November 22, 2010
At the end of my first week here at the ‘Grove’ I am thankful to have a week in which I have nothing planned to catch up on chores and writing. Well, yes, I did get an invite to share Thanksgiving Dinner on Thursday with friends but otherwise I don’t have to be anywhere until church on Sunday. Whereas it is pleasant to be publicly welcomed back to Gethsemane as well as wined and dined it has served to keep me busy this past week. So busy in fact I haven’t managed to get to the supermarket—HEB—to go shopping.
The most striking news I’ve read lately is the fact that as an austerity measure the British Government under David Cameron is selling off heritage forests under its control and removing their protected status. One of these properties is at least a portion of Sherwood Forest. How would Robin Hood react to the logging of his hideout?
Thanks to the fact that I have no permanently fixed address on the road I’m stuck with using an online E-mail Address. I do my best to minimize the amount of spam I receive but I had no idea my manhood was so desperately in need of enhancement. Someone was using my Google Mail address to spread spam and nothing I did seemed to stop them but Google seems to have done something to stop it at some point between Xmas and New Years.
Reading about the snow that has recently blanketed the mountain regions I lately drove through and most of Canada plus the -20º F chill in Calgary I feel somewhat sheepish in reporting that the overnight low the last two days has been 72º F.
An online factoid. Peanut oil is used for underwater cooking in submarines. Undersea fleets like it because it does not smoke unless heated above 450 degrees F.
A pair of young-adult males shared a pop-up Volkswagonn Camper in the site beside me last night. And I thought my little RV was cramped lately.
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Yes, I safely made it back to Austin Texas. At least this year we’re getting some of the warmer weather I drove so far to enjoy. I still find it odd to see cattle grazing in pastures amid five foot tall clumps of large prickly pear cactus. What nutrition they find in that dry brown grass I hesitate to speculate about. Small wonder it takes 5 square miles to support one cow.
Since I arrived in Pecan Grove on November 15th I’ve been trekking about Austin with one of my neighbours and have gotten to know Austin and the permanent residents of the grove a little better. The month of December saw me attend choir events around Austin, sing at church with the choir, attend services at Seniors homes and go carolling until I could barely sing anymore. I was grateful to have been invited to join friends Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Even got to drive Santa to one of his gigues. Next time I do that I’ll try to remember to bring my driver’s licence along.
After three years it’s about time I saw some of the touristy sites here in Austin. The Elisabet Ney Museum is one such:
Another was the LBJ Presidential Library located on the campus of University of Texas. Fitting it seems as the man began his working life as a teacher in a slum Hispanic-American School. A half-hour film documents his rise from backroom hack to elected office in the House and Senate and his failed attempt at becoming his party’s candidate for president. Chosen as Kennedy’s running mate his presidency began with the assassination and ended with his announcement that he would not be seeking to be elected for a second term. His humble beginnings spurred him to see enacted legislation that strengthened civil rights, made education more widely available to all, ensured fewer children would arrive at school hungry, and began Medicaid and social welfare. He was renowned for his domineering personality and the "Johnson treatment," his coercion of powerful politicians in order to advance legislation. He understood the process of governence like few others before or since. The tragedy of his administration was the way in which whatever good he accomplished was over-shadowed by the war he inherited. His term in office spanned the 60ies. Can’t say as I saw LBJ as any more than a blip in history until that visit. Enjoyed my chat with one of the library’s docents.
I need to get out and see more of Austin in the next two months. This Friday I’ll see the Austin Symphony perform Dvorak’s New World Symphony along with a multi-media presentation on the cirmcumstances that saw it written. I’ve signed up for a tour of the U of T Campus in March. Since I’ve been driving around Austin twice a week this year I’ve finally found a grocery store between the campground and the church that is more to my liking. It has also been pleasant of late to see the items on my credit card bill come out less than I paid in American Dollars.
After being in the same site for three years in a row I’ve finally gotten around to improvising a bird feeding station. So far my principle customers have been common and brown-headed gracles and English Sparrows. The plastic plate on a construction block supplies those birds and a resident red squirrel with water. Just now I had a dozen Sparrows and a Northern Mockingbird. I’ve heard the latter quite often in the past but this time saw him up close. A Blue Jay spends a lot of time calling and lands in the fence row between my RV and the restaurant next door and a Northern Cardinal often sings nearby. I have yet to see anyone actually land on my improvised birdfeeder but it will take time for the little birds to accept it.
Such is life for this snowbird.
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