POTR #48 Spring Begins

PEACE ON THE ROAD

Spring Begins

March 17, 2009

As I start to write it is almost "Spring" again. (That was written the 16th and now it is the 24th) I look out the front window and see flowering poinsettias, trees with full branches of leaves. I can also look out a side window and see a flowering orange tree with the first baby oranges starting to grow. The oranges range from the size of baby peas up to about the size of a golf ball. There are hundreds, or more likely thousands, of blossoms that are going to try to produce fruit. If it is a good year and summer does not bring a "Dolly" I should have a lot of fruit waiting for me when I return late this next fall. Just a few steps away, on the sites of some of my neighbors are citrus trees of every common variety and I am often offered permission to pick and eat. There are also a lot of sites that are now vacant and by default a few fruits are available to anyone that wishes to partake. The biggest problem with all of this is the fact that if I didn't have a calendar I would not have a clue as to the date. I heard today from a person that at his home up north there is four foot of snow on the ground. We had a day not long ago that the temperature registered 112 degrees on our parked Jeep. To be sure it was in the bright sun, and as soon as I had driven a block the temperature had fallen to about a hundred degrees. I agreed with some of the people around here that said it was too hot even at that, but at least there was no snow. That was a record maker and it was followed by some cold days and more recently perfect temperatures.

THE ORANGE TREE JUST OUTSIDE THE WINDOW OF OUR VECTRA

There is an area within this park that is called the temporary area. I think that at one time it was for people that came in for a length of time that was likely less than a week. But that seems to have been put aside and it is used for several months by some people and some of the sites that would make sense for long periods of time are used by people that may only be there for a day or two. I guess that I should give up trying to figure out how they select where people stay. I guess it doesn't matter as long as the people that need a site have one. When we came here there were only a couple campers in the temporary area, it was not long before there were almost no spots, if any, available. Now it has gotten back to being very empty. Why people are heading back north this early in the year I am not sure. Several people have talked about how cold it still is and how much snow is still at their homes. Maybe they are taking their time to get home. Some also have mentioned taxes as the reason for leaving now, but I still don't understand that when it can be done on-line so easily.

BENTSEN GROVE DANCERS AT VIDA ADULT DAY CARE CENTER

I am sure that there are many towns that have Adult Day Care centers but I cannot remember seeing them in the Denver Area of Colorado or any other place that we have traveled for that matter. I suppose that now that I have made such a statement I will see them everywhere. Perhaps they have a different name for them in other states or cities. Here in the Mission/McAllen area there are a lot of them. Again Iwill have to say that I did not see them down here until after the dance group here at the park went to dance at one nearby. We have danced at two different ones this year. When we go to put on a performance we try to get the clients to dance with us on a simple dance that they can do with little or no instruction. Some of them really get into the action with us. I had one lady tell me that she wouldn't "dance today but she would when we came back the next time." The picture above shows us at the Vida Adult Day Care the first time we were there. We went there a second time this last week and half the clients or more were gone to one of the flea markets, so we had as many dancers as there were people to watch. At another center that we went to we were cut short because the cook burnt something in the kitchen and set off the fire alarm. The fire department showed up and there was a regulation that stated that the building had to be evacuated totally. We only had a couple dances to perform, so not knowing how long it would be before the people would be allowed back in we left to return to our lessons back at the park. It was getting close to the time that they would be serving their lunch so we did not really have time to wait for the all clear and continue the dancing.

PALM TREE IN BENTSEN GROVE RESORT ON THE MAIN STREET

Palm trees fascinate me. There are many varieties and I like every one of them. Perhaps that is due in part to the fact that I grew up in a place where the only view of a palm tree was in National Geographic Magazine or some other magazine or book that was about exotic places and vacation sites. Here there are streets that are lined with very tall palm trees for block after block. I have always liked any street that was lined with trees but I think there is something special about palms. Some of the palms grow large bases that look like huge pineapples when the fronds are trimmed off the trunks. Some people work very hard to remove the fronds as they get old and others allow the fronds to hang down and form a shape almost like a Tiki hut. Whatever form they take I like them. I have not found anyone who can tell me how to guess the age of any of the palms that I see. When the trees are transplanted all the fronds are removed and just about all the root is removed also. I am amazed that the tree can survive at all. Some people do not like palm trees. When we were in Florida there were many palms that had their blossoms removed almost before they had a chance to open. This park has a lot of palms. But I have heard that as they die of old age or are removed they will not be replaced because they harbor palmetto bugs, which we would call a giant cockroach. While that may be true I have yet to see a single one of the bugs. In the picture above the blossom is showing to the left side of the picture and the seed fruits are a dark blue-green. I do not have a clue as to the variety or type of palm. The nuts, if that is what they are, are very hard with an olive like covering on it. It might be edible, but if it is it would be hard to eat. Still I think it is a beautiful tree and I think it adds value to the view here.

Erma and I have had a running joke for quite a few years now. Ever since she got her personal cell phone we have said that I needed one also so that I could find her in the large stores when we go there. I have been aware that some day I would join the millions of people that have a cell phone. However I have never really liked the idea of the cell phone in spite of the obvious value of them. The thing that finally broke me was the air card for my computer. Over a year ago I had reason to believe that my computer was on the brink of total failure, so I bought a new computer. With all the changes that computers make the air card that I had would not work on the new computer. I needed a different card but it was going to be quite expensive to get for a while. Because I was then using the new computer most of the time the old one survived. Less load = longer life. So finally I was able to get an air card that would work in either computer. While we in the phone store getting the air card we went ahead and got a second cell phone for me. The first chance I had I tried to make the running joke of Erma and myself a reality. Later when we stopped at Wal-Mart I dropped Erma off at the door while I went to find a place to park. When I walked into the store I called her to ask where she was. She answered with, "About ten foot behind you." Took most of the fun out of the call. Since that time we have found out that the phones are as handy to have as we knew they would be. One problem I have had is that one number was calling between ten and twenty times a day and leaving a message that I could get my voice mail if I dialed my extension. It was some business in Kansas. The phone company put a block on that number and I have had pretty fair service since then. Not many wrong numbers. One caller wanted to know who I was since the number no longer went to his friend. People are funny.

It seems that every day has dancing, quilling, Spanish lessons or some other activity that we are involved with or there is some park show we want to go watch. If I am not occupied with those things there always seems to be something that I need to do on the computer. I have gotten involved with the computer club this year and I spend a lot of time helping people around the park with their computers. I have been leading one session of the computer club meetings and trying to teach some fun things to do with the computer that are not usually done by people. As an example I taught a class on Power Point Presentations and I did not know how to use the program so I had to learn before I went to teach. I am not about to say that I know even yet, but at least I can make a simple presentation. I have also learned and taught how to make movies. Many people have requested a copy of one of the movies I made. They in turn have told me that they have e-mailed it on to family members up north.

Our original plans were to leave Mission on the 1st of April and go up to Rockport for three weeks. I am not yet ready to say our plans have changed but there is a good chance that we will stay here for another month . It is pretty much anyones guess how things will work out in the near future. I still am hoping that we can do the things that we planned for the summer. One of those is to be able to go to Erma's class reunion of fifty years in Kansas towards the end of May. Next year we also plan to go to my fifty year reunion in Kansas toward the end of June. I have to say that the end of May in Kansas sounds more appealing than well into June. Somehow Erma has to be in Sioux Falls this summer to renew her drivers license. It is too bad that those cannot be renewed by letter or on the Internet. Some states allow renewal that way. It would save us a lot of trouble if we could do that. But at least we don't have to go there every year to renew something or show up in person to do some task. Following our stop in South Dakota we are still planning on going to Rochester, New York to spend some time with our daughter. We are looking forward to a busy and fun summer this year.

Till later this is Doug of

Peace On The Road