The Hermits' Rest

Fled the heat and drought

Today Lee, Anita and I jumped in the car (or entered normally) and drove the now-familiar route to Ruidoso, New Mexico. The plan is to join our friends Mike and Martha for a week away from the endless heat and crunchy drought of our part of Texas. Three of us will have to work, but it will at least be cooler.

It will also be wetter. It’s been raining a lot in this part of NM, which has tested the new drainage infrastructure Ruidoso has put in since its last flood. It’s helping! Unfortunately, Hondo, down the road, got hit hard yesterday and we passed some very sad scenes. I really feel for that town.

Flooded field, but not the bad stuff. Didn’t want to take pictures of that.

We didn’t hit as much rain as our friends who left earlier than we did. Mostly we enjoyed clouds and sunshine making patterns. Bonus: I saw the native North American antelope, the Pronghorn. I think that’s the last on my list here…oh wait, no bears here yet.

We are now in a nice and comfortable cabin/house with lots of outdoor spaces. We had to put on jackets while sitting outside enjoying the front deck. We hope it doesn’t rain too much so maybe some of us can work outside. I’d like to work and listen to birds at the same time!

The only negative thing is that I seem to have hurt my quad on my left leg, maybe getting out of the car? It hurts like heck. I can still walk, but climbing the stairs to our room got tedious.

Oh! I have one funny trip story. We were driving in eastern NM, and got to the area where there are lots of bird nests on platforms attached to telephone poles. I remembered them from previous trips, and wondered if there could be any information on the platforms online.

So I typed a question into Google. The answer came back fairly informative, but not much more than I already knew. I looked to see where the answer came from. Y’all, the answer came from me. The source was my blog the last time we came and stayed here. Now, that gave me quite a chuckle. AI seems to think I’m an expert on these nests. I’m not. I was guessing in that blog entry. I shake my head!

Time to recover from the trip and get ready for fun. Hope all the elk bugling doesn’t keep me awake. It’s a cool sound, but loud.

Who wants to read this?

How do you write what people actually want to read?

What a good question! If I had set my sights on being a professional content creator or influencer, I’d probably think about this question more. I blog because I have a compulsion to write, and I enjoy connecting with others and getting feedback. I don’t feel authentic if I tailor everything I say to get people interested. On the other hand, I don’t want to alienate my friends and family who read my messages to them, so I don’t want to come off as rude or confrontational.

That doesn’t mean I don’t. I have heard enough feedback that I come through as condescending or think I’m better than others to know I can irritate folks. I’m grateful that my work in being okay with not being everyone’s cup of tea has paid off, and that I’m comfortable not pleasing people whose beliefs I disagree with. We do t all have to agree.

That being said, I enjoy sharing sweet snippets of rural life and quirky thoughts that might bring a smile to some readers’ faces. That works for me!

Cuteness did occur today, as some clever horse opened a gate and let everyone out to seek green grass. I think I saw it happen, just by luck, as I looked out the window.

I let them find the few places that are still green (near the septic field and where we water a tree), and they had quite a fun day. I really enjoy watching the horses having fun.

I’m taking a bit of a work break while some things get figured out, so I got to hang out with the birds and my garden spider friend for a while this morning.

I’m always surprised at how many plants are just fine in dry periods. The dove weed and snake weed keep going no matter what, which pleases the pollinators.

Much of the day was spent getting ready for a trip, so everything got watered, fed, and prepped for my absence. It should all be fine, since we have folks watching over the plants and animals. Of course the horses had to get their food. They were very good and all came back into the pens when I asked them to, except one.

Spice really wanted to help me dole out their rations. She tried to come in the feed shed, but didn’t like the step. Whew. She did a good job of cheering me up!

This also cheered me up. My son got this great shot of the Barred Owl he’s been seeing at his work site!

Oh, the spontaining!

What’s the most spontaneous thing you’ve ever done?

Today my friend Martha, with whom I will be traveling soon, told our lunch group that she’s a planner. She has a long list of activities to do on the trip.

I thought to myself, that’s not me. I’m more of a “spontainer” when traveling. That’s Lee’s and my term for just picking a point and going. We often embark on trips with no concrete plans of our route or what we will do when we arrive. Thus, I’m having a hard time picking the most spontaneous thing I’ve ever done.

I’ll admit this. My current mental state is making it hard to dredge up memories—I have become comfortably numb, like in the old song. It will get better; I’m fairly sure I’m not suffering from cognitive decline more than the average person my age. I’m just having a surge in anxiety, which I’m working to understand (both intellectually and psychically).

Good thing I have these guys to soothe my symptoms.

Back to being spontaneous (which I know is not right for every occasion and which often benefits from a bit of planning to succeed). It occurs to me that I am not spontaneous about big things, just day-to-day choices with few consequences. That fits with my self image of not being a big risk taker. I’m now laughing at myself. The cautious spontainer, that’s me, always trying to be everything at once (I’m an extroverted introvert, too).

So, I didn’t get a good answer to the prompt, but I figured out something about myself. I’m definitely comfortable with having conflicting traits. I’m hoping this helps with flexibility and the cognitive dissonance required to feel comfortable at times like these. Maybe it will help me get over this mental struggle.

I forgot to wish you kind readers a happy equinox or Mabon yesterday. It’s still very hot here. To welcome the season I’m wearing a shirt that says, “My favorite season is the fall…of fascism.”

PS: maybe my most spontaneous act was walking into a salon and declaring I wanted to bleach my hair white and cut it very short. That wasn’t the plan that morning!

Self care everywhere

How do you make time for self-care?

I hadn’t planned to answer this, but seeing as it’s vital to me right now, I can share my seemingly endless supply of self care practices. Do I practice a lot of self care? Indeed I do. Do I feel bad about it? Nope. Right now it’s very important to care for our tender hearts. To balance the negativity around us with positive energy, we need to protect our energy so we can share some. Not all!

So, what do I do? Here is an incomplete list:

Every morning I sit with Lee on the porch drinking coffee and looking at birds. It’s a gentle start to a day.
I also do my Finch self-care birb app before I start working. I do deep breathing, list some positive thoughts, reach out to others and have gentle fun with friends on the app.
During work days I try to get out and walk at least twice, to get the mail, feed the fish, etc. Mail and fish both are fun and (usually) relaxing.
I limit exposure to the political news. I find positive news to read about.
I do my nails weird colors and patterns. It forces me to take a break and do something just for me every week. Like my knitting and crocheting, the process is more important for my self care than the product.
I make sure to spend time with friends and family. I have two online meetings per week with friends, plus my monthly tarot group. And I have lunch every Wednesday with a group of women who support each other and make me laugh. I often meet friends for breakfast or dinner, and I try to have good conversations with my local family as much as possible. They are positive and care for us.
The horses, dogs, and poultry are part of my self care. Sure, feeding and caring for animals can be a chore, but it makes me feel good to interact with them. And it gets me out of the house.
Blogging is also self care. I work things out in my mind when I write, and I enjoy the conversations with others than blog entries can start. It’s part of community building, and since my audience is small, I don’t have to deal with unkind comments. Thank you, readers.

Whew. That’s a lot. In today’s self care, my tarot group met tonight, and I got the most sad and negative bunch of cards ever. It just confirms that I’m going through a challenging phase. The good news is that it pointed to Lee as someone to help guide me past this and return to equilibrium. There’s always going to be positive and negative “stuff” floating around, after all.

And as for stuff, all our “stuff” is now flowing through new pipes as it heads toward the septic tank.

The pad will be centered around the window in the photo

Now that hurdle is passed, the prep for all our future concrete paths and the massive pad for the water tank can continue. It’s quite a project!

Penney found a used piece of pipe and really enjoyed it. Yuck!

I’m a dental anomaly

I managed to get some sleep last night (sooo quiet in my little hotel room). I woke a little early, and since I didn’t want to drink coffee before a dental procedure, I spent some quality time in the hotel parking lot, which abuts an established neighborhood in Cedar Park, Texas. When I first moved to Texas, the property was a beautiful pecan orchard (now called Pecan Park). Some trees remain.

They did save some trees in the parking lot.

I had a great time listening to and viewing birds. I saw some interesting ones, including a pair of Yellow Warblers and a Redstart. The area along US 183 where the hotel is gets many fascinating migrating birds, not necessarily the same ones we see (but it’s the same flyway).

This crow puffed out with every loud caw.

Most of the plants I saw were non-natives, including some unpopular invasives. I did enjoy some pretty hackberry berries and cheerful drought-resistant plants.

Well, even though I dawdled talking to a lady walking her dog about the coyote population of this area (high), I had to go to the dentist to get fitted for my crown. This involved yet more drilling and poking around, so Dr. Pham put in lots and lots of anesthetic stuff. I did my best to breathe and get through it, but as soon as he was done, I felt shaky. Then, wham, my back started spasming again! Dang! It wasn’t as bad as last time, but still pretty awful.

I got through the drilling and getting an impression made. But the impression was bad, so they had to do it again. I lost my ability to joke around with Patty the technician. I was out of patience, sort of like I was on that rain delay on the plane recently. I was out of spoons, as they say. Then it took forever to fit the temporary crown. Bite down, tap tap, bite down, tap tap.

Geez. I was a crumpled mess, but I made it home, and when I talked to my friends online, I felt better after their organ recital (nearly everyone was suffering from something). And after my friend Barbara mentioned that her minister mentioned Supergirl in a sermon and agreed with me that the older ones looked better, I was able to smile. Thank goodness for friends!

Later between work meetings, I looked up what it means if you get back spasms after dental anesthesia. Here’s what it said.

In sum: it’s epinephrine and/or an adrenaline spike

Hooray, I’m not that weird, even if it’s never happened in over 20 years at my dental practice. It does make sense. The spasms didn’t start until that horrible tooth pulling episode. So, what to do? I can ask for the epinephrine to be removed. That makes the shots last less time. No thanks. Or I could take a muscle relaxer or tranquilizer. I’ll try that next time I need the needle. Lucky for me, my next two appointments are the fitting of the crown and a routine cleaning. If that man thinks I’ll get another crown anytime soon he’s deluded.

The heat got to me all day, but I got the chores done. I hugged Apache a lot. It’s his best talent, tolerating hugs.

My family pampered me this evening. I really appreciate the Japanese noodle dinner from Lee and the cupcakes Kathleen brought back from her time in Temple. I wish spiders would leave her alone!

Good night from this flatulent fellow. We found out he’s two years old, by the way.

An unrealistic wish

What’s one thing you wish you had started doing earlier in life?

Being honest with myself, I wish I had taken horseback riding lessons when I was younger and more able to learn. It would have been so much fun to work with horses and learn to ride well. Also I would just like to have had the opportunity to take care of horses and learn how to keep them healthy from a young age. It was my dream.

My sweet Apache, who really isn’t fond of being ridden.

Hey. I lived in working-class towns and was part of a one-income family with large medical bills. There was no money for extras, nor was there any way to get to a horse other than rare visits. So I set other, more manageable goals and was very appreciative of the help I got to do other things I loved, like singing and writing. (I also wish I could have had voice lessons.) I’m absolutely fine with my life. No complaints.

I did get to spend over a decade learning about horses and I still get to care for my beautiful equine friends. Having space at the ranch and funds to care for horses has been a dream come true.

Now Apache gets to hang out with Spice and walk around with me.

An aside: I never thought I’d have any income that covers more than food and housing. I know I’m privileged. Knowing there are people who don’t even have that is sobering. Basic life expenses should be within everyone’s reach.

This was a nice diversion from thinking about having to go for more dental work tomorrow. I know it won’t be as bad as last time, but it’s on my mind. Other diversions have been watching football (Cowboys won) and jumping in the car to locate a grass fire and make sure firefighters were on the way. They were!

Now I’m at an inexpensive hotel luxuriating and feeling grateful I don’t have to drive in from the ranch for the 8 am appointment.

I have football, Ritz crackers, and guacamole. Ahh.

Many of you dear readers are in my thoughts. So much pain in the world, physical and mental! Your empath friend feels it.

Can you dig it?

Yes, I can. Today a lot got done around the house, and some of it was by me! I can dig that. I managed to go to the #1 Cameron meeting place, the bakery, and not be late. That’s because I mis-remembered the meeting time. So I got to talk to all the employees and other friends while I waited for Mike and Martha. We discussed our upcoming trip to Ruidoso (for longer this time).

My view as I waited. There’s a kid quietly playing in the kid area. A nice change of pace.

I steeled myself to be cheerful and positive as I did all the errands I was too slothful to do last week. I paid more for gas today than I ever have in my life. For some reason that inspired me to give the random sad-looking person sitting outside the station the change from buying my soda. Maybe it balanced out my irritation at the gas prices.

The first cheerful sight today was three Great Egrets all at once. That’s unusual here.

On my way to Tractor Supply to get animal feed in Rockdale, I passed all my favorite political candidates and waved. I also noted yard signs and a billboard. Wow! That cheered me up enough to enjoy the folks at Tractor Supply even when I had to wait to get loading help (I have tweaked my back). I got a shirt that says “Positive Vibes” to commemorate my improved mood. ) I could dig that, too!

Next I headed to the pharmacy, because I couldn’t drag myself over there to pick up a prescription before it expired. The bonus was my expensive prescription my insurance won’t pay was also ready. AND they had time to vaccinate me for flu and COVID, which we elders need. The new pharmacist is a very sweet young man who’s fun to talk to. He has a button earring. It’s so cute. I’m glad one of the new pharmacists is nice, since my favorite one finally escaped (I’m going into all this detail to show I made an effort to be a good influence in the world today.)

There was actual digging at the ranch today! The next phase of our water retention setup got into motion. It was great to see our ancient backhoe finally fixed and back at work! It’s more than a lawn ornament!

The dirt has to be dug away to build the foundation for the water tank next to the house, as well as pumps and filters. It was interesting to be reminded just how much dirt we brought in to create our foundation and get the drainage right. The black at the bottom of the reddish fill is the black land clay.

The white pipe is the sewer line that must move.

All went well with the digging except the sewer line out of our bathrooms got nicked. It was going to have to be moved anyway, it turns out. I’m relieved to report it’s fixed enough to work until the line gets moved into its new position.

There’s a lot of precise measurement required to do all the digging correctly, and I’m really impressed that the huge machine can be made to do such fine work. We’re lucky to have a resident tractor ballet expert at our house!He can dig it, very well!

What did Lee and I do during all the digging? We’ve been watching Lee’s favorite YouTube channel, which is a guy in Canada who does bookbinding. (Find the videos under Four Keys Book Arts.) What a complex process that is! The guy has a very pleasant demeanor, so calm and relaxed that you almost miss his puns.

Three books the guy bound for the author Andy Weir. The video series was called Project Hail Andy.

My favorite parts are when he does paper marbling and leather tooling, but it’s all more interesting than you might expect. I do think it’s funny that we’ve turned into people who spend their weekends watching stuff like this, but it’s certainly less stressful than the news.

And I can dig that!

Super Suna strikes again

If you had to switch lives with a fictional character for a week, who would you choose?

I just had to respond, even if I’ve answered this before. I’d be Supergirl. Yep. Kara Zor-El of Argo City. I don’t think I’d be the one from any recent movies. I’d be Legion of Superheroes Kara from 1970s and 1980s DC Comics. I like that she’s smart but imperfect.

It was hard to find an image without a stupid “modern” costume.

She was always my favorite. My next-door neighbor Sandra Purvis and I spent hours and hours of our childhood running around in our neighborhood wearing towels as capes, pretending to be Supergirl and Phantom Girl. It was a great way to escape from our daily lives and pretend we were dating dashing teen boy Superheroes. She and I both spent a LOT of time in our imaginations.

Later on Anita and I were just as enamored of our Legion friends, though there was more script writing and less pretend play.

Here in the modern world I escape by hanging out in the outdoors, surrounding myself with dogs, as well as playing with pens and nail polish. Hmm. I also did that as a teen.

I’m feeling better, a bit, so after birding a bit, I did some cleanup around the porches of our house and threw some stuff away. I felt so powerful just making myself do something useful. There’s so much more to do, but I can tell I did something. The big cleanup will wait until it cools off. Besides, there were mosquitoes after me.

It may look like a mess, but it’s better.

I also made a happy discovery. Lee had bought some boxes to store old photos in. Meanwhile, I had been searching for better Color Street nail polish strip storage but finding nothing. I brought a polish package upstairs just to check, and lo and behold, it fit in the box. I didn’t need the little individual storage boxes, I thought. Then I realized I could use them to store the smaller packages that bonus sets come in. I felt like Super Suna for figuring that out. I’d been dissatisfied with my storage a long time.

There are probably two readers who find this interesting. Enjoy!

I guess it doesn’t take much to force a little self esteem back. I shall keep on trying!

PS: Wood Storks flew over the house last night. My yearly migration sighting!

Book Report: The Land and its People

Yeah, I already finished another book. Reading is about all I can manage right now. So, this is the latest essay collection by David Sedaris, a writer I’ve always found funny. A lot of his funniness comes from his voice when he’s reading his essays, which I’ve enjoyed more than once. The Santaland Diaries is really great. I got his latest collection, The Land and its People (2026), on my most recent foray into Barnes and Noble, and the book’s time at the top of the to-read list finally arrived. I was ready for something not about nuclear warheads, for sure.

I do find the rants of an aging gay New Yorker comforting and entertaining. I don’t find them uproariously funny but that’s okay. I’m sure I’d be guffawing more if I knew (or cared) more about life in New York City among the literate elites. But at least I’m fairly culturally literate, so I followed most of the references to famous people and their buddies who hang out in fancy restaurants and hotels.

You know, I just might not be in the mood for rich people feeling sorry for themselves, me included (borderline). So don’t let my negativity steer you away from this collection. There are some gems in there, especially toward the end. I giggled at the essay about how people mispronounce words they e never heard aloud before —there were some new ones in there for me. And I enjoy his undying love for his husband and siblings (especially Amy and Gretchen).

I’d say if you like self-deprecating humor and wry observations of the human condition, you can’t go wrong with anything David Sadaris writes. And the f you get a chance to see him live, treat yourself to the performance!

Book Report: Seek Immediate Shelter

I thought the idea for this book was fascinating. It’s about various members of a community who experience an announcement of an incoming ICBM missile telling them to seek shelter (immediately, as the title implies). Seek Immediate Shelter, by Vincent Yu (2026) focuses on new characters in each chapter, but since they’re nearly all members of the town’s ethnic Chinese community, it’s not surprising that they go into the same shops or have met each other.

As much as I loved the premise of the book, I found the characters so incredibly human, flawed, and often unkind that I found it hard to empathize or even like them. You do eventually find out how some of the folks came to be so damaged and “messed up,” which helped me understand more. The people are really different from most characters in books, and I credit Yu with creating such a unique community.

Yu writes beautifully, with spare prose that provides the reader ample opportunity to read between the lines and come to their own conclusions. I enjoyed reading the book, even though I’ve had nightmares about bombs coming ever since “duck and cover” training in the 60s. I liked that each chapter could be read as its own novella. It’s an easy book to read in chunks.

I’d say it’s a challenging book to read, because the characters are a bit sad and directionless, but honestly, it’s kind of fun to read a book about average people in extraordinary situations. Hmm.