Forty six

It was forty-six years ago that I went to a little white steepled church in Willis, Kansas and did something that I would do again if I was suddenly transported back to that time. I got married. I got a bride that I took to my home in Colorado. Erma joined me in a place that she had never seen, or had not even seen a picture. Some time later I remember thinking that I had hit a milestone when I had been married more than half the time that I had been in Colorado. There were other milestones that came frequently. I was married a length of time longer than I had known Erma, and then it seemed soon that I was married more years than I had been in school. Now I have been married more than two thirds of my life. At least my life so far, I do intend to live longer and be married longer too.

I have always had one problem with the day that I was married. I have never been able to remember which of two dates we got married. I am lucky in that one way. If a man forgets his anniversary and he is late he is in trouble, however if he is early he is just anxious to celebrate. I will never be late but I might be a day early. I was either married three days after Christmas or three days before New Years. Well it was on the 29th, which is three days before New Years Day, by my way of counting. My wife gave up on me years ago.

I must have told some friends of mine it was the 28th because they wanted to take us out. They had also invited several other couples to go with us, but we did not know that. One of the couple was one with whom we had celebrated their anniversary just shortly before. It was pretty special to be with a group for our anniversary. I recommend it to others too.

We spent Christmas Day here in the park. Again the park provided turkeys to be cooked and many people cooked them at home. It is a good thing that a lot of people have standard sized ovens. We could not cook a full sized turkey in our oven. It is a microwave/convection oven that is not much larger than a large microwave. In addition to the turkeys every person brought a dish to share. Like any meal of that sort there was a lot of food, more food than twice as many people needed. There was nearly 500 people that attended the meal. It was divided into several groups, and each group had three or four long tables loaded with food. In fact there were so many people that two buildings were needed to hold everybody. People always hope that all the food they take to a pot luck will be eaten so they don't have to take any home. Erma and I are no different of course. We were not disappointed either. Both the spinach balls that Erma made and the stuffed mushrooms that I made disappeared down to the last crumbs. The fact that they are different and very good helps.


OUR ORANGE GROUP HAD OVER A HUNDRED PEOPLE

It seems that I am constantly helping someone with their computer. I am not sure how I got myself into a situation where I do so much of this kind of work. But I guess it is because I seem to be able to get results and I want people to be able to enjoy their computers. One thing for sure is that having a computer that is not doing what a person needs to have it do IS NOT ENJOYABLE. Some of the problems that people have are really simple to solve, but if I cannot solve the problem then there are two of us that are frustrated. One of the problems have a lot of trouble with is an anti-virus program. We try to load AVG and it takes so long that the chance of failure is high. Therefore it may need to be loaded several times before there is success. I have have success with every computer that has had fair access speed to the Internet, but some connections are too slow to be effective. I need another solution.

I have a friend that is coming into the airport tonight about 10:30. It has been along time since I have been in an airport later than 9:00 or so. Years ago we had a tradition of going out Stapleton Airport in Denver and having strawberry pie after midnight in the first few minutes of a New Year. Then one year we went out there with a young daughter and friends and they had taken the pie off the menu. There went a fun New Years tradition. As odd as it may seem New Years has not been the same since then. We still have fun but I never fail to miss the outing to a now non-existent airport.

If there are people that read this from the northern US I will apologize ahead of time. Our temperature here tomorrow is supposed to be up in the 70's. I keep seeing so many reports of snow and hear that it is cold too. I sure am glad that I am here in the southern part of Texas and the possibility of snow is very small. I just got Roger from the airport and he says that where he left is fourteen degrees. I am glad that I was not there.

So to all of you readers, HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Till later this is Uncle Duck

Christmas Eve

Here it is Christmas Eve and I actually had to check earlier today to see what day of the month it was. When I was a kid I got the idea that it was not Christmas Eve until the sun went down. I don't know how old I was when I realized that any "eve" was the entire day before the day of the event. I guess that it made some sense to think it had to be evening. Even to this day I really don't think of it as much different, time wise at least.

We have gotten a lot of cards from people across the USA and a lot from people here in Bentsen Grove. All are very nice and I appreciate the thoughts that are expressed and the thoughts that prompted the sending of cards. I have not sent out many cards in several years. I wonder once in a while if people know that there are thoughts of well wishes for them even if they so not get a card. For several years I have been sending out and giving out a lot of calenders that I have designed and print. Perhaps when those are used during the year people know that did think of them. I give them out both as a Christmas gift and a gift for the entire year.

Living here in the Valley we eat out on a regular basis. There are a lot of nice restaurants with good food that are available. I almost feel that going to one of them has become pretty common. I find myself getting more picky over the years, or I am becoming more aware of my feelings. Either way there is one restaurant that always has good food and there is always a good show to go with it. The name is Hayashi Hibachi. The cook their food on grills in front of the customer with a lot of theatrics. So not only is the food good there is a show that goes with it. I had taken my camera and had taken a couple picture. The chef asked me if I wanted some fire. Of course I said yes and he really gave fire show. I don't know what kind of fuel they used but it made a great flame. I had shut my camera off and I almost did not get the picture.


FIRE AND FLAME AT HAYASHI HABACHI

One of the traditions here in Bentsen Grove is to put two luminarios at the front of every lot and light them at 6:00 on Christmas Eve. This is the fourth year that we have been here for the lighting. I just went out to light ours and the there were at least a dozen other people doing the same. The only problem tonight is that the wind is blowing. Within a few minutes of the lighting of one candle there was a bag casualty. The wind blew the flame into a bag and the bag quickly burned down one side. It is still pretty. The wind is supposed to quit here in just a bit so maybe it will get better. I see that several men are still "relighting" the luminarios that have blown out. Unless the wind does stop soon they could have an all night job. The first time I saw luminarios was when I was in high school and it was something new to a nearby town Ottawa, Kansas. Out in an affluent area there was a whole neighborhood that had nearly every street lined with a luminario about every five foot. It was very impressive.

Bentsen Grove is located on two side of Bentsen Palm Drive here in Mission. Because of this fact a lot of people cross the busy road for activities or visiting. There has been a lot of talk and warnings to the residents here that if a lot of caution is not taken in crossing the street there could be an accident. The cars that come along the street are going fast and they will pass turning vehicles on the right hand side without slowing down. It happened yesterday. The only thing good that can be said it that the lady was not killed. That could have easily been the result. But as I understand she suffered a broken leg, damaged muscle or ligaments of one arm and blow to the head. Someone said that she was hit by the mirror of the vehicle, but that is unconfirmed. Any way it gets looked at, it is a poor way to start the Christmas period.

Tonight in the church where I grew up there will be a large Christmas tree set up in one corner. I would bet that corner has had a tree in it every Christmas since the church was built in 1872. I would also be willing to bet that every child that attended services on Christmas Eve got a bag of candy, nuts and some fruit. That is the way it was during every Christmas I can remember when I was there. There are so many traditions that are wonderful to remember. There seems to be a tradition in a near town that is quite impressive. Just about twenty miles from where we stay is the town of Hidalgo, TX. It is a border town with an international bridge going across the the Rio Grande river into Mexico. It is well known for that reason but the town goes all out to decorate with Christmas lights. There are three miles of lights along the route they suggest. There are trolleys that have narrated tours and there are horse drawn buggies that take viewers around. To say the least it is impressive.


ONLY A FEW OF THE LIGHTS OF HIDALGO TEXAS

Here in Bentsen Grove we have three primary languages that are spoken. Mostly English by the residents. We have a lot of French speaking people that come down from the cold in Quebec every winter. And of course since we are so close to Mexico there are a quite a few workers that speak Spanish. There is at least one couple that come from Germany. Without a doubt there are other languages that are spoken here, but I have not had the privilege of meeting those people. So since I really know only the first three this is all I will say.

Joyeux Noel to my French speaking friends.
Feliz Navida to my Spanish friends.
Merry Christmas to those friends that speak English.

Till later this is Uncle Duck

Thanks (giving)

Thanksgiving Day is now past a couple of days. The leftovers have a little left than yesterday. The shoppers have had their day of what I call craziness and things are pretty much normal again. Even though the day is past I don't think that it is too late to think about those things that we we are thankful about. I don't know that I have more to appreciate than most people but at times I think I do. My life has been good in many ways and at the moment I have a good life that not everybody has. I was born shortly after WWII began, so I missed knowing about much of the hardship of that time. And being on a farm there were things there that made my early life better than some. I was young enough to miss going to Korea, and old enough to miss being called for Viet Nam. I did try to join the service but they were being very picky about who was taken into the service and a skin rash kept me out. I have often wondered what I would have done if I had gotten into the Air Force. The jobs that I have held over the years have been good. Sometimes miserable and extremely dirty and hard, but I was one of the workers that did suffer the annual layoff, at least until the company way sliding to total closure. And then I got an even better job that set me up for retirement. During those years I had as good a wife as any one could hope to have, and she presented me a daughter that has given me joy and made me proud to be called Dad and she continues to do that.

Now that I am retired I can move from location to location as I am inclined. I have a nice home, in many respects better than any I have ever had. I stay out of the area in winter that has the freezing weather and the snow and then in summer I go to where the weather is not so hot and that is nice. I have a bonus that I would never have considered. I am not sure how to define friends. I can think of a half dozen definitions that that vary from one that would exclude nearly all people to one that would include nearly all people. I will use a definition that includes those people that I enjoy talking to, spending time with, and would be glad to work with. So I have met many new people that I would consider friends. One of the reasons is the change lifestyle that I live. I spend time class with some, some I help with computer problems, some are neighbors part of the year. All of them share a more common lifestyle today than many of working years. There is more opportunity here to develop friendships. It is funny that I have friends that I actually never seen again, or no more that a short time once every couple years, and ones that I will see daily for three to five months of the years. No matter how long or how short I have known them I a thankful for their existence in my life.

In the years that we have been full timing this is the first time that we have spent Thanksgiving in Bentsen Grove. Our first one full timing was at the home of some very gracious friends of our daughter in New York the next four were in whatever campground we happened to be in for the week. This sixth Thanksgiving Day we planned to be here in Texas. The dinner was an experience to remember. Like most community dinners it was partly pot luck. The turkeys were provided by the park and each person brought a dish to share and some brought two. There were so many people that the dinner had to be held in two large buildings. I heard that 405 people signed up for the dinner. In the hall where we ate there were five groups that each had a set of tables for putting out food. There was so much food it was hard to believe. Another thing to be thankful for. There was so much left that the group that I was with came back for supper a few hours later and there was lots still.


PART OF THE PEOPLE IN THE MAIN HALL

In the process of helping people with their computers I come across some strange things and I have learned a lot. One of the things that I have learned is never say "All computers -------", because as soon as I say that I see a computer that 'does not have' or 'does not do' whatever I have said "All computer ----". I will change the statement to "All computer should -----", and I am safe because it is more of an opinion. Thus I can say that "All computers should have a keyboard that shows the letter or number that will appear on the screen when a particular key is pressed." I went to a house where the computer would not allow access to programs and administrative functions. A password had to be typed into the computer to allowed. The problem was one I had never heard about. If all the keys were removed from the keyboard, put into a bag, mixed and withdrawn at random and placed back on the keyboard it could not be any more mixed up than it was. When "p" was struck '6' would print, when "6" was struck 'm' would print. To get the letter "t" it was necessary to strike the '\', all the other keys were fouled up just as bad. I finally was able to open up the on-screen keyboard which displayed the letter or number that would be printed. Thus I was able to figure out how to correctly type in his passwords and get access to the administrative function. I ran a system restore and that fixed the problem. At least for that I did not need the key board. There is so much to learn about computers, but they are so much fun.
Now if I could just figure out some of the other things that I need to know about them to help people.

Till later this is Uncle Duck

Cacophony

Today is more like fall than I have seen so far this year. The temperature is down to 68 degrees, there is a mist in the air, the skies are gray and there is just a bit of a breeze. A bit earlier there were some leaves that were blowing down the street and it was so much like a Colorado mountain back road that it made me have a flashback to a few years ago. Every Friday there is a truck that comes into the park with vegetables and fruits. Some of the produce is kept in ice. After the truck left I walked by and saw a pile of the ice that they had thrown out. With the temperature and the gray skies the ice looked so much like snow that it was almost spooky. I would not want you to get the idea that I miss the snow and the cold, but I have to say that I have many good times in the fall and in the snow.

I wonder why birds will gather at a specific location for years and years. In McAllen there is a certain intersection that the green parrots have gathered every year since we have been coming to the Rio Grande Valley, and my understanding is that the same has happened for many years before. It is pretty obvious that there has been a lot of building in the area fairly recently. So the birds have come back in spite of the construction and changes that have been made. I have been able to find any person who knew the area back in the time that the area was more farm than city. I will make a guess that the parrots came to the same place years ago. Perhaps the construction has actually given them more trees to roost in and more power lines to rest on.



I would say that the show lasts about an hour. During that time there are more birds coming in to land on the lines and then slowly they will move to trees where they spend the night. Every once in a while every parrot that in the area will suddenly take flight and circle around for a while then land back on the lines. Or they may circle a few times then fly into the trees where they spend the night. When they are in the trees there is such a cacophony that it almost hurts the ears.




I did meet some people who had an apartment next to the gathering area. they indicated that the sound was not too bad in the evening when they were still up. But it was somewhat irritating early in the morning when the parrots awoke and started their chatter. It was impossible to sleep late.

Thanksgiving is almost here. There is a very easy way to tell, the stores are all full of Christmas displays, the TV is showing Christmas stories and the radio has started playing Christmas songs. Aw, yes, it is almost Thanksgiving.

Till later this is Uncle Duck

Changing Priorities

Some years (a whole bunch) ago my brother told me about a fellow that lived in Ft. Collins, CO. As I remember the story the fellow had bought three building lots in various areas of the city. His plan was to design and build the best house he could on the least desirable lot, live in it a few years and sell it. Then he would take the same design and make changes that he determined desirable based upon his experience. Then again sell the house and repeat the process, building the perfect house on the lot which was the most desirable. By the time he retired he would have a house that served all his desires and it would be paid in full. This story floated around in my mind for many years and I often wondered how the final chapter turned out. I always thought that it was such a great plan and I think it was always in the back of my mind that I hoped it worked for him. About a year ago I had the opportunity to ask my brother if the fellow had been able to build his perfect house. I was disappointed but not too surprised to hear that the plan was not an absolute success. He said, "As you age your needs and your desires change." I have a feeling that anyone that is over fifty, or maybe younger, can likely relate to those feelings.

I sure understand that. When I was younger by twenty or forty years I did not think about it. I had thoughts that there were certain things that I would want to do as long as I had any physical abilities left. I think it would be proper to say that I was partly right about some things and wrong about all the rest. I grew up on a farm and I thought that I would always want to own my own land and have a space between myself and the nearest neighbor, at least a large building lot in the city. So here I am living in a forty foot motor home, with very little space over to the neighbors and I am very happy with that. At least I don't have to mow the grass. And as long as we winter in Texas or somewhere south I don't have to shovel snow either. I have heard comments from a lot of other people that indicate that their priorities have changed also.

There are a lot of activities here in Bentsen Grove that anyone can get involved in. Those can get a person into trouble, sort of, if care is not taken. As one couple put it they had been too busy the year before and wanted to change things a bit. So they added a couple more activities. They did not say how that was working out but it a common happening I think. This year we have done about the same thing. Every week while we are here I will be taking pictures of the new arrivals in the park. I think I have the template set up now so that I can select, crop and print the pictures very quickly. It seemed like it should be easy to do. Just hit print on the computer and a few seconds later it is done. I am trying to do a bit better than that and give a good picture for posting on the board that is consistent for the whole park. I have had two Wednesdays to get photographs to work with so I am hoping that next week I will be able to get it done the way I think it should be in a few minutes.

I thought that the amount of dancing we did last year was either enough or perhaps a bit too much. So this year an additional day was added to the schedule. And in addition to that I am learning (I hope) how to make a instructional video of the dances we do for the class. Maybe when I get too tired to dance I can go run the camera and take a break. We will see how that goes. We have something scheduled every day. Sunday is of course church, then four days with dancing, computer club and park meeting pictures. There will be a few more activities that we add as soon as those start which could be in a week or two.

There are more people coming into the park every day and new faces from last year show up. It is good to see friends from last year getting here. There will be rush of a lot more will be coming after Thanksgiving.

One of the things that we enjoy down here a lot is the green parrots (or green parakeets if you prefer) that gather every evening. We have gone to the area that they gather every evening at least in the winter and they are back. The truth is that they may gather there in the summer also but I have not seen them. When I have been up in the area it has been too dark to see them very well but there is no question about hearing them clearly. I tried to video them one evening and a person that knows exactly where to look, in other words the videographer, can see them in the trees. I will go back one of these evenings before the light fades and get a movie to post here.


GREEN PARROTS TAKEN WITH A FLASH


A few weeks ago I caught my foot in an earphone cord going to my computer and I damaged the plug that it goes into. I talked to a friend down here and he told me what I might encounter if I tried to fix it myself. I was told I would not do more damage so I tore my laptop computer apart and found where the problem. With some assistance by a fellow that is a LOT better on the Internet than I am I was able to order a part and should be back in business in a few days when the part is shipped to me. I have never taken a computer apart but I have heard that a laptop is a lot harder to work on than a computer with an external tower. There must be nearly twenty tiny screws that have to be taken out to get access to anything. But as a bonus I learned how to put in a second hard drive in my computer if I should desire, or I can easily replace the no. 1 hard drive if I ever need to do that.

I appreciate the comments that have been made about this blog. I know that it is being read and enjoyed.

Till later this is Uncle Duck

Butterflies In The Park

This is the earliest that we have been in Texas in our five years of travel. From what I have heard of the weather up north we picked a good year to be south. We have had a few days that were in the 90's here in Mission while there are places where we were exactly a year ago that have seen temperatures in the teens. I am sure glad that I have not seen those temperatures. It appears to me that many other Winter Texans are arriving earlier this year that in years past. I do not have a doubt that the cold is a factor.

This part of Texas is supposed to be along the migration path of many butterflies. I really believe that to be true based on what I have seen in the last ten days or so. In driving between Rockport and Mission it seemed that the air was constantly filled with butterflies crossing the highways. I hate to hit any kind of bugs because they make such a mess on the windshield. But I feel even worse when the bugs are butterflies because they are such beautiful insects. I would not hazard a guess as to how many were killed by my motor home, but I saw another motor home that had a screen in front of the grill that had so many on it that the bodies must have blocked the airflow to the engine. At least my engine is in the rear

There are several gardens here in Bentsen Grove that attract numerous varieties of butterfly that vary from a half inch wingspan to a wingspan of perhaps three or four inches. When I have tried to photograph them they show me the meaning of flit like a butterfly. I very much believe that the great pictures of really high quality were the result of hours of patience with a camera just waiting for the perfect shot while the camera is pointed at a single blossom. The rest are the product of good luck.


BUTTERFLY IN A GARDEN ON "B" STREET


BUTTERFLY IN BENTSEN GROVE


"B" STREET BUTTERFLIES

The activities that we want to be involved in are starting. Line dancing will be available every day, more than I can handle. The computer club is back on a weekly schedule as of today (Monday) and the sessions were a bit rough but I am sure things will smooth out. I hope that we are providing the information needed by the attendees. I am going to be the photographer for the picture board which displays a picture of each resident. There were people from eight sites last Wednesday and it is still early in the year. It took me a couple hours to figure out how to print the pictures so I could get a print the size I need for the board. Next Wednesday it should be a lot faster to complete.

This year was the first time that we have been able to attend the Halloween Party at Bentsen Grove. There were a lot of people who came for an evening of entertainment and fellowship and they got plenty of entertainment. There were fourteen people who dressed up in costume to participate in a contest. As always the costumes were good. I especially liked a couple and one of them got the first prize. But of course I have liked the story of the Invisible Man ever since I first read it probably more than fifty-five years ago.


THE INVISIBLE MAN

We have been here a bit over a week. I feel as if it is impossible for us to have been here that long already and it also feels like it is just a continuation of the time when we were here last May. It is an odd feeling if I take the time to think about it.

Till later this is Uncle Duck

Getting Home Again

I think it is fair to say that I am back home now. Or better back to my winter home. We got into Bentsen Grove in Mission this afternoon. We have already seen quite a few people that we know from years past. It is good to see them and good to know that every day or every few days there will be more coming in that we know. Any where I turn off the ignition of the Vectra is home. That is one of the nice things about living in a home with wheels. It is rather funny that I feel at home several place in the USA. There is one in New York, one in Colorado, at least two in Texas, and officially one in South Dakota. I also have a home in Kansas sorta.

We drove about two hundred miles today to get here. A lot of the way I was thinking about how today contrasts so much with a hundred or so years ago. Today I drove my 40 foot home along paved roads at 50 to 60 miles an hour being pushed by 350 horses. There were only small potholes in the road and there was no dust to of which to speak. Every stream and gully had a bridge across it that did not even slow me down. My home had AC and a heater to adjust the temp to whatever I wanted it to be. I had entertainment at the touch of a switch that I could change as I wished. At anytime I could stop and have a meal that could either be hot or cold or a combination of both. I carried fresh clean water with me to drink or wash or anything else I could think to do with it. Part of that water was frozen into ice cubes. I had with me phones that would summons help for any problem that I might have had. I had at least three devices that would tell me exactly where I was and where I needed to go, I only used one but I had three. There was not one time that I felt there was any danger from any other human being and I was not concerned about what the weather was like.

When the country was still being settled things were very different. The homes, if they could be called that, were maybe ten foot long and were pulled by two horses or often by two ox. If they had a good day ten miles might be covered. On days that things did not go so well, perhaps with mud mired to the axles, a half mile might be all that covered. There were holes and rocks in some places that could break wagon axles or the legs of draft animals. When the days were dry the dust would get into every part of wagon and into the lungs of all the people. Every stream and gully could spell disaster or loss of property. The people were subjected to high heat, freezing cold, driving rains, snow, wind, insects and hardships that the modern person does not even think about. The food they had was subject to spoilage and would be called coarse today. They carried water in a barrel that at best would be warm. When water was found it was often or usually muddy and many places there were days between refills. If there were problems the people had to solve themselves or perhaps die. At any time it might be a guess as to the location where they were and where they needed to go was by landmarks. During certain times and in certain areas there was danger from Confederate or Union soldiers, Indians, bandits or highway robbers. And of course the weather was always a danger along with disease and accidents.

I have often heard some comment about life in the past being good and in a lot of respects that is right. I think it mostly is a matter of comparison. Do you compare today to then or should you compare then to another area of the country at the same time. I believe that the latter makes more sense than the former. We really do not know what it was in another time unless we have lived in that time. But we can imagine a lot of it must have been. Between what I know of today and what I imagine of times past I am glad that I live in these times. I wish that I could experience other times so that I could know more of those times.

I am hoping that Bentsen Grove does not have mosquitoes like we left in Rockport. With the exception of Mosquito Pass in Colorado I have never been around as many mosquitoes as there were around where we were parked in the campground. I know that it was just the fact that the weather condition were perfect for breeding, because in past visits and areas a mile or so away this year there were a lot less of the critters. I know that there are several varieties of mosquitoes and we saw at least three different size in the past weeks. As you know Texas people always brag about the size of everything. No matter what it is Texas is supposed to have the biggest. That was especially true before Alaska became a state. I can assure you that I am glad there were not a lot of mosquitoes the size of this one that I found trying to make a hole into the side of the Vectra. If it had gotten inside it might have carried both the wife and myself off in the woods for private consumption.


TEXAS SIZED MOSQUITO

We always have fun feeding the seagulls in Rockport. As one of the last things we did there before we left was to have a final feeding to get rid of the last of the gull food. The place we picked was near a kids playground where a little five year old girl and her grandmother was playing on the swing. Erma asked the girl if she would like to feed the gulls. She was eager to feed them as long as she was close to Erma. There were times that she hung on to Erma's arm with one hand and tossed food with her other hand. Also she would lean against Erma's leg whenever the gulls got to close and when Erma moved back a step she would move closer too. As I have said months ago "If you want to increase your pleasure share it with a small child." This little girl was a great delight to us.


FEEDING SEAGULLS BY THE BAY

Till later this is Uncle Duck

New Friends

Before we started full timing we went to a Life On Wheels Conference and I heard an interesting quote. I wish I could remember exactly how the quotation was said because I would expect that it was better in the original than I will be able to come up with. It was something like, "The first time you meet new people it is pleasant. The second time you meet them you say, 'I remember you." The third time you meet them you remember their names and where they are from. The fourth time they are good friends that your are glad to spend time with." While this quote may have been meant to cover several weeks or at least several camps it sometimes works in a shorter time, or at least the time table can be varied. We have met some new friends here.

We are staying in Bayview RV Resort in Rockport Texas. This a camp and area that we have enjoyed six times over the years. One of the places that we enjoy here is a restaurant called The Big Fisherman. It is an early stop for us when we get to Rockport. The fish that they serve is so good and the price is quite reasonable. After we got our motor home set up we were ready for a fish fix. We asked our neighbors, Floyd and Shirley, if they would like to go with us to eat at The Big Fishermen, and they did. In talking to them we decided that we had spent a evening at the same club house table with them during one of our previous visits. During the week we went to several restaurants with them and spent several evenings playing cards and learning new games. We line danced at the club house a few times too. Bayview is one of the few places that there has been a good area to dance. We found out that we have a lot of interest that are similar so now we are looking forward to getting together with them when we get down to the Valley to winter and also introduce them to some of our Bentsen Grove friends. We think that there will be a very good likelihood that additional friendships will develop.

One game that we learned, and really enjoyed, was called Fast Track. It is a card game that uses a board set up that is similar to Pegs and Jokers, but it has a twist or two. I am sure that other people would enjoy playing this game. I may have to buy the boards. The fellow that makes the boards live in Kansas and comes to McAllen to winter. So maybe he can send a set by mail or bring it to Texas when he comes.

There is a ferry that goes back and forth between Aransas Pass and Aransas Port that is always fun to take. The Aransas Port side ends on Mustang Island not too far from a beach that can be driven with cars and even motorhomes. You can drive along the beach for roughly eight miles and camp along most of it. I think it would be fun to spend a few nights within seventy-five to a hundred foot of the active surf. At least if it was not during a storm. But on the other hand I am not sure that I would want to expose my Vectra to the salt spray that would be created there. There were a couple small motor homes along the beach when we drove along it earlier this week. As we drove down the beach there was one spot where the seagulls were just going after something like mad. We drove up close and could see a pile of something that appeared to be a pile of dog food. The gulls would fly up as a group and then plunge back as a group. It was something to see. They will eat almost anything that people eat except salads.




We try not to waste food. Both of us were raised to conserve food but once in a while some thing goes wrong and we have to throw out some. We had some cereal that picked up moisture and was not good any more so we took it out to see if the gulls would like it. They like anything. So now we know that we can have fun with them using cheap cereal or cheap dog food. As you might expect the instant that the gulls determined that we were out of food they left in a mass exodus.



Till later this is Uncle Duck.

Willis, Texas

We are just about ready to leave Willis and head towards Rockport. That should happen tomorrow. We hear that some rainy weather is supposed to be moving in early in the morning. I am hoping that is does not get here too early. In the morning I need to be hooking on the Jeep, loading up the bikes, hooking up the tire sensors and several other items that are required before we move. But raining or not we will move. If it is raining too bad I suppose that we could stay an extra day.

We have been here for three weeks and have not really done a whole lot. I have to admit that I have enjoyed having some time to relax. I had a bunch of things that I wanted to do on the computer and I have been able to complete the items of highest priority. Some of the other ones will take several more years to complete.

We have taken a couple trips down into the Houston area. One thing I wanted to do was to go to the Johnson Space Center. I have driven close to it several times but have never had the time to stop. So that was one of the objectives while we were here. When we went down it was not really a hot day. I suppose that it was in the upper 80's or low 90's but one thing that we decided was that we would never want to take their tours on a hot day in the middle of summer. At a couple points on the tour we were told to be very quiet so we didn't disturb the working personnel. For the life of me I do not know who we would have disturbed. First of all because there is very little or nothing going on in space right now besides the International Space Station activities there were barely any people at work. Especially since it was a Saturday. And then we were never anywhere except in areas partitioned off with glass so I don't know how any worker could have heard us. But in places that quiet was not requested the people on tours talked so loud that it hard to hear the guides. It was a good tour at any rate. I was very surprised that a large building was devoted to activities that would be best described as kids games and activities. If it sounds like I am talking "sour grapes" maybe it is because only kids can play the games that were set up. If a person was skilled on Nintendos, and Pac-Man and Mario they would do better than I could ever dream about. The games were beyond my skills. We had a fun time. This picture shows the main control center at Johnson Space Center. During a normal space flight this would have every chair manned. It would likely be more fun to go back during those times.


MAIN CONTROL CENTER AT JOHNSON SPACE CENTER

On another trip to the Houston area we went out to the Forbidden Gardens. That was almost a wasted trip. The information that we had indicated that it was open until 5:00. We did not rush to get to the place because we did not figure that we needed a lot of time to see it. So we did not get there until shortly before 3:00. They had changed their closing time to 3:00. We had just a few minutes to look around and take a few pictures before the gates closed. Forbidden Gardens is a miniature replica of the tomb of QuinShi Huang-di the First Emperor of China with the 6,000 piece terra cotta army which was discovered in 1974. It is replicated at 1/3 scale. This was about all that we were able to see. The part that we were not able to see, except for a few roof tips, was the 1/20 scale replica of the Forbidden City which was the home to the Imperial family of China for over 500 years during the reigns of two dynasties. The little bit that we could glimpse in the time we were there looked to be impressive. We had called to check to be sure that the place was open before we went there but as many places do their phone answering machine did not have any useful information.


6,000 PIECE TERRA COTTA ARMY OF QUINSHI HUANG-DI

In our travels we have seen many turtle that were extremely shy of people. When they would see movement they would go into the water and disappear from sight. At the Forbidden Gardens they actually swam to the bridge going across the pond TOWARDS the people as soon as they saw movement. I had a hard time believing that they did that until I found out that they had gotten accustomed to getting food which is thrown into the pond by the visitors. Between the turtles and the huge coys it was quite a show.


SOME OF THE RED EARED TURTLES AND THE COY

Our next destination is by a bay where I should be able to get some good pictures of some of the Texas water fowl.

Till later this is Uncle Duck

Good Timing

There are times that simple luck or just being out of the wrong place at the wrong time is beneficial. We have been in Willis Texas for a week now. The weather has been cooperative without a lot of rain and some nice sun. There has been some rain, some cloudy day, and quite a bit of fog. We are not far from the large Lake Conroe so the fog is understandable. Some of the areas that we were in just before we came here have been getting extreme amounts of rain, up to twelve inches in a day. We have seen the pictures of flooded streets and submerged cars and all the other stuff that goes with that much rain. Our timing has served us very well by getting us out of those areas. It is good timing.

We have had one thing here that we could have done without. There was evidently a massive hatch of some small flying insect happened shortly after we got here. These little insect were just slightly larger than gnats. Most of the insects were black, perhaps five to ten percent were either white or almost colorless. We stayed inside unless we really needed to go out. Whenever we did the insects swarmed inside. It did seem that most of them would land on the ceiling and then stay there, most but not all of course. Evidently there is a spider that is living in the cabinets at the front of the Vectra. While I was working on the computer one evening I saw a jumping spider creeping across the ceiling toward one of the insects, it crept slowly to what it determined a proper attack position and suddenly it would jump and grab its meal, and then go back to the front cabinets. Over the period of the evening I think that spider grabbed at least a dozen of the insects. Normally I would have caught the spider and put it outside, but in this instance it was so fun to watch that we allowed it to stay.

Over the time that we have been traveling there have been several times that we have had spiders that would make a web from the windshield wipers to some convenient location. When we started to drive the spider would run to a location that was safe from the wind, sometimes it took up to fifty miles for the spider to seek shelter. When we would get to a new location it would come out and rebuild the web. At least one spider traveled with us for several relocations. I did not know that we had a spider web built on our wiper here until the insect hatch happened. We opened the curtains at the front and saw a spider web with most of the radials and the spirals marked with insects that had been caught by the sticky web. I have been tempted to try and count the insects that have been caught on the web, but I think I have other things more valuable to do. I will just say that there has to be several thousand.


INSECTS CAUGHT ON THE SPIDERS WEB
(Double left click on the picture to get a bigger view.)

In the week that we have been here we have not done a lot of sightseeing. It has been nice to be able to catch up on some of the computer work that I needed to do. For the first time in (likely) over a year I have all my pictures labeled and have written the description of them in the word document that goes with them. Now I have time to write other things, like a posting to Uncle Ducks Tracks and even put out another POTR. One thing that I noticed is that over the last almost five years is that my word processing descriptions of the pictures has made a rather subtle change. In the beginning I might write, "This is a building on the Jones Farm." Now I might write, "This is the cantilevered barn that was built by William Jones in 1893 to protect his cattle ---------- and it is the -------- which is the last standing ------. In other words I have graduated toward a much more informative dialogue. I have to wonder if the writing that I do will ever be read or appreciated by someone besides myself. It is enough to be written for me. It has given me solid information to support my beliefs about travels that we have done when there is a disagreement with my wife. Also it have proved me wrong a time or two. But then it has sharpened the memory of both my wife and myself.

Before I close here I want to thank all of you who have left comments in the blog or written me e-mails with a comment. I enjoy sharing with you and it increases my pleasure when I know that others are reading my offerings. I have been told that over two thirds of all blog are laying fallow and I do not doubt the authenticity of that statement. I also saw a tee shirt that says a lot about blogs. It said, "More people have read this shirt than your blog!" He was probably right.

Till later this is Uncle Duck

Half A Million Dollars

We got through with our week in Vicksburg and have moved to the Lake Conroe, Texas area. We are back in a campground that we have been in before and will never forget. Slightly over three years ago when we were here we were awakened by sirens. A motor home was on fire just down the street from us and the fire fighters were getting it under control. The lady that lived in it was severely burned and taken to the hospital. We never heard how she was, except bad, before we left. We asked if there was more information when we checked in. It was bad for sure. The burns of the lady became infected and caused her death. The worst part was that we learned that she had gone back into the motor home to get a roll of money and because of that her husband had to drag her through the flames to get her out at all. Sometime after the fire was put out and someone went through the ashes the roll of money was found. The bank was able to replace all the partly burn money. She lost her life for a roll of money that was replaced. The only thing that was good that we heard was that the husband recovered from his burns and has gotten life back together and is actually camping here in the resort now. I am thinking that I might go see him. I liked him when I met him before the fire. The thing that keeps going through my mind is that the things that are lost in a fire are replaceable, but the life that might be lost is not. I don't know what I would think in a similar situation, but right now I plan to run FAST and FAR.


THE RV THAT BURNED IN 2006 NOT A WHOLE LOT LEFT

Have you ever seen a half million dollars, or a million dollars. I have never seen it in an intimate way. I have seen a million dollars worth of gold in the Denver mint. I have also seen over a million dollars in twenties in the Bureau Of Engraving in Dallas, Texas. At neither place was very close. I was closest to the gold, it was perhaps eight foot away, behind a very thick glass window. Both piles were rather small. In Jackson, Mississippi I saw a half million dollars that was a pretty good sized. But then it was all in pennies. That was impressive and I was closer to that than I have been to any other large amount of money. Right across the street from the Capitol Building was a display, I guess that is what it was, that was made of Plexiglas and had fifty million pennies in it. It was impressive to say the least. I could not help but wonder about the time that a car or truck misses the corner and plows into it. That is going to be a lot of pennies to pick up. I also hope that I never get the job of putting all those pennies into rolls to take to the bank. It will take a million rolls to do that. No one will ask me to help.


FIFTY MILLION PENNIES IN A DISPLAY IN JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI

The last week has been a problem week with my computer. It would start up, run a minute or two, and then shut down. It took a while but I think I have solved the problem. I have been working today for several hours and it is still running. Knock on wood for me. But be sure you only wake up the good spirits.

Till later this is Uncle Duck

River Murals

Today is Sunday and we are in Vicksburg Mississippi. We have been here for three days now and have been keeping busy. We are camped next to some people that made an interesting comment to me. "There is nothing to see here." I guess that I simply have a different outlook on life. To me there is a lot to see here. There is the Vicksburg Battle Ground. The Mississippi river. Not far away is the only petrified forest east of the Rocky Mountains. There are many antebellum homes and plantations. I don't know how many, if any, we will visit, but they are here.

We are only a few miles from the Mississippi River. It is one big river. In the downtown area there is a river wall set up for flood control. Along the street side there are thirty two murals that depict different aspects of the culture and history of Vicksburg. A lot of the history of the area can be learned just by looking at the murals and reading the signs that are with each one. It is a great panorama of murals. One of the murals is about the Vicksburg garden club.

We looked for a restaurant to go eat Sunday dinner. There was one called Walnut Grove that sounded good. When we got there it was in an 1860 or 1880 house. We walked in and they asked, "Do you want a round table or table for two?" A round table seated maybe ten people and had a lazy Susan in the middle. You would sit at the table with other people, possible strangers, and eat family style from bowl that were place on the lazy Susan. There was something like four meats, eight vegetables, a couple desserts and everything was all you could eat. The other gave a choice of three vegetables, a meat, and dessert for about 2/3 the cost. We chose that option and still had more than we could eat. While we sat at a table for two we were next to another interesting couple at a table for two. (Now you notice that I said "another interesting couple. I hope that they found us interesting) We started sharing conversation and found out the lady had been been one of the speakers at the dedication of the mural of the garden club. This is such a small world. What are the chances of meeting a person like we did. We get lucky at times.

My picture of the Garden Club mural did not come out well so instead of it I will show you one that i thought very impressive. From 1885 until 1930 steam trains were taken across the Mississippi River aboard steam powered paddle boats. The ferries operated day and night. Prior to that time the trains were off loaded to the boats and reloaded to trains on the other side. In 1930 the first highway rail bridge was built across the river.


THE TWO TRAIN TRANFER RIVER BOATS ON THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER

Later this afternoon we went a ways to the north to the Tara Wildlife Refuge. It was a beautiful drive through the farms and along the mighty Miss', but we did not see any birds or animals that were worth photographing. Tara is a privately owned refuge that apparently allows the public to at least visit. The refuge was gated, but the code to open the gate was written on a professional sign along the road. We punched in the code, drove in and looked around. When we got ready to leave the gate would not open. There is a joke that I have heard since I was a small boy that goes something like, "You can get in for free. It costs a dollar to get out." Also there was an exit fare on Boston's Metropolitan Transit Authority subways that inspired the 1948 MTA song lyrics, "When he got there the conductor told him, "One more nickel" Charlie could not get off that train. " This song became a big hit for the Kingston Trio in 1959. As it turned out we did not have to pay an exit fee, but my wife had to crawl through the fence and activate the entrance code to open the gate so that we could get out. I am glad that we did not have to spend the night there.

Till later this is Uncle Duck

Signs

Along one of the Interstates that I traveled within the last week there was a large sign that said, "Fasten Seat Belts -- Next Million Miles." I have been in favor of people wearing seat belts long before seat belts were anything more than an add on that people could put on cars themselves. I had a 1949 Plymouth that I added seat belts to with parts from a auto supply and a drill that I borrowed from my brother to put holes through the floorboards. That was in 1962. My next car had brackets for the belts but you had to get the parts from a auto supply and install them yourself. There are many signs that fit with exactly what I believe.

Today I saw a sign that I really hoped was wrong. We were again on an Interstate, but this time we were moving at perhaps 5.2 miles per hour. Maybe we going 5.3 MPH I forgot to check for sure. Along the side of the road there was sign that said, "Speed Reduction Ahead." Oh how I hoped that the sign was wrong. If the speed was reduced any more it would have to be to a dead stop. I wanted to get to the campground before dark. Fortunately in about 15 minutes more the traffic broke free and we did get to a camp near Birmingham, AL.

As to the third and last sign I saw I really have to wonder what the person that created the sign was thinking. It was a sign on the column of a bridge that said, "Trust Jesus." It can be said the the spirit of the sign is good. There are a lot of people that believe in Jesus and try to live by the precepts that he set forth. Most of these people also try to convert others to those same beliefs. But it seems to me that there is nothing in the Christian creed that says it right to go out and deface the property of others, even if those others happen to be the state highway department. A Christian has the responsibility to act as the teaching of Jesus Christ are laid out in the Bible. As far as that goes I do not think that any person has any right to deface any property unless they own it themselves.

Every once in a while in our travels we go through a cemetery for some reason. In November 30, 1864 the battle of Nashville was fought between the North and the South near the town of Franklin. On December 1 the 900 residents of the town awoke to find almost 2500 dead soldiers in the farmers fields. The Union bodies were buried by their comrades without consideration of their identities. Most of the Union bodies were removed by to a Union cemetery or claimed by their families. On the other side the Confederate bodies were buried with great care by burial details that collected details like name, rank, and regiment and company. Each grave was marked with wooden markers. These grave were prove to be temporary. In the spring of 1866 the markers were fading, some of the markers had been taken for firewood. The identities of the soldiers were in danger of being lost. A local farmer gave land for the interment of nearly 1500 soldiers of the Confederate army. He and four helpers disinterred the bodies from temporary graves and moved them to this permanent place. Each body was placed in an area that was designated for the mans home state. The work of moving the bodies was "done in order to have removed from fields exposed to the plow-share, the remains of all those who were buried," In 1890 funds were raised to replace the wooden markers with stone. Each and every stone is a sign that represents a tragedy that we call the Civil War.


THE McGAVOCK CONFEDERATE CEMETERY IN FRANKLIN, TENNESSEE

It was not really our intent to visit cemeteries this year. But they are interesting at times and they have a lot of history "buried" there. Yes pun intended. When we were in Charleston, IL we went to the Last Farm Of Abraham Lincoln's father and mother. It was a very interesting place to visit with reenactors, gardens, and some animals. On the way back to Charleston and Mattoon we stopped at the cemetery where Abraham's father Thomas was buried. We looked around the old gravestones and also we drove through a newer section. One of the stones was decorated in a manner that I have never seen before. It did not seem to be engraved or painted. I would be inclined to say that it was decorated with a laser in some manner. There is no indentation of any of the letters or roughness in any of the design. Within fifteen foot of this stone was another done the same way. I was very impressed with the work.


GRAVESTONE IN CHARLESTON CEMETERY

We took a couple trips up in Smoky Mountain National Park. It is a beautiful place. There were a lot of families that lived in the mountains there. In driving around the two areas we visited I was never able to figure out what the "actually" did to make a living. Every place that we visited was called a farm. I have made many jokes about farming in the hills with a crow bar and a shotgun. The crowbar is used to lift the rocks and the shotgun is used to plant the corn under th rock. That no longer is a joke. I do not know where there was a piece of ground that a kernel of corn could be planted. If there was a semi-flat spot there was a house or barn on it. And even then there were boulders the size of a VW poking out of the ground. Yet these people had fully functional farms, stores, home industries, a dozen or so tub grist mills, schools, many churches and all the other things that make up a community. I was never able to figure out where they could have had a single corn field. On one farm there was a double corn crib with a drive through section in the middle. Each of the cribs could not have held more corn than my father would have put in one wagon load of corn. It was indicated that one of this farmers neighbors quipped that he likely never grew enough corn to fill the cribs. Even if he could have grown that much corn I am not sure how he would have gotten through the passage way because of the large rock in the middle.


A DOUBLE CORN CRIB ON A SMOKY MOUNTAIN FARM

I would have liked to spend some more time in the area but instead I spent the day driving to Birmingham, Alabama today and will go on to Vicksburg, Mississippi tomorrow.

Till later this is Uncle Duck

My 32 Ducks

A week ago today I was at party in Charleston, Illinois and today I am in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. It seems a lot longer ago than that. When we are traveling from place to place it seems that time has little meaning. I think that fact is very desirable. I have known people that thought that every day was a week long, and that would not be a desirable to live. I like what I do and the way I am living.

One the way down here we stopped a couple days in Nashville, TN. I did not know that the town was as large as it is. We drove across town a couple times and I was surprised at the distance across town. Across town was the Hermitage, the home of Andrew Jackson. I was very surprised to find out that he was the only President to ever pay off the national debt, and leave the treasury of the USA in the black. We sure need another President like him. We had quite a tour. We were given a set of ear phones and a small device that had a recording for numerous stops around the plantation. It was recommended that we allow two hours for the tour and we could have taken twice that much without any problem except we were getting hungry and to be honest tired of walking. It was a great place to visit. One of the buildings was a detached kitchen that was built of brick with deep grooves between the bricks. Evidently there were bugs that would get in those spaces because there were the prettiest little yellow birds that clung to the bricks and seemed to be getting bugs. With all the people around in the area scaring them I felt lucky to get a picture. They did not spend much time on the side of the building. I have not had a chance to find out the variety.


YELLOW BIRD SEEKING BUGS ON THE SIDE OF THE SEPARATE KITHEN

Every person has heard about the Country Music shows and performers that call Nashville home. It is also the home of the only full scale replica of the Parthenon. It was built in 1897 for Centennial Exposition. It was only supposed to last a few years but it proved so popular that in 1920 it was repaired and converted to a museum. The building is used as a backdrop for plays in the summer and has been featured in scenes in movies. It is impressive. I will never go to Athens, Greece but at least I have seen a replica of one of the most famous building in that city.


THE NASHVILLE PARTHENON AT NIGHT

We had barely gotten into this camp before we had a bunch of two legged visitors. There must be at least fifty small brown ducks running around the camp. Some of the little guys came running around hoping for handouts. I promise you that when a duck comes around wanting to be fed if I have anything available they will be fed. We had thirty two (if I counted right) that came around to the Vectra the next morning. These are wild ducks technically, but when they are willing to sit on the ground six inches away from your feet the word wild does not seem to be proper. It would be better to call them free roaming ducks I think. This town must have ducks near any body of water or river that is around here. Some business's have signs that encourage the people to fee "their" ducks. When we drove around the camp to check out the route that I will use to leave in a few days we saw small groups of ducks sitting close to many of the campers. I think that they get fed by every person that sees them. A lot of them are very young ducks or at least they looked young to me.


FOUR OF THE LITTLE BROWN DUCKS BY OUR VECTRA

Tomorrow we are going to meet with some friends that we made when we were down in Florida. It has been several years since we have seen them so it will be a good day. They are very familiar with this area so they may be able show us places that we should see.

Till later this is Uncle Duck (I would like to think I look like the one on the upper left.)

Its Party Time

This has been an amazing day. This has been a party day. This has been a fun day. This has been a day that was a spur of the moment that took three days to cause happen. Earlier this week we had planned to head down to Smoky Mountain Parkway area. We would like to see the country and we have some friends down there. So we were working slowly that way. I had two days of driving and needed a day of rest. Well at least a day of not driving. We did go to a glass factory and visited a covered bridge on the day of rest. That was fun and relaxing. That evening, Thursday, I got an e-mail about a party for a Bentsen Grove friend about 450 miles away. Somewhat back tracking north so we did not know if we really should try to go. We slept on it all night and had not made a decision even after we were moving along the road on Friday morning. About a mile from an intersection where we had to go left to the Smoky Mountains or right to the party we finally decided that this is the reason we are traveling. We turned right and headed to the party, a surprise party. So Friday and Saturday we drove towards Effingham, IL. We could have driven the distance in one day but that is simply too long to drive. I want to start late and stop early and NEVER drive too far in one day.

This morning we got up, went to church, and then tried to find out where the party was going to be held. It was not on any of my mapping systems and we wanted to arrive without anybody knowing that we were going to be there. After all if it was going to be a surprise party why not made more surprises. The firemen in the local city gave us directions to the address. One of them knew Popham Lake and the two brothers that owned it. After a few wrong turns and a few u-turns we found the location. And we were surprised too. We expected that there would be people that we knew from Bentsen Grove in McAllen, Texas but there were a lot more than we ever guessed there would be. Tammy Popham, the one that sent us the E-mail was so surprised that she had tears that ran out of her eyes when she saw us. The surprise was perfect. And George and Janet Whalen had not even arrived when we got there so that was perfect. It was George's 75th birthday party and he did not know that anybody besides his immediate family would be there. He did not know that the Bentsen Grover's that live near his hometown would be there and he had no clue that we would be there. It was perfect. The picture below has perhaps a third of the people from Bentsen Grove.


SOME OF THE PARTY ATTENDEES MOST OF THESE WERE FROM BENTSEN GROVE

We had a great time talking to friends from Texas. We had platefuls of good food. The scenery around the lake was a lot better than I would have dreamed. The place that the party was held was by a pond that has existed for an unknown number of years and had been joined to an old limestone quarry to create a 21 acre lake. There was a really nice lake cabin with everything that can be desired. A lot of effort has been put into making it an enjoyable area to spend time.


A VIEW OF THE POPHAM LAKE FROM THE CABIN


THIS HAS GOT TO BE A GREAT VIEW ANY TIME OF THE YEAR

We did not spend all the time on the road just getting from one point to another. As we came across Ohio we stopped in Cincinnati to see an Aunt of my wife's. And we also spent some time going to see the largest free swinging bell in the world. It is called The World Peace Bell. Most bells of this size are fixed to a solid mounting and the clapper is swung into the bell to make it ring. With this one the bell is allowed to swing and it hits the suspended clapper just like a hand held bell. It is really impressive. The time that we were in Cincinnati was short but it was great. To see family is always nice. When we have been in Cincinnati before, both times were during their Tall Stacks Festival for river boats, there was so many people in the area of The World Peace Bell that we would have had a hard time taking pictures.


THE WORLD PEACE BELL WITH WITH MY WIFE AND HER AUNT

Till later this is Uncle Duck.

A Funny Day

No matter how many years we do this full time RVing there will always be new things that happen or at least thing will happen that out of the ordinary. Today has had several of those happenings.

We left the campground near Rochester that we have stayed in for slightly more than two months this morning. We needed to get some propane, which was available at the the camp it self and we needed to pay for the days over two month plus the electricity that we had used in the last month. The male owner got us our propane and asked me to double check his figure for the cost. He said "I don't like calculators. I have never liked using them." No problem, his figure was right. Then he was unsure of how to calculate the charge for the extra days based on a monthly charge, so I did that for him. Then I guess that his wife, who works one day a month at another place, reads the electric meter and figures the charge. He did not know how to do that. Now this is a man that can fix almost any piece of equipment and build anything that a person might want. Tomorrow we will call and find out how much we owe for electric and figure out a way to get them paid.

We decided to go to Mercer, PA to spend the night, and likely go on in the morning. They assigned us to a very nice site, a bit narrow but nice. As I turned into the site there was a picnic table that making the turn a bit tighter. I figured at worst I would have to move it and/or jockey the motor home to get parked like I would like. Erma was outside making sure that I did not hit any of the trees, which is like a thin forest here. Suddenly there were two young women that came up to her and said that would help her move the table, which they did. I was not going to disconnect the Jeep for the night. I positioned myself and extended the jack on top of boards that I had placed under them. The slope was such that the jacks were not long enough to level the Vectra. To put blocks under the front wheels and more blocks under the jacks I had to disconnect the Jeep. So much for not disconnecting for the night. I repositioned with four inches under the front wheels and six inches of blocks under the jacks and the leveling computer still said I had excess slope. But my level bubbles indicated that I was so close to perfect that I accepted the level. I am unsure why sometimes it quits when it does and sometimes it will lift the wheels off the ground before it quits.

This is the first time we have tried our new satellite dish anywhere except near Rochester. I guess that it worked the way it was supposed work, but it seemed to take a long time to find the satellites. I think I was also lucky to have an available shot in amongst all the trees. As long as it is not raining hard I have TV and it has been raining hard some of the time.

I have a system that monitors the air pressure on the tires of both the motor home and the Jeep when I am driving down the road. There are little sensors that screw onto the tire stems and send a signal to a monitor in the motor home. I can see the pressure of all my tires anytime I choose to look. Also if I lose ten percent of the pressure in any tire I will get a warning. Each sensor has a small battery in it that will have to be sent to the factory for replacement when it goes dead. The guy that I bought the system said that his had been running for four years and did not need replacement yet. To extend the life of the battery I remove them from the Jeep and loosen them on the motor home when I am not driving. This will extend the life substantially I have every reason to believe. This afternoon for the first time ever I decided to only loosen the ones on the Jeep. Bad mistake on my part. A little later we decided to take a short drive with the Jeep. I had two flat tires on the passenger side. Since the Vectra has air brakes it has an air compressor on the engine. I started the engine and inflated the one tire I could reach with my hose. Then I had to turn the Jeep around on its flat tire so I could inflate the other tire. First of all I will not just loosen the sensors on the Jeep again, I will take them off. It is not hard to do that. Second, I have thought many times that I should have an extension hose for the air so that I can reach the rear of the Jeep when I am attached to the hitch. I may have to buy a twenty five hose to carry for times like this. Then I will NEVER need it.

When I had a home with a foundation I had several hoses in the garage. When I moved into the Vectra I figured I would never need them so I got rid of them. I did not figure I would want my shop vacuum cleaner either, but recently I bought one to carry with us. To be sure the new one is smaller. I also had a boom box that I figured I would never need. Recently I bought another one because I do need it. Again it is smaller than my old one, much better suited to my lifestyle. Another thing that I have bought is a battery charger to replace the one (actually two) I did not think I would want. Again it is smaller. What this makes me wonder is what will I come up with next that I had before and will have to buy a replacement. Oh yes, add to the list a small hand saw. I need it to cut 2x8's to create blocks to go under the motor home jacks and wheels.

I have not been taking any pictures lately but I would guess that will change shortly. We are heading to meet some friends along the Smoky Mountain Parkway. That is beautiful country and should give me scenes that I want to photograph. Since I have a video camera now, don't know much about using it yet but maybe in the future there will be something worth putting in here. In fact I think I will try it here. The big dog, Hagrid, belongs to some friends of my daughter. He has been a companion of a two year old red headed girl since before she was born. The little girl with him here is three. Hagrid is a huge gentle dog that is nearly as big as a small horse. He is a beautiful dog.



I did not know how that would work. It took quite a while to load but I guess it is okay. Maybe I will have something that is not an experiment soon. You are being a test trial for me. So, thank you.

Till later this is Uncle Duck

You Are Under Arrest

"You are under arrest!" No, not me, but a person I saw. I was in the Post Office mailing a small package this morning. There was a Law Enforcement Agent that was talking to a lady there. The first thing I heard was something to the effect of, "I am asking you to leave again." I will say that he was very subdued and not loud at all. She said, "I am not doing anything." The I heard, "They have asked you to leave three times. (I guess the postal personnel.) If you do not leave now I will arrest you." "I am not doing anything!" (Plus some other comments that did not mean anything to me.) The cop says, "Okay, you are under arrest." And then he took her by the arm and started to take her out towards his patrol car. I heard her say, "I am not under arrest." A bit later when I saw her in the back of patrol with handcuffs on I figured that she was wrong. I have a feeling that she was trying to get resisting arrest added to any charge that was against her by her actions in the car.

I do not know what was going on in the Post Office and judging by the looks on the faces of th patrons and on the employees faces I think they were puzzled by the situation too. I cannot imagine any thing that I would do in a Post Office that would lead to being asked to leave much less having the police called. Maybe it could happen for some causes but I don't think any of those would ever happen in a Post Office and not all by myself. Plus add to that I think unless it was really a serious protest of some sort I would leave quickly if I heard, "If you do not leave now, I will arrest you." It was an interesting situation. I don't know if I really would like to know more about the situation or not.

I had another interesting situation earlier in the week. I decided all on my own that my daughter needed her rain gutters cleaned. It is something that I had done before for her. Because of the location of the drains on one side of the house I had to reposition the ladder a dozen times and climb up and down every time. By the time I was done with that side I was already tired. Now the other side of the house was quite different. There were bushes by the house. So putting the ladder between them and the house makes the angle too steep for comfort, but doable. If the ladder was place outside the bushes the ladder was leaning too far for comfort, but also doable. I chose the too steep angle like I had done years before. I could get most of the gutter from one location and got all cleaned except a couple feet. I guess I should have been wearing long pants instead of shorts. I am down to the last two foot and trying to find somewhere to set my foot and every time I moved my legs the bushes are trying to poke, grab, and scratch. Suddenly I felt the ladder pulling away from the house and I was sitting down into the middle of the bushes. The tree behind kept the ladder upright and the bush kept me from hitting the ground. However my feet were higher up than my behind. I had quite a time getting my feet on the ground and the rest of me upright. To finish the last two foot I put the ladder on the outside of the bushes. I did not like the angle but there was not chance of making another hole in the bushes with my body. And that is the place the ladder will go next time I clean the gutters. Already I am getting ready to volunteer for that job.

There are many farmers markets located around the country. Many of them are located totally outdoors or they only operate during the summer time. In parts of the south they might operate more in the winter instead of the summer. Here in Rochester there is one that has both indoor booths, outdoor covered areas and totally outdoors areas. It has been operating for well over a hundred years all year long. If there is any home grown produce that is in season it can be found at the Public Market. I have seen varieties of produce there that I have never seen anywhere else. It can be very cold out there in the middle of winter and I have been there. It is interesting too because of all the different ethnic groups that shop there. You can hear so many languages there and see clothing of many different countries. It is a fun place to visit.


ROCHESTER FARMERS MARKET

We will be starting to travel again before I write here again. As I have said to many of you before we do not have a destination decided yet. I heard that there has been up to two inches of snow forecasted for parts of the US and that is an indication that it is time to start thinking about heading south. My sandals just do not fit well in the snow.

Till Later This Is Uncle Duck

Deja Vu

Thirteen years ago, minus two or three months, I was in a very nice restaurant some miles away from the north side of Lake Ontario seated across a table from an attractive young woman. I had some thoughts about her that might be considered a bit strange. First I wondered who she was, in spite of the fact that I had known her for years. I wondered how she could be so sophisticated and yet how she could be so world wise. I was wondering how it was that she had become so intelligent in so few years. At the end of the meal I paid the bill, held the door open for her and we walked out. Another thing that I had also wondered was why she was calling me Dad. Of course that made me wonder how it was that I was blessed with such a wonderful daughter. It made me feel that I was walking several inches above the ground because I was lifted up by pride.

Four days ago, minus a few hours, I was in a very nice restaurant on the south side of Lake Ontario seated across a table from an attractive young woman. I had some thoughts that were very similar to ones I have had before. How did she get to be so smart in the few years that she had been learning? When did she learn so many truths that most people don't ever learn? How did she become so talented. The truth is that I would not expect less from her. Instead of a feeling of wonder the feelings I had were pride. I could look a the chair that was in between us and have another reason to feel proud. There was another woman sitting there that was known as Mom. I had with me the two most important women of my life. I had a lot of reason to be proud. This time I did not even have to pay the bill. I heard my daughter say "Happy Birthday, Mom," as she picked up the check. I still walked out the door a few inches off the floor.

It has been said that life is a circle, a person comes back to the same place that he started. Others say "What goes around, comes around." What people don't do is think about what a circle really is. A circle has no beginning and no end. Where the ends come together is not distinguishable from any other point. Life is not quite like that. I have just written about two times that were very similar and could be called "deja vu" or perhaps a circle of life. I think that life is a lot more like a spiral as you would find in a door spring. There are circles that come back to the same point it began, ALMOST. It is the same place that is offset in some manner. Science tells us that the earth travels in a circle around the sun and as we all know every winter is followed by a spring that is followed by a summer and then an autumn. But in the universe our solar system has moved to another location without us knowing that it has moved. My daughter, my wife and I keep coming back to the same places and situation with some changes along the way. It is so deja vu.

I have mentioned to many of you that I have digitized all the pictures that I took as slides and prints in the past. It took me about five years to complete the project from start to finish. But now I have all my pictures on my computer. Conversion or update from one format to another seems to be common in the modern age. Music started out being put on cylinders on Victrola players. Next was a record that must have been a quarter inch think. Sometime later this was followed by "78's" then "45's" and "33 1/3's". You know what was next, "8-tracks", "cassettes" and "CDs". Some years ago I recorded all my 45's and 33's to cassette. But with the computer age pulling me into its grasp I do not have a reasonable way to play my cassettes anymore. And cassettes start to deteriorate after a time and do not sound very good. So before I lost more cassettes to old age I wanted to get then on the computer where I can listen to them or even burn CDs. When I decided to travel I did not figure that I would want my boom box to play cassettes and CD any more. It was too big to carry in the motor home anyway. Just recently I bought a small portable boom box so I can listen to cassettes and play CDs anywhere I go. The biggest use of the CD part will be to play line dance music. But I am also now in the process of digitizing all my cassettes onto the computer. This project will take me several years I would suppose.

The line dancing is part of the reason for needing a portable CD. Line dancing has gotten me into more activities than I would have ever dreamed it would. One of the things that I have seen a need to do is to make instructional DVDs for line dancing for the people at Bentsen Grove where we seem to be committed to spending our winters. I bought a digital camcorder. Now I have to learn how to use it and learn how to make DVDs. In certain respects I have spiraled back to the time that I bought a Super 8 camera some forty years ago. I had to learn how to use it too. Now I want to take the pictures that I made with it and convert them to DVDs also.


MY NEW DIGITAL CAMCORDER

I would like all of you to cross your fingers that I can learn to do a good job of using my new toy and be able to create something that is of value to other people also.

Till later this is Uncle Duck