Tag: Thanksgiving

November 9 Kari and I visited McBride Canyon for my quarterly Great Texas Trail inspection. Unfortunately, the Alibates Flint Quary National Monument visitor center was closed due to the government shutdown. All was not lost though; we were able to take a nice walk down the canyon road and along the river valley. Starting out, the wind was a might chilly but we warmed up quickly as the day warmed and the wind lessened to the point we began to look forward to the next little breeze that came along. It was a clear day, good for a stroll. We didn’t see any fauna and the flora was mostly dry. Some cottonwoods along the river were bright yellow and the sagebrush on the sides of the valley were a nice greenish blue.

Of the nearly 100 agave americanas (century plants) growing in the decorative area just east of 2005 driveway, to date I have harvested 98. The first one I moved, I planted in my front yard. The remainder I planted on the caliche mound (53) and the rest I potted in plastic pots left over from previous plant purchases. I don’t know the origin of the original plant. I suppose Mom and Dad planted it in the area of the old juniper Dad and I brought back from McBride Canyon. It was an interesting piece in a driftwood sort of way and went well with the big chunks of flint we had previously liberated from the flint quarries before the National Park Service made the Alibates Flint Quarry National Monument. Along with a couple of fair-sized chunks of dolomite I don’t know the origin of, and some red yucca planted there, these items made a kind of picturesque grouping. The flint and dead juniper date back to my prepubescent years. That is, their presence on SA dates back that far. Even the juniper is much older than that. Over the years, the agave and yucca proliferated and between that and the weeds, the flint and juniper were all but obscured.

Our weather for the whole week of Thanksgiving couldn’t have been any nicer.  The Wylies arrived Monday and non-stop hilarity ensued, at least among the Wylie girls plus Li’l r.  Jill and Dave both had to work on Tuesday and even some on Wednesday.  Jill’s job is really demanding a lot from her right now but hopefully the frenetic pace won’t continue much longer. Continue reading “Thanksgiving” →