OBSERVATIONS FROM THE SECOND FLOOR

THE CANDY THING

Well, I would say we're officially into the Christmas season which means it was time to think about that hard candy stuff - the family tradition that we've never figured out whether to love or hate.  

But once again we did it (this goes back to Michigan days because in Tuscola EVERYONE in town made hard candy. Seriously. Teachers would receive dozens of those Christmas-tree-Santa-Claus covered tins packed with a variety of flavors.  And yes, hard-candy making was even a church event and since as pastor's wife I was sort of required to go, I, too, learned to make hard candy.)

So, here are my directions.

1. Find an official store that sells candy flavoring. (Seriously, this can be one of the most difficult parts - though now you can order the flavors on the internet). Most often I've found them in privately-owned drugstores - not chains such as  Walgreens or CVS. If you live near me and those of you who live near me KNOW you live near me - you can get them at Grahams. They have a much better variety this year than last.) When you get it at a drugstore, it's usually at the pharmacy counter. I have no idea why.

2. Germ-free your scissors by putting them in boiling water.

3. Cover a cookie sheet with a layer of powered sugar. 

4. Next mix in a large pan

    3 3/4 cup sugar

    l l/4 cup corn syrup

    1 cup hot water

(Anyone thinking sugar fix, here?)

   Stir the ingredients until they're well blended.

5. Boil until the temperature reaches 300 degrees. VIP alert - the exact boiling temperature is mega important! The candy will not be the right consistency if it's too cool or too hot. (Tending to make super sticky candy that could pull a tooth out of a walrus, which I'm not sure what walruses have to do with anything, still... you've been warned:))

6. Meanwhile, decide what flavor the batch will be and what color you want that flavor. (Like the time Barb and I did the cooking for the church-event-candy-making and made the cherry-flavored candy yellow and the lemon-flavored candy blue. Let's just say the church ladies weren't all that happy with us. But hey, we thought it was funny.) 

7. When the temperature reaches about 295, add the food coloring. This will make the temp. go down a few degrees, but not much, so watch carefully. At about 297 degrees, pour in the flavoring. (Seriously, be careful, not to breath in the steam that rises from the pot. You will find it will burn your mouth, nose and eyes. So sort of turn away from it.)

8. Pour onto the cookie sheet. Two people do this best - one to tilt the pan and another to spoon it out.

9. Now the fun part begins - the agonizing, painful, finger-burning cutting part. You gotta wait a few minutes and then you start at the edges. Once it starts to harden it gets too hard to cut super fast. So, this is the deal. You cut while it's still soft enough to cut and you burn your fingers. You cut when it's too hard and you break your fingers trying to cut through the candy.  And, no, you can't just drop it and break it into little pieces - well, I mean, you can, but then you have jagged points that aren't all that fun (or safe) to eat.

                                 

Two flavors down and six to go ...

The munchkins anxiously await flavor #2

                         

And the candy-making slowly moves along

   

And by now, the entire house is affected - the counters, the stove, the floor, the carpet, the hands, the table - even my desk (an entire floor away) has mysteriously been decorated with blue food coloring. (Hey, kudos to the 9yo, she stuck with it for a VERY long time.)

And another year of candy making is completed. 

THANKSGIVING

Yes, our family had a great Thanksgiving stuffed with 5ks; placemat-making; turkey, cranberry sauce, dressing, pie; Chloe's birthday cupcakes; our annual movie-watching and lots of noise and smiles and laughing and surprisingly few tears.  (By "tears" I mean in light of nine kids playing with each other all day.)

I took lots of pictures, but I think this one sums up the joy.

And yes there were some boys there, too. :)

HAPPY THANKSGIVING FROM THE 8YO MUNCHKIN

1. I am thankful for the Lord Jesus Christ,

2. I am thankful for my friends,

3.I am thankful  for my food I eat,

4.I am thankful for people who spent money on my family,

5.I am thankful for my family members,

6.I am thankful for my church,

7.I am thankful for the holidays,

8.I am thankful for my life,

9.I thankful for nature,

10.I am thankful for books.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING TO ALL!

A MEMORABLE THANKSGIVING

Those of you who know our family, know that Ken's memorial service was the Monday before Thanksgiving - but this wasn't the first family funeral we had on Thanksgiving week.

Oh, no - we had an extremely memorable Thanksgiving week funeral back when the kids were in second and third grade. We had just moved to Racine a few months before and were planning our Thanksgiving service at church. My parents were coming down from northern Wisconsin and Ken had asked Dad to speak. Then we got word that my grandmother had died back in New Jersey. She was in her late eighties and hadn't been doing well for quite some time, so it wasn't a big surprise. Although she kind of knew who my dad was when he called each week, she also was under the delusion that he was president of Moody (I think because his program was on WMBI) and she had some other strange thoughts too. I'll write about her some time - she was a cool lady, but that's not the point of this post.

The point is our memorable Thanksgiving week.

We did not get off to a good start. When I went to explain to the teachers why the kids wouldn't be in school, I was told since my grandmother wasn't in their "immediate" family, they could not be excused and would need to take zeros for the days they missed. (That's the Racine School District for you, but at that time we hadn't been under their influence for more than a few months and were surprised by their restriction. We learned.)

Then my dad got this bright idea that we could all ride together in the same car - our Chevy station wagon. That meant Ken driving, my dad in the passenger seat and me squeezed in between - in the front seat. My mom, Roger and Sally in the middle seat and Jeff, Kelli and luggage for eight people bumping around in the back. (Seat belts were not required in the back.)

Now think about eight people - six of them adults - in a station wagon driving from Wisconsin to New Jersey, with few breaks (we needed to make it by Tuesday night) and you kind of have a picture of what was happening. Sally told me later she had a headache the entire trip.  Anyhow, late Tuesday afternoon we pulled into town and Dad had Ken stop at the first motel we saw because we needed to get changed to get to the funeral home.

I don't think the rooms had been cleaned since 1972 and bugs crawled across the floor. I remember walking down to the front desk - not for a clean pillow case - but simply for any kind of pillow case. I don't know the actual name of the motel (so that I could warn you that sleeping in a cornfield would be more comfortable AND cleaner), but we started calling it Laurel Notch. Since that time it has become our family's term for substandard hotels as in "Let's not go there, it looks like another Laurel Notch."

We quickly changed and got to the funeral home. My uncle's family (my grandmother lived with them) and some other people dad knew were there. We talked to a few people and then went back to the motel and crashed.

The next morning, Dad had the service and he wanted the people to know the truth of the gospel, so he preached for a very long time. Then we went to the graveside service and left immediately afterwards to head west.

Roger wanted to see Gettysburg, so we decided to stop - just for a little while. By the time we got there, the visitor's center was closed, so Rog went to see a couple landmarks and the rest of us stayed in the car which was a thrilling experience because one of my adorable children decided to choose those restful moments to throw up. That did wonders for our already crowded car.

But somewhere in all this confusion, we realized that we would be traveling through western Pennsylvania on Thanksgiving Day just about time for Thanksgiving dinner, so we called ahead to Ken's parents and they said, "Hey, sure, stop, the more the merrier" or something like that.

We got there just in time - six tired, car weary adults, one full-of-life little boy and a girl who had now had the distinction of saying she had thrown up at Gettysburg.

We stayed long enough to eat dinner and then headed west again - the only time both sides of our family were ALL together for a holiday.

And Ken took this delightful picture to prove it. (I really do think Ken's mom was awake - weren't you, Grandma?)

Truly a trip we'll never forget.

A SIDE NOTE - BUT NOT MY REAL POST

First, let me just say I am so frustrated with my Comcast e-mail.  It was down for two months, but at least it was coming through on my Blackberry. I finally got it up and running again and it decided to simply quit again. This time, I can still send e-mail out, but it won't recognize my password to allow it in on anything. I did everything possible tonight - but nothing is working. I could scream and cry about it - really, that would be very easy I'm so frustrated - but I know I need to keep it in perspective.

Anyhow, if you're trying to e-mail me, use my old aol or my work e-mail until further notice. I don't know what else to say ...

A DATE WITH THE FOUR-YEAR-OLD MUNCHKIN

This is the four-year-old who went to see Bolt with me (overwhelmed with excitement), went to Borders with me (where he was allowed to pick out one book), went to the grocery store with me (where we bought some stuff for Thanksgiving), and then roasted hot dogs and marshmallows with me in front of the fire.

(By the way - Bolt is a fun, cute movie.  The part that could be over a child's head (I think it slipped past the very brilliant four-year-old I was with - is understanding that Bolt's super powers and all the exploding, cars, buildings, airplanes, etc. are part of a TV show. Bolt is simply a dog with regular dog powers.  But overall the 4yo got it and even understood the ending - there was a good lesson about loyalty.)

My favorite part of the adventure was his rather loud four-year-old voice announcing at the beginning of the movie.  "This is a great date movie, isn't it, Grandma?"

Indeed it was.

After church this morning, we had another rather funny moment. Steve was packing up his guitar and Kelli was talking to a friend, so I wandered out to the lobby with said four-year-old. After awhile, he announced he had to use the bathroom, so we went to the ladies room - where he decided to take an interminable amount of time washing his hands (as children are apt to do).

Knowing that Kelli might be looking for us, I hurried him along.  "Come on," I urged, "Your mom doesn't know where we're at."

"We could," he said matter-of-factly, "get her a map."

I don't think that was the point, but who knows?

Back to work tomorrow ...

THANKS CHECK

Time for a thanks check because I haven't done one of these for awhile.

1. I am thankful for the Lord. I know He's walked beside me these past few years (well, actually many years before that, too) but in a unique way recently and I know that He will continue to walk with me which is not always easy to remember, but is always important to remember.

2. I am thankful for my son-in-law who took apart my no-longer-working sump pump to figure out the problem.  Which was that the little, floaty thing that triggers the switch - was truly floating - all by itself, not attached to pumps, switches, wires or anything else. 

3. I am thankful for friends like the ones who came to my house Monday night even though one-who-shall-remain nameless was throwing up previous to coming to my house and I am thankful she didn't throw up at my house or as the result of the food served at my house.

4. I am thankful we have to learn Colossians 3 for staff meeting this year. Starting your day with an hour car ride, listening to verses that tell you to let the peace of Christ rule in your heart can only be a good thing. (And that red car that was speeding down 59, changing lanes faster than a buzzing bee this morning, was NOT letting the peace of God rule in his heart. Trust me.)

5. I am thankful that Lady Bird Johnson kept an 800-page diary during her White House years. Even though I don't really know her and even though she was counting the days until she could get out - she kept detailed notes while she lived there and I found them quite informative. 

6. I am thankful for her daughter, Luci, with her used-to-be-every-strand-cemented-in-place-hair because my grandmother used to send me money to get my hair done the same way Luci did because of course, every young girl wanted to look like the president's daughter. Except I didn't want to look like her, nor did I want cement hair. I was fine with my long pony tail, just the way it was (as were my parents), but I appreciated the money. Six months later, I would get more money from my grandmother to get my hair done and ...  Truly. This is what my grandmother did and truly I appreciated the cash.  

7. I am thankful for words because without words we wouldn't be able to communicate. And sometimes I think about God creating words and think what an awesome creation those words are because without them He couldn't communicate with us through His Word and we couldn't communicate with Him in prayer and we couldn't talk with each other and I couldn't write a blog or play Word Twist. Nor would I have a job.

8. I am thankful for suitcases with wheels on them and it doesn't surprise me at all that they were invented by a pilot.

9. I am thankful I got almost all the wallpaper off and it's kind of a mess, but someday it will be beautiful.

10. I am thankful that I get to go read a good book and then go to sleep and then get up and meet a friend for breakfast.

The end.

NOW

What's happening right now?

Well, I've been making Christmas presents - but lots of other things have been going on, too.

You just gotta check out this Website -  truly, you do.

http://now.sprint.com/widget

HAPPY BIRTHDAY

NOVEMBER 19TH 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO THE NINE-YEAR-OLD

MY OWN LITTLE SUPER KIDS

Being that my adorable daughter posted pictures of her adorable kids starring in the adorable pictures they DIDN'T put on their Christmas cards, I thought I would share some "didn't-make-the-Christmas-card shots of my own" (along with one that did).

So here are my own precious little super kids.

My little, super daughter, 10 months old and not yet walking (or even nearly walking), but obviously possessing enough balance-capability to grasp the iron-cooking pot on my parents' fireplace (which was solely for decorating purposes along with the four pieces of driftwood and the milkcan - not for any actual cooking).

The Happy Shot. (Not really sure why the shoe is unbuckled or what that hanging strap is all about - the bow? a shadow? Well, too late to change it now.)

The winner - the Sweet Shot

But by the next year, she has to share the limelight with her brother - 

A caption eludes me - they are so beyond precious.

"Oh, mother, I cannot believe what my sister is reading to me!"  (Notice what my brilliant children actually ARE reading.)   

But alas, the next year we tried again in the red, ruffly dress and the little leisure suit (which, I might add, was really, truly in style - I mean REALLY AND TRULY it was. I would not dress my precious, little children in anything BUT STYLE and YES, IT really AND TRULY WAS FASHIONABLE).

Yes, REALLY AND TRULY ...

HERE'S ANOTHER FUN QUIZ

For those of you who are having a lack-of-Word-Twist meltdown and for those of you who have no idea what I'm talking about - here's another FUN QUIZ.  This one tests your senses and is interesting.

I apologize for your need to copy and paste, but TypePad will not let me do a link.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/humanbody/body/interactives/senseschallenge/senses.swf

WHERE ARE YOU?

You think you a lot about the world? See if you can tell were you are. 

Try this quiz. It's fun!

http://www.guessthespot.com/

How did you do?

(Picture taken at San Antonio Botanical Gardens.)

DON'T SAY I DIDN'T WARN YOU!

One of the goals of my blog is to help YOU, the reader and so I am now about to meet that goal.

Remember playing musical chairs and being SURE, absolutely SURE you would be going around the end of the chair row RIGHT when the music stopped?

That's the way I feel everyday driving north on Route 59. Now, I know I have regular readers in places like Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin and my life-changing tip will mean nothing to you - but you never know when you'll someday find yourself driving north in Chicagoland.  

The corner of 59 and 64 looks like any, everyday, full-of-traffic intersection - but BEWARE -"big brother" is watching you. You can see him looking south on the left side of 59 and looking east on the left side of 64. He is hiding in tall, blend-into-the-scenery cameras and trust me, he is ALERT!  Now that it's dark much earlier, you see just how alert he is. Every time the light changes, his light flashes two or three times instantly generating more than $300 revenue as he sneeringly laughs and puts a picture of your license plate into the mail with your more than $100 fine.

This is what you must do to have the light eerily flash over the intersection focusing on the license-plate of YOUR car - try squeezing that last second out of a yellow light and streak across the road, or turn right on red without stopping.

Trust me. He'll get you. (Ok, there are signs warning you about the cameras, but if you aren't looking for them and don't drive through there every day, you probably won't see them.)

And, no, I haven't been caught - but let's just say that someone I know VERY WELL has.

But everyday I live in fear that I will be just starting across when the light turns yellow and I will be a second too late and I will get my picture taken. It's kind of like Russian Roulette, but not quite as dangerous.

And once you're across? Don't feel too confidence.  He appears again two stoplights to the north.

Don't say I didn't warn you.

----------------

(The picture was taken in Rockport, Texas, along the Gulf of Mexico.)

A LONG STORY SHORT (WELL, IT'S ALREADY BEEN LONG)

So, we stopped at a couple other places at Aransas and then went back to the visitor's center where I looked for some iced tea to no avail and then Roger went out for a quick stop at a place we had missed and then came back and so since he wasn't finding any lifers, we went down along the coast to Rockport and walked along the beach and then headed back to San Antonio, stopping at Sonic with a hugely dirty bathroom (so Roger said, I didn't see it) and watching a beautiful sunset and then we got up in the morning and went to the San Antonio Botanical Gardens which were beautiful and took about 200 more pictures and I went into their little, fancy restaurant and finally got a good glass of iced tea, but then we went to the airport and now that I finally had iced tea, I had to throw it away to go through security and then we came home.

I will be posting some other pictures but just here and there and will not be giving anymore step by step tours because I've been home a long time and well - it's just the end. The End.

But like I said, I will still be showing some pictures. Here are two of my favorites from the trip - both of different types of sulphur butterflies. I think the one might be an orange sulphur - but it's hard to say.

FIND THE WILDLIFE

I've seen bears outside the dining hall at camp.

I've seen a moose in the woods.

I've seen buffalo, elk, porcupines, coyotes and a total population of a prairie dog town.

However, I have never, ever seen quite the concentration of wildlife as we saw at Jones Lake.

Actually, we also saw a wild boar walking off to the left - several yards down lake.

Although Aransas has several acres of refuge - this was the only fresh water lake we were allowed to view (the rest are closed off). Because there hasn't been a lot of rain lately, the LAKE was down to this small pond and I imagine that's why so much was concentrated in one spot. (Though again, the nice, mosquito-spray-selling lady at the visitor's center said there were several lakes inland that actually did have water in them.)

Click on the picture (enlarging it) and find the wildlife.

Here's a couple other pictures of the lake - the alligators are clearer in this one - including the turtle riding on the alligator's back. However, there are also at least four or five alligators in the above picture.

SCENES FROM ARANSAS

THE BIRD BEHIND ME

I had taken several pictures of the crested caracara when I heard a bird singing behind me. I turned and took several pictures. Because the sun was shining on the bird - I couldn't tell exactly what it was (not that I would've known even if I could distinguish the markings) - and it wasn't until later that I showed the picture to Rog. He identified it as a curved-bill thrasher - not a bird we would see in our yards around here.

ARANSAS

So, the next morning we again got up before daybreak and took off - this time we headed east to Aransas.

Here's a picture of our gas/icee tea/peanut break -however, they did not have the right kind of iced tea and I think I ended up getting soda or something. I so wanted a good glass of iced tea most of the time I was in Texas. It's not that Texas doesn't have good iced tea, I just could not get to the places where they had it. (McDonald's by the way has great iced tea - though I'm not that crazy about anything else they have.)

But there's nothing better than a morning gas station stop when you know you're hittin' the road and traveling to new places.  Aransas, by the way, is a birdwatching paradise and since my brother is a birdwatcher, that's why we were heading there.

 But Aransas is also on the Gulf Coast, so I was excited about seeing the birds and the alligators and butterflies and anything else we could see.

And this is what we saw even before we got there - a crested caracara - I debated about showing the road-kill shots, but hey - that's what birds do. So I'll just post small pictures of the gory one.

We saw some other rather cool, not-around-Chicago birds, too.

I thought one of the most beautiful was the vermillion flycatcher which was sitting on top of a tree in the parking lot of the visitor's center.

I spent a good part of the day deciding whether I should have my regular lens or my telephoto lens on the camera - I consistently got it wrong. When I left the telephoto lens in the car - I wanted it. When I only had my regular lens, I wanted my telephoto lens.

Anyhow, once at the visitor's center, we talked to a very nice lady behind the desk who told us about all the car trails and walking trails and told us that if we're at all susceptible to mosquito bites, we needed to buy some spray because the place swarms with mosquitos. Being one of those people who attract mosquitos (I think it has something to do with sweetness), I yielded to temptation. To make a long mosquito story short, I think we saw one mosquito all day and Rog killed that one. I was, however, able to get the spray home in my suitcase, so all was not lost - I'm sure I'll see mosquitos again in my life.  The lopsided picture of the sign has nothing to do with camera lens, and a lot to do with taking it out the car window.

The big deal about Aransas besides that it's on the Gulf Coast and the home to a lot of wildlife - is the whooping cranes and javelinas.

Javelinas are strange-looking mammals that live in Texas (especially Aransas), Arizona and New Mexico - alas, we looked but couldn't find one anywhere.

The whooping cranes winter in Aransas. As you may know, whooping cranes are one of the most well-known birds facing extinction. They are native to North America and are the tallest bird on our continent - often reaching five feet. We were mostly there to see the cranes and knew that they were due in at any time, but the nice lady at the visitor's center said there had as yet, been no sitings.

OK, how's this for bad timing. We were there the morning and early afternoon of October 20th - the first whooping crane arrived later in the afternoon and more followed on the 2lst.

So even though Aransas is known for whooping cranes and javelinas - we instead saw alligators and a roseate spoonbill and the Gulf Coast - all amazing in themselves.

Last night I was reading more in my Lady Bird  (no relation to the birds on our bird-watching expedition) book. The week Martin Luther King was shot - she took a group of conservationists on a tour of Aransas totally isolated to the riots and unrest going on in D.C..

HOW NOT TO GET THE HOUSE CLEAN ON A SATURDAY

 8:45 - Depart from house for the once-every-month-or-so Bible study. Stop at ATM to get money. Stop at McDonalds for iced tea. Stop at BP for gas ($2.00 less than I paid in September).

9:45 - Try to understand myself. Why do I attend a Bible study that is as far away as my far-away work? Answer - because I like the people and the teacher is a well-known Bible study instructor who knows her Bible well.

10:00 - Drive down a winding lane to cavernous parking garage. My car echos as I beep it locked and my shoes echo as I walk across the almost-empty, parking level and into a dark church. But once I find the room, it is friendly and cheerful.

12:00 - Study is over.

12:20 - Finally leave after chatting with some of the ladies.

12:30 - Know that I need to stop at the mall for a few things, so decide to go to mall close to the church rather than one close to home.  Lots of people, lots of stores, nothing that I want. I buy myself a lemonade and head south.

2:00 - Stop at mall closer to home. Peruse the bookstore looking for interesting first lady books. Nothing I don't own or haven't read. (I'm on page 643 of Lady Bird.)

2:47 - Wander around a clothing store, still searching for something I need. Find a couple things to try on. Come around the corner and what should meet my astonished eyes - but a daughter and three munchkins. This works out well because she can try on and I can do the munchkin watching. 

3:15 - Buy what I need. But I'm doing the thing where you pay with a charge card to get 5% off and then turn around and pay immediately with a check, so you don't actually charge it. (Some stores allow you to do this.) But that means she has to clear my check with the bank and I have to wait forever for it to be approved. (Bank says its busy and doesn't have many people working.)

3:45 - Follow the family crew to another store where daughter needs to try on something else. I get smart and teach 4yo how to be a mannikin. I show him how to hold his arms and of course, STAND ABSOLUTELY STILL.  This fascinates him because people are giving him funny looks. I'm feeling brilliant because the 4yo isn't moving - always a good thing in a store.

4:01 - Follow the family to a kids' store and look at adorable clothes.

4:20 - Realize I haven't eaten and I might as well stop somewhere on the way home. The munckin girls decide they want to stop too, so we go to Chili's. I order a nourishing meal. Since they ate a big lunch, we decide they'll split a kids' pizza.  After a long wait I get nourishing meal, but the server punched in grilled cheese instead of pizza so it's back to the kitchen. I'm eating as slowly as possible. The girl comes back and explains that she's new and it was her fault. The manager apologizes - but still no pizza.

4:50 - I'm almost done. The pizza comes.

5:10 - 8yo sees a friend she hasn't seen for a long time. So the girls walk over to the other table and chat.

5:30 - Home and truly, nothing at home gets done.

WHEN I WAS CONSTRICTED BY A BOA CONSTRICTOR IN EGYPT

 I've been hanging with the munchkins the last couple days - which is always rather entertaining, but nothing was quite as entertaining as the elaborate "We're the medical missionaries and you're the person in Egypt that we need to help."

Of course, for me to need their help, I needed a medical condition (their words), so it was decided that I had been constricted by a boa constrictor. (Not sure how he got to Egypt, but hey, who's worried about specifics?)

Now, I'm not sure which mission sent these medical doctors to Egypt, but I think they need some more patient-care training. Seemed to be a lot of confusion (and arguing and yes, even pushing) over who exactly would be curing me.

Finally, the oldest of the doctors decided she was the one and since she was the oldest, that's what happened. She brought in a plethora of medicine, in mini-bottles (strangely-marked Hampton Inn Shampoo and Conditioner).  Drops of shampoo and conditioner, oh, excuse me, I mean medicine - were then rubbed on my leg.

Once I was cured - the missionary part of the medical team kicked in.

This was by the 6yo doctor, reading from the Bible (which had the rather remarkable title of "Guide to Downtown Charleston) yet, I'll have to say, it sounded like every other Bible I've ever read.

The medical missionary's little talk with me went like this ...

"Right here in Genesis 1:1 it says, In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." That means that God created everything. Wait a minute, that's too complicated. Let me read you from over here were God came to Noah and said he had to build an ark and take two of every animal inside.

"After that all the people got together and decided they wanted to be like God. They decided to build a big tower and they all got to work. But they were disobeying God, so He made them all speak in different languages so they had to go to different places to live."

Well, that all sounded good. I was healed and I was preached too ...

And so, concluded my episode in Egypt.

NIGHT IN DOWNTOWN SAN ANTONIO

We had left the hotel in the dark early that morning - now after a full day of ranches and LBJ cattle and river walking, the sky was once again dark.

Before we called it a day, however, we decided to walk back over to the Alamo. Once up on street level, we were in a whole different world with some touristy-looking people, some city-looking people and some hanging-around-and-maybe-about-to-cause-trouble people. The Alamo was about two-three blocks away.

When we got there, people were still kind of hanging around the front courtyard. Roger stopped out by the street to patiently wait for all people to remove themselves from camera view, but I wandered closer to where a security guard was standing. I waited next to him for a few minutes and figured out that the lady he was talking to also worked at the Alamo, so I started talking to both of them.

They explained that there are four security guards on duty at all times because there are stupid people in the world. (As if we all don't know that.) I won't even tell you the problems he related to me, except to say one rock band is banned from setting foot in the state of Texas.

Both of them were nice people and I enjoyed talking to them, but then finally, all the people meandering in front of the building got out of the way - and I actually got my peopleless picture.

And then - back to our hotel. We had another before daybreak morning looming.

WE'RE WALKING ... WE'RE WALKING

(This first picture is looking down on the River Walk from one of the street level bridges.)

We were getting kind of hungry, being that all we had had to eat since 6:00 that morning  (when we left the hotel) was a hot dog from Dairy Queen. One of the activities you’re “supposed” to do on the River Walk is eat.  We didn’t want to eat at a super fancy place, but I DID want to eat at a table along the river.  Everything was crowded, but we did see a riverside table open up at sort of a informal/Mexican place, so we quickly asked if we could have it.

The atmosphere of sitting in this below street-level, along-the-river was truly enchanting (and would’ve been more so without the crowds of  people, but what can I say?) The second two pictures are the view from where I was sitting - you can even see Roger's shoulder in one. The other one is of our  table - from across the river. We were in the last table in line - directly across from where I am standing.

Everyone told us we should come back at Christmas – but I don’t think that’s gonna happen. Mainly, people told us that because the entire walk is outlined in lights creating a truly spectacular scene.

The River Walk is long and there is talk of making it even longer – dozens of restaurants, shops and even an amphitheater are tucked among the bridges, ramps, miniature water falls and flower/plant beds.

Really a cool place to visit.

RIVER WALK

I have some other butterfly and flower pictures, but I am moving on to the River Walk, because well ... it's just time to move on.

Of course, when you go to San Antonio, you must go to the River Walk, at least that's what everyone told us, and so that's what we did - after we got back from Johnson City.

I have read that it's the biggest tourist attraction in the State of Texas and considering how big Texas is - that distinction is rather noteworthy..

Our first stop at the walk was actually a ride. They have boats that go up and down the river with very funny tour guides leading the way. We sat crunched in the middle (and when I say crunched, I mean crunched) knee-to-knee with three ladies from Ireland who were enjoying their first visit to the U.S.  Next they were heading to Chicago. Unfortunately, all the crunching meant a lot of heads in a lot of pictures, because it was difficult to get a clear view of anything.

The tour guide (between her jokes - "See that man in the tan shorts? That's my Uncle Fred. Wave! Oh, just kidding.)  gave the historical spiel about Robert Hugman, who back in the 1920s came up with the idea of the River Walk as an option to paving over the river.  He made a plan that showed it would not only be an attraction in the city, but also flood prevention. Thus - the River Walk, a level down from the street. Now, the River Walk even merges with the mall. 

The place was fairly crowded and the sidewalk narrow in places, so I could see how someone could easily fall in the river. Our tour guide told us 20 to 30 people fall in a day, but by that time, we weren't sure what to believe from her.

A SMILE

This is a day that a lot of people are concerned about a lot of other people and whether or not they'll get into office. 

Remember, God is in control. Nothing that happens will surprise Him. We can put our trust in Him.

Yet ... I know there's a lot of worry.

So, I offer a smile to get your mind off the election  - I found this blog quite by accident. Unfortunately, as is true with so many otherwise good websites, there are a few inappropriate instances - but most of it is simply funny and unbelievable.

The author of this blog collects pictures from real estate ads and now has many realtors supplying her with what they find - in several different countries.

Check it out.   http.//www.lovelylisting.blogspot.com 

I clicked on a couple of the links to discover that they really are authentic.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON ...

Sunday afternoon at the Flea Market ...

... the feel of a misty autumn day 

... the sounds of the Bear games coming from a surround-sound of booth radios

... the sounds of people chatting and bargining

... the touch of cashmir scarves, a metal chicken, a soft, but imitation leather purse, 

... the taste of cinnamon pecans

... the sights of glass and books and furniture and fuzzy-navel-scented candles and pumpkins and Christmas trees and dog-hair removers and ...

(small camera, not the good camera today :))

 

 

 

Marissa models a hat. (I wish this picture had come out better - she looked extremely elegant - and cute.)

Notice how this lady matched the lampshade she was selling.

And then it's all over and the vendors pack up their stuff and move on to another town.

BY THE SIDE OF THE ROAD

We left the ranch and headed south back to San Antonio, but before we drove very far, we saw a building/rest stop/visitor's information center by the side of the road. (I don't know exactly what it was because we didn't pay attention to the building, but rather to the butterflies butterflying around the flowers - dozens of them.

We quickly pulled over. Rog stayed out front where we had originally seen the butterflies and I headed to the back where I saw a garden patch of flowers. 

I started walking along the path, taking pictures of the flowers and butterflies ... such as this Pipeline Swallowtail ...

when a little, Hispanic kid, probably about eleven, started walking alongside me. Nice little kid. He was pointing out the different butterflies he saw and so I asked if he liked to take pictures of them. He said "no," he liked to draw them. We had a fun few minutes chatting as we looked for more butterflies.

Even when his mom came out and said it was time to go, he was reluctant to leave me. One of those brief moments of connection that disappear as fast as they begin.

Dozens of Queen butterflies were flitting around.

How many can you see in THIS picture?

Here's some help.

THE BOOK

So, after we did the office tour, we headed out, but not before we made one last stop at the airplane hanger/car showroom/giftshop. Rog wanted some water and I wandered by that tempting book a few more times.

806 pages of diary from the White House years.

I used to read a lot of those long presidential/first lady tomes, but haven't in the past few years. This one looked interesting enough to get me going again. I have other books about Lady Bird in my collection, but this was her own diary of the Johnson White House. 

So I yielded to temptation and bought it.

I had to finish I book I was already reading - so I picked up the 806 pages about a week ago ...

and have been faithfully reading -

OK, I know the book is text down in most of these pictures, but it's hard to read and take a picture at the same time.

I am now on page 304 - 1965 - he wants to retire, she's counting the days until it's over.

(Why does ANYONE want to be president?)

Here are two interesting quotes from the book:

When we went upstairs, we could hear the Congressional guests and the music still playing from below; and out in front the chanting of the Civil Rights marchers. What a house. What a life.

In another place she talks about touring Monticello (Jefferson's home). I did find myself looking at the house with new eyes, the eyes of someone who someday might leave a simple house ... to which other generations of American tourists might come - so I gave a thought to the future as I drank up the past.