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| Sunset at Palmdale |
Today we will be bringing in
the slides, lifting up the jacks and joining the throng of Winter Texans migrating
north for the season. It’s been a great winter. Long time Winter Texans say
that we’ve had the best weather in memory which translates to more pool days.
Local farmers might not agree as it has been pretty dry for the most part.
Every day for the last couple of weeks we’ve lost a few rigs as people head “back
home” somewhere in the Midwest or Canada. Today it’s our turn. We have no
actual home so this is what I say when asked where we’re going. “Well… we’re
going to leave here on Wednesday afternoon and head over to Mission where we
will get some work done on the rig (an oil change and a chassis recall).
Hopefully that will be done so we can head north on Friday. We have about 3
weeks to get to Amarillo. Then we will find a place to store the rig for a week
or so and take a road trip in the car up to Minnesota for our niece’s wedding.
We’ve been asked to stand in as “honorary grandparents”. It really is an honor
to be asked. When we get back to the rig we will head west through New Mexico,
Utah, Idaho, making a stop at Yellowstone Park for a couple of days and get to
Montana by the last week of June where we will meet up with a bunch of young
people for a backpacking trip in the mountains. Then we’ll come back through
South Dakota and stop around Pierre where we’ll meet up with Ray, Cindy with
Doreen and Harvey. The guys will go fishing and we will do whatever fishing
widows do in Pierre, South Dakota. I’m sure Doreen has had practice with this. As
residents of South Dakota and senior citizens, the cost of a fishing license is
like $12. Then we’ll head home to Minnesota stopping along the way to renew our
“My Dakota Address” membership and getting tags for our license plates.” By the
time I get this far, most people have lost interest. So that is our plan… we’ll
see what really happens when it happens. The really good news is that brothers
Ludwig and Dick are driving to Texas and will meet up with us in San Antonio
for a few days.
March has been a busy month getting this
camper ready to go and keeping up with life at Palmdale. We’ve made a couple of
trips to Mexico, one to buy an antibiotic because Don was having a problem
getting rid of a cough and his friend who had the same thing was diagnosed with
bronchitis so we found out what he was prescribed and went to get that. The
other trip was to get our teeth cleaned and get a haircut. I’ve pretty much cleaned up the interior of
the camper so it’s ready to go. Don uncovered the tires, adjust the tire
pressure, checked the oil level in the wheels, lubricated whatever he could,
started both the engine and the generator, and paid to have it washed. Don has
been “down in the back” and having problems with fluid in one of his ears so
his hearing is so bad that we missed potluck on Monday because there’s not much
point in going if you can’t socialize with others. Thanks to our children we
have a neti pot which we learned might help open up his eustacean tubes and
allow the fluid to drain out of his middle ear. So we figured out how to use it
and are hopeful for a dramatic change soon.
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| Some big Red Snapper |
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| Sparky gone for the season |
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| Ready for the summer. |
Sparky is now safely tucked away in Ray’s shed along with his props though he left a sign saying that he was “going up north to his lake home” out by the tree. It keeps getting blown over. After his big night out at the Farewell dinner he has been pretty quiet wearing his spring break beads and sitting by his Easter Basket with a bunny. No more disruptive antics lately.
Easter Sunday was our last
big event in the rec hall. The park provided ham, noodles, mashed potatoes and
gravy while the residents provided side dishes and desserts. It was a most
excellent meal as we have many good cooks in our generation though we do tend
to use a lot of carbohydrates and fat. Since Sue went back to Des Moines, I
made her broccoli cheese casserole which is not too high in carbs but has
plenty of butter to make up for it. I continue to read library books that I
download from the internet using my library card which reminds me of one more
thing I need to renew when we stop by our “home” in South Dakota.
Has anyone else noticed the
difference in tone when reading a book that has been published in the last few
years. One thing I’ve noticed is how different a story becomes when all of the
characters have smart phones… it kind of mirrors how our lives have been
changed with those devices. The other thing is “product placement”. People don’t
just drive cars but they have a 2012 Honda Pilot or Mustang convertible. They
don’t stop for fast food… they buy a Big Mac and Chicken McNuggets Happy Meal.
Are modern authors getting paid for this kind of product placement? Can I get
paid for product placement in this blog? For instance, the recipe I made for
Easter had Kraft Velveeta Cheese in it…. If I mention that can I get paid? On
the other hand, I don’t want to get paid for anything I do… It would just
complicate my taxes again. I know I can’t make this recipe for DOM however,
because my sisters won’t eat Velveeta Cheese.
One other ramble before I
quit this post. Politics…. Needless to say since the place we are staying has
mostly older white Midwesterners, many are pretty conservative in their
politics. I accept that. Mostly we don’t talk politics which satisfies me
plenty. We’ve identified the few Democrats in the park and occasionally we comment
on what is going on. However, the last time I went down to the pool it was
later in the afternoon and there had been some beer drinking among the inmates.
Their conversation turned to liberal bashing and you know …. the suit that the
left bower represents in 500. That name that I’ve heard and seen so many times
that I will no longer utter it or write it and try to avoid hearing or seeing.
Anyway, that lovely warm and sweet space that is the Palmdale Swimming Pool
area began to feel very unsafe and hostile. I packed up my things and left with
fellow Democrat Sue. I’ve thought about this whole thing and tried to figure
out how a person might respond… not that day or when talking to people who have
been drinking… but some other day. In a way that doesn’t create more
polarization but possibly focuses on the things that both sides have in common.
These people at the swimming pool I know to be kind and loving people. I
personally have decided that I won’t promote or pass on ideas that demonize the
other side. I don’t exactly know what to say since I have decided not to add to
the polarization so most of the time I say nothing at all but that doesn’t
serve to reduce the hostility.
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