June 30 2009

If you click on the photo above, it should take you to a series of pictures of the plants I stuck in pots and soil over the last few days. Unfortunately, due to high humidity this morning, my lens fogged up so some of the images are blurred on the left.

I now have a gps to go with my car. It is the cheapest model I could find, and so lacks many of the cool features of the fancier ones. However, most of the cool features I would not use, so they would be wasted money. I tested it out last night, and it seems to work fine, though I don't know if it will always be so accurate. I have enabled the compass, so that should help me know which way I am going.

Today I am staying home and doing some cleaning/resting. I have been out and about sine last Wednesday, and I am feeling tired of moving around.

Silent Sunday

All I hear are overhead fans chopping the air. Carol is locked in her office, Mags is intently observing the moving blinds, and Daph is snoring somewhere out of sight. In a few minutes I have to get up and start supper (roasted brussel sprouts, corn on the cob, and a Vegan Dad's Burger).

I went to the other plant store this morning. Blew the remaining plant budget, so no more plants until the fall. I am pleased with how the ones we bought yesterday have perked up, and how they have brightened the space as well. Today, I added more geraniums, some ornamental grasses (purple fountain grass and dwarf pampas), some herbs, and some more shade lovers. I will plant some tonight, some will need to wait until I can find some cheap pots (dollar store or maybe walmart). Already our place looks much better.

I was able to drive around today without any maps or directions from google, and I had no problems finding my way around either. I suppose this must mean I am becoming used to this small space of Denton. Take me out of my comfort zone and I will be totally lost though.

Saturday

I have had a busy day. I was down at the farmers' market early this morning, picked up some veggies and a small, cute rosemary plant. Then I went to check on Ken's produce, but it was still closed. I zipped home, picked up Carol up and we went to Lowe's. There we wandered around picking up a few little things we need to do some finishing touches on our home (picture hangers, shelve fixers, something else I have forgotten). From there we crossed to Wachovia, changed our address on the accounts and then went to Callowy's (a nursery). There we picked up some herbs, one tomato, three lantana (mass planted), some other flowers (three or four kinds), some potting soil, some flower garden soil (for the boxes by the mail box), and some mulch.

I dropped Carol and the plants off and zipped back to Ken's, but his selection was not very good. Feeling disappointed, I headed off to check out Albertson's, but had little more luck there. No one in town appears to have heirloom tomatoes, and there are just not enough collards to go around.

After lunch, I lazed around a little, had a bath, and then, unable to contain my enthusiasm, I began planting, or rather potting the plants we brought home. It may not have been the wisest thing to do as the temp this afternoon was 101. It is still 99, but I am done for the evening. The plants do look great already.

Tomorrow, I will do the boxes out front, put some plants in the corners of the yard, and then sit back and enjoy.

Early in the morning I am going to see if I can find another park and take a walk there. Sunday traffic should be less, at least early in the morning. Depending on when I return, I may stop at another nursery and see if I can find some more geraniums and other pretty flowering plants. Maybe another tomato, some more soil, etc. :)

Tonight I am going to make some cinnamon buns for the neighbors as a thank you for all their help lately. They have helped us out a great deal since we arrived a month ago.

I will take some photos of the planted plants once I feel they are ready to be photographed (looking healthy just before they all die :)).

One Month

This evening around seven we will have been in Texas for one month. It still feels strange to say/think this. Initial impressions:

-- It is a little warmer here, but not as humid so the temps feel roughly equivalent.
-- There are a lot of parking lots in the downtown area, I think they feed off the two universities here. I would guess, when school is active, that the free parking at the Wells Fargo is full.
-- The trains go through town quite frequently,but are far enough away to sound musical.
-- The neighbors I have met have been good people, and most of those I have interacted with seem nice (could be that southern charm hiding the knife).
-- DPS tries to be helpful, but the paperwork is irritating (but I have my license now!!)
-- Between Country Cupboards and Krogers we should not need to make a trip to Wholefoods very often it at all.
-- Our house is nice. I am very pleased with it so far. The only thing I might wish is that it were closer to the center of town and within walking distance to all conveniences like the Brent Road place. Still, last night as we went down to Krogers, we noticed an Office Max!! Only 3 miles (5 km to those suffering Imperial deficiencies in Canada).
-- If I take out the irritants (and there have not been that many), our transition from NC to TX has been ok.


In the past month I have accomplished a great deal. Most everything unboxed and stored. I still have clothes in a suitcase and box in the closet that I will get to in the next day or two. My office is set up and I like it. I have met my adviser, selected courses, and seen part of campus. The biggest thing, though it is not all that huge (but life altering none-the-less), is getting a car and driving license again. Put down in print, it does not seem all that much, but it has kept me busy for the past month.

I feel like I can relax a little and begin to explore the area. Maybe get out into the country and take some cow photos, or pump jack photos. They are what Texas is known for, right?

Anxious morning

I am sitting here fretting over the morning. Tuesday we gave up on getting a driving instructor to come here before mid-July, and so we hired someone to ride around with me for a few hours. Yesterday I drove around Denton for a few hours, this morning I am going to practice parallel parking, and then try the test. I do not have high expectations, and I keep telling myself that if I fail I can always come back in a week or so and retry. But even with that I am still nervous.

Beyond that it has been quiet here. We had a surprise rain storm yesterday afternoon, the weather types had said 0% chance of rain, yet around four, there was booming and the ground became wet.

It is Thursday already. This week has been a fast week.

Whether I get my license today or not, I am going to have to go get groceries soon. The cupboards are emptying.

4:10 pm
I was at Texas DPS at six this morning, I parallel parked until seven, and then went and stood in line until 8. I managed to get a exam time of 8:50 and was pleased. At the designated time, I was told that the examiner was doing CDL's (commercial licenses) this morning and could I come back at 2:40. I looked at my associate, and he agreed to return (have to have a licensed driver when cruising). So, I went home, stressed and tired, napped a bit, stressed some more,and then shortly after two I returned. We sat in the sun for 20 minutes (no ac in the car :0). The exam went ok, made one error when starting (did not look over my shoulder when leaving the parallel park, even though I had practiced that same thing a billion times this morning). The examiner is from Africa, and has a heavy accent, so he was hard to understand at times. On top of that he babbled a lot and was distracting. The manual said do not talk to the examiner, yet here he was talking, and what could I do? Any way, I passed (Yeah! I am a DRIVER again!)! The computers were down, and I was told to come back in a few weeks for the actual photo taking and paying of bills. Until then I have a temporary license, and can drive to the grocery store first thing in the am! I am excited!

I did not mention this before, but when our original trainer canceled on us Monday, we put an ad in Craigslist, uncertain of what kind of response we would get, but feeling desperate. No way was I waiting for a driving lesson until July 11 (Wendy's birthday after all). I received a dozen replies to the ad we placed in about fifteen minutes, selected the best one, and gave him a shot. What did I have to lose but time. He was late the first day, but was on time and willing to go the extra mile (pun intended). He is currently unemployed, recovering from a personal tragedy, and needing some cash. We (Carol and I) are very happy we could help him and help ourselves. Even with the delay, it cost about half of what the driving school wanted.

So, first thing tomorrow morning I go to the hardware store and the grocery. Stay off the roads. :)

ps it is warm today. 97 feels like 102 and still an hour of sun to go.

7:20

Having a hankering for some yummy vegan strawberry popsicles, we hopped in our car, went to the store, came home all in 20 minutes. How cool is that? Guess I have become used to the inconvenience of transit and walking. It may take a little while to get used to having a car again.

Father's Day

It has been over twenty years now, so it would be possible to get both Mom and Dad's Canada census forms from the 30's. When I was getting my US passport, I was told that after 20 years they were made available if people wanted them. Maybe I should look into getting them now.

I am sitting in our back yard listening to the bird song. The mocking bird is amusing, it has an interesting collection of car alarms and miscellaneous sounds. The birds are coming in quite close this morning, even though there is nothing of them to eat here.

Hearing that it is father's day got me to thinking about all the questions I will never get answers to. Some things I would not have been able to ask, even now, some he would likely not have answered, some I don't know I want to ask just yet. The older I get, the more questions that rise.

The sun is high enough to cover half the tree in brilliant light. A great time to be out taking photos.

I am proud of who my father was. I don't know that I could have done the things he did, or as long. Some day I need to do some more writing about him. It has been long enough that the pain of loss is no longer overwhelming. Maybe it is time.

It is a beautiful morning. I am going to go move our bird feeders further away. Carol looked out the kitchen window yesterday afternoon and there was a big blue jay splayed out on or back lawn. He had hit the window, I guess, and was knocked out, winded, and stunned. It lay there for a few minutes, shook it self, sat up, looked around a little more, and then flew up into the tree (still don't know what kind it is...). After reading online, the first solution it to move the feeders away or real close. I am going to try away first and see what happens.

Farmer's Market Thursday

From June 18 09

What you see on the table (Mags not included) is what I came home with from the farmer's market this morning. I think, the total cost was 8 bucks, so a decent haul for a good price. Some of the veggies are in the oven roasting away, getting ready to be eaten by us tonight. Yum.

It has been quiet here the past few days, not much going on. Too hot to play outside for half the day, and I am too lazy the other half. :)

I was thinking as I walked the last leg of my trip this morning that I have changed. Some years ago the thought of a five mile walk would have been offensive, and the walk impossible. Today, I grumbled a bit, but I enjoyed most of the journey. One of these days I will get around to taking photos on the walk. So far, most of what I have seen is not really all that interesting, it is just an urban setting. I hope once I have a car I can get up early enough to be at some of these places and taking photos as the sun rises. I am a bit of a chicken when it comes to walking on the side of the road in the dark, so no early trips so far.

A Monday morning report

I spent part of the weekend perusing the Texas driver handbook, preparing to do the written part of the exam. I was anxious about the whole process, including the written exam. I have not looked at driving handbooks in ages, and I am not familiar with the rules down here. I did ok on the exam, but I missed all the young driver questions. Texas has a 0 tolerance law for minors and alcohol, which I was aware of after reading the handbook. What I did not remember where the penalties for first time offenders, and how long the suspension for first time offenders is. Fortunately, there were not too many such questions and I was able to pass the exam, though just barely I believe. In my defense, I did get all the driving questions correct.

I found out after getting home that I needed to get an instruction permit, so I will have to go back tomorrow and pay five bucks. I did go back briefly, just be noon, but the line up was half a block long, and the taxi would not have waited very long for me. Instead, I went to Krogers, bought food, waited 40 minutes to get picked up, road with three other passengers, and finally made it home. Easier than pushing a grocery cart three miles in the heat, but just barely.

It is going to be a slow process getting my license. It looks like I won't have it until at least the 2 of July.

House photos

If you click on the image above, you should get a look at some images I took of our house this morning. It is mostly finished (bedroom needs work yet), though not as clean as it should be. If you look closely, you can see that the cats are feeling much more at ease in their new domicile.

Yesterday was a long day. I left home at 7:40 and did not get back until 5:00. I did manage to get a lot of things done, well, only two important ones, but they needed doing. Our beater is now insured, and I have seen my UNT adviser and set up the courses I will be taking this fall.

It was very humid here yesterday morning (and this morning) because a thunderstorm went through town. A possible tornado touched down in Flower Mound, but no serious damage appears to have been done. Flower Mound is ~20 miles south of me. All morning, as I was walking around, a big black cloud circled town. I was afraid of receiving a good drenching, but all I ever felt were a few drops. When I walked into the insurance office, after a 3.5 mile walk, I was dripping wet. I had left early hoping to have time to cool off, but the bank I was hoping to find was not where google said it was, and so I had to track down another, and ended up arriving just at my appointed time.

I had a good visit with my adviser. Her office is in Discovery Park, which is 4.5 miles away from UNT. To get there I rode the UNT shuttle bus, and was awed by the lack of anality shown by the drivers. The NCSU bus line made everyone get on through the front door and off through the back. Here the driver did not care, in fact more people entered through the back door than the front. It is a free bus, no charge to ride. Well, fees to operate it will come out of student fees. The route they took led through farm land and around the edge of town. Though the trees are different, and it is a bit warmer, this part of Texas looks a lot like Alberta. I guess a clump of cows sleeping in the shaded side of a pasture will not be all that different no matter where you go. There was even a service rig working in the cow pasture. Texas/Alberta, seems interchangeable so far. We even have a goofy governor who is threatening to pull out of the Union. Sounds like Klein to me.

I am having fewer problems getting around town. I can, usually, determine the right direction to walk. I went in the wrong direction only twice yesterday, and I walked over half of Denton. At least it felt like I had.

The living room looks like a living room. I suppose I could take some photos of it now, along with my office. Both were finished yesterday. I am very pleased with how my office looks, but I need more books to fill the shelves. I will need to find a free/cheap book place and see if I can get some more stuffs.

Thursday I go to UNT and see my adviser to select the courses I will be taking this fall. I have decided to go to UNT (though TWU is still possible depending on what kind of offer they make me, if any). This fall I will take the mandatory courses and then build my program based on my own interests.

A mocking bird is sitting on our fence doing the car alarm call. The one where you set your alarm, and have a multiple set of tones. How's that for changing times. I am sitting on our cement pad in the back yard this morning. We have the possibility for rain, it is 78 going for 90, and it feels great. In fact it may be starting to rain so inside I go.

No license yet, but another step closer, I hope. It is a pain to go through all the paperwork and such like. gahhh I hate forms.

The Towers of TWU.

I left home as soon as there was enough light so that cars would not run over me while I was pushing my grocery cart back to the store. This was a walk I had been dreading since Saturday, but it was not too bad an experience. Bad being a relative word in this case. Anyway, no one run me down, no one pointed and laughed, though one guy did wave (driving an old rusty Ford). The walk itself was pleasant enough. The temperature was in the mid to high 70's, breezy, and a wee bit humid. I would have had fun if not for the rattly old cart.

On my way home I stopped at a specialty store and they have some of the things I need for survival (nutritional yeast with B-12, vital wheat gluten, braggs) that I cannot get at the usual store. That was a nice thing to discover.

From there I went over to a used book store. Big store, lots of books. Multi-level. Bigger than the two story one in Edmonton, bigger than the ones in Raleigh and Chapel Hill. They have a rare book section that I totally avoided. No way I am going in there, uh uh, nope.

I rode the DCTA (Denton County Transit Authority) bus home, and had no problems. The driver let me off at my intersection even though there is no stop labeled.

This afternoon I am going to be working in my office. Putting up shelves, moving my cpu under the desk, setting up a printer table, and putting things away. Should take me most of the afternoon.

I don't remember if I mentioned this yesterday (did I post yesterday?), but the living room is painted and I have the book shelves on the wall. That room feels warm and inviting already, and we have not finished with it.

Jinxed Saturdays

I woke at five, as is normal for me now that I have acclimated to central time. After a couple of quick coffees I headed off to see if I could find the local farmer's market. After getting one house down the road I turned back. I had forgotten to grab some bags and a hankie (for wiping sweat off me). Back on the road a minute later I headed off with few qualms. Heck, I had all my directions printed so I knew where to turn and how far to walk (3.4 miles). And the walk went well. I now know where the police hide, where the Denton County correctional facility is, where the courthouse is, where the bail bondsman are, and more. The town is clearly a mix between a county seat, a farming center, and a college town. It should be an interesting mix I think. I wonder if there are some great bar fights here. Not that I will ever know, but it might be worth putting in a story/poem don't you think?

Any way, from what I have seen Texas is not that much different from other parts of North America. Once you have seen one paved parking lot, you have seen them all. The blight of strip malls along major highways is also far to common to be able to say that it is interesting. The names change, but the ugliness remains the same.

The farmer's market is tiny, with only half a dozen people selling, though that might change as the day goes on. I did get some interesting foods (onions, tomatoes, potatoes, leeks, beets, Swiss chard, and a parsnip) that I will be eating for a few days.

After leaving the farmer's market, I decided to slip down to another store to get some of the things we needed but I could not get at the market. The store I was looking for kept avoiding me (it must have been sneaking around back alleys because I did not see it on the main streets). I knew I was not that far from the Kroger's I went to last Saturday (first day in Denton), so I decided to walk there. I took a few minutes to check out the Ace and bring home a bright bulb for the garage and a new hand cultivator for the front flower beds. The bulb in the garage was just 100 watts and the place was dark enough to ensure a spider's ecstasy.

Grocery shopping went smoothly, and I even bought some frozen stuff anticipating a quick return home. Last Saturday, the taxi picked me up 15 minutes after I called and I was home shortly there after.

This morning, however, was a different story. I called, the taxi man says, sorry, we only have one cab on duty (the dispatcher driving that one), it is doing a round trip, and there is another pick up after that (no idea where it is going). The best I can say is it will take an hour (or more), do you want to be put on the list? I grumbled, but from previous experience with the cab company (AA Taxi)it would be much more than that. I said no. I thought about lugging the bags home by hand, but figured that was impossible (big can of cat litter among other things) and began pushing the cart home.

3.1 miles later, and a little grumpy cussing (the local bus service does not start running until after 10 am on Saturdays) I return home wet from sweat and with rather sore feet. I put the cart up to the front door, open it, drag in one bag, turn around and the cart is rumbling down the front lawn heading for the street. I lunge and skippy trot to catch it before it gets too far (cussing at Carol for not coming to the door when I arrived), and get the cart back to the front door. This time I wedge the cart securely into the door before beginning to unload once more.

A knock knock comes from the garage. Carol had seen the garage door open, stepped into the garage looking for kitties closed the door to keep the one in the house in the house, and locked her self in. She had been sitting there for at least half an hour (needing to use the bathroom and considering possibilities) waiting for me to come home.

So, now we have a grocery cart in our garage (I will have to push that back Monday). After getting everything stored and a bit to eat, I had a long hot bath. My feet thanked me for that (they still do). I am feeling mostly recovered now, and am almost prepared to laugh.

We bought the car, a 2001 Kia, and in a few days I will be on the road again. Look out Texas!

I am reluctant to open the freezer and investigate the popsicles. I suspect they will be rather interestingly shaped.

If anyone is looking for a business opportunity, I think you could do quite well by opening a taxi company in Denton. One cab for a town of 80, 000, ridiculous.

Next Day

I was going to go down town this morning, but I have decided I would rather stay home and paint. Actually, I need to go to Kroger's for some of the other things and the necessity for two or three taxi rides was not all that appealing. I will have time to do the down town exploration some other day.

I did not finish painting yesterday, though I did get one coat of the Gothic gold on the walls. I will do another coat this morning, and decide then if I need to do anything else.

We may be getting a car. An old beater, but it should do us for awhile, allow us to get our licenses, and putter about in the mornings. It is almost as hard to get around Denton as it is Cold Lake if one does not have a car. More on that in the future.

Evening

I had to throw two coats of paint on the wall, but it is not looking half bad now. I still have some touch up to do, but the job is essentially done.

After supper I went out into the back yard and rooted through two raised beds pulling weeds and prickly vines. Then I went out front and picked up a pile of leaves left over from the shrubbery fixing that occurred not long before we arrived. I also dug out the weeds in the little flower beds that are around our mail box. I have one more bed to dig up out front. It has some kind of vine in it, but it is not doing well and needs ripped out and replaced. I will likely work on that later this coming week.

Right now, I am going to finish drinking my glass of pink stuff and then go have a bath and sleep really really good. I have not done this much physical work in years. I am pleased with what I have done.

One week in Texas!

Painting Denton Gold

Gothic Gold actually. I was going to go to the farmer's market this morning, but decided to work at finishing the painting as quickly as possible. I want to get the shelves up, the books unboxed and out of the way so that the living room is finished.

It is a beautiful morning. The sun is up, the birds are singing, and I am enjoying our new place.

11:08 Two coats of Killz is on the wall, the painting tools are cleaned and drying, and I am getting ready to cook a quick lunch. Already, the living room is 100 times brighter and looking more spacious. I am still learning to paint, but the second coat looks a lot better than the first one did.

Tuesday

Just a quick update. I went to Lowes today (it is about 2.5 miles away, but on a nasty road so I taxied both ways) and picked up most of what I need to get the place looking nice again. I felt sick when I heard the total for the purchases, but most of it is long lasting, and will keep the house in decent shape.

I will be painting a little bit this week/weekend. I do hope to be done by Friday night, but that may not happen. It will depend on how much trouble I have getting ready and finishing things off.

Thursday I hope to get down to the farmer's market and get some fresh veggies. I am craving a tasty tomato.

Other than that, I have been busy unpacking and moving things around and making small repairs here and there.

It is feeling more and more like home.

Raleigh to Denton

From June 1 2009

Saturday May 30, 2009

It is just after 7 pm Saturday, and we have been in Denton for almost 24 hours. The departure went smoothly and I hope the next few days will go as smoothly.

The moving truck arrived almost on time Friday morning, and the six men had all our stuff packed and out by one. I spent most of the day locked into my old bedroom teasing cats. I sedated them fairly early (10:30 I think), and the Maggie was definitely high an hour later. Daph, however, was fighting the drug, so I gave her another half tab. That made her even more wobbly and grumpy but did not put her out. When we got into the cab, she meowed for a while, then began clawing at her carrier. She continued to pull at the carrier for the entire trip to Denton every time she could gather her strength. Both cats are a bit nervous this evening, but they are doing much better. Daph seems to be settling in faster than Maggie, but they are both less anxious than they were last night.

For most of the flight the skies were clear and I was able to watch the land pass below me. I saw the Mississippi river, but not Memphis Tennessee as it was on the opposite side of the plane. Two big barges were heading downstream as we flew over (we were flying at 32000 feet), and of course I thought of Huck Finn. We arrived right on schedule, no delays. We did have to wait until everyone had left (we were near the back) before we dragged the drugged kitties off the plane.

The taxi driver was not very good, and ended up getting lost. It took a few tries to convince him he had missed the right turn. When he finally decided he had, it took a few tries to get him to look in the right part of the index. We live on Brittany Drive, he was convinced Brittany should appear in the V’s. I finally asked to see the index, flipped to the B’s and found Brittany right away. We turned around and headed back, finally arriving at our home, exhausted, sore, and ready for supper.

All our boxes sent by UPS were sitting at our door waiting for us. Inside one of them was the blow up mattress and bedding we are using to sleep on. Inside the other was some food supplies, including the makings for some vegan Queso and refried beans. I was too lazy to actually do the refried beans, so we had some corn chips, salsa, the Queso, and some black beans. Simple, filling, and tasty. I am not a big fan of blow up beds, and though this one is not too bad, it is hard to sleep well on it.

I woke at 4:30 Denton time, or 5:30 Raleigh time, had some coffee, and headed off to find Kroger’s. Kroger’s is the local IGA/Safeway/Harris Teeter. I think it is better than any one of those though, except for the lack of any heirloom tomatoes. I was able to find everything I wanted, though I did not go looking for some of the more exotic things I sometimes get. Where the K lives near TWU, there is also an Ace Hardware which allowed me to get some spare keys cut. As the taxi was leaving K’s, I saw an Indian store across the street, so I will have to stop by one day and see if it has the things we need.

Around lunch, we heard from the movers that we had to pay a little extra due to all the books we have. So, we called the taxi again and went down to a local Wachovia to get a money order. While there we had lunch at a Chinese buffet (rather boring food options for vegans, but at least there were some things I could eat), went to a Walgreen’s for some SPF stuff, and then back across the street for flowers, dust pan, and some treats for the movers when they come tomorrow.

Our taxi ride home was horrible because it did not come for over an hour. There was a mix up in the directions, and the taxi was cruising around the wrong Kroger’s (the one I went to in the morning, not the one we were at this afternoon). After getting home we met our landlady, she seems ok, but I think she is reluctant to open her wallet, ever. Supper was wonderful (roasted veggies, dry fried tofu, and the rest of the Queso).

After supper I climbed into the garden tub and had the first really wonderful bath in ages. It is big enough that I can soak one half of myself at a time! My fingers got all wrinkly and my feet are still tingling from the soaking they received. It was wonderful after a long trip and a long walk (3 miles), and a long wait in the sun this afternoon. Already I can tell that the air is much drier here than in Raleigh.

As far as the house goes, I think it will work fine. We need to deal with an ant problem, likely always will here, but that seems to be the biggest problem at the moment. As I told Carol at lunch today, I feel comfortable here, and I think I will enjoy living here. It is not NC, but it is not bad.

I have been thinking about where I will plant my garden, and I have a possible site. All I need to do now is figure out exactly what, when, and how to plant. I am going to need to do something with the front lawn as well. At the moment it looks horrid. But there will be time enough for that later.

Tomorrow morning the movers arrive, and I will be surrounded by boxes. I will likely write some more then.

Sunday

It is 4:30. Once again I wake on Raleigh time. This is not an entirely bad thing. The town is so quiet at this hour. I stepped out back and could hear a train passing through roughly a mile away. I know where it travels because I walked over the tracks yesterday. It appears to be a rather busy track.

I am pacy this morning. I have stepped out both doors, opened enough windows to get a cross breeze, and bugged both cats. I have a long time before the movers arrive, so this will be a long morning. Once they have come and gone, I will have even more stuff to do. And that stuff will last for a few weeks. Eventually, all will be done and I will be able to relax a bit, but to start with, I will be working on putting our shit back into our lives.

I keep wanting to go online, but we don’t have internet for another day and a bit.

I suppose I should dig my camera out today as I dig everything else out that is important. I will need to begin to take photos of our place and its surroundings. It is nice to sit here and listen to trains and birds. I have a decent idea of where north is in relation to where I am already. I am not able to always determine the right direction, but with some thought I can usually figure things out. Partly because I know where one highway is (running north south) and where TWU is (to my west). Those landmarks are allowing me to obtain direction, even though the airplane did its best to dislocate me.

I have traveled with three different taxi drivers in Denton, and all three have had Texan accents. I think that is more than I heard in the first three months in NC.

Some kind of bird is doing a chirp/tweet thing constantly. It seems convinced that morning should be coming along soon.

I am looking forward to having my couch and chairs once again.

Sunday night

Everything arrived on time and without any problems. So far the only thing that I have found broken is the filter funnel for the water pitcher (one of them brita thingies, thingie is my word for the evening). So far I have set up Carol’s office and put her to work on her lit review. I have set up my computer so it will be ready to zoom the intersluices, and I have set up most of the kitchen. I have 3 boxes of spices I have no idea what to do with. Carol is talking spice shelves, so when we are webbing, it may be one of the things we look at.

I feel like a recluse tonight. I have been inside all day with no contact with anyone. Not all that weird I suppose, but I am used to at least being on line and able to email. With any luck we will be back in the 21st century by noon tomorrow.

Tuesday I will need to go to Lowe’s and get some supplies, including some paint to repaint one wall. It is a deep red and we are thinking of going to a lighter, more golden color. Once the house is set up and painted and what not, I will run around with my camera and take some photos to put up.

48 hours in Texas and things are going well but I remain on Raleigh time.

Monday Morning

Coffee drips into the pot in our new place. The kitchen looks like a kitchen should. I am sitting at the kitchen table almost asleep, wishing I had been able to sleep. I woke around two and rolled and tossed for half an hour before getting up and going outside for a bit. I think I need to pull my camera out and take some photos of the outside of the house and back yard this morning.

Cable person has just left, we are back on line (and a fast line it is!). So, now it is back to work for everyone. I must admit it feels great to once again be connected.

The image at the top is our new home. Once I have fixed the interior a bit, I will likely take some more shots and post them as well.