Winter In Texas
February 22, 2010
It has been said, "Seeing this country is the work of a lifetime. A man does not have the ability to truly comprehend the size of the country." I do not remember who it was that was credited with that quote, but I can tell you that I agree with him totally. Over the years I have tried to see some of the highlights in certain areas, and barely scratched the surface of the sights available. Setting in one place for several months at a time does several things. First it allows a closer look at the local area, and second it prevents seeing other places. It also allows new friendships to be made. All three things and others not listed are good in their own way. While I am doing that which I want to do I also wonder at times, "Am I doing what I want to do, or is there other things I would rather do?" I guess that the answer is like so many other answers, it is a choice of numerous "correct" answers that are all YES.
We are very fortunate to be able to winter here in the Rio Grande Valley down in the tip of Texas. While most of the nation is looking out their windows and seeing snow and other signs of very cold temperatures we can look out our windows and see many citrus trees that bloom soon and of course we can walk out and pick ripe citrus fruit from those same trees. There is so much fruit going to waste around here that is hard to believe. I am constantly being given an offer to come pick fruit, and that is after the resident has taken all they can handle. The fresh picked fruit, or fresh juice is so good.
RELATIVES/FRIENDS PICKING ORANGES FROM THE TREE OF A NEIGHBOR/FRIEND
In January we had some relatives/friends come to Mission for a few days. One of the things that they hoped to do was to pick one orange off a tree and eat it. Not only did they get to pick one orange off the tree they were able to pick two or three bags of oranges. Off the trees of other of our neighbors they were able to pick several bags of grapefruit, a bag of lemons, a couple bags of nectarines and a few kumquats. They did not get to pick one of the Ponderosa lemons that I have told you about before but the lemons were more like the ones you see in the grocery store. Recently the temperatures have dropped down to the freezing point for several hours during the night. The owner of the Ponderosa lemons picked them before they had a chance to freeze. It did get cold enough for long enough to nip the tender plants but it does not seem to have bothered the citrus trees. I am glad of that.
GREEN PARAKEETS BY OUR MOTORHOME IN BENTSEN GROVE PARK
I know that I have put in pictures of the green parakeets that we see here in the valley several times in the past. Usually we have to drive ten to twelve miles to a location where they roost for the evening. It is often difficult to get good pictures of them due to the fading light. This year there have been several times that they have been either in or very near where we live in the park early in the morning. Usually we hear them fly over but they are not stopping in the trees. One morning they decided to surround our home here. There could easily have been over a hundred of the birds in a tree no more than sixty foot from our windshield of the motorhome, plus a couple hundred elsewhere close by. I don't think that I have ever heard any bird make more noise than these little guys do. I have seen birds that were louder on an individual basis but there will be several hundred of these gathering in one place. In a short length of time their raucous sounds can almost cause pain in the ears. I am unsure how the people with apartments near the roosting areas handle the early morning wake up sounds of them. But on the other hand a person can get used to a lot of sounds in time. It becomes normal after a time.
It is a while before we can say that spring has reached Texas, but there are early signs that it will not be much longer. The cold weather did a real knock back of the plants but there are some that starting to bloom again. The trees that lost their leaves are showing buds and small leaves. The orange trees next to our motorhome are starting to bloom as are all the other citrus trees in the park. So spring cannot be far behind. Along a highway that we travel frequently there must be twenty Joshua trees that are putting out their blossoms. They are magnificent. My parents had a large yucca in front of the house where I grew up and I always enjoyed it when it bloomed. There were quite a few small scraggly yucca that grew in the pastures near home and as you traveled further west there were more, but they were small. When I first saw the Joshua Trees in Arizona and New Mexico I was very impressed. I am sure that these are the largest I have ever seen. We enjoy seeing them bloom out. There must be dozens of varieties of yucca. We saw several totally different ones in California a couple years ago.
JOSHUA TREES AND PALM TREES ABOUT SIX MILES FROM WHERE WE LIVE IN TEXAS
I follow a couple blogs of my family and friends. Recently one of them wrote that it is difficult to find a worthwhile subject to write about when they were just staying around home. I very much understand their feelings. We are very busy doing the everyday things that has become our way of life here in Texas. While they are very different from the things that we did when we owned a home they don't lend themselves to travel description. There are many people that are already talking about going back to their homes in the north. In less than a month there will be a lot of people leaving the valley and they will get back up north and wonder, "What's that white stuff that is falling from the sky?" We have talked about our summer plans in very broad terms. The only conclusion we have come to is that I will be going to my 50 year reunion of high school. And that is in Kansas the third weekend of June, so we have a lot of time to plan the route we take to get there. Now, I will go do something to write about.
Till Later This Is Doug Of
Peace On The Road
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