Don’t be fooled by the title; it refers to losing the blog entries for these three days, and having to reset the computer’s operating system back to square one—that’s what happens when one uses a beta version of a new operating system!

We continued saying goodbyes Sunday morning at the Crossroads Band warm-up, church, Sunday school, and lunch.  We have really enjoyed our time at First United Methodist Church in Mountain Home, and particularly enjoyed the Crossroads Band and the Sunday school class.  Dr. Paul Wilbur, our Sunday school teacher, is undoubted one of, if not, the best “teachers” I’ve ever had!  We had lunch with Al and Gaye at Chen’s and getting to know them has been one of the highlights of living in the area.  After a walk-thru of the house, we discovered that a lot of “little” things needed to be thrown away or packed, so packing continued packing into the evening.  No hummingbirds were observed today.

Happy birthday, Jenny.  One of my greatest blessings was your birth 34 years ago today.  Monday provided an opportunity for a last lunch with Wayne and Harold, two neighbors.  The three of us began celebrating our respective birthdays with a single lunch once a year several years ago, and while Wayne and I visit frequently, it gives us a chance to visit with Harold this one time a year.  Harold mentioned that Wayne is now the “old” man in the neighborhood while Harold is a close second—time flies!  We are nearing completion of packing personal things as a few more boxes were packed today.  In order to get a head start on all the things we need to do this week, I took down the real estate sign at the front of the property so that Kay could return it to her office later in the week.  We phoned Chuck and Sue Mercer, Canadian friends living in Alberta, to find them doing well, and signed up for curling, a popular Canadian sport, for November and December.  A number of hummingbirds were observed feeding today.

We were up early Tuesday morning and off to Walmart for packing paper and tape.  The light mist continued well into the morning as we loaded the power washer and canoe.  Loading the canoe proved challenging as the Expedition is high, and the canoe is long, heavy, and unwieldy.  Nevertheless, we finally got it on top and tied down.  The house received its final cleaning today; we were fortunate to find LouAnn as she does a superb job.  Kay and I delivered the canoe and power washer to my sister’s for winter storage, and it was a stressful drive as we had to stop and retie 3 times because of the 20 to 30 miles per hour crosswinds the entire drive.  Despite the hard drive, the brief visit with family was good.  We talked to Al and Sharon, friends from Ontario, tonight and are delighted that they will arrive in the RGV shortly after we arrive.  We enjoy playing bridge with them, and Al and I play golf together.