A Casino Loop

Donna and I just returned from a short loop of a couple of Louisiana casinos. It's always good to get back home.

We started early last Saturday. After driving for 7 hours or so, we arrived in Livingston, Texas, where we stopped for a brief visit with Donna's brother-in-law. He has a nice place on the east side of Lake Livingston. After our visit, we drove on into Livingston and spent the night at the Holiday Inn. We walked next door to El Burrito and enjoyed nachos, queso dip, and more than one cold beer. It was a good way to end a long day of driving.

The next morning, we rose early to continue our trip east. A few miles east of Livingston, we made a brief detour into the Alabama-Coushatta reservation. Several years ago, the tribe opened a small casino on the reservation, but the casino was soon closed for legal reasons. I had noticed while doing research for our trip that the tribe now has a new casino, Naskila Gaming, so I thought we would just stop for a brief walk through.

It's a nice little casino. The largest part of the casino is smoke-free. Inside, a separate glass enclosed room makes up the smoking area. Drink stations are scattered about the small casino. I saw no video poker machines, which is the only game I play. We do not normally play at casinos that are unregulated, so I have no plans to play here, but I was curious about the place.

I'm not sure of the current legal status of the casino. And to be honest, since I don't intend to play there, I'm really not that interested. But there have been challenges by both state and federal officials to the legality of the casino.

Anyway, we returned to US 190 and continued our trek east. Our target now was Coushatta Casino Resort, located along US 165 between Kinder and Oberlin, LA. Donna's mother, aunts, and uncles used to play here from time to time. They seemed to enjoy it, so we wanted to visit the place. Of course, it had been several years since Donna's family had been here.

Personally, I didn't care for the place. I never felt comfortable there for some reason. And the service was severely lacking. It did not approach the level of service we receive at our favorite casinos. For example, upon arriving, we headed straight to the player's club to join. There was only 1 person working the desk when we arrived, and a line was forming. Eventually, another attendant arrived, but it took her well over 10 minutes before she was ready to "greet" her first customer. A suit arrived to watch things, and I was hopeful service would improve. Instead, he promptly asked the original working attendant to help him with something while customers were forced to wait. It took 35 minutes for us to join their club.

Things went downhill from there.

The rooms were okay, but the overall feel of the place -- at least to me -- was one of lack of pride. In eateries, tables were dirty and service slow; on the bright side, prices were high. I will admit that we did enjoy the play for the most part. Yeah, we lost, but not much, and both of us enjoyed some good runs on the machines we played. For those interested, we played quarter 9/5 Jacks or Better.

The casino does have a rather large non-smoking area, and that is always nice. However, you have to walk through a smoky casino to get to it. I like the setup at the Naskila Gaming near Livingston, where the smoking area is set off.

So, we were glad when our 2 nights were over. We left early Tuesday morning and headed north to Bossier City and the Horseshoe. The difference in the two casinos is night and day. Service at the 'Shoe is great. Yeah, prices are high at the eateries, but not any higher than at Coushatta. And the service and quality was much, much better.

We were only at the 'Shoe for 2 nights, so we just stayed there and did all of our eating. We left early Thursday and made the long trek home.

Rain continues to be plentiful, it seems, in the areas we visited. All of the rivers we crossed once we were past I-35 were full and flowing. Lakes seemed at capacity, and water was often standing in ditches and open fields. It has been a wet fall and winter in that part of the country.

Taking Care of Business

A new year always brings new challenges. I usually spend quite a bit of time as the new year begins taking care of business. I'm rather anal, and I'll be the first to admit it, and that causes me a bit more work than most people, but the system seems to work for me.

I keep a lot of data. I have a rather complex budget, so as the new year rolls around, I get the budget ready for the new year. My main goal is to ensure that I do not spend more than I bring in; in other words, I have a balanced budget. Wouldn't it be great if our federal government worked that way. But, alas, it does not, so our country owes a ton of money, and a large chunk of that is owed to countries that are not necessarily friendly to us.

But I digress . . . .

So, as the old year comes to a close and the new one begins, I work on the budget for the new year. But I also keep a spreadsheet for tax deductions. So as the year comes to a close, I tally all of the numbers for that year and get them ready for my tax accountant.

And of course, there are taxes to deal with. I always prepare a folder for all my tax forms, and mark items off the list as they arrive. I'm always happy to get tax season behind me.

Concho Valley Dawn

Good weather continues in the Concho Valley

Since the cold spell moved out last week, we've been blessed with some pretty good weather out here. I've truly enjoyed getting outside for my daily walks, most of which I have taken in short-sleeve shirts. I do enjoy getting a daily dose of sun. And I really enjoy seeing my neighbors bustling around the neighborhood. Some of the men out here have shops set up in their garages, and they do wood work and other crafts. Some of these guys have really been busy. Others have been taking down their Christmas lights. Others have just been sitting out enjoying the sun and mild temps.

Spring isn't that far off.

Sunrise in Geezerville

We're back on diets

Well, Donna and I -- mostly me -- got out of control during the holidays and put on a few pounds. So, we're back on our diets. Actually, we don't really diet, we just watch calories on a regular basis. Sure, we slip from time to time -- such as during holidays and when we travel -- but for the most part, we have some pretty healthy eating habits.

I'm glad to see the pounds sliding off once again. I guess I had just a bit too much holiday cheer this year. But I'm a cheery sort of guy, so . . .

I never tire of the colorful mornings here.

A pretty busy week

We've been pretty busy this week . . . at least, busy for us.

Since we've lived at Rio Concho West, we've been getting our hair cut at the clubhouse. Several months ago, though, the lady running the shop moved and was replaced by another lady. We used the new lady several times, but just weren't quite happy with the results. So, we've started going back out into the community and getting our hair cut, and I've not found a place yet that I really like. As I've said before on this blog, a good barber shop is hard to find these days. I miss the old style barber shops. I like the smells of an old-fashioned shop, and I like getting trimmed around my ears and nape of the neck with a straight razor. Not many places do this anymore. Recently, a place called Great Clips opened just across the highway from the entrance to RCW, and since they were offering a $5.99 introductory special, I thought I'd give them a try. Not bad. I think I'll give them another chance, especially if that introductory price holds a little longer. But I'll keep looking for an old-timey shop.

I took the car in for its routine service. I do like the service department at our local Toyota dealership. It's easy to schedule service, they get you right in when you arrive, and the work is done quickly. I've found this to be the case at all the Toyota dealerships I've used over the years, but Mitchell Toyota in Angelo is definitely my favorite.

Some days are more wintry than colorful. You have to take the bad with the good.

Donna and I jumped on the geezer bus for a ride to the Manor downtown where we had lunch with some of the other inmates. As I've said before, the food over there isn't that good, but it is plentiful and cheap. Best of all, we just enjoy the visiting we do on the ride over and back as well as in the dining room.

Bilbrey Tours came to town one day and shared information on all of their upcoming trips for 2019. I don't know yet if we will take any, but there certainly are some out there we are interested in.

Thursday evening, we went over to the clubhouse for dinner. This is another case where we don't really go someplace for the food, but rather to visit with friends and neighbors.

Let the rain fall

We ended the week with a nice day of rain. We didn't get that much, just a bit more than half an inch, but we've been getting rain on a pretty regular basis and that has helped keep the ground moist and the lakes at their current levels. The farmers will appreciate this ground moisture when it comes time to plant in the spring, and the winter wheat in the ground now will certainly benefit from the rain.

Starting Off 2019

We end 2018 with rain . . .

We ended 2018 on a pretty good note. On the next to the last day of 2018, we received about a third of an inch of rain. We had a good year for rain. Up until October or so, it had been pretty bad, and I was getting worried about our lakes. But then the skies opened and we got quite a bit of rain. We ended the year with about a foot of rain more than our annual average, and our lakes look better than they have since we moved back to the area in 2011.

. . . and start 2019 with cold and rain

New Year's Day was gloomy and cold, a real wintry type day. There was no sun to brighten the day. The day started at 40 degrees and it went down from there, reaching the freezing mark by afternoon. Precipitation moved in the second day of the year, and the temp stayed at freezing or below the entire day. Still, I didn't see much ice outside. The local news would beg to differ, though, as a large number of accidents occurred around the city throughout the day. Things were certainly worse east and north of Angelo, moving all the way to the east coast.

The first 2 or 3 days of the new year were very wintry looking. A very light layer of ice is on the ground in this picture. We did not see the sun for 3 days.

Jan. 3 dawned with some ice on the roof tops and on the ground, but the cloud cover was breaking. We soon had sun and all the ice melted quickly. The temp rose to about 50 that day.

But temps got back to the 60s by Friday, and the forecast for the coming week reports good weather. I'm ready for spring!

By Friday (Jan. 4), temps were consistently in the high 60s or low 70s during the day, and Donna and I were able to get out and do a bit of walking.

And speaking of walking . . .

2018 was a pretty good year of walking for me

Up through the summer, I was really doing lots of walking. Part of that was due to the fact that we were not traveling much. I really get off my walking routine when we travel. And for much of the year, I was doing walks of from 4 to 6 miles, sometimes a bit longer but seldom -- if ever -- shorter.

But we started traveling again in late summer or early fall, and my numbers began to skid.

In 2017, I walked 737 miles on 190 days. That's an average of 3.87 miles per walk. Not bad at all.

In 2018, I walked 918 miles on 193 days. So, I walked about the same number of days, but I walked for longer distances. That is an average of 4.75 miles per walk.

I don't know if I can keep up that pace in 2019, but I'll certainly try. I do not like walking in cold weather, so I walk less in winter. And my legs are beginning to bother me a bit more, so I'm slowing down. As a result, I may try to walk more often, but for shorter distances.

We'll see.

Donna and I are thinking about joining a local gym. If we do, I'll probably walk less outside, swim more, and work on my upper body strength much, much more.

I can't stress the health benefits of exercise, though. I enjoy walking, so I would walk regardless of any health benefits. But exercise certainly helps my cholesterol numbers as well as other things. Anything I can do to stay off medication is worth doing. I prefer to control these things naturally.

So, 2019 is off to a good start. I wonder what the year holds for us.

We Survived Christmas

We survived Christmas. Courtney and her gang of ruffians came for a visit; the lads worked us over pretty good, but we held on. Looks like we just might make it to 2019, which is just around the proverbial corner.

Getting back to normal

I enjoy the Yule season. I love the colors, the music, and most of what accompanies the holidays. Of course, I don't care for shopping, and I certainly don't like the crowds. I'm always happy for things to return to normal.

When we worked, we really looked forward to this time of year, for we had about a 2 week break from work. We'd load the car and travel to visit family. Since we have always opted to live away from where we grew up, we usually had quite a bit of traveling to do in order to see family. But I always enjoyed that part of it. In later years of our careers, we were always able to set aside a few days to visit a casino somewhere, usually Shreveport.

Now, I'm ready for the holiday season to be over. I'm ready for kids to get back to school and everyone else to get back to work. I want my streets back. I want my stores back. I want my restaurants back.

Looks like it will be about a week after New Year's before things return to normal this year.

And poor Donna has been suffering a bit this year. She came down with something a couple of weeks ago and she just doesn't seem to be able to shake it.

Good weather for the most part

We've had some good weather for the most part. Daily highs have often been in the upper 60s, even the 70s on a few occasions. On Wednesday, a cold front did blow through late in the afternoon, bringing a little rain. The temperature dropped from about 75 to about 50 in something like 10 minutes. It was an impressive storm. It's times like these that we are grateful to be living in a brick and mortar home rather than an RV. Whenever we think about full-timing, we try to remember these times.

We had a beautiful rainbow after the front and rain moved through. In this picture, you can even see a double rainbow. The colors against the darkened sky were pretty vivid.

This is the north end of the rainbow. Again, you can see a faint double rainbow if you look carefully.

Napoli's Italian Restaurant

We have a new Italian restaurant in town, and boy do we need it. Yeah, we have Olive Garden, but in all honesty, I'm not all that impressed with Olive Garden. Prices are high, seating is a bit tight, and the wait staff always seem to want to get you served and out of there. I will admit I like the Olive Garden salad, but I don't care for their bread sticks, which are a bit hard and lack any real taste. I actually prefer the bread sticks at Fazoli's.

Our new place is Napoli's. It is located just south of the river on the edge of the downtown area. The decor is quite nice, and the service on the day we visited was excellent. The place has only been open a month or two, but we've been hearing good things about it.

Being frugal, we went during the noon hour to take advantage of their lunch specials. Donna ordered spaghetti and meatballs while I enjoyed cheese ravioli with meatballs. Our meals were $7.99 each, and that included a good salad, bread, and some olive oil with fresh garlic for dipping. The bread was very good, by the way.

Donna's spaghetti and meatballs. With the salad and bread, she was unable to eat all of her meal and ended up taking about half home. 

My cheese ravioli. Meatballs were sliced in half and were layered on top. The sauce was thick and rich. 

We don't often get out at night, but this is the type of place I would like to take Donna in the evening. And prices are very reasonable for the quality and serving sizes. We do have another Italian restaurant in town -- Joe's Italian -- and we enjoy it, but the food at Napoli's thus far has been a tad better and the decor is much better. No more Olive Garden for us. But we will still visit Fazoli's anytime we have the chance. We don't have Fazoli's in San Angelo, but whenever we are in Lubbock or Abilene, we stop in.

Moving past Christmas

Thursday was a pretty day for the most part. There was a chilly wind blowing throughout the day, but at least the sun was out and the temperature was not that low -- somewhere in the lower 50s. I looked at the forecast and noticed that the weather was just going to get colder in the week ahead, so I decided to get outside and take down our Christmas decorations.

Now, I don't decorate much. It usually takes me about 2 hours to put the decorations up and only an hour or so to remove them. It's not a big job. But I do get tired of going up and down the ladder. While I was outside working, Donna was taking down the tree and removing our interior decorations.

So, Christmas is officially over for us.

Another cold front

Near the end of the week, temps dropped. Friday and Saturday the highs were in the low 40s at best. The skies were overcast, and a chill wind blew both days. It was very wintry, the type of weather that just seems to creep into your bones and makes you cold regardless of whether you are inside or outside.

We did venture out Saturday for some bingo at the clubhouse. Donna and I each won one game. That's my first game to win, but Donna has won a few times before.

Then it was back home to our warm house. I don't think things will improve much in the next week or so. We even have a chance at more rain coming in.

This is my last post of 2018, so Happy New Year to all of you. I wish you good health, peace, and happiness for the coming year.

'Twas the Week before Christmas

Everybody seems to say this, but it is true -- I can't believe Christmas is almost here. That means 2018 is coming to a close. Yours truly and his fun-loving wife will soon be invaded by some little monsters from up north. No, not elves -- our grandsons! I hope we can make it through that challenge.

The kids are coming to town today (Saturday) to celebrate the holiday. That means Miss Donna is in the kitchen this week getting goodies ready for the little terrorists. You know the old saying -- feed the grandsons or they'll eat the grandparents. That is how it goes, isn't it?

A bit of  Thai for lunch

We did a bit of shopping Monday to pick up items for the weekend. Then we went to one of my favorite restaurants in San Angelo. We don't have much in the way of exotic eateries in town, but we do have a place that does a pretty good job with some Asian dishes I like. So, we went to Ban Moon for lunch.

We started our meal with shrimp spring rolls with peanut sauce. The peanut sauce at Ban Moon is a little thicker than we are used to, and it has a strong peanut butter taste to it.

Spring rolls (shrimp) and peanut sauce.

Donna enjoyed some panang curry, which consists of Lao-Thai herbs and spices blended in chili paste, kaffir lime leaves, and bell pepper, all simmered together in some rich coconut milk.

Donna's panang curry with a side of steamed rice.

I opted for a bowl of massaman curry, which blends southern Thai spices in chile paste with potatoes, onions, and cashew nuts. As with Donna's dish, all of this is simmered in rich coconut milk.

My massaman curry, also served with a side of steamed rice

I tasted Donna's curry, and I actually prefered it to mine. Now, mine was good, but Donna's was a bit spicier, and it lit up my throat just enough to be enjoyable but not overpowering. Next time we go there, I'll get the panang curry, I believe.

Tour of Lights

Later that evening, we hopped on our Rio Concho West bus for a tour of Christmas lights. Actually, we had such a good turnout that we had to borrow an extra bus from our sister property downtown, Rio Concho Manor. The tour lasted almost 2 hours. It was nice to be able to sit back and let someone else drive while I enjoyed the beautiful lights. We ended by driving through the Tour of Lights along the Concho River downtown. I did not take any pictures, but you can view those on the web site link just above, or visit one of my entries from years past.

• Christmas Light Tour, 2017
• Christmas Lights in San Angelo, 2014

One of my favorite parts of the Tour of Lights is watching the reflections of the lights in the river. This year, we were fortunate to be out on a very calm night, so the reflection of the lights in the river was especially beautiful. The city does a good job with its lights.

The aroma of Christmas

Well, Donna went berserk this week. Now, that isn't all that unusual; after all, the old woman has been living life on the edge for quite a while. I'm really the only thing standing between her and the loony bin. Usually when she goes berserk, though, it's in a negative way, such as when she knocks me upside the head with an axe handle or tire tool or something similar. But this week she went berserk in a good way. That's a nice change for me.

I don't know what came over the old girl, but she surely has been making some tasty treats in Donna's Kitchen. The smells coming from that room -- which is usually off limits to yours truly -- have really been inviting. And the odd thing about it all is that she is letting me have a few tidbits. I even got to lick the bowl and spatula after she made an especially good batch of fudge.

Fudge. Don't worry, there's another layer below this one.

Chocolate covered pretzels -- dark on the left, white on the right.

One of 2 large bowls of trash, with Chex, pretzels, peanuts, and other goodies.

I'm in hog heaven. I'm sure it's all a dream and I'll wake up in the real world soon, but until then, I'm having a good time -- and putting on a few pounds. I'll have to increase my walks, I guess.

Going away party

We spent some of Thursday afternoon at the club house at a going away party for our director (I guess that's his title). The man has worked for Rio Concho Properties since 1992 or so. He manages Rio Concho West, where we live. It was a nice little party, and the turnout was really good. We wish him well in the next phase of his life, whatever that may be.

Winter is here

Officially, winter arrived on Friday, December 21. The temperature almost reached 70 that day. Yep, I was walking in the neighborhood in short sleeves. If the wind had not been steadily blowing at 30 mph or more, I might have worn shorts. Our weather for the next week promises to be very similar. I can't complain at all. Life is good!

Merry Christmas!

This will probably be my last entry before Christmas, so let me wish all of you a wonderful Christmas Day. My Christmas wish is for peace on this earth, and that we can learn to get along, despite our many differences. May you and yours come together in love and happiness!

I'm Glad That Week is Behind Us

Donna and I have been retired now for almost 8 years. When we walked away from our jobs, we walked away from schedules, alarm clocks, and everything else related to a structured lifestyle. I don't believe I've set my alarm clock a single time since I retired; I do, however, have a pretty accurate internal alarm clock, and I rely on that for waking me for early morning trips and such. Old sleepy head Donna needs an alarm clock occasionally for early morning appointments.

This past week really tested us. We have scheduled as many of our medical appointments together as possible so that they are not spread out, thereby getting in the way of our busy travel schedule. This past week, we had a total of 8 medical appointments. Additionally, we had some other things to do as well. It was truly a busy week for us.

I'll intersperse this entry with some pictures I took early this morning of a beautiful West Texas sunrise. I have not altered the pictures in any way except to zoom in, crop them, or resize them. The pictures with the brighter colors resulted from zooming in on particularly colorful areas, thereby eliminating some of the surrounding bright light.

It was just getting light when I snapped this picture looking off to the southeast.

Donna kicks things off on Tuesday

Donna started things off with a morning appointment on Tuesday. We followed that up with a stop at Schlotzsky's. I first ate at Schlotzsky's in about 1974 or 1975 when I was visiting a friend in Austin. I had never heard of this place with the crazy name before, but when we stopped at the location at Dobie Mall on the UT campus and I bit into that first sandwich, I fell in love. I don't enjoy their sandwiches as much now as I once did, and I feel they are a bit overpriced, but Donna really likes them. And since she had been such a big girl at the doctor's office, I thought she needed a reward.

I zoomed in a bit for this shot. By zooming in, there isn't as much light, thereby making the colors a bit brighter.

Lab work on Wednesday

We got up really early to have lab work done at 7:00 AM on Wednesday. We use the Urgent Care location just about a mile or so away from our home for lab work. We were back home by about 7:30 or so. I was grateful that Donna only bit the person drawing her blood once.

Most of our appointments for the week were at the clinics clustered around the downtown hospital, but we can use any of the Urgent Care clinics around town for lab work, colds, and other items.

After dropping the old woman off at home, I went out to run some errands. I got my hair cut to start things off, then stopped by the bank to take car of a little business. After that, I stopped at one of our 2 Walmart Neighborhood Markets to pick up a few items. I don't know if you've ever shopped at these little Walmart stores, but I love them. You can park close to the door, the store is smaller so you can find items quickly and easily, and check out is a breeze.

I allowed about 5 minutes to pass between the previous shot and this one.

Thursday is a long day

Things began to pick up on Thursday. Donna and I had early morning appointments with our dermatologist. We like to go in together for our appointments. I can help control Donna if she becomes hostile, and Donna can translate for me since I don't hear well and I don't understand medical things well. But we had a great visit with our dermatologist and everything looked good.

Some severe winter weather was moving into this part of Texas as we left the clinic, and we got into a bit of rain and high winds on the way home. The temp when we left that morning was about 51 or so, but by the time we returned home, it was down to 39 and still dropping. Areas to our north and northeast had a pretty good dusting of snow, especially around Blackwell and Orient, both very small communities to the north of us. But that wind was terrible, gusting up to 50 mph at times.

We returned home to have a light lunch. That evening, we attended a dinner at the clubhouse here at Rio Concho West. It was still raining as we dashed from our car to the clubhouse, but by the time the event was over, the rain had stopped although the wind was still blowing, presumably from Alaska.

And this is a couple of minutes later. The colors and light change quickly.

Friday, the last hectic day

I went out solo on Friday morning. I had a semiannual appointment with my rheumatologist. I was in and out of there quickly. Donna and I lolled about the house, eating a light lunch. Just after lunch, we both returned downtown for our annual visit with our family doctor. Since we moved to Angelo, we've been seeing a male physician, but he recently moved to Colorado. He was was being replaced by a young female doctor, and he referred us to her. He had known her in Amarillo when she was doing her residency there and thought highly of her.

Now, I'm old school, so I have to confess that I was a bit hesitant about seeing a female doctor. But times are different today, and I want to get the best care I can, so I was willing to give the young lady a try. Well, she's really good. She listens, she explains things well, and she is very detail oriented. I think I'm going to like her. She went over all our lab results, and I have to say that my results are better than they have been in quite a while. I think the increased walking I've done this year -- as well as watching my diet more -- has paid off. Everything looked great for Donna as well.

After our appointments, we went to Whataburger for a mid-afternoon lunch and to celebrate having all of these appointments behind us. We then went down the street to a visitation at a nearby funeral home. Our next door neighbor passed away last week, and his visitation was being held. We spent some time there visiting with his wife and family, then headed home. Our busy week was over.

I'm looking more to the south in this shot, and the clouds are farther from the sun. As a result, you can see the difference in color between the clouds at left and those at right.

But wait! There's still Saturday.

It was nice to sleep in Saturday. We had no schedule, no place to go, and nothing to do. We hung around the house all morning and had a fairly light lunch. The sun was shining and the day was warming. So, off to the state park we went for a walk.

We stopped at the headquarters to renew our annual park passes. This allows us unlimited entry to ALL state parks. It now costs $95 for our 2 cards, but we feel it is money well spent. I like knowing I'm helping to fund our state parks, and we do get our money's worth. Most state parks today have entry fees ranging from $3 to about $7 or perhaps more. I estimate that we make at least 30 or 40 visits in a year, most at our park. But when we are traveling and we come across a park and want to stretch our legs, we will just drive in and take a break from the road. And sometimes on our travels, we like to hike at other parks.

Anyway, we did our regular 5+ mile loop in the south section of the park. The sun was shining bright and the temp was well into the 60s. It was a beautiful day for a walk in the park.

Now, that is some orange color. I zoomed in again for this shot.

Getting back to normal.

Well, I'm certainly glad that week is over. We can get back to our usual routine now, where we get up in the morning when we want to, enjoy a leisurely cup of coffee, watch the news, and do whatever we want. But Christmas is quickly approaching, and there is a hoard of scary monsters who live about 100 miles north of us who have some invasion plans for next weekend. I'm sure those rascals have plans to disrupt my routine. 

I love our sunrises and sunsets!

An Olio, of Sorts

In this entry, I'm just going to touch on a variety of things. In doing so, I'm going to experiment with a little different format.

On the state of marriage after 40+ years

Donna and I were watching television the other night. Donna was enjoying a glass of wine. I don't know how many glasses she had enjoyed by this time -- I simply don't have enough fingers and toes to keep count.

Suddenly, in a very loving and rather seductive voice, I heard Donna purr, "I love you so very much."

"Great," I thought to myself. "Perhaps I'll get lucky tonight."

So I turned to my loving wife and asked, "Is that you or the wine talking?"

Smiling, Donna replied, "It's me . . .  talking to the wine."

San Angelo weather

Rain moved in last Thursday evening. It rained all day the following Friday. We received about 1.25 inches in all. Snow moved into the northern areas of the Concho Valley. Lubbock received almost a foot of the white powder.

Obligatory animal pictures

You know I have to include a picture or two of animals when I can.

This beautiful girl and her friends were grazing at Spring Creek out on Lake Nasworthy recently. She appears to be posing. The deer out there are pretty tame, as you can see from her standing calmly next to the road as I stopped for this picture.

This small buck was standing in front of the church in RCW. Because of the shadows, its hard to see his antlers, but he appears to be posing as well. Our deer are not as tame as those at Spring Creek, and he bolted away right after I snapped this shot.

I looked out the window a few days ago and noticed these turkeys scampering across our back yard.

What's happening at Rio Concho West (RCW)?

We've enjoyed living at RCW the past 2½ years, but we've tended to keep our distance for the most part. We still travel quite a bit, so we haven't really gotten involved in too much that goes on out here. But lately, we find ourselves becoming more and more involved in the community.

Donna has started playing Bingo on Saturday afternoons at the clubhouse. She has even gotten me to go a couple of times. Boy, now that is a sign you're getting old. Playing Bingo with a bunch of old folks is really a challenge. No one can hear. Add to that, everyone tries to talk at the same time. And the caller reads numbers backwards and upside down and so forth. My first time playing, the caller found a few bottles of wine in the fridge one day and everything really went down hill from there. 

On top of all the confusion, I didn't win a single game.

We attended a "come and go" party last week. We had nice refreshments, complete with egg nog and such. At the end of the party, our director announced that he is leaving after 27 years of employment there. No mention of where he is going or who is set to replace him. I wonder what the future holds for RCW.

Fall colors in West Texas

On our recent trip, I was pleasantly surprised at the fall colors in the hills as we approached Kerrville. Upon returning home, I took a walk through our neighborhood and snapped the pictures below. Now, by New England and even northeast Texas standards, our trees may not be that colorful, but I'm happy to see whatever color we can muster out here.

This beautifully shaped tree is just up the street from us. It would lose its leaves entirely just a few days later, mostly thanks to some very high winds.

This street is in the older section of RCW, so the trees here are more mature. There is good shade here for a walk on a hot summer day.

Most of our trees are some variation of oak, and their leaves usually turn a rusty brown in the fall. The large tree on the right, however, has yellowish leaves. Contrast it with the trees farther down the street.

And here's a smaller tree with a yellowish/orange tint.

And here's a rather nice contrast of colors, from green to yellow to rust. There's a nice little house for sale there if you are interested.

And here is another nice little contrast of colors, this time in one of the newer areas of RCW.

Put this in the "Now I've Seen Everything" file

After eating lunch atop the Tower of the Americas on our recent trip, Donna and I climbed aboard the bus to return to the hotel. As we settled into our seats, we looked out the window and saw the vehicle below parked near the bus.

I'll let you try to figure this one out for a moment.

Finally, the vehicle pulled away, and I was able to snap the photo below.

Most of us have seen a stretch limo somewhere along the roads, but have you ever seen a stretch Hummer? So, in the top picture, we have a hot tub in the bed of the Hummer.

I can die happy now.