Category: SA Times

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Our neighbors finally concluded their sojourn among the heathen and returned to good ol’ Amarillo.  They spent the last two days of their trip in Paris, a bit of a surprise for Abigail and Rebecca since they hadn’t been told beforehand that they would be going to Paris.  Hans and Elisabeth accompanied them from Aeschii to Basil and A&R just assumed they were headed home.  Instead they bid H&E goodbye and got on a train to Paris.  Even then, A&R didn’t know they weren’t headed home by a different route.  When finally told, Abigail was delighted but li’l r was disappointed.  She was looking forward to seeing Tino the dog, Gramma and Grampa, probably in that order.  Her parents placated her by telling her they would find some fun stuff to do.  They saw some of the sights — the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, and so on — but not without drama in trying to find a decent, or at least, not disgusting venue for Rebecca to potty while they roamed the city.  I’m told the Parisians do not share the tidiness of their Teutonic neighbors, Germany and Switzerland. Continue reading “Homecoming” →

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Our weather this week has been of the more pleasant variety.  The week before was hot, about what you would expect in July.  But this week has been cool, not getting out of the seventies some days and only in the eighties when it did.  The mornings have been particularly nice.  The combination of cool, as low as 58 one morning, and calm made each day feel fresh and clean.  There was some cloudiness, welcome because in spite of the cool air that ol’ sun was still hot.  But if it was cloudy or one was in the shade, well, it was just tough to beat for those of us who toil outdoors. Continue reading “Cool weather” →

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Jill and her tribe returned home Wednesday this week.  Kari and her’s departed for Switzerland Friday.  It’s just Joyce and me; and Tino the dog; and the chickens; and the guineas; quite a change from the previous three weeks of wall-to-wall granddaughters.   It was nice that the little Wylies got to spend so much time on SA and with their cousins.  Though Abigail was away at camp part of the time, she was around quite a bit and didn’t seem to mind being with the shorties, even seemed to rather enjoy it. Continue reading “All quiet” →

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Jill, Kari and I took the shorties to Wildcat Bluff Thursday morning.  It was cloudy and cool, almost misty, and we needed jackets.  One nearly needed a machete to navigate the paved trails around the nature center.  The weeds were encroaching to the point where the two sides almost touched.  About every other weed had a spider web spun to its neighbor on the other side.  I wore shorts and came home with lots of spider web flotsam and jetsam wrapped around my legs because I was made to go first.  We discovered a nest of walking sticks.  The girls counted maybe a dozen, although I’m not sure of the final count. Continue reading “Just when needed” →

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It was Red River week this week.  We left on Monday and returned on Friday.  Everything was pretty much as we left it and we enjoyed the mountain air.  There was some rain on Tuesday but otherwise we stayed dry.  Except for when we went swimming.  They have a nice pool where we stayed, which is the main reason we stay there, that being one of the granddaughters’ prerequisites dating back to when Abigail was knee high to a chipmunk.  Then, I had to get in the pool because Kari was busy with Rebecca who was too small to participate.  Now, all five GD’s are aquatic.  Can’t say as I mind not being required to get in the pool.  The older I get the less inclined I am to want to get in what amounts to a large bathtub with strangers.  And there were plenty of strangers, more than other times it seemed like to me, especially of the short, screeching variety.  But as luck would have it, after we came back from a longish hike, when a dip in the pool seemed inviting, there was no one in it but the members of our party who had returned early, so I took advantage and slithered in with the rest of them.  I managed to avoid drowning at the hands of an exuberant granddaughter and emerged refreshed and ready for lunch. Continue reading “Pilgrimage” →