Christmas Eve: Happy Birthday, Chris!

It was Christmas Eve 45 years ago when Chris was born--the best Christmas present I've ever received. Happy birthday, Son--and many wonderful years to come. Chris and Annie are visiting in Longview, and Ed and family are there for Christmas too. Chris posted a very cute YouTube video of Sam and Jesse (mostly Jesse) (he's learned how to post videos directly from his iPhone to YouTube, so I subscribed to his YouTube channel). Jesse has really taken a liking to Chris, and from the video we can tell that he's going to grow up to be a game player like his uncle.

Our park is definitely in the Christmas mood. Some folks decided to put out luminarias to entice the Christmas carolers coming around tonight. Our neighbor Sharon bought bags and sand and candles for our 500 circle. They added a warm glow

Ann (left) and Sharon (right) checking out the luminarias

The 600 circle went all out

Carolers singing Jingle Bells

"Life wouldn't be complete without this gift or a version of this gift, trust me." (Terri)
Thanks for the Turtle Coffee, T!
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Red

Tonight we went to the Cinema 8 with Hardy and Judy and Roy and Phyllis to see a movie titled Red. It stars Bruce Willis, Morgan Freeman, John Malkovich, and Helen Mirren as retired CIA agents, now targeted as RED (Retired-Extremely Dangerous). Mary-Louise Parker adds some mild love interest to what is otherwise an action comedy that demands even more suspension of disbelief than Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull, but with more wit. It was very funny in spots--and we love the actors, so we enjoyed it, but we were glad that we had read the reviews and knew what to expect. Besides, we paid only $3 to get in, so we got our money's worth.
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Clean Truck!

Our faithful truck has been getting progressively more grimy for the last month, and today we finally cleaned it up a bit. The only hard part was getting the road tar off. It seems to collect and stick like, well, tar. Even the grease dissolver doesn't touch it, so I broke out the Gel Gloss, which worked like a charm (after the application of some elbow grease).

This afternoon we danced at Jerry Story's C-1 workshop. It's a mixed bag. Sometimes it feels like we're actually getting the hang of this stuff, and sometimes it's all just a blooming, buzzing confusion--especially when the caller asks us to square chain thru with phantoms! Jerry always makes it fun, though. Read more!

Winter Solstice

Last night we saw an unusual total eclipse of the moon, high overhead at the Winter Solstice. The earth's shadow swept over the bright full moon. We were lucky to have clear skies with only thin, wispy clouds blowing by, so we got a good view.

We seldom actually get to see the dark night sky, but when the moon was obscured, suddenly a host of stars twinkled brightly nearby. For eons, people slept under such skies and wondered at the vast display above. It was awesome to consider the early astronomers who took the theoretical leap to realize what was happening during lunar eclipses.

I snapped some photos, but of course they don't do justice to the reality of the sight of the moon turning salmon orange.

Here's a great time lapse video. You can see the whole event in two minutes:


Winter Solstice Lunar Eclipse from William Castleman on Vimeo.

The solstice has traditionally been a harbinger of hope, with days growing longer and sunlight returning to the cold, dark land. Sadly, for our family, it is also a reminder of loss. My brother Bob died December 21, 2005, so this is the fifth anniversary of his passing, but he stays alive in the memories of the ones he left behind so suddenly, a reminder of the fragility and brevity of life even as the solstice reminds us of the ever-renewing cycle of the seasons.
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Balmy Weather

The weather has turned warmer again, with blue skies and sunshine and a high today of 85. We walked along the levee this morning. My foot was doing better, but we still averaged under 3 mpg.

This afternoon we went to Darryl's C-1 dance. A couple approached and said, "Did you know we're from the same park?" They had seen us out walking. Their names are Dick and Karleen Karsten, and they are in site #608. We wondered why we hadn't seen (or maybe noticed) them before. It's probably because they are C-2 dancers. They've been coming to Bentsen Palm for three years now, just like us.

As we were walking toward the mailboxes this evening, we passed Karleen riding her bike, and she greeted us. Now I'm sure we'll see them everywhere.

We got an email from Shellie this evening. Ken's brother, Gordon, is in the hospital. He has had another stroke, but seems to be recovering well. We're hoping that he'll continue to improve.

Tonight is the lunar eclipse. It's special partly because this full moon is a blue moon. This coincidence of the lunar eclipse and the winter solstice is the first in 456 years.
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Angel's Again

We went out to breakfast again with Hardy and Judy at Angel's--but it almost didn't happen. We hadn't mentioned it during the week, so we weren't sure if it was on. Neither were Hardy and Judy. At 8:45 a.m. I noticed Hardy's reply to one of my emails (about some book recommendations from Delancey Place). The last line of the reply said, "See y'all at breakfast tomorrow a.m." We rushed to dress and head to the restaurant and actually beat Hardy and Judy there. Hardy deviated from his usual ham and eggs and had the pork chop special. We talked about plans for next summer, when we'll be heading up their way to dance to Romney and then going on to AACE and the National Square Dance Convention, which they are also planning to attend. We're hoping to visit with them in Rolla and dance to their favorite local caller.

We got a welcome note from Mary Ann Erickson. Gary is home from the hospital and feeling well. The doctors think that his blood clots may have resulted from a fall he had three weeks ago and subsequent inactivity. It's great to hear that he's home for Christmas.

Tonight we watched a Charlie Brown Christmas special, I Want a Dog for Christmas, Charlie Brown. Somehow it's not the same as the shows produced when Charles Schultz was still alive.
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Weekend

We're retired, so you wouldn't think that weekends would be any different from any other day--but they are, somehow. We slept in until 8:00 a.m. and had a late brunch. During the week, we eat hot or cold cereal, but on the weekends, we like to try something special.

Today I made a fritatta. I had just heard a technique for cooking the eggs by keeping them over low heat and stirring from the bottom constantly to allow all the egg to cook at the same rate without browning or toughening. It actually worked. I didn't try to roll or fold the eggs--just added the sauteed veggies, topped with a little mozzarella, and melted the cheese under the broiler. I've made fritattas before, but this one was unusual because it included chopped, sauteed kale. Ken didn't even complain about the green stuff.

Annie called to thank us for her holiday card and I-Tunes gift card. It had just arrived, barely in time, since they were on the verge of leaving for the airport for their trip to Texas. Safe travels!

We rode our bikes over to Retama Village today, just to look around. A few more units have been constructed, and the model home has been sold. Otherwise it looked pretty much the same. It will take a real upturn in the economy to make the development grow.

Continuing the kale theme, I made a hoisin chicken stir fry for supper, with--you guessed it--kale, along with green beans, onions, and a little bell pepper. Ken said as long as he didn't get too much green in one bite, he hardly noticed it. The hoisin has a rather strong flavor, so it overshadowed the kale a bit, but we both liked the concoction.
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Dancing and Cocooning

This morning we went to Darryl's A-2 dance at Redeemer Lutheran. It's the last Friday dance until the new year, since Darryl will be leaving town for the holiday. Decca says it will be a working trip. We danced the last tip with Dick and Mary Ann, Hardy and Judy, and Jean and G.W.

It was good to see Hugh and G.W. and David at the dance, but sad to think about their loss. Hugh's wife, G.W.'s mom, Juanita died last Friday night. In accordance with her wishes, she was cremated and there was no service.

Today would have been my brother Joe's 63rd birthday. Instead it is nearly five years since he died, shortly after his 58th birthday. I miss him a lot.
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More C-1 with Darryl

This morning we successfully installed our new water filter canister. We had some difficulty with leakage to begin with, but Ken spotted the problem and solved it. Now we have a sediment filter followed by a charcoal filter CFBC-10 to remove chlorine taste and cysts. Now we won't have to wrestle with either a filter pitcher or a filter mounted on the kitchen faucet (which immediately sprang a leak).

Rosie stopped by to chat. She had walked down to the crafts room to work on her quilt, but forgot her locker key. One of the things she mentioned, as we were talking about Tom Clapham was that Tim had regularly teased Tom about driving an LGT. That's how some HDT drivers refer to drivers of one ton pickups (like us). LGT = "little girly truck." Hmmm--just like a guy to brag about how his is bigger 8-)

Hardy and Judy set out to pick me up for Darryl's C-1 dance, but when they got to the gate, Hardy had forgotten the gate code. And he had forgotten the phone, so they drove back home to call me. At that point it got really confusing. It was getting on toward dance time, so I told Judy I'd drive down and meet them. She thought I meant at our gate--I was thinking their gate. I got a call from Judy as I drove north in the dark: "Was that you I just passed?" We finally got it together and I left the truck at the Green Gate clubhouse.

We made it to the dance in time to visit for a while (whew). I'm dancing with Jean Ballinger for this dance, since Ken really doesn't want to go dancing more than four times a week. Jean and I danced together last spring while Ken was healing from his back surgery. Darryl called some interesting variations, but I'm still pretty shaky even with plain vanilla on some calls. Sometimes I know where I'm going, sometimes I get to the right place more or less by going with the flow, and sometimes I just muddle in the middle and hope someone will point or push me to the right place.
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Peppermint Palace

This afternoon we danced at the Peppermint Palace to Jerry Story for the first time this year. He's always fun to dance to, but it takes me a while to adjust to a different caller's voice and choreography, especially at a new level. We just need more floor time at C-1.

Ken got some pics of the other Excel in the park. Their tow vehicle, fifth wheel, and Smart Car fill the very long site. It took two shots to show the whole thing clearly. We really like the Smart Car, which rides behind the cab of the heavy duty truck, in front of the fifth wheel hitch. We saw a similar setup on our way south last year. You get the best of both worlds: live in a great fifth wheel, but don't have to drive the big truck to the grocery store.

At the margarita hour tonight, we mentioned that Tom Clapham had emailed us in response to our post yesterday. Tim and Rosie said, "How do you know Tom?" It turns out they're the couple that Tom stayed with when he flew in for the Excel Family Reunion last summer. Very small world!
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Plantation

We walked this morning along the levee over to NABA (North American Butterfly Association), but didn't go in. It's about a mile from here.

This afternoon Randy's dance was at the Plantation in Pharr. It was moved because of a shuffleboard tournament at Pharr South where we usually dance. The Plantation clubhouse is a very nice facility.

Randy really made up put on our thinking caps today. He played around with some of the variant positions for Tally Ho. Unfortunately there were 15 couples, so three couples were out every tip.

You can almost see the wheels turning in these dancers' heads!

Nice pools!

When we got home, we went over to Tim and Rosie's. They're the Excel owners with the HDT (heavy duty truck). Their neighbors, Tim and Debbie, joined us. They're from New Brunswick, and it was interesting to listen to them talk. They have a dog and a parrot. They described some of the logistics involved in bringing a parrot into the states and back into Canada. The parrot actually has a Canadian pet passport and a U.S. pet visa. It's considered an exotic animal, Tim says, "just like a gorilla or a lion."

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Happy Birthday and Happy Checkup

Today was a big day. It was Sam's fourth birthday and Ken's followup x-ray and visit with Dr. Six to verify his fusion. Happy birthday, Sam! and Congratulations, Ken!

We drove to Harlingen this morning in one of those classic "hurry up and wait" scenarios. First we picked up the orders for the x-rays and carried them to the hospital, where we waited for registration and then waited to be called to radiology. We were beginning to be a bit anxious, because the appointment with Dr. Six was at 10:50 a.m., and it didn't look like we were going to make it.
Harlingen Medical Center holiday tree decorates the lobby waiting area.

We were only a few minutes late for the appointment--but that didn't matter at all. We sat in the waiting room for an hour. It was all worthwhile, though. When we were ushered into the consulting room, Dr. Six was putting up the x-rays. He pronounced the fusion good and answered all our questions patiently and fully. When Ken asked what the prospects were for his needing further surgery, Dr. Six said he should never need more surgery as long as he is smart about caring for his back.

Ken will always have to be careful about bending, twisting, and lifting, to protect the adjacent vertebrae and disks. Otherwise he is released and will not need further x-rays or followup. That's what we pretty much expected, since Ken has been doing so well, but it was really good to hear it from the surgeon and see the evidence on the x-rays that all is well.

We left Dr. Six's office at 12:20 p.m. and headed back to Mission, stopping at the Subway for a quick lunch. Then we went to Darryl's C-1 workshop. There were six squares plus. Darryl definitely called some challenging moves, but we did pretty well and learned a lot. Jim and Jane were there. Jane had her great-grandmother's brag book, showing off the newest addition to the family, including a four-generation photo. Baby was cute, of course!
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Angel's for Breakfast

We met Hardy and Judy for breakfast at Angel's Restaurant this morning. They go every Sunday morning, and when Steve and Jan are here, they join them. We've been invited to come along in the past, but they were meeting at 8:00 a.m., which seemed awfully early to be up and about on a Sunday morning! This morning we met at 9:00 a.m., a much more civilized hour.

Judy and Ken and I had the Dieter's Omelette, which was actually quite yummy (eggs, turkey, onions, bell peppers, mushrooms--what's not to like?). It comes with hash browns and toast, which Judy said she didn't want, since she is actually a dieter. Ken and I are just healthy eaters. The best part of the breakfast meeting was spending time with good friends, hashing out the troubles of the world and the best lines from Indiana Jones movies.

We drove through the Circle T MH and RV Park. It's just behind Angel's, and some of our friends will be there in January.

I watered the "grass" around our site again today, in the process creating quite a flood. Ah, well--deep watering is good for grass. Maybe it will encourage the dry brown stuff to turn green!

I called Julie this evening to see how she is feeling. She's had a really severe ear infection, but sounded pretty good with her meds. Sam's fourth birthday is tomorrow. He had a big birthday party on Saturday. Julie said they had a houseful (and did I mention she had an ear infection? aren't mothers great?). I wished Sam a happy birthday, since he'll be busy tomorrow.
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Birds, Butterflies, and Friends

We got up this morning and got ready to bike with Hardy and Judy. As we were walking around the park noticing the wind blowing, Judy called to say that she didn't want to ride with so much wind--the flag at their clubhouse was standing straight out.

As we continued our walk, we stopped to talk with fellow Excel owners, Tim and Roseanne. They have a big heavy duty truck pulling a 36 GKE and carrying a Smart Car. We are fascinated with this setup, and they were glad to tell us all about it.

Judy called to let us know some sad news. Juanita, G.W.'s mom, passed away last night suddenly. The news was a shock, especially since we were just with her yesterday at G.W.'s birthday party and she was so upbeat and seemed to be doing so well. It's always tough to lose your mom, and we really feel for G.W. and David and Hugh. We sent them some photos Ken took yesterday at the birthday party

Juanita chuckles over one of G.W.'s cards

We decided to bike over and check out the progress on getting the state park open. It's still open only to the ebony grove. Taking that brief ride made me aware of a rattle in my bike, which turned out to be the rear fender vibrating against the fork. I stabilized it with some Handi-Tak (almost as essential as duct tape). We saw some chacalacas and some green jays.

At lunchtime, Hardy called to say that since the wind had died down, it looked like good biking weather. We grabbed a sandwich, and got ready to ride. When Hardy and Judy arrived, we headed over to the state park and biked in to the ebony grove again, along the way seeing chacalacas, green jays, and a couple of Altamira orioles (lovely sight).

Then Hardy suggested checking out a geocache near the visitor center. It was a micro cache, and we spotted it after a brief hunt--a film canister in the entrance hole of a bird house (too bad for the birds).

As we were heading to seek another cache, we came upon naturalist Javier de Leon just starting a butterfly walk, so we joined in the fun. He's the only interpretive naturalist working at the park right now--the same one who led the program we attended a few weeks ago about the flooding. Really nice and knowledgeable. He pointed out lots of butterflies and skippers, including several sulfurs of various kinds and Mexican Longtails and Painted Ladies. If you have binoculars, presumably you can see the hooks at the ends of skippers' antennae. As usual, we saw lots of Queens.

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Birthday Celebration

This morning we went to Darryl Lipscomb's A-2 Concept Dance. It was very clear that we were dancing in a church gym--they had forgotten to take down the volleyball net strung across the middle of the floor.  The dance is growing as more people arrive; we had thirteen squares today. Jean Ballinger was there, and she agreed to dance with me at Darryl's Thursday evening C-1 dance. I'll hitch a ride with Hardy and Judy.

After the dance we headed to Mexico for a birthday celebration. G.W.'s 66th birthday was Tuesday, and Louise has a birthday next week. We had a nice time and got a chance to chat with Dave and Kelly Frazer. They are now fulltime residents of Pharr South, having moved here from Pennsylvania.

Hugh and Juanita, G.W.'s parents, were there. We see Hugh all the time at dances, but Juanita doesn't dance anymore, so we only see her at parties. Bob Reece came. Doris is in North Carolina visiting kids and getting a checkup, so he's on his own this week. Bob Boyink was there too. Pat wasn't feeling up to the trip after her initial chemo session. After we ate, G.W. cut the cake and we all sang Happy Birthday.

G.W. has more friends than he thought--they had to add two more tables.

Louise and Jean (that's David's face cut off on the left)

G.W. threatens the cake!

Bob Reece, Hardy, Judy and Ken smile for the camera. Keyboardist provided live music

After lunch we stopped by Jessica's Pharmacy and picked up some Cipro (100 for $14.95!--more than we'll use in ten years....). Then we went to Ruben's and Judy, Ken, and I got haircuts. Judy got her eyebrows waxed. Hardy rested and waited for us. One of the best parts of a haircut at Ruben's in the great neck and back massage afterward.
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Quiet Day

The weather was lovely today, so our walks were pleasant. This morningwe walked out to the state park entrance, where a large crane is putting a temporary bridge across the irrigation canal to prepare for construction. We don't know what construction is planned, so it will be interesting to watch the progress.

I met one of our new neighbors, Ann Easter. She told me she had been really surprised when Mary Ann didn't come to greet her yesterday. Then of course she noticed the Texas plates on the truck. The dog's name is Sophie. Her husband's name is Ron. They are fellow Escapees, so she gave me a hug.

We ordered a new canister and filters for our water supply, so now we'll have a two-canister system. The first canister will continue to have a sediment filter, and the second one will have a carbon filter rated to remove cysts. We have been using a pitcher and then a faucet filter, but neither one was very convenient.
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Pavers

Our project today was putting in some pavers so we wouldn't have to walk through the mulch in the planting bed on our way to and from the truck. We walked around checking out the pavers and stepping stones that other people had put in. When we walked past Darlene's motorhome, she happened to be standing out front. When we asked about her pavers, she said that there were some back in the maintenance area that anyone could use.

We picked up three large (very heavy) pavers and brought them back to the rig. At that point we decided we needed more, so we went back and got the last matching large one and some smaller ones. We've placed them, but not dug out and leveled spaces for them. We're going to see how the placement works first.

This morning Nick's RV Wash came by to wash and wax the rig. Ken got up early to be ready for them, since they said they'd come at 7:00 a.m. They actually didn't show up until about 8:00, and by 8:30, the banging noises had thoroughly waked me up too. It was all worthwhile--Venture looks clean and shiny.

We have new neighbors. A motorhome pulled in to site #519 with a medium size white dog.
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Christmas Is Coming

This evening we attended the McAllen Symphonic Band Christmas Concert. Hardy and Judy picked up tickets for us, and we rode with them to the McAllen Civic Center. All the musicians are volunteers--a fact that is highlighted in the program, which lists the regular occupations of the band members (music teachers, band leaders, retired folks, nurses, etc.--and one engineer).

The program was varied. We especially enjoyed the Leroy Anderson piece, Sleigh Ride. Several of the pieces were medleys, including an Irving Berlin piece including Happy Holidays and White Christmas. The concert ended with a Christmas singalong.

David Isadore, the conductor, has an impressive resume as an educator, conductor, and musician.

The final piece, We Wish You a Merry Christmas, brought out the Christmas whimsy in some of the players.

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Dancing at Tropical Valley Acres

We danced again today at Tropical Valley Acres. A Christmas village was set up in one corner in honor of the season.

It reminded us of our friends, Ed and Marlyn Evans, who have an elaborate village setup that the grandkids help put up every Christmas.

We saw some friends for the first time this season, including Sue and Arnie and Clint and Helen. We didn't get to dance with either couple, but we'll have lots more opportunities.

Hardy and Judy went to South Padre on Saturday, partly to buy and fly a kite on the beach. Ken and Hardy compared notes on their kites, and we agreed to make a trip to South Padre soon as well as going to the annual kite fest in February.
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It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

We got a Christmas present in the mail, so we decided to put up the tree so we could put the present under it. The tree is not much larger than the present, but it's the spirit of the thing. It's the Christmas spirit--a time to remember friends far and near.

Ken with poinsettias.....

Ornament from Carol...

A gift reminds us of old friends....
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Trip Planning

We have been working on our plans for visiting our kids. Today things came together for Ken and he made plane and car reservations to visit Rebecca and Cathy in Apple Valley, CA, and Jeff in Las Vegas, NV. He's using frequent flier miles so he can fly into Ontario, CA, rent a car to visit Rebecca and Cathy, and then drive to Vegas to visit Jeff and return the rental car and fly out of Vegas to come home. That will save him a 228 mile trip from Vegas back to Ontario International Airport and probably a night in a hotel. He'll be traveling over Easter weekend, and I'll be visiting Ed and Julie and family, so that will work out well. Now I just have to figure out my trip to visit Chris and Annie.

We're seeing Christmas decorations going up around the park. People are very creative. Who ever said a palm tree can't be a Christmas tree?

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Grease!

We danced this morning at Darryl Lipscomb's A-2 Concept Dance. We've been going to this dance for some time now, but this year all of Darryl's dances have moved to various locations. It was just before we left for the dance that we realized that both of us were thinking we were going to one place--but the dance was actually some place else. And that place was much farther away. We hit the ground running and actually made it to Our Savior Lutheran Church in McAllen in time for the dance, although Hardy and Judy were beginning to wonder!

Earlier this week, Carol offered to pick up tickets to Grease at a local high school for us. The Veterans Memorial High School (VMHS) Harlequin Drama Club put on the musical in their new auditorium.

The kids put on a very high energy performance and showed lots of talent. We enjoyed the familiar musical numbers, like Greased Lightning, especially since an actual red 1967 Corvette was the center of attention on the stage during that song. Talk about a great prop! A live band located just in front of the stage provided the music--except for the fifties music spun by the DJ at WAXX, Vince Fontaine. Hearing those songs and the DJ reminded me of how important popular music and famous DJs were when I was in high school.

Lots of square dancers we knew were in the audience, along with a surprising number of students. Everyone seemed to enjoy the performance.
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High Speed

For the next three months, we're on the Information Superhighway! Well, at least a highway instead of a back road. We signed up for cable internet from the SolStar Network. It was started by Mike Rhodes, owner of Bentsen Palm Development (which includes the RV resort we are staying at) to provide cable tv, broadband internet, and digital phone service to the development. For the next three months, we have 3 mbps download and about .75 mbps upload speeds, with unlimited service. That's over three times faster than our Verizon USB modem delivers at its best--and 50 times faster than the current Speedtest results. Yay!

On our walk this morning, we stopped by the clubhouse. It's already decorated for Christmas.

This evening we were enchanted by the cluster of Queen butterflies on some Blue Mist flowers.

We had turkey soup for supper. Gotta do something with all the leftover turkey. Tomorrow, turkey enchiladas...

Julie called to say that Jesse is feeling much better today. He hasn't had a fever since yesterday, and his appetite is back.

Terri called and we reminisced about Christmas ornaments. She was putting up a larger tree for the first time since before they left for Italy.
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Back to Bentsen Palm

Today was a moving day again--our last for three months. We got a site on the 500 circle again, which we really wanted. Our first year here we were on site #515 for November and December, but then in January we had to move to #244, one of the back-in sites. We ended up spending the whole three months in site #244 last year. It was very inconvenient, partly because it was hard to get into and because it was really too short to fit the rig and the truck comfortably.

One of the reasons we missed our 500 circle site was being farther from our Excel friends, Gary and Mary Ann, our neighbors on site #516. We will miss them even more this year, since they decided to spend their time in Arizona instead of Texas. We're hoping they come back to Texas next year. When I called today and talked with them, Gary said that their high today was 40 degrees, about the same as our low last night after the cold front came in. Of course they live in Oberlin, Kansas (a small town in northern Kansas).

Bentsen Palm Village RV Resort looks much better this year. The plantings have recovered from the hard freezes that killed so much last year, and that has increased the butterfly population again.

Gulf Fritillary

I got a rather scary voicemail from Julie today. Jesse has been sick all week with a double ear infection. Today he was listless and lethargic with a high fever, and they ended up taking him in to the hospital. He was given two bags of fluids and antibiotics and sent home. His ears appear to be healing well, but they think he has a virus. We're hoping that he'll recover quickly now.
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Two Dances

This morning we went to Tropic Star for Joe Saltel's A-2 Donut Dance. It's held in a really nice hall, with a great wood floor. We get to dance with lots of our Advanced dancing friends. As you can see, the hall is already decorated for Christmas. Ten squares were on the floor. Joe played around with some any hand swing and mix--pretty straightforward. He also did some as couples zig zag and zag zig--not so easy to see.

One of the couples we danced with was Keith and Gail Lindeman. Her badge says she's a tram interpreter for Valley Nature Center. It turns out that they work at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge. We chatted for a while. They said most of the park is still closed because of flood damage, but limited tram tours are resuming, and there will be some walking tours into the park. The trams can't go far, because the roads suffered lots of flood damage.

Zeta (in the striped shirt) is undergoing cancer treatments in Harlingen. She dances with George. Also in the square are Max and Susan and Trevor and Karen.

Karen leads line dances between some of the tips. Joe is the smiling caller, who always keeps things light.

Karen models her (very) fringed Western jacket.

Judy and Lois smile for the camera.

We danced the fast tip at the end with Linda and Terry, Max and Susan, and Harold and Dorothy. It's always exhilarating to succeed in keeping up with Joe--and always due to great teamwork. Lots of fun.

We packed our lunch and ate at Tropic Star before driving across the street to Pharr South for Randy Dougherty's C-1 workshop. I asked Randy to workshop step and fold and step and flip. He pointed out that step and flip involves the very same flip movement as flip the diamond. Flippers end up on the line of dance, so step and flip often ends in a Z formation. Step is a smaller move than circulate, too. All very enlightening. He also workshopped some unusual stretch calls.
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Thanksgiving Redux

Well, I couldn't stand it. For me, one of the best parts of Thanksgiving is the leftovers. So I bought a small turkey (7.25 pounds, didn't know they came that small!) and fixed turkey and gravy and dressing and sweet potatoes and crustless pumpkin pie for dinner today. Now the fridge is full to overflowing of turkey broth and all the other leftovers.

Ken and I played pool again today. I won three out of three--miracles do happen. I would never play if anyone was watching--it would be too embarrassing. We play so seldom that we're always sadly out of practice.

One of the couples in the park has a very productive grapefruit tree, so they are begging people to cart away grapefruit. I didn't have to be asked twice. We love grapefruit, and these are very flavorful ones. That's an advantage of being in this semitropical climate--lots of fresh fruit and veggies, almost like Southern California.
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Lazy Day

Wow! I actually slept until 10:30 this morning--not something I like to do. Usually I wake up by 8:00 at the latest. Guess I'll have to start setting an alarm clock. Maybe it was my body getting rest to continue healing from the respiratory thing, which is nearly gone now.

We didn't do much today. Spent some time trip planning and then went over to the spa for a while. Met a very friendly couple, Laura and Dan, who are buying a place here. They're retiring the end of this year and plan to have a New Year's Eve party/retirement party with their friends in Washington State before heading back down here.

Ken recorded the Michigan-Ohio State game, so we were able to fast forward through most of it to minimize the pain. Ouch! Michigan's quarterback is great, but he can't win games without some help from his receivers and from the defense. Oh well, next year will be another chance.
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Cold Front

The weather today has been very different from yesterday's. We woke up this morning, turned on the heat, and jumped back into bed while we waited for it to warm up a bit. The wind was whistling and rattling everything through the night and morning, but by this afternoon, we had a break. The sun was shining, and it was 60 degrees. We decided to take one long walk while we had a chance.

This morning we went to Darryl Lipscomb's A-2 dance at a new location. The dance has moved from Mission Bell in Mission to Our Savior Lutheran Church in McAllen. The RV park decided to raise the rent, which is too bad, since the wood floor there was the nicest place to dance in the area. The church has a large gym with tile over concrete. At least we have a place to dance. Today there were ten squares. That number will continue to rise as Winter Texans flock back to the Valley, fleeing the cold northern weather.
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Happy Thanksgiving! Happy Anniversary! Happy Birthday!

Today is, of course, Thanksgiving Day, but it's also Ed and Julie's 10th anniversary and Debbie Frith's 33rd birthday. Hope it's a great day for everyone.

It's definitely one of the easiest Thanksgivings on record for us. The owners of the park contributed turkeys, and volunteers made roast turkey, stuffing, gravy, and mashed potatoes for dinner today. Everyone who attended was asked to bring a side dish to serve 12. We brought fresh baked French rolls (from H.E.B.,) along but we did bake them!)with butter pats. The feast was spread at 3 p.m., and we all gathered, taking some time first to remember all we have to be thankful for and to wish peace and health for all the people living with war and violence and natural disasters and sickness.

As usual, there was plenty of food to share, and we got to meet some new people at our table, including Dave and Edie, Tom and Sharon, and Ruthi and Frank. Ruthi is an entertainer and will be putting on a show here Saturday night. She is in much demand in the Valley to entertain all the Winter Texans.

We talked to several people and left messages for others. Michigan is expecting snow tonight. We're expecting a cold front to hit, but that basically means that the high tomorrow will be 56 degrees. That's 35 degrees lower than today, but nothing like the 32 degree high for Muskegon tomorrow! Beth has a case of the crud, so she and Aunt Iris ate a quiet dinner together.

Iris roasted a turkey and made some other dishes to take to church. Her church feeds lots of folks on Thanksgiving, and they just aren't getting as many volunteers as they have in the past. Uncle Jesse may get to retire again. The church where he is filling in as pastor is voting on a new applicant this Wednesday.
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Laundry Day

Not much happening today. We did our laundry. While the loads were in the washer, Ken beat me at two games of pool. I almost won the first one, but then scratched on the 8 ball, darn it!

We spent some time out by the pool reading and relaxing in the hot tub. It was hot and sunny today, but windy. Tomorrow we're expecting a cold front. At least it won't be 10 degrees and snowing, like it was in Portland when I talked with Chris and Annie yesterday. Read more!

More Dancing

Today was our first Tuesday of square dancing for the season. At 10:00 a.m. we danced advanced at Tropic Star in Pharr to Joe Saltel, with ten squares on the floor. We saw some of our old friends, including G. W. and David and George and Zeta. The last tip is a super fast open tip (called "hot hash"), which we always enjoy.

At noon we went to the nearby Taco Fiesta with Hardy and Judy and G.W. and David for lunch. Ken and I shared the grilled chicken breast with mashed potatoes and gravy and green beans, Texas toast, and a "dinner salad" (a little shredded iceberg and a pale tomato slice, no dressing). It was okay, and we had plenty to eat, but we didn't know that chicken breast could be that tough! The big advantage of going to this restaurant is that the afternoon dance is across the street at Pharr South.

At 1:00 p.m. we moved to Pharr South to dance C-1 to Randy Dougherty. There were three squares on the floor. We did okay, considering that we haven't danced in so long. Ken said that he would have been more embarrassed, except that other people were making plenty of mistakes too.

On our walk this evening we saw several large birds flying overhead. One had a long curved neck and appeared to be a great white egret. Lovely sight.
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Dancing!

Today we went to our first square dance since last April. Fortunately we had friends to help us through! Afterward we consoled ourselves that it hadn't been nearly as bad as it could have been. Darryl went easy on us, and some things just came back (like bike riding?). Others weren't so smooth--but we'll have time to practice.

I'm still feeling under the weather, so the rest of the day I didn't do much. Tomorrow we have a morning dance with Joe Saltel and an afternoon dance with Randy Dougherty. We'll have lunch with our friends in between. Read more!

Annie and a Flood

Chris sent out Annie's school photos today. She's in seventh grade, bright, curious, an avid reader, and definitely her father's daughter. 

This afternoon we went to Bentsen Rio Grande Valley State Park for a special presentation on the effects of the summer floods there. Hardy and Judy were there too, so we got to visit with them. We were glad they'd let us know about the program.

In July, Hurricane Alex filled the Rio Grande River over flood level, and the dams and floodways were full. Water came up almost to the top of the newly raised levees, flooding nearly the whole park. We saw a slide show on the flooding and then walked out to the Ebony Grove with a naturalist.

The ebony trees will benefit from the flooding, which used to occur every few years before the dams were put in. Since the water has receded, naturalists have seen bobcats and javelinas, which evidently survived in the trees, and heard the chachalacas. We saw our first green jays of the season at a newly opened feeder. The park will come back, but it will require a lot of work to reopen it to the public.

Looking down the road beyond the barricade.

You can see the high water line on the trees.

Overhead, we saw a Crested Caracara in flight. (I got this photo off the web.)
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The Dallas Brass and Old Friends

I mostly rested today, hoping my cold or whatever it is will get better. Ken worked on photos and ripped DVDs.

Tonight we joined our friends, Hardy and Judy, at the McAllen Civic Auditorium (not to be confused with the new convention center) for a concert by the Dallas Brass. The performance was creative, very entertaining, and often amusing. The five brass players demonstrated their versatility by playing different instruments, including a flugelhorn and piccolo trumpet, the latter of which was made to sound eerily like a clarinet in a Benny Goodman solo part of Sing, Sing, Sing. The lone percussionist had a chance to shine in a percussion piece called Xylophonia.

The theme of the show was a history of American music, so it included patriotic tunes, including Yankee Doodle and the military hymns in a tribute to veterans and their spouses in the audience. The Marine Corps hymn had only a very few people standing, illustrating the Marine motto "The Few. The Proud. The Marines" admirably.

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We're Back in the Valley

We've arrived in the Rio Grande Valley, welcomed by balmy weather. This will be our third winter here. Ken drove the whole way today while I continued to nurse my darn respiratory infection. The trip was uneventful, through mostly flat land covered by mesquite, but Ken was happy to see the first palm trees.

We ate our lunch at another "picnic area." At least the weather was more pleasant than yesterday.

We're glad to be sitting still for a while and looking forward to seeing some of our Valley friends soon.
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