Another quiet week has slipped away. Last Thursday I bought a cheap version of Simcity 4 (the 6 year old city building game), and spent most of the week building cities. I have become less obsessed with the game as the week has faded, and now my cities are stagnating on my hard drive.

Carol and I went for a short cruise this morning. We headed west and then north a bit. Silly me, I left home without my camera so I have no photos to share, but the drive was fun. For the first time in two years I left a city, and for the first time in years, I went for a drive with no particular destination in mind.We did end up in a very rural area with some big ranches and one huge 1/2 mile long greenhouse. Some of the roads are the kind you see on TV and the movies of the south and Texas. Very beautiful. I discovered that there are still gravel roads in America. We also saw two turkey vultures sitting on a power pole just as we were leaving the city. I still find it interesting that those birds are here in such great numbers. Not quite as many of them as ravens, I don't think.

This week I have to make a decision on which school to attend. Time is running out, and I need to act.

I put the hydrangea in the ground earlier this week,and it looks to be doing well. Carol bought a few plants on line (one is some kind of succulent, the other an ornamental grass)that I have also planted. The succulents will need to be transplanted once more, once they become rooted (they are cuttings).The rest of the plants, not counting the geraniums, are doing well. The geraniums seem happier in the shade, and have begun to bloom once more. Maybe it was just too hot for the poor things right out in the full sun.

I was looking at the long range forecast this morning, and there is not one day in the next 14 where the daytime high falls below 90. Guess this is Texas.

I am currently sitting outside enjoying the morning, and a humming bird buzzed by, stopped, looked at me, and considered the lantana before leaving. Between the lantana and the purslane, there are many options for the little birds.