Marking Time

Seems like that is what we are doing now until we get ready to head north. We have been busy with various projects, but nothing too strenuous.

Terry has been working getting his shed in order. He's been hanging up tools on the pegboard and sweeping off the shelves and floor. It is very neat and will be a great place to store things. Since it appears we will be spending Christmas here many times, I am going to leave what few Christmas decorations I have here. All things considered, the weather here is much better in the winter than anywhere else we have ever been, so we figure we will be here for several months each winter while the rest of the nation fights cold weather. It has not been a good winter here, however. It has been cold, wet, windy, etc., but it still has been better than most places up north. Even Florida where Brandon lives has had bad weather this winter.

One thing we never are short of in the valley is entertainment. Our park has a "jam" every Thursday evening and I have started going to those. Terry sometimes tags along. I must say that 98% of the people who come to sing should stay home. They can't carry a tune, have no sense of rhythm and are hard to listen to, but the audience is generous with applause and they come back week after week. What is awesome is the band. . . which is different every week, depending on who is available and who wants to help out. There is on any given week a steel guitar player, a bass guitarist, lead guitar, alto and baritone saxophone and harmonica player. They are just thrown together that night and play accompaniment for the various performers and do a wonderful job. They play a few tunes by themselves and then each gets a solo at the end. They are really great.

One woman who lives here with her husband actually teaches at a junior high down the road and she sings country western and puts on her own show. We went to watch her and she is pretty good. Her husband is her sound man and they do a great job. Last week we also had a family band come and perform. They are the Lindley Creek Bluegrass. The Greer family travels full time in their RV and performs at hundreds of parks. They also gather with other family bands in combined performances. Many of these family groups have adopted the Rio Grande Valley as their winter home because of the weather and so we have a large selection of their venues to choose from during the winter. The prices are so reasonable as well, usually $4 for a 1 1/2 hour performance.

One evening we had some local students who came to perform "Folkloric" dances for us. The teacher of these students is trying hard to preserve folk dances from Central American countries. Some of the dances are very old and risk dying out. There were all ages of children from 5 to 17 performing. Each dance required a change of costume and the teacher would explain about the dance and the costume. She also makes all the dresses for the girls and most of the dresses required 50 yards of fabric! There are multiple pleats in the skirts so when they swirl, the dresses fly over the girl's head. All the money from the admission goes to the children to provide costumes for new dances.

Mom and Dad were honored along with other couples in the park on Sunday for being married 50 or more years. In fact, Mom and Dad got the prize for being married the longest. . . 64 years this year. They allowed guests, so I went along to join in the celebration. What a great idea. We also had entertainment. . . a couple here in the park who perform and they sang a few love songs.

Outside the park, there are many things to do. . . parks to visit, birding and wildlife preserves, entertainment and museums. A couple weeks ago, we went to the 2010 RV.net gathering for Winter Texans. What a great bunch! We have been gathering for 3 years now and we have moderators that attend as well and it's always great to touch base with them. I don't know how many we had, but we filled the Cactus Club at Victoria Palms with only a few seats empty. It was a cold, wet rainy day, so it was great to have something to do!

We have a launch date now. As expected, Terry is getting a bit antsy and wanting to get moving. We are leaving March 24, I think. We have two apartments that have come open as of April 1, and we plan to get there and put the sign out and start the screening process for new tenants. So we will head back to Indiana, work in the doctor appointments, then head to Virginia for Ronan's third birthday!

Till next time. . .

Dale