The veiw from here, there, and other places too!

Yesterday I championed the tastiness of homegrown tomatoes as I recalled our visit to Louisiana. Yesterday morning after I received an email from my wife about my blog I talked to her on the phone and she said she was preparing some breakfast. I asked what she was making. She said it was a bacon and tomato sandwich. I said you just had that Sunday evening. She said, “I know but they are so-o-o-o-o good!” Did I tell you, or what? Today, Tuesday, July 7, 2009, I am piecing together some of the other interesting tidbits from our travel and conversations. My wife and I traveling together can always be counted on to be pretty funny, almost by default. She will eventually go to sleep and I like to rehearse back to her the breathing noises she sometimes makes and also imitate how she looks while she is sleeping. When she isn’t sleeping we make small talk and that often produces some funny results. She also is very devoted to helping me with my driving. She would prefer for me not to read the fine print on labels on medicine bottles or other materials while the landscape flies by at 70 mph. I typically learn quite a lot from our exchanges but in the end we mostly just enjoy being together and sharing a good laugh or two.

Dad told us about his war with the birds over the new tomatoes when they began to first come in. He and mom have faithfully fed the birds very well for the past thirty years but this year the feathered creatures couldn't’ resist relentlessly pecking and eating his tomatoes. Dad is a very straightforward person. He is retired military and when he decides on a strategy he moves forward with diligence. Therefore, he determined it was time to quit feeding the birds, period. If they couldn’t appreciate the food he was pouring out each day then they could find them a new place to feed! When dad cuts you off, you are cut off! At any rate, he stopped feeding them and the birds more or less moved on temporarily to greener pastures so to speak, and the tomatoes came in, and as a result, mom and dad, we, and others are enjoying them. I believe at this time they have cancelled the moratorium and the daily bird feeding is back on again since most of the crop is in.

They have a turtle that comes up every day for a slice of apple. My sister said that not too long ago the she turtle brought along a he turtle friend and they began a courtship right there in the yard. My mom vowed she would not tolerate such dating game shenanigans on her property and threatened to withhold any more apple slices until they behaved themselves. Mom and dad also continue to do battle with renegade squirrels that monopolize all the bird feeders if they are not kept in check. Recently they have had to deal with some ‘big bad bees from Beaumont’, (not really but I like the sound of it), that are keeping the hummingbirds away from their special nectar feeders. Such is life in the country where each day brings forth its own set of challenges. I say thank God that mom and dad enjoy making it up as they go even as we did on our way home. We stopped for a couple of sodas and my wife was amused by a huge coin-operated bagged ice machine in Jasper, Texas that was out of order and kept saying that it was in both English and Spanish. I think I heard her tell the machine to shut up all ready but that might be something she would rather me not mention, so, I think I will just keep it to myself. How many times do I have to say it? Life is way too short not to enjoy it! May God bless! Amen. …..More later.