friends – Page 6 – The Hermits' Rest

Sure, There’s Life in These Woods

While I’m pretty sure I’ll go somewhere greener to camp next August, I’ve been trying to find the positive aspects of visiting McKinney Falls in a drought with a heat dome on top of it.

I assure you, it’s hot. Good thing water drips off this RV!

For one thing, it’s very quiet. I only saw one campsite playing loud music on my early walk (and they are serious—they have an outdoor lighted disco ball). I’ve only seen three people walking dogs, and only two groups have f children, all moving slowly. I assume they all went to the swimming area.

I just walked around all the campsites this morning, to determine where to park next time we come, in the spring! Some are very large and shady. I took pictures.

I also looked to see how the plants were doing. I found a couple of areas that must be near the creeks, because they looked better. Mostly all understory plants are shriveled up.

What a surprise it was to see a rain lily! It did rain 5 minutes on Thursday here!

Trees look better, except the cedar elms and hackberry trees. They are dumping leaves to conserve their internal water supply, as I learned in a Master Naturalist class.

Look at the cool texture on this large persimmon tree’s bark.

There were a lot of birds this morning, which cheered me up. This afternoon, though, even the incessant cardinal chatter has died down. I heard typical birds for this area, though I was surprised to find a summer tanager still hanging around. Otherwise here’s what was around (including seen and heard): blue-gray gnatcatcher, blue Jay, cardinal, Carolina chickadee, Carolin wren, crow, dickcissel, goldfinch, house finch, Phoebe, red-winged blackbird, titmouse, turkey vulture, warbling vireo, and the white-eyed vireo. Not bad for summer.

Carolina wren, the only bird I photographed

The best part of today was that my friend Susan, who lives near San Antonio, came up yesterday to camp with us. She was trying out her very cute little Casita camper before taking it on a longer trip. I don’t think I’d seen her since 2016, though we’ve Zoomed since then.

She had enough RV adventures for more than one trip, but got through it! First, the water line broke at her campsite, quite spectacularly. It took a lot of effort, Shop vacs, and extension cords to get things shut off. The park police officer said he missed the day they taught water line maintenance in his training. The park ranger said she missed hers, too. I felt bad for them. It was so hot.

Because they had to turn her water off, Susan just stayed one night. We did get to enjoy a nice chat this morning about horses and mental health, etc.

Sadly, on her way home, the hitch fell off! Luckily the chains held and she safely got off the highway. After getting some help, she made it home and should have time to get repairs done before her next trip. Whew!

She will drive like this guy, just in case. Ha ha.

We relaxed in the heat of the day. I may try to walk a little around sunset. I’ll get up early again to do the hike and bike trail in the morning. I will take water!

I was very excited to find this feather. I pretty quickly realized it’s from a parrot, probably a park visitor. No native bird has giant blue and yellow feathers!

Oh! And good health news! I am feeling less throat pain, so I may be back to happy thyroid time. Yay!

My nail polish is dazzling and unnatural, too.

Hope you enjoy the pictures!

Happy for My Friend

Today was special, because my friend Pamela worked very hard to get her ceramics studio showroom ready for public viewing. Today she had the official Chamber of Commerce ribbon cutting for the gallery at Neeley Fine Art Studio.

The gallery is right next to her working studio, which is one of the most fascinating places around this area. And it’s all set on her family land, which is beautiful (almost visible from the Hermits’ Rest).

I usually go over there to look at plants and bugs or to load bales of hay, so it was fun to put on nice clothing and participate in the ribbon cutting.

Ruby the hound had to check out the ribbon

It was also fun to hang out for a little while with my friends and other local artists. It is gratifying to see all the support for Pamela and her work. When the community comes together, it’s a really good feeling!

It must have been the day for honoring Pamela! She also was recognized for her Master Naturalist recertification this evening! A Renaissance woman!

There she is, second from left, with other old and new friends.

When she has her official open house, I’m cooler weather, I’ll share how you can purchase your own whimsical and elegant ceramics.

My favorite is the red stuff. It’s a beautiful red.

Thanks for all your love and support, readers, friends, and family. Remember you’re all just great, exactly as you are, and you don’t have to try to be someone you’re not just to placate others.

Community, for the Win

Hey, thanks to each of you who’ve reached out about what I wrote yesterday. It sure helps you feel less alone to realize others are going through what you’re going through, and it’s gratifying to think maybe your convoluted thoughts brought comfort to others.

Today I accompanied Sara and Aragorn to a horse show in Waco. I just went to watch, which is what I do at US Working Equitation shows, because I’m not confident enough to try (and because I probably don’t have the time or funds to show in two organizations). I do enjoy watching their riders, and learn a lot from them and their beautiful horses.

There were so many horses. I had to root for the small gray horse.

It turns out that we had a conversation with one of our horse friends about what I mentioned earlier. She’s someone who freely shares her ups and downs in life, and her reasons echo mine. Talking about your challenges and how you get through them brings people together, helps them feel less isolated (in social media and in person), and helps create communities. We all benefit from finding people with whom we have commonalities. And who knew how much I’d learn from this gifted horse trainer about families, love, and letting go? You learn more than horse stuff at horse shows.

But the talented riders are darned educational, too.

The support of so many kinds that I’ve gotten through the years from my various communities has been invaluable. And yes, even on social media. The groups of folks I share with online both support me and give me a chance to support and encourage others. If you don’t have a community like this, find a group of people who share your interests. You’ll find all kinds of fascinating people, some of whom may become friends.

I consider Sara and Aragorn my friends. I had a couple of nice visits with him in his stall today.

As for the show, Aragorn was not into it today, but Sara’s attitude was great. She showed the horse she got today, and then worked to figure out what was going on. Was it the big ole insect sting he had? Was it because his shoes came off? Was it the trim she gave his hooves last night? She is going to address those potential issues for the second part of the show tomorrow.

I’m scheduled to see if Apache and I can get our act together to do a virtual show recording over at his favorite venue, Tarrin’s. Of course, we did have a big rain storm blow in this evening. We may be rained or mudded out. Whatever happens is fine. I can’t change things beyond my control. That lesson keeps bopping me over the head these days!

Again, thanks for your support and for the opportunity to provide some support in return.

Encouragement and Gifts of Service

Naturally, I’m feeling a bit better today. A lot of it is because my friends and family have been so supportive and encouraging. Thanks to everyone who’s reminded me of my humanity and that there ARE plenty of folks not out there judging me (and that judgmental people’s judgments aren’t worth spending time on).

This view of where I live is worth dwelling on.

Today was productive in so many ways. I really enjoyed work today, though I have to say the interruptions were even better.

I interrupt you to share a fiery skipper on a thistle. Skippers are everywhere now that it stopped raining for a bit.

The first interruption was this guy here.

Hey, what’s he doing? (The dogs asked that a lot).

It was Brenham Iron Works coming to fix our gate, which has been beeping at us for over a year, then when we finally got it to shut, had a car push it open. Poor gate (and car). At the moment, it works!

Yay, horses can be kept in if they escape their gate again. Note that blue sky!

It was fun watching the nice guy fix it, and the company got more business when the neighbor across the road got all excited that we actually got a repair person in that she came over and got their info. They have a similar nice gate just a year or two older than ours.

He worked a long time on this. Welding occurred.

The next minor interruption was my Becker Vineyards wine delivery. I got two old favorites so I didn’t complain. A much more fun interruption was a visit from a guy who’s interested in growing some vegetables here. It sounds like a fun project, if it goes through. I’ll tell you more if it goes through. It’s just a possibility but it made me happy to just imagine it.

Picture a vegetable garden on the right?

Lee even suggested that we use our gardener friend’s expertise to spruce up the pool area and such. He’d do way better than us! Now, this is my kind of gift. A gift of service. I was quite tickled at this development.

It made my heart skip like a skipper. I think this is a female sachem. I could be wrong.

I love having something to look forward to, though I’ve learned not to count on anything until it happens. There are just so many sudden changes and pivots these days that it’s just the new normal. That’s fine! I’ll enjoy every day and see what happens! I feel so loved.

And it didn’t rain. The sun even shone for a while. For that reason I ended up just walking around and enjoying late afternoon light, flowers, and birds. I love it when the nighthawks come out. They’re so graceful. I’ll skip my bad bird photos, but do enjoy the other things I saw.

Thanks for bearing with me! I appreciate my community, both in person and online.

It’s True Nature Helps. So Do Friends

I heard a piece on NPR about the effects of nature on moods of people dealing with hard things. I have to agree that spending time in nature can help a lot. My lunch activity today was a nice walk along our road in search of peace.

This pitcher’s leather flower sure looks peaceful. What a beauty.

As I walked, I was repeatedly reminded that humans aren’t the only important things on earth and that life and death will go on regardless of whether I’m there or not. That actually did make me feel more peaceful and part of something bigger than myself.

And I was reminded that life’s full of mystery. Like what’s in this ruellia? I don’t know.

The highlight of my walk was finding dozens of black swallowtail caterpillars on one prairie parsley plant. I watched those little guys noshing away for a long time. I forgot all my sadness about community events for a while!

I enjoyed all the flowers I saw, and the butterflies. Even the trees were beautiful. What a nice break.

I didn’t see many birds but heard lots. I spotted a painted bunting by hearing it first. Um. You couldn’t ID it from this!

From the listening app I heard:

Dickcissel
Robin (rare here)
Barn swallows
English sparrow (zzz)
Painted bunting (lots)
Cardinals
Mockingbird (also pretended to be a blue jay)
Starlings
Tufted titmouse
House finch
Killdeer
Carolina wren
Song sparrow
Cowbird
Phoebe
Carolina chickadee
Common yellow throat (only saw that once ever)
Nighthawk (also saw two)
Scissor tail
Baltimore oriole (wow)

That’s a lot of birds! The vultures didn’t make any noise, but were there, too.

Not only did nature make me feel more at peace, but my friends did, too. I enjoyed my afternoon coffee with two friends, Anita and Pamela. We laughed over my high school diaries that I found yesterday and discovered were mostly in Spanish. Then we shopped at the new antiques store downtown. I was happy to see there were many customers! I got a giant piece of purple glass for my window.

It’s the wine glass-looking thing in the middle.

After that we sat on a bench overlooking the town square, wondering how we ever ended up in Cameron, Texas and enjoying it. Fun times. I’m glad for the supportive friends I’ve finally accumulated here!

Perfect spot to watch small town life go by

Topping the day off with a horse ride and swim in the pool brought balance back, at least for now. I hope you also find your own balance.

Cheers to Friends and Family

Not much to say about today, but there was much goodness involved. I’ve been spending a lot of time with friends this week and it’s left me feeling mellow and connected. That doesn’t happen often, so cheers!

And yes, I went overboard with my St. Patrick’s Day theme. Not shown are sparkly green shoes. The shirt says “Lucky,” not what you’re thinking.

I enjoyed lunch with my friends Trixie and Sara, next door. We hadn’t seen Trixie since a health crisis, so it was excellent to do some chatting about horses.

I had breakfast with these gals. The wind was so bad last night that it blew their door open. They just followed me back in when I fed them. Sweet hens.

After work was something very wonderful and long awaited. The Venue that our family members worked on for so long officially opened and had its ribbon cutting by our Chamber of Commerce buddies. Barbara, who is running her catering business there, is so excited. Her entire extended family was, too.

Everyone was so happy. The renovation team got to be in the photos, too. See if you can find my family hiding.

Another exciting part was that my son and his band-mate, Austin, got to be part of the entertainment. It was their first gig in Cameron. They did good, and I got to enjoy it with my friend Pamela! I was thrilled to know so many of my local friends were seeing him play. Proud mom overload!

I get so proud to be a part of a small-town community and to see how it’s growing through so many people’s hard work and vision. Cheers to the folks with vision and forethought who are making our town fun and full of culture. Now, please enjoy some photos.

Anyway, life is good. Friends are good. Community rocks.

Goldie + Carlton = True Love

Over the past month or so, the friendship between Goldie, the Great Dane, and Carlton, the extra-white mutt, has blossomed into what can only be true love. They’re together almost all the time and keep each other in great shape, in between long naps on the couch.

And of course there’s the running in huge circles around the house, the dog play (like horseplay only with dogs), and the long drinks from the pool when they need a break.

I know I’ve shared these before, but they are so cute.

Hmm. I must also mention the barking at things in the night. Cattle? Rabbits? Coyotes? Skunks? Armadillos? Raccoons? Big cats? So many possibilities, all real, judging from poop.

Dang bunnies been eating chicken feed, what little the Devil (English) Sparrows leave behind.

They just plain enjoy each other. Often I see Goldie’s paw on Carlton, asking him to either join her on the couch or play. And they hardly use dog toys. They have each other (giving Harvey and Penney time to play with the squeaky toys).

While they play, I’m in total control of the squeaks.

This morning they must have spent 45 minutes gently playing, licking each other, and chewing on body parts. Penney just watched. Lee and I could not stop laughing at their antics. They just don’t get tired of each other. I remember being that much in love!

In other events, We had a nice party last night for our friend, Mike, who turned 60 this week. Martha cooked a delicious pasta dish and Lee and I contributed a big ice cream cake from Dairy Queen. It was really good. We all prefer ice cream to actual cake, so it was a hit after some time time in the hot tub! and Anita got to have a second birthday celebration, since we’d already enjoyed a meal in Temple on her actual birthday. Celebrations of people you love — I guess that’s good for people AND dogs!

Social Life!

Not much time to blog today, because I’ve been busy seeing people and doing things. I DO have friends in real life! My friends are darned interesting, too. Plus, two horses have trimmed hooves. That’s it, other than a few random ranch pictures.

Today’s creature is NOT poisonous! It’s a damselfly. I saw four different colors today: blue, green, tan, and white.

My spotted buddies. One standing in poop, one rolling in it.

Aww, a sweet nest hiding in the stock trailer.

Enjoying their new space. Can you find Fiona?

Who Says I Don’t Have Friends?

I have some, but most are online friends. I have some local ones, but the only one I’ve seen for the past month is Tarrin, and she got paid to show up. Just kidding. It’s my fault as much as anyone else’s!

I had a nice chat with this friend today. She said it was hot outside. (Obscure bird grasshopper)

My car has had a flat tire since before we left for California. At least it got me home. There’s been just too much going on to get the tire off and take it in to get fixed or replaced. So I have gone nowhere except to the hospital to see Kathleen.

This friend and I chatted while I fed the horses. He said he appreciated the shade. (Differential grasshopper)

Yeah. I’m also working my butt off. No time to galavant around Cameron. Work is good though. I feel appreciated!

You know who is no longer my friend? The UPS driver. She’s stopped dropping off by the garage and now dumps heavy boxes buy the road. Today I had to wrangle a 45-pound bag of coconut stuff for the horses. I was glad I had a wagon!

My wagon is a great friend! These are the boxes huge feed containers came in. The wagon also helps with all my hay moving.

I have no idea what’s up with UPS but I’ll just deal with it. No time to fume and fuss. I’ll just be grateful for good things, like Kathleen being back again and looking better.

Wine, yarn, and a white dog friend will keep me positive, too.

Drew Goes to Summer Camp

It isn’t summer yet, but Drew went off to Camp Wild Type yesterday, like a little man.

I’m gonna cry cause you’re making me leave.

Really, what’s happening is that I’m going out of town later this week, and Sara offered to take care of him most of the time I’m gone, since she has a really healthy pasture someone needs to nosh on while Aragorn deals with some issues. It’s like going to camp!

Camp? With food? You can see my ribs, you know.

We walked over to Sara’s property, and Drew was such a gentleman. I never had to pull on his lead, he never bumped into me, and he walked with me. That boy has learned. Even when he neighed, he paid attention to me. I was so proud. Once we got there he went to meet Lakota, the older palomino gelding who she’s taking care of in his retirement years.

We were a little worried, as you are when two strange horses meet. But these guys just sniffed faces, sniffed shoulders, and sniffed butts.

It was sweet to watch them immediately start hanging out together. Drew hasn’t made any good friends in our herd, so that pleased me so much.

I hope they are going to have a nice time together. The beautiful Sully is also going to be there. She’s probably going be a boss mare, so introducing her is going to take a while. Sara is on it! It’s so good to have a trusted friend who cares as much as I do about our horses.