A Simple Case of the Mully-Grubs

I took this picture in mid March of last year. I think it's appropriate for this posting as i am no longer all that enchanted with this winter. This lack of enchantment has me in a bit of a quandary.
For much of my life the winter months have meant sweaters and comfortable food with a splash of seasonal treats thrown in for good measure. This winter has seemed vacant and lonely. A desolate and barren plain without so much as a tumbleweed to break up the topography. I actually caught myself wondering why we ran the Indigenous Peoples off of this land.
Perhaps, i simply have a case of the seasonal mully-grubs. Something that will burn off at the first rays of springtime. It's a nice thought, but for whatever reason i can't seem to shake it. So, we do what we always do and that is to Soldier On!
I have, in my current state, been looking at all of my unfinished projects laying about again. I swear it wasn't six months ago when i last cleaned up all of the loose ends and yet, here i am again. I'd like to think that all creative type people end up with projects that end up being, shall we say...done on an installment basis?? I don't really know. Most all of my creative friends seem to move from one project to the next in this seamless stream of creativity. Boy! Not me! I often have four or five projects going at a time. Some fall out of the rotation as i begin other things and some actually do get finished with some sense of normalcy. I'd love to say that's the rule, but i'd be lying. I finish whichever project gets finished next. The only thing that trumps this is if there is a deadline or a need for something then i'll give it its due.
I did notice a couple of overnight bags i started last August or there abouts that need to be put together. I may clean off some room and put those together. Though, i think i quit working on them because i needed something for them i hadn't found yet. If that turns out to be true, i'll find something. I always do.
Well here's to the trees budding out, the grass greening up and the flowers being back in bloom. May my happy go lucky self return before they do.

Until we speak again, Peace be with You, D

Un-Home for the Holidays

Traveling during a Holiday is nerve wracking. When you have an anxiety disorder, traveling during a Holiday is compounded by the irrational mental aggregate. So, naturally, I was thrilled to death to head out for a ten day jaunt at sunrise on Christmas Eve. (The picture at the left was taken that morning. It did however take me four hours to get it posted to FB due to sketchy cell coverage on the Nations Largest 4G Wireless Network,,,SNORT!!!)
I did my best to nap on the first leg of the trip; from Amarillo to Denton. I had to stop in Denton first at the Denton Sewing Center, it's a moral imperative. As i figured, everyone in the place had changed in the year and a half since i had seen them, but it was great seeing them again. It felt to me like we picked up where we left off. Good friends are like that they say. I have to thank my adopted brother Jason for sharpening my scissors while i was there. Boy did they need it. There were a couple of missing bodies, but i had a real nice visit with Deb and Paul. Is it just me or is there never enough time on a trip to really visit everyone appropriately??
We left Denton and headed to Flower Mound to visit my Mother-in-Law. She's a great gal, but her cat was giving my allergies fits. We spent a couple of days there and had Christmas dinner and all that, like ya do. While we were there, we took the older son Zacky Snacky out to The Colony where one of our friends is a Fire Captain and he got the grand tour. I figured we'd drop him off and pick him up later, but it didn't work out that way. We spent the vast majority of the day standing around while he talked shop with all the firemen. Since you ask, Yes, i do know several women who would have volunteered to take him and wait inside for him. I guess for some people there's nothing better than a walking talking group of calendar pages. The best part of the whole time was seeing him get all excited about what they do and how comfortable he felt with those men. It did me good to see him realize his decision was going to be something that truly interested him. Yep, just a little proud.  I didn't get to do what i had set out to do that day, but the next it was a different story.
The next day i had a very long lunch with three very lovely ladies. I know, I know, But Dave, don't you always have lunch with lovely ladies?? Yes, Yes I do. However, It had been far too long since i had seen these three. I have to say there are things about that lunch i will take with me all the days of my life. I know it sounds cliche', but i really mean it. It would be impossible to have that lunch again. There isn't enough magic in the world to recreate that moment and for that I truly thank you girls.
Later that night we dropped by the Fire Captains house and visited with he and his lovely wife. There is that lovely word again, sorry, but they are all lovely. It was great to catch up. I miss seeing them too. He's funny and an all around good guy and she's equally funny, loud, ornery, and she reads. What's not to like?? I guess i just never realized how much of a life i had made in the Dallas area, but i do now and it makes me a little sad. And with that, we move along. We got up the next morning and headed for Houston with our hair on fire. READERS DIGEST VERSION: They got married, we took over 400 pictures. The End.(Who has a wedding with no alcohol??) Avanzar...
Okay, so we left Houston and there is a Bucee's on 45 I had seen on the way down. I have a friend that raves about something called Beaver Nuggets from there and i had to stop and try them for myself. I love food, that's just how i roll. So, I got a couple bags of them and really they are a lot like Pop's cereal with a honey/maple glaze on them. Wow Dude, i'm in love. Seriously, i wanted to get a bowl and fill it with them and almond milk. So glad we stopped, Thanks David for sharing that.
Once back in Dallas, I made a few repairs around the mom-in-laws house and basically waited for the weather to clear up. If you thought i was nervy traveling on a Holiday, wrap this one on your brain: Snowing on New Years Eve. Nope, just wasn't going to get out to drive. We had made some plans for NYE, but either my new med or something else made me green around the gills, so we stayed in. I was a tad forlorn, but i wasn't about to get anyone else sick. No Typhoid Mary for me thanks.
On the way home, we stopped in Denton once again. It was lunch time and i was dying to see if Chinatown Cafe was still a good place to eat. When we went in i was a little nervous as they had remodeled since the last time we'd been in, but then i looked up and saw Arturo. I had gotten to know he and his brother and the woman that would become his brothers wife while i was going to North Texas. It was reassuring to see a familiar face and just like that I saw Lupe. He and I became friends during that same time period and quite frankly i was surprised to see him. The decor may have changed, but the people and the food only got better. Either that or i was really hungry which is always a possibility.
We finally got home just after dark, and i breathed a sigh of relief to be home. I opened the door and went inside and my first thought was, dang 65 degrees sure is cold. I had turned the thermostat to 65 before we left to save on electricity. So I marched over to the thermostat to turn it up to 74 and noticed the readout said the temperature inside was 47. What the hell?? While we were gone, the blower motor burned out. Yee Haw!!! So, four days on space heaters, but they got it fixed yesterday. I would imagine after all that time on those space heaters i'll have a January electric bill that will be free to a good home if any of you are interested.
At any rate, the Holidays are over and I survived to annoy another day. I'm planning on having the house cleaned up by tomorrow evening and the world should return to normal on Monday. I sincerely hope you all had a great Holiday and enjoy a wonderful new year.
Until i write again, Peace Be With You, D