My Bike, A Special Toy

BBBH, as guest blogger for this Lord’s Day, has chosen to give you one of her poems.

My Bike, a Special Toy

Though riding my bike is easy to do

It helps my soul with-in renew
With a healing breeze refreshing my face

I ride along at a nice even pace

Hearing the Whippoorwill sing his song

For memories of childhood, sometimes I long

Or riding alone, at morning’s first light

I see flocks of geese, in perfect flight

Sometimes riding, just before dusk,

Hearing the locust croaking in lust

Reminds me of a lazier time

When bread could be bought for just a dime

Feeling the sunrays hot on my back

It’s already warm at dawn’s first crack,

Soothing my soul with soft inner peace

Riding my bike is like a fabulous feast

Feeling the breeze rumple my hair

Out by a lake, in imagination, I am there

At such times, I yearn for an earlier day

As I watch little children laugh and play

Sharing the ride with another or riding alone

The joy of my inner-child, is ever strong.

I’ve even been caught out in the rain

Stopped at a corner by a slow moving train

But I’m so thankful for these special rides

They help my heart deal with changing tides

As I ride beside a little stream

Life goes on like a changing dream

Pearls of life, like beads are strung

But in my Spirit, I am ever young

I thank the Lord for this simple joy

Even grown-ups, can enjoy this special toy

Psalm 103:5

Who satisfieth thy mouth with good things, so that thy youth is renewed like the eagles’. 

© Grace JoAnn Harrison Lacy, Gifts from God, p.98, 1995, 2013

Settled In

 The park here is a little different from those we are used to.  No "wasted" space, one might say.  The picture above doesn't really show the half of it, for between each two units that are visible, there is another unit.  They are arranged, though, so that no one has to look into his neighbor's windows, and each unit has a yard, 12' x 30' with reall grass.  Texas grass.

That's us on the right side of the picture.  We found that the next-door neighbors are from the town  where my sister used to live and where her ex still lives.  These people are acquainted with them.  "You can run, but you can't hide."  We almost always meet someone who knows someone, or at least knows someone who knows someone.

We took a nice scooter ride, picked up a few grocery items and visited the "birding" area.

 This little fellow greeted us at the park.  He did not shill for Geico.

 I have had an aloe vera in the house for more than forty years,  It has never bloomed.

BBBH really liked the rubber tree plant.  This the biggest one she has ever seen, she said.

Valentines Day Observed

 We did not forget to express our love for one another on Valentines Day.  I understand the symbolism of the red rose; but you need to understand that the yellow rose is the favorite of BBBH, hence she got yellow roses.  Please note the fancy vase.  (Yes, that merits the "vahz" pronunciation.

I happened upon an old sketch I used  a long time ago, so I repurposed it as a greeting card.  Someone enhanced my work, and now the caricatures actually resemble the inhabitants of this domicile.  As for my response to her question, 1) Hmm, why did she ask? and 2) it is a true answer, and trumps the "You are so beautiful" and similar lines, though they may be true, too.

AND, she had her t-bone steak dinner!

Just call me the last of the romantics.

Mustang Island

Wednesday we pulled up stakes and moved down the road and across the pass to Port Aransas. We had booked a spot here on the Island when we were over a while back. This is the kind of day that makes one glad to be here, glad to be alive. Sunny and bright, the air temperature in the high seventies. Our plan is to stay here a month, then decide what is next.

It is certain that there will be beach time, singing, and dining. The first because the beach here is wonderful and is about seven blocks east of us; the second because we, and especially BBBH, love to attend the jam sessions here on the island. It is amazing how many old people are gifted with musical talent and how eager they are to get together and make music. The third item is a function of the abundance of eateries here, and the fact that we do get hungry on a fairly regular basis.

We spent a good part of our honeymoon here on Mustang Island thirteen years ago. In fact, we would have been heading for home on this date, I think. It was five years, then, before we returned. This time we had joined the ranks of our country’s RVers. We stayed  for an extended period. I think on three other occasions since then we have spent part of our winter here, but this is the first time we’ve camped here since 2009, though we have visited several times for short term fun.

Strolling Along

The story of the railroad in Rockport.

 That's right.  The sea is right over there.

 No tracks anywhere.

 Along the waterfront.

A little farther along. 

We are having a nice walk.

 A bit windy, but a great day on foot.

About here I said to BBBH, "Be sure to tell me when you've gone half as far as you can go."  Couple more blocks when I heard, "That's it!"

Today is Lincoln's Birthday

Abraham Lincoln, without doubt one of the strongest and most outstanding men in the history of our country, was born in Kentucky 204 years ago today.  There may be no one in our country's history about whom more has been written.*  It would be presumptuous of me to believe I could add anything to that noble library.

This I will relate, though.  When I was a boy I recall that on the classroom walls of probably more than one room in which I spent my elementary years there was a huge calendar with the pictures of the presidents.
I remember, too, that there were two presidents whose birthdays were noted and called by their rightful names.  February 12, Lincoln's Birthday, and February 22, Washington's Birthday.  We didn't have a Presidents' Day.

There aren't any other presidents whose birthday I can tell you.  I could look one up if I had occasion to want to know it;  but these two birthdays I shall always remember in honor of two of our greatest men.

Another notable event memorialized on this day, wherein we recount the final moments of a sterling life, that of one of my favorite young people:

http://vanilla-ststt.blogspot.com/2010/02/lady-jane.html

*Moments after I wrote that sentence, I heard Doris Kearns Goodwin state that more than 60,000 books have been written about Lincoln.

Gorgeous Redhead, Exotic Voice

I'll say it again:  1934 was a very good year.

Tatiana Josivovna Chermova  Blacker was born in New York City, Februrary 11, 1934.

Her career included nightclub singer, recording artist, film actress, stage actress, television actress.

She currently lives in the city of her nativity.

Happy Birthday, Miss Louise.

Fish and Fun

Fish fry.  Doesn't begin to represent the quantity of wonderful comestibles.

The pictures don't show even half of the tables, or a quarter of the dishes available.

I, for one, am overstuffed.  And I thought I was being so self-disciplined.  Ah, well.  Not something we do every day.