Chain Ring Cowboy

I used two different cameras while I was back home for Thanksgiving, so don't have some of the family pictures I wanted to put up here. But I wanted to mention some progress on Judith, the lady who was trekking across the Southern Tier from Jacksonville Florida to San Diego California. At least I think I wrote about her before. But here's the deal Judith is from the Netherlands. She flew to Florida to ride her bicycle across the southern route of the USA, alone, and for the most part self supported. I met her in an Austin Bicycle shop on one of my lunchtime walks and we looked at a map for a few minutes. I also gave her my mom and dad's address and phone number and told her that if she wanted a nice place to stay to call them. Then I called my parents and told them of what I had done. Kind of reverse order, right? Judith showed up at mom and dad's on Thanksgiving morning, just in time to take a shower and ride over with them to where Marcy and I were hosting the feas...

Monica, my middle daughter, is doing what she usually does. SMILE. She knows a lot about big truck parts and little truck parts and car parts too for that matter. She now drives a cool company truck. I congratulate her for how well she is doing. She already knows I am a bit envious that I never got to drive a company truck home. Way to go Monica

Marcy and I posed at the reunion Saturday Shindig back in September. The pictures finally got here. Day And Night When the sun goes down right where the dusty trail disappears over the horizon on the hill, the winds calm down. Insects quiet for a spell as if silent vigil is required for prayer hour. Birds cease hunting for food and seek a quick sip of water before heading to roost. Dusk brings darkness which signals the end of reverent silence, prayer time is over. All bugs and critters begin their praise with glorious chorus, singing and sawing their instruments. Dawn comes at the point when it seems the darkness never ends. Refreshing to the rested, but not to the tired. It will be time for one more obedient prayer hour, to invite the light of day with all it's clamor. The cycle only ends when it's your time to go into the greater cycle of which you do not know. Being far away in touch but close in the heart is the better than the opposite. Two galaxies expanding in d...

Never Ever Count Your Money In Front Of Poor People. So it goes that I have so much to be grateful for, but to tell it to the world is like being a bit too boastful.

When I came home from a long drive half way across the state of Texas Sunday night, all was well in the apartment. Just outside the porch in the grass was an opossum looking ever so relaxed and munching on something. He actually looked kind of cute. I wonder what it was he found that was worth chewing on? I thought about getting the camera out and taking a picture of my friend. Well, maybe he is just a neighbor and doesn't consider me a friend in any way whatsoever. I decided that if I went to get the camera and opened the door I would have disturbed him, so I gave up on that idea. But I do want to be his friend, I think I will leave some chicken bones out for him just to show him I mean friendship. A few months ago, there was an armadillo who would root around right in that area of the yard, but I think he became victim in a car pedestrian accident. I noticed this one early morning as I rode out of the complex toward my work place.

Doesn't everyone swim in late August?

The moment I sat in the chair and rolled out of the GLO HR office, I entered into the wheelchair experience with good-natured enthusiasm. I am not sure why I was asked to do this four-hour assignment but I thought it was an opportunity to get a sense of what it’s like to be bound to a life without the use of legs. I sat down and rolled out. I fully expected to be uncoordinated for the first few minutes of “driving” the machine. Once out the door of HR, the first place I needed to go was the elevator, and back to my desk on the first floor. I pushed the down button and made myself ready to scurry to whichever of the six elevator doors decided to open. Backing in seemed to be the logical thing to do when the doors opened. But what happened were arms trying to roll the wheels backward and fend off closing doors at the same time. Less than two minutes in the chair and I had my first wrestling match. But success came and soon I was on the first floor with doors opening to a passel of waiti...