Hill Country Getaway

About three years ago, my extended family started planning a trip to Hawaii, to spend a week a the beautiful beachfront bungalows where my parents took us way back in 2004. This time last year, however, we found out that the bungalows were for sale. The manager couldn't say for sure what would happen under a new owner, but the sales page for it made it clear that the historic buildings could be town down to make way for building "your personal paradise." Rather than wait until the last minute and have to scramble, we went ahead and canceled the trip.

A few months later, I planned a trip to California. We were going to do things that none of us have ever done before, like go to Disneyland, Legoland, and Huntington Beach. We were going to eat at Bob's Big Boy and Roy's Donuts. And since California is much cheaper to get to than Hawaii, we had even splurged to travel first class. Then COVID. We were very fortunate, and after barely any convincing at all, all of our money was returned to us, save a 10% service charge from the third-party reseller for Disney tickets; I didn't begrudge that at all.

SO, scaling back even more, we decided to return to the State Fair of Texas. We haven't been in two years and Mal's at the age where I think he'd really enjoy Little Hands on the Farm. But, of course, the fair got canceled. They have a drive-through food thing, but it's a minimum of three hours and I definitely do not want to sit in my car, staying in one place, for that long. Also, the Perot Museum is still closed. And we'd have to wear masks inside everywhere. The Dallas Zoo even has everyone over the age of ten wearing masks all of the time, even outside. Thus we filed Dallas away for another time.

I tentatively scheduled a little circle, staying within an hour of where we live, and expecting that we'd just need to stay outside the whole trip. I didn't get too excited about it because... see above. But we got to go! It's been a nice couple of days so far. Except for the suicidal moths. 

Yesterday at about 11, we drove over to Marble Falls for lunch at Local Eats Craft Food truck. It was so good! Especially the parmesan sweet potato fries.

We'd talked about going to Sweet Berry's farm just to look at the fall pumpkin scenes, but Mal decided he would rather go to the local park. I was kind of glad. There's very little shade at the farm, and though the day was mild enough for Central Texas fall (high in the mid-80s), the full sun could definitely bake.

We had a really nice time at Johnson Park, then passed a classic/souped-up car festival on our way out of town. We stopped to admire those for a bit.

Then we drove on into Johnson City. There must have been a moth harvest recently. We killed so many of them with our windshield. It's disgusting. They look like leaves blowing in the wind until they explode in your line of view. Good grief.

Our next stop was the Exotic Zoo Resort. We've driven past before but never stopped. There were tons of very friendly animals! They said we could hand-feed anything except the zebras, which bite, and the "birds," which are evil ostriches and rheas. They didn't have to warn me about the birds. I've been pecked by jerk ostriches right in the camera lens.

At one point, James was hand-feeding a full-sized camel on his side, when a second camel stuck its head all the way into my window and across, in an attempt to get the food. When James looked over and laughed at the unexpected animal in his face, the camel on his side tried to take the entire bag. We learned to moderate our window levels to control for thievery. 

As we were finishing up the drive, my car beeped to warn me "transmission is hot; hit brakes." That was concerning, but quick enough, we pulled off of the trail and into... our parking lot. Because we had booked two nights at the on-site cabins!

Mal wasted no time making himself completely at home, and we have the best neighbors!

Of course, one of the first orders of business was swimming. The pool has to be around 70 degrees. It is SO frigid. Also, it's 4 feet deep and the ladder only has the top rung. I was there was no one around to laugh at me when I hoisted myself out over the side of the pool. Mal used the ladder to get out, and I actually did once, but realized it was a lot less dicey just to beach.

James and I got dinner from Bryan's on 290, all appetizers and sides because that place is EXPENSIVE. But it was so good. Mal had a ham and cheese on flatbread from Subway, his favorite.

After the sun set, Mal found a couple of girls running around who were staying in the cabin next door and who were kind enough to give him a glow stick. Then they all three had a dance party on our patio, then ran around playing zombies for an hour or so after. I got a really cute picture. With my cell phone. Which can't take night shots. Just trust me. 

Today, we hung out around the cabin for a while after we woke up (early, all of us).

We ordered breakfast from Hill Country Cupboard, and ate it at Johnson City Park. Mal ran around the whole time we were there, talking like crazy and just super full of energy. I asked him if he'd save some of that energy for Pedernales Falls State Park. He said he was already getting tired.

However, when we got to the park, he did the short .2-mile walk to the overlook just fine. In fact, he was super excited about the stone stairway that led down to the river. I reminded him that if we went down, he'd also have to come back up. AND then walk back to the car. But he was excited! So we walked to the river's edge and had a great time throwing rocks and looking for things that are in Minecraft that are also in the real world. He flagged a little on the pathway back to the car, but he hiked just under a mile! I had kind of wanted to do the half-mile trail to the Twin Falls Overlook, but didn't want to press our luck. We'll save it for next time. James and I did get out separately and go into the bird blind while Mal sat in the car drawing on the full-sized MagnaDoodle we got him for the trip.

We came back to the cabin and Mal and I jumped into the pool for a super-charged cool-down. I'd thought I wouldn't go all the way in today, but after getting so warm at the park, it actually felt... well, I went in over my shoulders today, and Mal said the first time I did it that I screamed too loud and it hurt his ears. But by the third or fourth time, I was basically numb. It was super relaxing then to sit in the sun and dry out after that. 

Tonight, we ordered dinner from West Henly Boil Shack. James got all of the Cajun stuff: étouffée and rice; shrimp boil with sausage, potatoes, and corn... I like boils, but James did say that the shrimp was spicy. I figured it might be, so I just got a patty melt and salad. It was all so delicious. Then I made my way down to the pond for sunset. My pictures... well, the pictures after the food somehow have a big old greasy finger-print in the corner. I mostly cropped it out, but they're not framed up right anymore. Still, I supposed having less-than-artistically-framed pictures is better than having patty-melt-prints all down one side, right?

See? I couldn't edit that smudge out without getting rid of Mal, and it's an adorable picture!

We played a few rounds of cards before shutting down (mentally) for the night. Tomorrow morning, it's on to our next adventure!

Wherein I Am Not a Farmer

Something startling and rather amazing happened this weekend: When Mal and I were in the back yard enjoying the cool fall day, a hawk swooped down and tried to grab one of our chickens. I don't know which one, because they scattered. The hawk almost ran into the corner of the back fence, made a swoop, and took a half-hearted second attempt as it flew into the trees behind our yard. It had basically managed to separate AW from the others, but couldn't actually connect.

Because I'm bad, I'm bad. You know it.

D gets really nervous when we have near-misses and scares like this, and wants to build a run, for which we have neither the money nor the expertise to do without much cash. Also, as I might have mentioned, they've been just wandering everywhere.

Now that there are construction crews around, the chickens hear talking and are like, "Hey, what's up? You got snacks?" so they have ended up helping one of our neighbors eliminate an over-abundance of crickets. But there are two new houses being built across the streets where we are on a corner, and I know the new neighbors will not want fowl pulling leaves and tiny flowers off of their as-yet-hypothetical new landscaping.

I was pretty stressed about it last week, but we'd kind of settled in to getting the chickens back behind the house when they venture forth. And then this morning, James heard a guy yelling at his dog, and saw our chickens run through the back yard and into the front side yard. James is on crutches and in a boot because a foot issue he has is acting up, so I went outside to get the birds back in the yard. There were only four. Greybeard was not among them.

This is a very derpy picture of an extremely regal bird.

I went around "back" back and didn't see hide nor feather of her. I checked a few times, and she hadn't joined the others. So, as much as I HATE confrontation (preferring to vent here about stuff), I went over to the house across our side street and asked the guy working on the foundation, "Hey, you've been here all morning. Did you see a dog get one of our chickens? It's missing." The guy looked like I'd just punched him in the gut. He felt SO bad. He said that his dog had gotten back into our forest and that he didn't think the dog could have gotten the chicken because it's just a pup, but he promised to replace it (since they're pets and not livestock for us, that doesn't really work) and to look for the bird before he left for the day. I don't know whether he did or not, because we got out for a while and he was gone by the time we returned.

In the meantime, I contacted the lady from whom we'd gotten the chickens when they were babes and asked if she ever took birds back. She was lovely, and agreed to find a VERY safe place to put them. She has a hoop run with 8 pullets and 4 silkies. So we're going to take the chickens back to her so we know they'll live long and prosperous lives. It's been fun having them, and we'll be sad to see them go. But we agree that their living is the priority.

AND for a happy update to this story: this evening, I went out back to call for Greybeard again, just in case she was hiding and wanted to come home to roost. I kept hearing something crashing far in the back of the property, but I kind of had the same experience when we lost Halfy. I kept calling, though, and when the crashing would stop, I'd walk closer to the fence and call again. I kept hearing it. Finally, I saw that sweet hippogriff-looking head in the foliage on the opposite side of the grotto. I opened the gate so the other birds would walk through and be visible, and as Greybeard came up out of the dense tree cover, I could see that she's none the worse for wear. SUCH a relief. 

Greybeard returns!

So. We never got eggs. We lost one chicken. And we had some scares along the way. But we've laughed so much and had such a great time with these babies. I'm glad to know that they'll be able to live long and prosper on the opposite end of 1431.

Isn't It Bedtime Yet?

You guys, I'm tired.

We had a great time on vacation, and I was so pleased how well D kept up with everything while we were gone. We took it pretty slow Monday and Tuesday, though Mal and I met some friends at McDonald's one of those days.

Then on Wednesday, Nana came to stay with Mal while D and I got out to do some errands for a couple of hours. It had been raining pretty severely when  there was a little break in the storm. D had been planning on taking care of the pigeons before we left, but I decided that since it might be pouring again pretty quickly, I'd go out and switch out their water and make sure their food was full.

When I stepped outside, I saw something pretty substantial out on the flight deck. It actually looked a bit like a palm frond. It had been windy, but there are no palms anywhere near here. I asked aloud, "What do you guys have in there?" Then I realized: it was part of one of our newer birds.

It was horrifying. I listened but didn't hear anything in the loft, but still... whatever had killed the bird might still be in there. I called our local police, asked for animal control, found out we don't have any, but an officer came by, anyway. He had me stand back while he opened the door with his billy club at the ready.

There was nothing inside. It had gotten back out. There were no signs of life, and I saw enough very briefly to know that I didn't want to see any more.

In time, we'd learn this was definitely a raccoon, and their violent mauling of birds (chickens, ducks, etc.) is definitely a well-known occurrence in our area.

Oh, how every single person in our family cried that day. Multiple times. It was such a team effort to process our feelings and still take care of business. I cleaned up the flight deck just so the carnage wouldn't be visible. I told both kids, and I held them as they cried.

James came home early and collected what he could of the birds to put in a box, then dug a hole. D sat by the hole for a while before they filled it back in. James gathered everything else up in the tarp and threw it away, then I power-washed what was left.

At the end of the day, I realized that we'd both done a great job of managing and handing off and doing things, but we both went to bed without having really checked in with each other. We were all so sad; it's hard to think about everyone else's feelings when you're reeling, too.

Since then, I've just felt exhausted. I sleep okay, but wake up and am tired still. I guess it's grief?

Then there's the meat thing. We're kind of all off of poultry (except Mal, but in his defense, nuggets don't much resemble actual birds). For who knows how long. Which sucks, because I've been trying to avoid beef much, since it's such an environmental drain. So I guess we're left with pork? James and I could be vegetarian, but D likes, or has liked, meat. We're just... the memory is too vivid.

Today, James and I had taken Mal to the park for a while. It was a gorgeous day. Lots of people there had dogs, and many were off-leash, which is against the local ordinances. A small dog ran up to a leashed/harnessed big dog, and that big dog picked him right up and almost killed him. They got the small dog away from the big dog, and took it to an emergency vet... but, it was like PTSD. I'm OVER animal-on-animal violence. And those poor people with the leashed dog... they had to leave. Their day was ruined. And they did nothing wrong. It makes me even more vigilant about letting the cats out, because I CANNOT HANDLE ANYTHING ELSE.

This was Mother's Day, and as days go, it was pretty nice. I went to see "The Hustle" alone, but that wasn't a Mother's Day gift. It couldn't be, because James goes to movies fairly regularly, when it isn't Father's Day or his birthday or anything.

There's a lot of lead-up to and then social media performance of appreciating moms, to the point that it feels like a competition. Well, I'm not playing. I love my mom, and I know my family loves me. It's exhausting, all of the "Mother's Day might be hard for you, so here's to the people whose moms are gone, and who don't have a relationship with their mom, or who might want to be moms and aren't, or who have lost children, or who don't want to be moms at all and feel devalued by society." Ugh. If people want to celebrate their moms, cool. If they don't or can't, then okay. But it's just... so big.

Have I mentioned that I'm tired?

Last week, I guess Mal needed to make up for lost time on vacation, so we went to Chuck E. Cheese Friday morning, then Little Land Friday afternoon; and Catch Air Saturday morning.

This morning, Mal didn't want to go to church with me, he wanted to go to breakfast with James (which is James's Sunday morning tradition). That was cool, and I got to actually pay attention during church, but then Mal had told James he wanted to go to Taco Cabana, but they somehow ended up at McDonald's, where Mal both wanted to play and was super bummed that they weren't serving French fries yet. That sounds about right.

We have a guy coming out Tuesday to start working on our porch. We're getting some rotting planks replaced, and then getting the porch repainted and some of the timber re-stained. It needs to be done, and we have budgeted for it, but I'm super wound up about money right now. For no real reason. I think it just feels like I should be uptight about everything for a while.

I'm sure this has been uplifting, so I'll leave you to go enjoy the headiness.

Roatan, Briefly

I am tired! I’ll try to go into more detail about our day later, but for now, know this: A capuchin monkey got into my backpack and stole my menstrual cup... in front of quite a crowd. James said it was worth the price of admission and Mal could not stop laughing. Good day.