Thankful Thursday

I thought all day about what I wanted to post about this.  Really, there are so very many reasons in my life to be thankful! 

What I am truly thankful for tonight is those little moments that come in on the wings of...on the wings of...God's grace.  Just a little thought that brushes up against the reality of what is going on today.

As I was walking Shasta this evening, the thought occured to me that I have probably never been my authentic self.  Not totally.  I have been held down by my own insecurities, other's unthinking comments, and downright unkind words by people who were supposed to love me.  Not only is that sad, but how sad that I let that happen.  And I did let that happen.

I hold no animosity towards them.  It was my own decision to let these things become who I am.  I'm 58 years old, and have no intention of being that small person any longer.  My kids will struggle with that unless I am here to teach them.  I will try to change that each and every day.

Yes, I am thankful for the insight.

Where are we Wednesday

We decided to take a drive this morning. Just a few more shots of the wildflowers along the highway.
Here's where we ended up!
We had planned on coming to La Grange last week, but for some reason that I can't remember at the moment, we didn't make it. 
The first thing we noticed was an old cemetary.  Pretty fascinating.  We had to drive around the block to figure out how to get in.
I did notice that there were a lot of women in this particular part of the cemetary. I just love some of the monuments in here.
The population of La Grange is about 5,000 people. Everyone that we talked to since coming to Texas has been the most polite, helpful, and delightful people! I could get very used to that in a hurry.
This is the courthouse, located in the heart of downtown.
It looks a little like a house of horrors in this picture, but it is quite beautiful.
Just a block from downtown, here was this fella all by himself in a couple of acre fenced yard.
Here's where we ate on the way home.
There's BBQ everywhere in Texas, but this has been the best by far! I did feel a wee bit guilty when we left and I looked across the highway.
I hope your day was as delicious, I mean, as wonderful as ours!

Garden Tuesday

My garden in Columbus, TX is a damp world this morning.    Heavy fog, low clouds created little puddles for the birds to drink from.  Yes, there's a river just down the road, but they seem to enjoy this more.

To see more Garden Tuesday photos from around the world, please visit Pam's Sidewalk Shoes!

All God's Creatures Sunday . . . or Monday

This is the picture I was going to post yesterday.
Unusual fellow.  Actually, there were 4 or 5 of them nosing around the stump.  Well, I'll just see if I can figure out what it is.   Went online, typed in black & white bug, got numerous sites that popped up.  Clicked on one...not much info, went to another, and all of a sudden, my computer had a virus that disabled my virus protector, and claimed it was microsoft removal tool and demanded we purchase their protection for $59.00.  (This is not a microsoft program at all, but it looked pretty authentic!)  As the morning wore on, it seemed to get worse, not allowing access to any of my programs.

Seven hours on the phone with microsoft, the virus is gone and everything is back to normal.  Evidently, this was a new virus that ms had just learned of yesterday.

So, suffice it to say, I don't care what kind of bug it is.  If I could remember the exact site I went to I'd let you know, but the whole thing freaked me out so much that I can't remember. 

We had another little visitor in the last couple of days too. 
We had grilled some chicken outside the night before and whoever this was couldn't resist the catch tray for the grease!

Friday Footsteps

Tiny footsteps in our lives...
The concrete pad next to our motorhome displays these beautiful spines of leaves that perhaps found wings on the wind, and found their new home on wet concrete.
How lightly can something touch our lives and yet leave a definite footprint that changes us forever?  Do we ever recognize that moment?  Sometimes.
I'd like to keep in mind, that anything, or anyone, can gently brush by me, no matter how lightly, and change me forever.
And, hopefully, make a more meaningful life!

Thankful Thursday

My friend, Graham, at a Hebridean in New Zealand, posts every Thursday about things he's grateful for.  I think it's a great idea!  Makes us take the time to focus on the things that are right, instead of the things that are wrong.

This particular week, I'm thankful for this:
Notice the 3 or 4 inches between the slide on the motorhome and the electrical meter? Well, a couple of days ago, we were sitting outside, and I noticed that the slide was resting on that meter! $%@#*!!!

We've had problems with our levelers for EVER! When we first got here, we cleared that meter by about an inch, but over a few days, something had changed and it became an issue. One of the problems with the levelers is that when we start the engine, the levelers will DROP! abruptly, and we can't bring in the slides without starting the engine.

After seeing the slide on the meter (and having had a couple of glasses of wine), we decided to do nothing at that point. However, we didn't sleep that night, imagining the worst case scenerio...

Our levelers had only touched down to keep us from wobbling as we walked around inside the mh, we hadn't had to really use them to "level" the coach.
Thank God for that.

Next morning, we looked at one another with deer in the headlight eyes, and knew that we needed to do something. In my mind, the coach would DROP(!), the slide would crunch somehow, and we would have to find someone to come to us to do something about not being able to get the slide back in! The sense of doom was THICK in here!

Well, I'm thankful tonight because since we had only touched down the levelers, not had any part of the mh "raised" to level, when we turned the engine on...smooth as a baby's hiney! I could have cried with joy! Then we moved it over, out of harm's way.
Yes, I am thankful! Whew!

Where are we Wednesday

Wednesday finds us in...
It's not THE Colorado river. It's a Colorado river that begins southeast of Lubbock, TX and flows through Texas hill country, down to Matagorda Bay on the Gulf of Mexico. I think I read that it was around 860 miles long.
Hang on, let me run down and snap a pic from the shore....
We walked down here the other day and frightened a turkey vulture that was feasting on a couple of fish lying on the shore.
Here are a few pics from around the park.
Texas Hill Country. Beautiful.

Garden Tuesday

It's the beginning of wildflower season here in Texas.
This was taken along the highway close to where we're staying. I've been trying for days to catch a really clear picture of the flowers but it's hard to slow down on the highway! I've decided to stop trying so hard and just enjoy seeing it!

These little cuties are everywhere in the grass around us. Their simplicity charms me somehow.
Also in my garden this morning...
Check out more garden photos over at Sidewalk Shoes, or better yet, link up with your photos!

All God's Creatures Sunday

Cows with Hats
They were all wearing them except the one to the left.
Any guesses as to why?

For lunch today, we went to Mikeskas Famous BBQ. After all, we are in Texas, the capitol of BBQ. Inside was full of stuffed animals...literally, a hundred of them.

I don't know if this woman realized what we saw when we looked in her direction. :)

More Austin

Austin is the capital of the state of Texas. Austin is a beautiful city with hills, valleys and lakes running through the city. Austin has a current population of over 700,000 and over 1,000,000 in the metropolitan area.
Austin is a popular vacation spot with 2 lakes within the city limits and 5 more lakes to the northwest of Austin. These lakes make up the Highland Lakes chain of lakes and are very popular for water activities such as boating, swimming, water skiing, etc. The mild winter climate attracts many visitors from the northern states in the winter.

Austin has really piqued our interest.  Yes, it's beautiful, green, trees everywhere.  As we drove through the Lake Travis area, I noticed (barely) a Target sign, but could see no building.  We had to drive down around a curve behind the sign area before we could see anything.  I like that.
I don't know what this building is, but isn't it beautiful?

You know, I'm a pretty soft-hearted, easy going, girlie girl. However, I would TOTALLY have gone in to figure this one out!!!

Of course, at any festival around the United States, there is always some tie-dyed offerings for sale.
Just on the outskirts of downtown Austin:
Oh, yes! We will definitely be back! Perhaps a winter packed full of Austin!

Where are we Wednesday

Lake Travis in Austin, Texas. 
We're actually not quite this close, but just a short drive.

Yes, I sort of dropped the ball as far as San Antonio is concerned.  Truth be told, I wasn't all that impressed with it, although I wasn't feeling well at the time.

We originally came to Austin to catch some music, this being the live music capital of the world.  We love the music that comes out of this part of the country; from blues to indie rock, country to jazz, rock en español and more.  So imagine our delight when we discovered that this very week is South by Southwest (SXSW) music & film festival in Austin on Sixth St!!!  Until we found out that a half a million people come to Austin for this event!  To get a wristband to all of the events is $450 in advance.  Walk in rate is $950 per person.  No kidding.  Then we thought, might be a bummer that we ended up here this week.
Then we found out that there is PLENTY of live music for free this week all over Austin!  We ventured downtown around 11:00 this morning, just when the roads were being blocked off.  Stages were being set up:
Walking around downtown, with lots of people even though it was early, you could feel the expectations of the crowds.   I swear, by the time we got back to the truck, we smelled like a dive bar and we hadn't even gone inside. 

I love murals painted on walls in downtown areas.
We left the downtown area, knowing that we would not be able to stay long enough to catch music down here (Shasta's bladder), and headed down to Congress St., where the Continental Club is.  We hear about that club all the time on Serious XM, Outlaw Country! 
The little plaque next to the door says that this is an Austin Landmark. There are some pretty big names that come through here. Going inside, we were so surprised at how small this venue is, but I'm sure people are packed in here like sardines. I would take that on to see Junior Brown!

We're back on the road tomorrow, but I'll try to post some more about Austin!

Garden Tuesday - Spring!

Garden Tuesday is being brought to us by our bloggy buddy, Pam, over at Sidewalk Shoes. Link up, lets see what's going on in your garden!

My garden today is near Lake Travis, in central Texas. This is the first wildflower I've seen so far this year. Texas is kind of known for the wildflowers along the roadways in the spring. Not much rain this winter though, so we'll see how many wildflowers are popping up this month.
Shiny, tender new leaves...
And the #1 first sign of spring?
WEEDS!!! Oh yeah, forgot about that, didn't we?
I saw two swallowtail butterflies today too, but was certainly not prepared to catch a photo!