Nothing Happening Here

It's been more than 2 weeks since my last post. That tells you all you need to know about the exciting times of Donna and Keith. Yep, nothin' much happening here.

A recent sunrise in our neck of the woods.

After our Thanksgiving visit with the kids, we decided to live dangerously. We had some discounted rooms at Inn of the Mountain Gods in Ruidoso, so we decided to take them up on that offer. It really was a pretty pleasant experience.

The casino has placed plastic plexiglass barriers between all of the machines in the casino. I like that. The best thing, though, is that the entire facility -- casino, restaurants, hotel, etc. -- is now smoke free. Ahh, clean air. One of the best things about gambling in Cripple Creek, Colorado, is that all businesses there are smoke free. That's one reason we like going there as often as possible. Now we can add Inn of the Mountain Gods to that small but growing list of casino destinations that has a smoke-free environment.

We continued to practice caution in our behavior on the trip. We wore our masks everywhere we went unless we were eating or drinking something. Wearing masks really isn't difficult for us, and we consider it a very small price to pay for staying healthy and protecting those we care about. We also thoroughly sanitized our room upon arrival. Like many hotels these days, the casino does not perform daily cleaning of rooms for guests who are staying multiple days, and that is fine with us. We're pretty low maintenance, anyway. Best of all, though, it keeps people out of our room once we have sanitized to suit our needs.

We didn't win, but we enjoyed some good plays. I'm sure we will be heading back soon, especially if some better offers arrive in the mail. Donna and I play video poker almost exclusively in casinos. Every once in a while, Miss Donna will sneak off and put a few dollars in regular slot machines, and I might slip off and play a little electronic blackjack, but we prefer video poker. We came across a new-to-us version of video poker called Triple Chance Poker. It consists of 3 lines. The bottom line is standard video poker. The upper two lines are stud poker, but have various multipliers that appear quite a bit. I've not yet evaluated this new game, but I will before we go back. The pay table for the Jacks or Better version at quarter level was 99.54%, while the Deuces Wild was 99.73%. 

Last week was medical week for us. We try to schedule most of our medical visits for a single week rather than spreading them out. So last week, we had our labs done, met with our PCP for our annual wellness visit, spent some time with our dermatologist while she told us how old and ugly we are, and I visited my rheumatologist who expressed great surprise that I was still able to get around. Our labs were better than they had been in the last 5 years or so. I guess we might stick around for a little longer.

Looks like we will be traveling to daughter Courtney's home this weekend for an early Christmas. Donna and I (mainly Donna) will prepare a nice Christmas spread to take along, as we did at Thanksgiving. I'm basically a disaster in the kitchen, but I do a fairly good job of peeling, dicing, and other mundane tasks, which Donna is happy to assign to me. I guess you could say I'm her sous chef, but since there's just the two of us, that really is a gross overstatement.

We bought a nice ham a couple of days ago, so we'll prepare it along with some potato salad, baked beans, a couple of pies, lime jello salad, and a few other items that are traditional with us. I really like this meal much better than our Thanksgiving meal as I'm not too fond of turkey. For many years, I would smoke a turkey at Thanksgiving, and I did enjoy that. I'd crank up the smoker the night before and then put the turkey on just before midnight and let it smoke until noon the next day. But I stopped that practice 4 or 5 years ago. That is really the only way I enjoy turkey.

So now I look forward to our Christmas ham and all the sides. We're really looking forward to just seeing the kids, especially Xander. Now that he's a college man, he doesn't have a lot of spare time. He works part-time at a store in the Odessa mall, so most of his time is split between school and work. We just don't see him too much anymore.

In case I don't post another entry between now and Christmas, let me wish you a Merry Christmas and a very happy 2022. Let's hope and pray there are better times ahead.

We bought a couple of planters 2 or 3 years ago and have not used them for much. Recently, though, I planted some garlic in one of them, and you can see how well it is doing. I'll harvest sometime in the spring. Now I need to find a use for the other planter -- perhaps some radishes. I love fresh radishes in a salad.

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

 

Things Are Looking Up

COVID numbers are looking better in our area, and for most of the nation as well, I believe. On the personal level, Donna and I got our booster shots on the first day after they were approved, and that gives us a sense of confidence. 

Warm weather continues to linger here. As we near the end of October, I'm still walking at dawn with no jacket. For the past several days, the morning lows have been in the lower 60s. This morning, it was just above 70. Hard to believe it is well into autumn. I expect we will see some changes in the weather soon, though. So far, we really aren't seeing any changes in colors around here. Leaves are not really falling, and they certainly aren't showing any autumn colors. Perhaps that will change soon.

Our two youngest grandsons will be spending a couple of nights with us soon. One of the reasons we have been so careful with COVID and were eager to get our boosters is to protect them. Since they are too young for vaccines, we want to make sure that we don't pass anything on to them. Donna is planning all sorts of activities for the little tykes. We'll try to keep them entertained. I'll just try to survive.

Below are some sunrise pictures I recently took, followed by a few pictures of a full moon still hanging high at dawn.

I snapped this about 10 minutes into my walk one morning. 

This is the same picture as above, only zoomed in. Colors become more vivid in the zoom.

The clouds were moving swiftly across the still dark early morning sky.

I really like this shot of the moon in an opening of the clouds. Both of these pictures were taken from my front patio as I was about to set out on my walk.

For a contrast, here is the same moon over an hour later at the end of my walk. This picture was taken from the same location as the previous 2 pictures. The only other difference is that I did not zoom in for this shot, so the gate, wall, tree, and eave of the house are included. 

Welcome, October

On the last night of September, we received just over half an inch of rain. The first day of October awoke to a cloud cover and the hope of more rain. Not a bad way to start the month in thirsty West Texas. A day or so later, we had a really good rain, receiving just over an inch.

For the next week or so, we had a stretch of some really warm days. You really couldn't tell that autumn had arrived. Our daily highs for that stretch were in the mid 90s, and our lows mostly were in the low 60s.

All of that changed Wednesday. 

Donna and I had an appointment early Wednesday morning. A few drops had fallen when we left the house just before 8:00 AM. We were heading back home about 9:30 or so when a good rain fell. It only amounted to a tenth of an inch or so, but the skies remained cloudy. We went out for a while during the lunch hour, and after we returned home, the rain really came down. By the end of the day, we had received nearly 2 inches of rain. On top of that, things had cooled off quite a bit.

When I rose yesterday morning, there was a heavy fog. Boy, this is good camping weather. It's times like these that I miss our travel trailer. It didn't take long for the fog to burn off, though, and then the day cleared and was a beautiful autumn day.

I got in a good walk this morning, enjoying the briskness. The temperature was somewhere in the high 50s, I believe. Tomorrow, though, the temp should be in the very low 40s, and that is getting a bit cold for me. It won't be long before I take my walk later in the day.

Donna continues to fish whenever she can. That girl does enjoy her fishing. 

Last Tuesday, we ventured down to Shannon Clinic for our scheduled flu shots. We were in and out in no time at all. Those folks do a good job. Since we were out and about, we decided to visit the state park to renew our annual parks pass. We've maintained a parks pass for a long time now. Of course, when we had a travel trailer, we spent lots of nights in the state park system. Although we no longer have an RV, we still frequent our local park with walks and hikes, and we often visit other parks as we travel the state. Most of all, though, buying the pass is a good way to support the park system and all the great things that department does for the state.

I'm delighted to see our COVID numbers falling at last. A month or so ago, we were reporting as many as 150 new cases a day. That number has now dropped below 30, and our hospital numbers have been cut in half. If numbers continue to level off, perhaps we can plan a trip or two soon.

Latest reports on the news indicate the Moderna vaccine should soon be available to folks like Donna and me soon. We'll feel much more confident once we get that additional half dose.

You folks stay safe out there.

Yep, Autumn Is Here

On Monday, September 20 -- a mere 2 days before the first day of fall -- we hit triple digits again. I guess that is Mother Nature's way of reminding us who is in charge. The next day, our high only reached into the mid 80s. Then, on the second day of autumn, I stepped out for my morning walk just before 7:00 AM and was greeted with a temperature of 44 degrees, which is only 12 degrees above freezing.

That's a pretty good weather roller coaster.

Fallen acorns litter the streets, and they snap, crackle, and pop under my feet as I plod along on my morning walks. Our maintenance people will be quite busy for the next couple of months keeping the streets clean of fallen limbs, acorns, and leaves. It's a never-ending job for them.

And speaking of our maintenance people, one stopped in a few days ago to work on our garbage disposal. While David was here, we asked him about some snake rumors we had been hearing. Our next-door neighbor had told us a few days before about all the snakes that had been spotted in the neighborhood. David verified this, saying he had killed 25 rattlesnakes in recent weeks. He had also been bitten once, and showed us the fang marks still visible on his lower leg. With the nights cooling, those rascals have been seeking warm places to spend the nights, and some have been creeping into garages. 

We took another walk out of the neighborhood a few days ago. It had probably been at least 2 or more years since we had walked on the O.C. Fisher dam, so we decided to visit it again for an early morning walk. It's really a pleasant place to walk because it is level and there is no traffic. But it is also exposed to weather since it is void of trees and brush. We enjoyed the lovely sunrise that morning, and we saw numerous deer. Hard to go wrong when you get to experience those things.

Sunrise over San Angelo. You can see our small collection of downtown buildings along the right horizon.

We used to walk quite frequently at the dam. It's only a 2 or 3 mile drive from our house. The entire length of the dam is about 7 miles, so you can rack up some mileage there if you want. But for every mile you walk out, that is one mile you have to walk back in. The 360 degree views are quite nice. 

We spotted these pretty girls at the base of the dam on our way back in.

Donna went fishing with two friends a couple of days ago. They didn't have many bites, but they seemed to enjoy being outside and visiting. It's a good way to pass the time. 

Our COVID numbers do seem to be improving, but we still have a long way to go. Numbers will drop over a few days, then jump up briefly for a day or two. Overall, there is improvement. Hospital numbers are steadily dropping, but deaths from COVID are holding steady. Almost all deaths are from unvaccinated folks. There are a few deaths from vaccinated folks, but these are almost exclusively among folks in their 60s or older.

We continue to await approval of booster shots for the Moderna vaccine. We'll feel better about things once we get that behind us. We get flu shots next week.

As always, stay safe out there, and get out and enjoy this fall weather. It only comes around once a year, you know.