouds, especially after she's had a few drinks. While we were returning from Odessa Thanksgiving day, Donna kept peering into the sky. Suddenly, she said, "There's a turkey in the sky with his feathers spread out!" I have trouble seeing all the shapes that Donna does; I just don't have a good imagination, I suppose. And I don't partake nearly as much. Perhaps I should.

Interesting sky, don't you think?

Close up of the sky shown above. That center area really looks as if it was brushed on.

And finally, how about a peaceful shot of some birds in formation heading south.

Ragged V formation heading south.

Return of the "Littles"

The "Littles" enjoyed staying with me so much that they requested a return trip to visit their old grandpa. This time, we kept them for 3 nights. They didn't have all the school work to do this trip, so we were able to spend more time entertaining them.

They are getting pretty easy to take care of. They are old enough now that they can entertain themselves to a large degree. But we did take them fishing again, though no one caught anything. It was really windy that day, and I suppose that had something to do with it. We took them to a neighborhood park a couple of days so they could work off some energy. They enjoyed playing on the playground equipment, riding their skateboards around, and just being boys. We'll be seeing them again in a few days when we spend Thanksgiving with them.

Granma and her boys trying to snag our supper from the Concho River near downtown.

I always have enjoyed watching monkeys in a zoo.

Partners in crime enjoying the shady swings.

They really enjoyed riding their skateboards on the smooth tennis court.

One of the things I enjoy most about autumn is when the leaves change colors. But this year, we haven't seen much color. There are a few trees in our neighborhood that I normally enjoy watching, but they just haven't really displayed any true fall colors yet. Leaves are falling all over the place, but the color just isn't there.

Now, San Angelo is not known for its fall colors, but we do have some. Temps have been warmer this autumn, though, and I guess that has affected things. Even when oaks change color, it's really more of a rust color, almost a dead leaf color. We've driven out to Spring Creek Park on Lake Nasworthy a couple of times, and some of the pecan trees there have yellowed rather nicely. I miss very little of East Texas, but I do miss some of the colors in the fall and the spring.

This is pretty typical of the oak trees this year. One branch in this mature tree has turned a rust color, and that's about it.

Here's another oak with just a couple of branches showing any color.

Here's a pecan tree from Spring Creek Park, with a few others in the background. 

This is our neighbor's tree. I don't know what kind it is, but when the morning sun hits it, it can be rather pretty.

And what would a blog entry be without a picture of some goofy old turkeys?

Turkeys on the roof of our neighbor's house. They like to roost in high places at night. I snapped this shot as I was going out for an early morning walk.

This shot is of a rising full moon a couple of nights ago. What a beautiful color!

We Keep the "Littles"

We've had good fun this past week.

On Monday, Courtney and Michael passed through town and dropped the "Littles" off for a stay. They call their youngest two sons the "Littles" I guess because of the age gap between them and Xander. Court and Michael were off to Fredericksburg to celebrate their anniversary. I'm not sure how many years they've been married, but the years are starting to add up. That Michael is a glutton for punishment!

So, we kept the little guys for a couple of days. The boys are home schooled, so much of their time with us was taken up with school work. We spent several hours each day with various studies, especially math and language arts. The lads are coming along nicely, I think.

On their first day with us, we were able to take them fishing for a while. We opted for the Concho River downtown. Cam pulled in a couple of small fish, but Jensen wasn't able to snag one. They did enjoy eating his bait, though.

Gammaw and her boys

Cam landing his whale.

I'm glad we got them outside when we did, because the weather turned a bit colder and wetter the next couple of days. 

Court and Michael had a nice time in Fredericksburg. I think they enjoy that place almost as much as Donna and I do. On their return trip, they stayed in rain all the way to Angelo. All told, I think we got about an inch that morning. My weather gauge recently broke when some heavy winds toppled it, so I need to replace it. Until then, I'll rely on local weather reports.

In addition to the turkey pictures above, I've posted some more below. Cheers!

Turkeys in our backyard