The Flea Market

I have a feeling that the life of a Winter Texan in the Valley might be kind of unique. Few Mid-westerners and Canadians actually move to Texas in retirement. Most are only here for the season. This part of Texas is completely dominated by Mexican culture. A few billboards are only in Spanish and are not interested in Winter Texans unlike most of the area's business. Every store clerk that I've seen speaks Spanish as easily as English and switches from one language to the other from customer to customer. Few places is this more evident than at the Donna-Weslaco (wes-luh-koh) Flea Market which is held every Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday from November to April.

On Saturday some new friends Ray and Cindy invited us to join them for a trip to the flea market. We had been told by several people that is is a must-see for all Winter Texans and indeed it is. It is a huge conglomeration of small vendors, some crowded into ramshackle old warehouses and some under awnings outside of the buildings. They are selling everything useful for Winter Texans including RV parts and accessories, high quality Egyptian cotton and bamboo sheets, fishing gear, knick-knacks and gadgets, and of course clothing. including diabetic socks and tee shirts with any statement one might want, some not very tasteful. One old man proudly sported a shirt with the statement, "Why Grandpa can't wear shorts" beneath which was a caricature of an old man with his genitalia hanging out the bottom of his shorts. Our friend made a comment, "grandparents behaving badly" which I think is another slogan of Winter Texans. There was an open air area under cover with picnic tables and a concession stand selling fajitas, corn dogs, nachos and onion rings. The corn dogs are not as good as the ones at the Illinois State Fair in case anyone wanted to know. A musician played old familiar tunes accompanied by his keyboard doing a pretty good job of it. Thousands of shoppers filled  the streets and buildings on a beautiful sunny Saturday, almost all of us with gray hair and white skin.

Palmdale is beginning to fill up now as more people are escaping the north after the holidays. There is a big New Year's Eve party planned for tomorrow and I will need a new dress. Which reminds me that I haven't written about the Christmas celebration yet. I have to confess that I spend a good part of my time now reading novels... mostly mystery and some not so good. I took a break from mystery after a particularly cynical and dark mystery and read a Rosemund Pilcher novel. Now I'm back with another Anne Perry novel. My sister Kay told me about Anne Perry last year and I've enjoyed her mysteries which are all set in historical times mostly Victorian London. This is why I don't have time to write much. I digress.

Back to Christmas. Christmas dinner was served at 1:00 on Christmas day in the rec room at the office. The place was filled with tables of 12 all decorated by the group at the table. There were over 100 people present. We had been invited to join a group and had included Ray and Cindy who are also new to this place. Ham, turkey, potatoes, gravy, dressing, and yams were provided. Everybody brought a dish. I brought Peas Epicurian. This meal was served buffet style. There was a 50/50 raffle to raise money for the resident's association and door prizes. One of the parties at our table was a couple who would have been our neighbor had we moved into the the site which we had originally reserved. They each had a bottle of wine in front of their plates and were very talkative. We didn't take wine with us so I wasn't so talkative. I know better than to leave the wine home tomorrow night. Also, most people were dressed up in festive attire while we were in the normal Winter Texan uniform, tee shirt and jeans. It was actually very enjoyable and the food was pretty good.

It really doesn't feel much like the holiday season here with 70 degree weather, green grass and palm trees. Next week, I will be taking a break from this nice weather and go up to Minneapolis for 10 days. I don't know what I was thinking when I scheduled my flights. Actually I do know. I will get to spend a good amount of time with Edie for her birthday this year. I should also get to see her parents and some other family. I have a suitcase with winter clothes in our storage bay for this exact purpose.

Sunday was rainy and chilly so I made a batch of granola. We went to bingo  and I won the big pot ($10).  I added that to the $1.50 that I got from playing 500 2 weeks ago. So that is going well. Not doing so well in cribbage. Fortunately we don't have money riding on that.

The Texas Tropics

There are several local terms which are universal in the  valley.  "The Valley" is what everyone calls the Rio Grande River valley.  Since we have been here, I have never heard it called anything other than "The Valley."  There is the upper and lower valley, the local news always give both forecasts.  I have not figured out where one starts and the other ends, but no one questions the terms.  The other universal term used is "The Island."  All winter Texans seem to migrate to "The Island" at least once a week.  The Island is South Padre Island.  Pastimes include walking the beach, buying some of the worlds most expensive fruit and vegetables while you hobnob with the beautiful people.  Some just go to The Island to hit the bars.

As we entered Texas and headed southwest, the land, climate and character of the state seemed to change with each mile.  When we entered from Louisiana, Cajun was still the local restraint fare.  We hit the Piney Woods area which is heavily wooded with an assortment of marketable timber.  As we went south, the land became much more arid and one could see that it would take a Texas sized ranch to raise a few head of cattle.  Unless one wanted to raise brush, not much could be produced from the land. 

About 40 miles north of The Valley we started seeing signs of green and life.  Palm trees lined the highway, grass was green, and the weather definitely had a warmer glow.  By the time we reached the valley, everything had the look of Florida in January.  It was beautiful.  In the middle of December, lawnmowers were everywhere keeping the greenery from becoming a shaggy mess.  Mid 70's is the average December temperature. 

Observations:
ALL Winter Texans agree on one thing:  this is the cheapest place to live that they have ever encountered in the U.S.  Prices continue to amaze us.  A car wash is 75 cents.  The local H-E-B store sells bread at five loaves for $1.  I got a haircut, (and a good one) for $3.  We picked grapefruit right from the tree in the RV park. The cost is free but the downside is we had to pick our own. The area is dominated by Stripes restaurants.  Judy and I had lunch one day for $6.50 for both of us.  Fast food, i.e. McDonalds are outnumbered by Stripes and Whataburger by about a 10-1 margin.  Valero is the gas station of choice.  Over 50% of Valero stations have a Stripes affiliation.  There is always a lady rolling out tortillas, and always a lady frying them on the stove. Condiments include a fresh salsa bar. I am guessing freshness wins the food wars in little Mexico.   Judy lamented the other day that in The Valley, a couple could easily live on one social security check.  This is MY kind of place.

Holidays, etc.

For many reasons,the holiday season is stressful for most people.  Being with friends and/or family or not being with friends or family can cause one anxiety.  This is the first year in our lives that we will be with neither.  There are no expectations from us or others.  As I reflect on holidays past, many of which I have thoroughly enjoyed, I find little sadness in losing the stress of the holidays.  The only stress would be brought on by nostalgia, not from loneliness.   This is a totally different lifestyle than anything we have ever encountered.  Holidays are part of the adjustment.  We have a full schedule, just not with people we are used to spending this time of year with.

Observations:
We have been in San Benito for the past three weeks.  yesterday was the first time I saw anyone fidgeting with a cell phone.  To be in an enclosed area with 200 people and not see a cell phone is amazing.  When people want to converse with others, they just walk over and talk to them.  I commented on this to another one of the inmates and he said that it could be that the people are so old around here that they never had a cell.  (I know that one is not true.)

Young folks with no kids and old retired folks love to have dogs.  Young folks tend to have bigger dogs.  Old people tend to have smaller dogs.  It takes two or three of these scruffy critters to mop your floor with.  We must not be old enough yet.  No desire for a dog, even though I like them.

Apple Cider 12/18

One of the saddest days of the summer was also one of the best. It was the day that Greg and John moved everything out of Kelly’s house and put it in storage. It was also the day that Don and I had Edie’s help picking apples. (My plan is to attempt to attach an adorable picture in the blog to go along with this post.) It was one of those amazing September days in Wisconsin with the warm sun and a breeze. Kelly’s neighbor was kind enough to let us take the apples from one of his trees. So Don took the step ladder and Edie and I followed through the woods to the orchard. We filled 5 gallon buckets with delicious juicy apples while eating as many as we could and carried them back to Kelly’s. We had been tasked to scavenge apples from wherever we could find them for the big “apple press” that was to take place at Brother Mark and Sister Jean’s house by Brainerd on September 19 and this was only one of our apple picking days… though it was the best. We had scouted around the Brainerd area and picked apples from Pine Tree Cemetery, Mark’s farm, the old crab apple tree by the farm that we had picked from 55 years ago with Brothers Bob, Dick and Ludwig along with Sister Elaine. Another great day. The last day we were in Brainerd, Nephew Ken and his wife Lori set up their apple press at Mark’s and started squishing out the juice. We snagged a gallon and a half. We drank up the first gallon and put the other half gallon in an old orange juice jar and put it in the fridge to age. Word is that it improves with age.

The reason this came up is that the other day when I went to get a Miller Lite from the fridge for Don, it was all sticky. On checking the source of the sticky substance I found the plastic orange juice jar was bulging on the bottom and had started seeping around the lid. Fortunately it did not burst. When I loosened the lid it foamed up and would have run all over if I didn’t close it back up. At that time it was amazingly good and sparkling. Today we invited some new friends who when not wintering in Texas live in Bloomington, MN and shared the last quart of our cider. I have to say that it is best when served at the first opening. 

We think Don solved the water problem in the fridge.

Fire Ants 12/12

As long as we’ve owned this bus, the refrigerator has had a water problem. Water seems to run down the back and accumulate under the chrispers. We checked it out and determined that a little hole in the back was supposed to be draining this water outside. It’s not a normal fridge. It operates on propane, 12V or 110AC depending on what is available in case you think that it is not supposed to have a water drip. So we set about fixing it and removed the back panel which is on the outside of the bus and found a drain hose that was falling apart…. Clearly the cause of our water problem, a cheap and easy to replace part. There was one of those plastic tie straps holding it on in a place where we could feel it but couldn’t see it if we put our hand on it. Also there was no room to operate a tool once we got our hand in there. After a day of trying to get to it I finally got it cut. Then we had the tools spread out on the table trying to find what we needed to replace the tie strap with a hose clamp. I was standing on the cement pad that we call the patio in my flip flops. All of a sudden my ankles felt like they were on fire. I looked down to see my feet swarming with ants. I brushed them off and ran into the camper. My ankles continued to sting and burn for several minutes and a welt began to form.  I had no compunction at all and didn’t care to know of any environmental warning labels on the product provided by the park office. I was happy to treat the ant hill right next to the patio with the poison. Now I know about fire ants and why they have that name. The existence of these ants needs to be kept from those who interrogate terrorists. We did get the hose replaced but that has not solved the problem in the refrigerator. We still have water under the chrispers. Fortunately, we have time to solve this problem.

Tonight we are going to a dinner and dance which is being put on at the office. I will wear my skirt just in case there is an opportunity to dance. 

Nostromania 12/9

I haven’t posted on this blog recently because dealing with Microsoft Word and WiFi is making me crazy. Somehow when Don wrote his post Word saved his document as the blank document that opens when I go to write a new document. I’ve spent at least an hour trying to figure out how to undo that. So now I have to take an extra step in order  to get a blank document on which to write. So then I’m annoyed and don’t feel like writing. Or there is the other problem which has to do with the park wi-fi which is supposed to work but I can’t seem to make that happen. I spent an hour trying to get it to work from the camper and finally just went to the office where I can get a signal. Besides missing Edie, I think the thing that makes me the most homesick is not having good broadband service.

Speaking of homesick, the word of the day on dictionary.com a couple of weeks ago was nostomania, intense homesickness or an irresistible urge to go home. Sometimes I think I have that but am not sure where home is and I think of the weather and the disorder seems to be resolved. Home is currently here at Palmdale RV Resort, still temporarily on Site 42. It rained another inch or 2 this weekend and the site we reserved will not be dry enough for at least a couple of weeks. Water doesn’t soak in around here. It just has to eventually dry off which can take a long time. It doesn’t matter that much at this point.

Yesterday, I made another batch of granola but with store-bought maple syrup. It was a chilly rainy day and we decided to go to the potluck. I had some wild rice left over from our vacation up north last summer and I made a chicken-wild rice casserole. We finally figured out where to get information about planned activities around here so we can participate and maybe make some friends. Around here, people like us are known as Winter Texans. It’s easy to spot a Winter Texan by their pale skin and gray hair. We stand out among what mostly seems like young Mexican people.

We went to the Christmas parade at McAllen about 40 miles away on Saturday night. We sat among a large crowd of mostly Spanish speaking young men and women and their beautiful children.

I’ve always heard how important family is in the Mexican culture and it was evident in the families near us. Men, for whom the word machismo was coined, soothing fussy toddlers, and messing with my stereotypes.  The parade was amazing with huge inflatables of Santa and Shrek and others along with 7 or 8 marching bands and floats with celebrities. They claimed it was as big as the Macy’s parade and they might be right. It lasted about 2 hours and ended just before the rain came.

Then on Sunday we drove over to South Padre Island (The Island) and went to the farmers market where a boy about 10 years old gave me a white rose so we had to buy some radishes from him. All we had was a $50 and we waited while his mother used this teachable moment to show him how to count the change. We also bought a couple of grapefruit and a package of beautiful salad greens. Cool weather vegetables.  I heard today that my favorite grocery in Los Fresnos is closing in preparation for WalMart. L

Cribbage. Currently I’m not doing well. I’ve been skunked a couple of times in the last week. There is actually a cribbage game played in our “rec room” but it is at 7:30 AM. We’ll never get involved in that game. We don’t play cut throat yet. I told Don that as soon as he takes points I miss that will end our nice play. So far so good.

I found a class at The Yoga Studio in Brownsville called “Gentle Yoga”. It starts at 10:30 AM so it works very well into my schedule. The teacher’s name is Belinda and she gives instructions in both Spanish and English.

Today the weather is nice again and we are working on fixing some things around here.

Don thinks I should not start my blog whining about the trivial problems in my life. If you agree with him, Dear Reader, let me know with a text, email, phone call or come down and talk to me.

Winter Landing 12/2

We drove into Palmdale RV Park near Los Fresnos Texas on December 1 shortly after noon in a downpour.We waited about 15 minutes for it to stop and I put on my flip flops to cross a huge puddle of water to check in. They put us in a temporary site because ours is too wet at this time. We should be able to move tomorrow hopefully. Today it is chilly and overcast with a high of only 62 so we drove over to McAllen to find a Costco and then to the local organic grocer, Sprouts to pick up bulk grains for granola. Then we drove down along the Rio Grande back to Brownsville and then home.

We saw lots of state troopers guarding the border and were able to see the huge fence that is up along much of the river. We never did actually see the river though I know it was on the other side of the levee. It is kind of depressing if you think about it. When we came back we went into Los Fresnos to the grocery there to pick up a few more groceries. The produce and meat there looked good and were mostly local though there were some really strange cuts of meat and just about every kind of pepper you can think of. We bought some hamburger and the meat man picked up a glob of burger, weighed it and put in a plastic bag. All of the workers were bi-lingual. This is our nearby grocery so I’m glad we will get to patronize it frequently. There is a giant WalMart under construction on the edge of town. It won’t be done before we leave, thank goodness.

After we left Rainbow’s End in Livingston, we spent a night in the city park in Victoria, Texas and then a night on North Padre Island by Corpus Christi.

We parked across the dune from the Gulf of Mexico for one night and I enjoyed listening to the surf all night. Where we are now is about 15 miles from the bridge to South Padre Island. I’m looking forward to going there every Sunday to shop at the farmer’s market.

We will stay until the end of February.