Can you believe it? February is already here. This winter has flown by.

Our weather here in the Rio Grande Valley has been spectacular the last couple of weeks with the same forecast for the next 10 days. Mornings are cool and calm, and as the day begins to warm winds from the Mexican desert began to blow, continuing to blow until sunset. A few mosquitoes remain, but are not as bad as in December.

Usually, the highlight of Friday’s is the weekly entertainment at the clubhouse, and tonight was no different.  Tonight, a local young man, Rolando Reyes, performed vocally and played trumpet. He is a choral director for middle school in Harlingen, Texas.  He definitely has the best voice we’ve heard in the RGV, but lacks stage presence.  He fiddled with his sound system the entire night, which proved to be quite distracting; in most cases the audience does not hear the little nuances he hears.  AS the night wore on, he got better and better.  His rendition of  “Ave Maria” was the best I’ve ever heard, complete with the full vibrato and resonance of his voice.  And his self-accompaniment on the trumpet was very good.  He ended the night with a couple of Gaither gospel songs, and was awesome; his Baptist upbringing and strong belief in Jesus as the Son of God showed through in both his words and music.  Rolando Reyes’ CD, I Surrender All, can be purchased by emailing him at rolando.reyesmusic@hotmail.com.

Still tired from going strong for the last couple of months, I opted out of the bird trip today to South Padre Island. However, there was a need for exercise and so after our morning walk, I asked neighbor, Chuck, if he would like to go on a ride and he replied in the affirmative.  Chuck is a retired educator from Ontario, having spent most of his teaching career instructing Special Needs students, many who were juvenile delinquents.

The city of Mission, Texas, has outstanding bicycle trails, and a nice trail is adjacent to the resort; Chuck has named it the “Roadrunner Trail” because he usually sees a Greater Roadrunner along the trail when he rides.  The Greater Roadrunner, taxonomically classified as Geococcyx californianus, meaning “Californian Earth-cuckoo,” is a long-legged bird in the cuckoo family, Cuculidae. It was a great day for a bicycle ride—not too hot and not too cold.  Shortly after we left the roadside trail, we saw a large bobcat standing on the trail ahead of us.  We approached and the bobcat did not appear disturbed; as we got closer it trotted into the woods, and stood there, partially concealed by shrubs to an extent that a photo was impossible.  Further along the trail, we saw a Roadrunner, bearing out the trail’s nickname. It is in the center left of the photo, just off the trail.  After the ride, we had lunch, and road another 5-mile loop at the Bentsen Rio Grande State Park next door, making for a total of 15 miles+ today.

We finally reached Carolyn Todd to wish her a happy birthday, having left a “Happy Birthday” song message earlier in the morning.

We skipped Margarita night in the Club House, and enjoyed another quiet evening in the motorhome watching TV.

Okay, okay. I know it has been almost a week since an entry has been posted to the blog. There’s just too much going on around here, and were trying to smell all the roses in the area.

One thing I failed to mention in the last entry was playing Court Whist on Monday night, January 28.  The following was taken from the blog:  http://healthilyeverafter-pam.blogspot.com

Originally, this game was played by royalty in the 18th and 19th century. It is similar to bridge because it involves four players broken into teams of two, however, it is much easier to play. 

Tables are set up for four players.  You can have more or less people playing, just so there are multiples of four.  Each table is assigned a number. To begin the game, every player randomly picks a number and that is the table where they would start the game with a partner.  

If you don’t like your partner, not to worry—you keep rotating tables and partners.  It is a great mixer.  If you keep losing, you could end up sitting at the same table all night but at least you change your partners.  Because this game allows for lots of conversation, it is important to keep things moving or you could be playing all night.  

THE DEAL

• The dealer deals in a clockwise fashion, and the player to the dealer’s left leads the first round, or “trick.” Any card may be led (following the theme of the round) and the other players must, working clockwise around the playing table, play a card according to the lead card. If the player has a card of the same suit (spade to spade, hearts to hearts etc.) he must play that card, if he does not, he can play any card.

THE WIN

• A player wins a trick by placing the highest trump (face card) in it. If there is no clear trump, the winner is determined by the highest card of the suit originally led. Aces are high.  Once determined, the winner will lead the next round of play.

THE SCORE

• Scoring court whist is determined after all 13 tricks have been played.   Don’t forget to mark your score on the section that was just played.   When four games have been played the scores are added for that first round. 

  “Winners Walk – Losers Stay”

• The winners of the game “WALK” to the next table and then play the losers of that table.  You cannot have the same partner in the next round (next four games).  The “LOSERS” always stay at the same table and then play the next round (four games) with a new partner. 

• The game continues until all six rounds (four games in each round) are played—see the Tally sheet for details.

Back to the present.  Kay arrived home last evening, just in time for happy hour and bridge.  And we spent a quiet day today, with both of us recovering from jet lag (and I don’t know why I was suffering from this malady). Thus, there is not much to report.

It has been really quiet around both the motorhome and the resort the last few days. The wind has been blowing steadily at over 20 mi./h with gusts sometimes reaching over 40 mi./h. It sure puts a damper on outdoor activities such as bike riding, flying RC airplanes, birdwatching, and observing butterflies.  Even church on Sunday was very low-key, and many were absent. It is pledge time and this Sunday marked the day when pledges for the upcoming year are submitted, and with many winter Texans attending services at this time of year, most opted not to come. Other than the wind, the weather has been spectacular with highs in the mid to high 80s, even reaching 90° on Tuesday. With Kay gone I haven’t done much except catch up on movies via Amazon Prime.

Kay arrived back in the Valley Tuesday afternoon, just in time for happy hour at the palapa. Of course, everyone was glad to see her, especially me. She appeared as happy to be back in the Valley as we were to have her back. All the ladies nearby had been diligent to keep tabs on and monitor my comings and goings, much like small towns in the 1950s—quite humorous. Things here in the Valley should be normal until we return home.

Sorry there are no photos.

It sure is quiet around here with Kay back in central Arkansas. I pretty much spent time around the motorhome today, but joined neighbors in the center of the circle near the palapa for ladder ball. The first two games were not very competitive, as the team of women trounced the team of men. I was coerced to play and our team of men squeaked out a narrow win. Al Crawford, a neighbor, remembered that it was Robbie Burns (Robert Burns) Day, and took a break from observing the ladder bowl games to return to his fifth wheel. He was gone for several minutes, and when he came back out he was dressed in knickers, short sleeved shirt, and Tartan plaid tam, with the requisite bottle of single malt Scotch. Robert Burns was a famous Scottish poet most notably known for Auld Lang Syne, and those of Scottish heritage celebrate his birthday each year, generally with a Robbie Burns dinner consisting of haggis, creamed turnips, and creamed taters with a dram of Scotch. Haggis is not fit to eat according to most, though the literature says it is a bit like boudin from South Louisiana, except that haggis is made with oats rather than rice.

I did not go to the entertainment venue as Kay and I miscommunicated about the ticket location. It was probably a good thing because several people said that while he sang well, he got a little too intimate with people in the audience—stereo typically a French Canadian from Québec. Anyway, we can see him in Branson as he sings at the Hard Luck Café.

Here’s Burns’ original Scots verse of Auld Lang Syne.

Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and never brought to mind ?
Should auld acquaintance be forgot,
and auld lang syne?

CHORUS:

For auld lang syne, my jo,
for auld lang syne,
we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

And surely ye’ll be your pint-stowp !
and surely I’ll be mine !
And we’ll tak a cup o’ kindness yet,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae run about the braes,
and pu’d the gowans fine ;
But we’ve wander’d mony a weary fit,
sin auld lang syne.

CHORUS

We twa hae paidl’d i’ the burn,
frae morning sun till dine ;
But seas between us braid hae roar’d
sin auld lang syne.

CHORUS

And there’s a hand, my trusty fiere !
and gie’s a hand o’ thine !
And we’ll tak a right gude-willy waught,
for auld lang syne.

CHORUS

Today is Thursday, and that means it is birding day. Our trip today was to Laguna Atacosa National Wildlife Refuge, north of Port Isabel near South Padre Island. Jerry (in the photo) and Karen Smith, our leaders, invited me to ride with them, and I gladly accepted. They are among the elite birders in the nation, and one always learns something when accompanying them.

This part of Texas has sustained a serious drought and remains in a drought situation. Consequently, there was little water in the lagoons, meaning few birds. An owl was conspicuous in the Visitor’s Center, and was definitely the most photographed bird today. In addition to birds, there was an occasional butterfly along the paths and trails.  We did see lots of birds in the flats along the shoreline, but they were too far to photograph. Altogether, we observed 69 species. Bird identification, particularly shorebirds, is still very difficult for me as I forget from one week to the next.

We arrived back at the resort about 3:30 PM, too late for me to go to the store to get food for the annual palapa party. Kay had included some canned fruit for emergency purposes, and I added a banana, two apples, and some chopped pecans to make a fruit salad. We had hamburgers, and lots of salads and desserts—it may have been better than last year and was definitely better attended. Afterwards, the karaoke machine was cranked up and I began with a terrible rendition of Sixteen Tons. There were few singers at the beginning, and I did a credible job on King of the Road. Apparently, one of the guys thought he was a good singer, as he h0gged the microphone most of the rest of the evening, but his timing was poor and he was off key. To avoid further “hurting” my ears, I left early.

.

This was not a typical day in the RGV. We left the resort about 10:00 AM, and drove to the Valley international Airport in Harlingen, Texas, where I dropped Kay off to fly to central Arkansas for a visit. She will be gone eight days. Back at the coach, it was quiet and lonely. Everyone asked about her at the happy hour, most knowing that she had gone to central Arkansas for a visit. And, the women reminded me that they would keep an eye on me to make sure I kept a straight and narrow lifestyle! Seriously, everyone seems to look out for one another down here.

I played party bridge at the Activities Center; there were three tables. Many of the people who played our beginners, are very deliberate in their bidding and playing, and consequently, quite slow. It took us an hour and 45 minutes to play eight hands. I had one good hand, but never could get a fit with a partner. It was frustrating, but fun, nevertheless.

With Kay out of town, I was looking for things to do to keep busy. This morning after walking, I rode to a nearby grass field and watched several of the resort residents fly radio controlled (RC) airplanes. Among those flying, one was a retired Boeing 747 pilot, another was a semi-retired mechanical engineer, and another was a retired veterinarian. These planes, with battery powered electric motors, are much different than those I used to observe in college which had gasoline powered engines. They still fly very fast, and can do acrobatics.  Jim Alexander, the semi-retired mechanical engineer, had built two airplanes from scratch, and they are amazing. With foam bodies, and the engine mounted above the fuselage on the tail, they are good planes to fly over water.  Regrettably, he crashed  one plane accidentally and flew another into a tree, and had to wait for the wind to blow it out. Flying RC airplanes is something I have wanted to do my entire adult life, and now may be the time to begin!

We are back to a somewhat normal schedule, beginning each day by walking around and through the resort. As I told Kay, we are getting “sucked in” down here in the RGV because everyone stops to talk along the way, greets us with a friendly hello, and most even know our names—well at least they know Kay.  It definitely makes one feel at home, and deepens the new friendships.

We performed necessary chores this morning—Kay washed clothes, and I dumped the black and gray tanks and cleaned the inside of the RV. Somehow, the afternoon got away from us, and before we knew it, it was happy hour. Again, there was a large crowd at the palapa.

Tonight, the resort hosted country Roland Garcia and his band for a dance at the activities center. It sold out quickly, but we were fortunate to get a seat at the last table. We danced all but three or four dances, doing the Texas two-step and the Texas waltz. We had forgotten how much fun we have dancing to Texas music.  Here’s a Facebook link to a video of one dance—and regrettably, Kay and I are conspicuous on the dance floor:  http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=436041959798231

Quiet hour begins at 10:00 PM, and the band honored the time constraint to the chagrin of the crowd.

Today was our last full day together for about a week, as Kay returned to central Arkansas tomorrow to visit kids, grandkids, and friends.

We awoke early enough this morning to attend early church at 8:00 AM. First United Methodist Church of Mission has three services each Sunday: an early traditional service at 8:00 AM, a praise and worship service at 9:00 AM, and the regular traditional service at 11:00 AM. After this morning, we have attended all three. The early traditional service was packed, and we had to sit in the balcony. It is my least favorite of the three services, though still good.

On our way back to the motorhome after church, we stopped at McDonald’s for Egg McMuffins. With nice weather forecasts for the foreseeable future, Kay and I washed the very dirty Honda, not having been washed since just after getting in the RGV in late November.

I attempted a long bicycle ride  from our resort to Anzalduas Park, approximately 7 miles each way. There was a $4 fee for weekends—Friday, Saturday, and Sunday—so I did not go into the park, but returned back to the resort, stopping along the way to photograph the skeletal remains of an old mission. Kay and I spent a couple of hours in the hot tub and pool, though the pool was still a bit cool from last week’s cold weather.

Happy hour followed pool and spa time, and the palapa was full as everyone wanted to visit after hunkering down most of last week.

We opted not to attend the baked potato dinner at the Activities Center, and spent the rest of the evening watching television.

We awoke from a great night’s sleep, and enjoyed a walk through the resort.  The weather has returned to almost normal, though this morning was a bit chilly.
Kay returned to the woodshop to put another coat of finish on her segmented bowl, and I rode to the National Butterfly Center (NBC) to shoot some photos in the “raw” mode suggested by Gary Martins, another photographer, birder, and woodworker here at the resort.  Each time I visit the NBC, another new butterfly is “discovered”.  They have been there all along, but one’s eye becomes more discerning after thousands of butterflies! 


Back at the motorhome, the photographs were downloaded into Lightroom 4, and what a difference the “raw” mode made in image quality; thank you, Gary.  I am particularly fond of photographing butterflies that have been “damaged” in their migration, by bird attacks, etc.

Rather than play card bingo tonight, we played party bridge with Al and Sharon, and had a great time.