Wednesday, November 26, 2008

Texas A&M 84, Wilmington 65

I’ve been promising myself I’d take advantage of the fact that I’m only about an hour and a half from College Station by catching some Texas A&M football games. Before I knew it, football season was over, but hey, I’m starting to like basketball more than football anyway. So, when I noticed that UNCW was on the schedule, I finally swung into action.

It was a lot of fun, sandwiched between very pleasant drives over and back. I somehow ended up in the second row of the student section under the basket with the Reed Rowdies. They really keep you fired up.

I liked the score, too, although the coach seemed upset with the level of play in his interview after the game. There is lots of talent on this team, and I’ll admit they never quite seemed to play up to their potential. Hopefully they will pull things together and we’ll have some real fun in March.

Oh, and hello to all my friends in Wilmington. Hope to see you soon.
I’ll be with Jon at Mom and Dad’s for Thanksgiving. Then, at the first ever Monday night game for the Texans on December 1.
Holy smoke! I have to get this posted and meet Jon at the farm. No time for projects.

Saturday, November 22, 2008

Mundane Monthly

Well, the routine around here is getting very routine. I stay in the sleeping bag a little longer to delay the 40 degree wakeup greeting. I putter around on a few projects. Then, I shower and go to town for a late lunch. If the lunch spot offers WiFi, I might get in some web surfing. I study the markets in vain for a sign of recovery. Then I return home for a steak or chicken over the mesquite fire. If it is too windy I may opt for a bowl of chili or even a salad. Even the projects are getting less interesting. The way things are going, I’ll have to rename this blog “The Mundane Monthly”.

During the 40 mph winds we had last week when a nor’easter blew in, I noticed that the old barn was really flopping. There were lots of lose corners that caught the wind. Some of the ridge cover blew off, and the whole thing seemed poised to fly away. I don’t really have much use for the old barn, but I hated to see it destroyed. So, soon enough, I was under the cabin retrieving my ladder. I found half a box of old neoprene head roofing nails I knew were around here somewhere. And I put on my barn repairman’s hat. A couple of days and boxes of nails and trips to Lowe’s later, it was a bit more sound, although not pretty.

The birds still make for interesting watching. This morning, as sometimes happens, I scared off my regular big blue heron. He never hangs around long enough for me to get a picture. The occasional duck stops by on his way south. Dozens of robins and cardinals seem to have made the area around the cabin and pond home. A few days ago I saw 4 cardinals in the water at the edge of the pond taking a bath. No pictures of that, but I did take the following picture from my window this morning of 3 of them grazing on the rye grass I sowed near by.

I try to catch a bit of football when I can, but the wind is about gone out of this football season for me. So, I’ve begun turning my attention to basketball. I tried to attend a Baylor game, since I think they have a pretty good team and they are nearby, but I arrived late and had a problem finding parking, so I abandoned the idea. Maybe later. I did catch the Temple High Wildcats game last night. Quite a value for the $3 ticket. I’d forgotten how much I enjoy watching high school basketball.

Well, that’s about it for this edition of the Mundane Monthly. I still have tickets for one more Texan’s game. After that, I’m thinking about heading back to North Carolina. Being a relatively new grandpa, I’m including exhibit 1 (below) from Wilmington to justify the trip.

MYLES

Saturday, November 08, 2008

Rhome, Texas

For the past few days I’ve been in Rhome, visiting my family. In addition to seeing family, it was fairly productive.

We managed to insulate a few hundred additional square feet of attic in mom and dad’s house. It had no insulation until we started working on it in the past year.

Then, I decided to tackle a couple of trees that were threatening the house and driveway. The biggest obstacles were making sure they fell the right direction and keeping the chainsaws running and sharp.

One load of wood headed for a relative’s fireplace, but the rest is still hanging out in the back yard looking for a home.

I was there on Halloween, so I caught this picture of Peyton on her first trick or treat expedition.

Now, back to Houston for some football.