
Monday it was even nicer than two Mondays ago when we played golf. Not sure how that could be but it was. Again, we took advantage to play 27 holes, just about our theoretical limit. As you can see from the picture of the pond on the course, there was practically no wind. The same was true for Tuesday. It is very unusual to have no wind here on the Texas high plains and even more unusual to have two calm days in a row. By the end of the week, though, it was back to winter time. Sunday morning we had a covering of snow; very picturesque but also very cold.

Hans and Elisabeth arrived about midnight Friday night after a long delay in Dallas. They should have been here about 6:00. Abigail had a volleyball tournament Saturday and had to be at the gym at 7:45. Joyce and I volunteered to get her there so the rest of the household could emerge at their leisure. That was accepted but Kari, who is usually up early, went with us. The rest of the Zbindens joined us after a couple of games. Teams took turns keeping score and referring when they weren’t playing. Abigail started out as second ref. There was a regular ref but the second ref and those calling balls in our out were players between games.
Tournaments can last a long time. It’s one thing when you are young and playing and quite another when you are not young and not playing. I finally left about 2 o’clock after Abigail’s last game but while they were still debating over whether to play a consolation game. Abigail’s team put up a fight but wound up losing all but one of the seven or eight games they played. When I got home, li’l r and I built a fire and played dominoes to pass the time.
Thursday afternoon I finished watering the south end. I’d been pressing hard all week to finish because I knew the weather was forecast to change and I didn’t want to be messing with water during Christmas week. The snow wasn’t a lot of moisture but at least it augmented what I’d done and helped preserve or extend the effects. I guess I’ll have to wait until spring to see if my efforts are rewarded.