FINALLY A FLIPPER After a couple of missed opportunities, Donald finally got to flip pancakes at the weekly Pine to Palm Resort Park’s Pancake Supper. This is a well organized event that occurs every Monday evening, and is attended by some 400+ people. Work actually begins at 10:00 AM when sausage links are cooked, and continues through the morning as ham is sliced. The kitchen and dining room work crew reports at 3:30 PM, readies the kitchen, prepares coffee, makes other beverages, and puts out all the add-ons such as butter, syrup, strawberries, pineapple, etc. Shortly before 4 PM, pancake batter is made in a 5 gallon container, and three 36-inch grills are loaded with pancakes, which are cooked for the “crew”. Then, after eating our own cooking, the real show begins. A team makes the batter according to a tried and true recipe, another person loads the batter into three batter droppers, and the “flippers” drop the batter onto the grill, and flip the pancakes. The flippers begin in sequence, with the first filling his grill, then the second, then the third. As folks come through the line, fresh pancakes hot off the grill, are served in their plates (over 1,000 pancakes are cooked and served), and the diners then pick up all the fixings. This lasts from 4:30 PM to 6:00 PM and goes by lightening fast.

JUST A TYPICAL WEEK, FINALLY This week was a typical week in the RGV, finally. Combined with our usual activities that included the spring chorus practice, pancake supper, Bible study, dance lessons, church choir practice, and church, we were able to do some other things on our list. We visited the Don Wes Flea Market and adjacent fruit market Wednesday morning. Late Wednesday, Donald finished the first phase of the project he’d been working on, and was much relieved—making for a much more pleasant atmosphere in DunnGone. On Thursday morning, we hiked around the Estero Llano Grande Birding Center, a Texas state park. It was a good outing, and we saw lots of water birds, though the international birding center near Mission seems to be bigger and has more species. Pine to Palm Park sponsored a dance on Thursday evening, finally bringing in a decent band, Jealous Heart. They had a large following and the doors had to be closed at 7:00 PM because of an overflow crowd; many people didn’t get in. This caused for a packed dance floor, and when combined with people who do not know how to dance the Texas Two Step (couples dancing the two-step, and moving in a large circle like skaters in a skating rink), it made for a bumper car experience. Donald’s a very big guy, so when he would get bumped, it was like a Volkswagon bumping into a Lincoln. We had cloudy days on Thursday and Friday, and it rained all day Saturday. A cold front came in with the rain, and dropped temps to the mid 40s Saturday night, making sleep come easy. We had not experienced a full day’s rain in the RGV before, and it gave us an opportunity to do some much needed shopping. Kay sang at church on Sunday, we relaxed in the hot tub for a couple of hours, and we enjoyed the rest of the day planning our Alaska 2009 trip.

DONALD’S PREJUDICES ARE SHOWING Because of their February special—half price dinners—we have been eating at Luby’s on weekend evenings. On Friday evening, we arrived later than usual, and experienced longer lines than usual. It seemed that every senior citizen over 80 would have to have the servers repeat all the special dishes, then these seniors would take forever to make their choice. This also happened with the Mexican families. And as he often does, Donald remarked that the only things he didn’t like about the RGV were the old people (really old, and that target moves up every year) and the Mexicans. He’s not really that prejudiced, but he is that impatient, and a wee bit intolerant. Even though you love him, you’ve got to forgive him for these errors in his personna! However, knowing most of you, you’re probably just like him!