Today, I can’t go hang out at the pool. Yesterday I stayed
too long and got a little crisp. Need to be more responsible about getting the
sunscreen on earlier. We have had perfect pool weather, close to 90 with a
breeze to cool you off. So here I am writing and I’m not sure what to write
about. Since the roads are now complete there hasn’t been much to complain
about. Possible subjects
Cues: Don’s ears, Sparky, Palmdale activities, Kelly’s visit, I still haven’t written about my Christmas visit to Minnesota
Yesterday was the annual Hog Roast which is completely run
by the resident’s association. They don’t actually roast a whole hog but get a
bunch of pork butts and cook them to delicious tenderness, and make some Cole
slaw and beans. The hall is filled with decorated tables and we all line up for
a generous serving and homemade cakes. The money we raise goes to local
charities – the women’s shelter and the EMT’s. Unfortunately, the EMTs do make
calls at our park from time to time so we like to take care of them. Following
the meal, all the tables were put back into rows and a couple of musicians who
regularly participate in a jam session provided some music for dancing.
I don’t know if I can find the words to properly describe
this part of the evening. When we sat down before dinner, we talked to an older
couple sitting at our table. The man said that he and his wife are the last
people still here from the group that was here when they first started coming
years ago. The rest either can’t make it back or they have died. That is
something we all have to look forward to if we are lucky, I guess. Then later,
when my favorite old couple came out on the floor moving to the music with the
ease and familiarity of having spent their life together and danced a thousand
times, the word that comes to me is treasure. Later still, the dance floor was
filled with many familiar friends arms around their long time lovers moving to
the music with no self-consciousness. How exquisitely precious is this time and
how fortunate I feel that we are part of this community. One of our group,
recently widowed was watching from across the room and it reminded me how
fragile this all is. Our musicians have not played for long together and I
suppose a critic might not have appreciated the music but they carried us
through the night with familiar music. They had practiced a rendition of “Elvira”
which I had requested for the line dancers and we danced.
There is no news about the outcome of Don’s ear surgery. We
won’t know till he goes back to the doctor on March 20. Until then he is pretty
deaf on that side.
Sparky continues to be very popular among the residents
around here. We have many new and short-time visitors for whom Sparky is new
though the old-timers don’t seem to tire of his antics. If they do they don’t
tell us.
We seem to be pretty busy…. Same old stuff.. walk aerobics,
line dancing, golf, yoga, and now shuffleboard. Shuffleboard has always been to
me the thing that you do when you don’t have anything better to do in your
life. I guess that’s where we are for now.
We also frequently leave Palmdale and venture out. Tonight
we are going to the Charro Days night time parade in Brownsville. The parade
crosses the border into Mexico and celebrates the culture of the Rio Grande.
Last week we saw the Los Fresnos Rodeo Parade. Two nights ago we went to
another much larger RV park to see a show from a group called December 63
playing music from Jersey Boys.
Two weeks ago, Kelly and Jason flew in for the weekend. They
stayed over on South Padre Island. While they were here, they toured Palmdale
and we took a trip to Mexico over in Nuevo Progresso, fished on the surf on the
gulf and took a sunset cruise to see the dolphins. That is a weekend that I
will never forget for the wonderful time we had.
My phone which has not been working all that well has
completely died and I have not been able to resurrect it though I haven’t yet
tried putting it in rice. I think I will just get a new one in the next couple
of weeks. So for the time being don’t call or text me. I can get email, FB
messenger, hangouts or phone calls or texts through Don’s phone.
Christmas deserves a post of its own and I will get that
done eventually.