Hey, there. It’s been
a while since my last blog, so I’ll fill ya in on what’s been happening in the
life of this Rambling RV Rat.
Having survived the entire summer in East Texas, we were
thrilled that October brought us more comfortable Autumn temps and relief from
the oppressive heat! Much needed rain
showers changed the grass color from desert brown back to emerald green. With a period of 30+ consecutive days
of 100+F degrees this summer, we now understand why East Texans wear hats,
gloves, and winter coats when temps get in the mid-60s. You can imagine how freaked out we all were (yes, after this summer, we are full-fledged East Texans) when our Piney Woods area experienced a cold snap in late October—temps in the 30s and
40s overnight!
We have witnessed several wonderful celestial events: from meteor showers to a blue moon so bright
and large, you could see the craters on its surface (though I didn’t observe
any cows jumping over it), from the International Space Station (ISS) orbiting
to the Starlink Satellite Train passing overhead (thank you Elon Musk for
providing us terrific service!) But most
magnificently, we experienced the annular eclipse.
We were hoping that the excellent results of Dad’s
post-bypass-surgery stress test would see us back on the road by now. Instead, the atrial fibrillation (a-fib) that
Dad developed AFTER his quad by-pass decided to act up in early August for the
first time since leaving the hospital in January. Dad has taken his vitals twice a day since
his heart attack/stent insertion in 2017.
And a good thing he has done this religiously, since he noted
immediately that his rate was significantly higher than usual. (We suspect that eating Chinese food for the
first time in 1.5 years was the culprit since MSG can trigger a-fib, Asian
cooking often contains MSG, and the onset of the a-fib occurred less than 24
hours after consumption). Dad had a
cardiologist appointment within a few days of noting the consistently higher
and irregular rates, which resulted in additional medications. (Ironically, we were paying out-of-pocket for
a home monitoring device to detect his heartrate daily and send reports to his
electro-cardio physicist. We soon
learned that the reports were sent monthly but the doctor’s office was
reviewing them only at 3-month intervals.
By the time the electro-cardio physicist’s office notified Dad of his
heartrate inconsistencies, the issue had already been addressed by Dad’s
cardiologist. (Mom packed up that device
and shipped it back to the manufacturer quicker than you could say “rip-off”!) Dad’s next appointment in late November was to
determine/discuss whether cardio aversion would be needed. But God blessed us again! Dad went back in sinus rhythm on October 30! Say a prayer that he stays this way—we are
anxious to get back on the road!
When Dad went into a-fib, his cardiologist advised him to
continue all his regular activities and exercise regimens. And we surely have been following the
doctor’s orders! We still play
pickleball 3 times a week with our growing group (which ranges in age from 12
to 78.) Parks and Recreation has
approved the plan to add real pickleball courts, and work is scheduled to
commence within the next 6-8 weeks!
In remembrance of the tragedy of 9/11, we attended a
ceremony held at Livingston Municipal Complex.
We also participated in the Travis Manion Foundation 9/11 Heroes Day Run
in Houston. Though we had no precipitation
for months on end, it rained torrentially that day, hindering our ability to
ride Maximus the Trike. We needed ample
time after our 1+ hour commute to hunt for parking to accommodate Big Boomer,
our medium duty truck. So, we left at
the ungodly hour of 5:45 a.m. (Mom was in a comatose state). Mercy was shown upon us: we found a spot to park Big Boomer only a few
blocks away from the starting point, and the rain stopped completely by the
time the 5K walk commenced.
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| My parents and fellow VFW Post 8568/Auxiliary at the finish line of the Travis Manion 9/11 Heroes Run in Houston |
While Dad now attends his Masonic Lodge regularly, Mom has
become more active with the VFW Auxiliary, assisting with their Garage Sale
fundraiser, the Breakfast to honor two local Gold Star Families, and a District
Meeting. We continue to volunteer
regularly at Mannafest, one of our local food pantries. Sadly, the number of families needing
assistance HAS DOUBLED since we started volunteering in April, a clear
indication that inflation has had a severe impact on the average American
household.
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| Gold Star Family Breakfast |
We attended the World War II B-17 monument dedication at the
Montgomery County Veterans Memorial Park in Conroe, TX. The new monument
memorializes the Texas Raiders who were killed in Dallas last November during
an air show. It was a lovely ceremony in
a beautiful park that we had wanted to visit on many occasions and never had
the opportunity.
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| War Memorial within the Park |
Several Escapees friends were back in town for a short
period, so we enjoyed getting together before they hit the road again. And we have attended several Park pot luck
dinners and ice cream socials, getting to know more of the Escapees homeowners.
But it is our passion for dance that has filled our calendar
the most these days. We take 2+ hours of
line dance lessons every Wednesday and attend the weekly Saturday evening
dances at our local VFW, joining several of our classmates and instructor in
showcasing our moves. My parents are now
performing with our dance troupe at fall festivals, fundraisers, and senior
healthcare facilities, which requires attending practicing two extra days per
week for several hours each day! (I can’t
imagine the regimen the Radio City Music Hall Rockettes endure!) But it is loads of fun for us and quite
heartwarming to watch folks tap their feet, clap their hands, and even get up
to dance along with us. Dancing provides
a simple but much appreciated pleasure.
You can watch some of our Hot Steppers’ performances on my Rambling RV
Rat YouTube channel.
PoPo's YouTube Channel
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| Performance at Cold Spring Volunteer Fire Department Fundraiser |
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| Performance at Agape Love Foundation Fundraiser for Victims of Domestic Violence/Human Trafficking |
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Performance at Cleveland Health Care Center
 | I look a heck of a lot better in this petticoat than Mom does!
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| A well-deserved dinner break after a performance. |
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Some of the members of our Wednesday night dance class. Between beginners and intermediates, we have 1/2 dozen men, though Dad is the only one who performs currently.
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We took Maximus the Trike to Tyler, TX for their annual Rose
Festival, held the third weekend in October.
It was a brisk 55F degrees when we departed at 5:30 a.m. We stopped in Nacogdoches for breakfast at
the Fredonia Hotel, where Stephen F. Austin State University (which is now part of University of Texas) was celebrating its centennial. The hotel was hosting the Alumni Association
and was adorned in purple/white, the University colors. Fortunately, we departed the area right
before the homecoming parade commenced!
We arrived in Tyler just in time to park Maximus and walk 4
blocks to view the Rose Parade, which was very well organized considering they
had thousands of participants (significantly more than actual spectators). The parade lasted 2 hours with a variety of
entrants, from marching bands to gymnastic teams, from classic cars/trucks to
the antics of the Shriners in their go-carts, from floats sponsored by local
businesses to the latest graduates from an obedience training school (Mom asked
if they trained husbands, but alas, their services are limited to dogs). There were many cultural/heritage groups that
donned their traditional attire, and the gowns worn by young ladies celebrating
quinceanera were exquisite, more elaborate than my low-key Mom’s wedding
gown! This was the 90th Rose Festival
held to honor the local companies that produce 75% of all roses
nationwide. The Festival’s theme this year was
“Story of Film”. So, all the float
decorations and the attire of the Festival Queen and her Court were
representative of well- known films, from classics like “Wizard of Oz” and “Gone
with the Wind” to contemporary works like “Matrix” and “Hunger Games”.
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| How cool is this giant motorized shopping cart! |
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| This obedience training group only has dogs as clients--no spouses! |
After the parade, we attended the “Queen’s Tea”. Complete with red carpet, this was a full-blown
hob-knobbing-with-the goober-smoochers soiree.
Those whose attendance at this event is a decades-old family tradition
were all decked out: formal gowns for
women and tuxedos for men, light, airy day dresses for young girls and young
boys in their Sunday-best suits. There
were some "commoners" dressed in shorts and sandals, too. However, it was my parents who made
the biggest fashion faux pas—arriving in their “biker duds”. We walked among the dignitaries, took a few
pics, partook of some refreshments provided by the newly-crowned Rose Queen,
then went to admire the real stars of the show:
the rose gardens. Many of the
roses were past peak, but considering the sweltering summer they endured, I was
grateful to see rose blooms at all.
We then visited the Goodman-LeGrand Museum. The original 1859 home was a one-story, 4
room cabin divided by a breezeway. But
it was Sallie Goodman-LeGrand (the third generation of family to live in the
house) who transformed it into its current glory. It was the first home in Tyler to have
electric (installed in 1898), and indoor plumbing was added in 1923. Remarkably, 90% of all the furnishings on
display are original to the home, including the hand-painted ceiling added in
1880, which has NEVER been retouched.
Since Sallie and her husband who predeceased her had no heirs, Sallie
donated this 9-acre property to the City of Tyler for use as a museum. The docent was terrific, weaving a boatload
of information into a fascinating narrative.
Should you ever visit Tyler, I highly recommend you visit the
Goodman-LeGrand Museum. It receives one of my coveted 5-cheese awards!
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| Hand-painted ceiling circa 1880. |
We checked into Twelve Oaks, a small non-chain motel that
lived up to the great reviews it receives on-line. We are always happy when we can support small
local businesses.
We enjoyed an early dinner, showered, and took a nap before
heading back out for a night of dancing at "Cowboys", a country western club. But our Google driving instructions landed
us at a club called "Buck Wild". We were a
bit perplexed--was this the right place?
Then we learned when ownership changed, the dance club name changed as
well, but no one updated the website.
Relieved that we weren’t walking into some pole dancing joint, we
enjoyed doing about a dozen line dances with the other patrons.
Then about midnight, the gangsta rap and twerking took over. Since the club was closing at 1 a.m. anyway,
we decided to call it a night. The
following day, we had a leisurely, enjoyable trike ride home to Livingston.
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| Lots of line dancers at this club! |
Before you could say Ghostbusters, Halloween had arrived! It is a special holiday for my parents. In their younger days, they entered costume
contests at nightclubs and dance venues, earning themselves more than $10,000
in cash and prizes over a 10-year period.
In recent years, they don’t worry about creating prize-winning costumes,
but they certainly still enjoy dressing up and attending dance venues. This stuffed rat thinks Halloween is no
longer for kids and trick-or-treating, but instead is about giving adults a
rare opportunity to act as kids.
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| One of the early"\ less elaborate creations... |
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| ...a slot machine and roll of quarters. |
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| Dad loves costumes involving fake blood. This was the motorcycle victim and emergency room nurse. |
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| The headless waiter. Dad had tubing installed in Mom's waiter costume so she could still enjoy her cocktails. He, on the other hand, needed drinking assistance as the head on the platter. |
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| King Neptune, Roman God of the Sea, and his mermaid. Hard to tell in the picture, but there is water and air tubing within 2 layers of tempered glass to give the illusion of being underwater. |
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| We did "reuse, repurpose, recycle" for this costume. Creature from the Black Lagoon with his mermaid "underwater". |
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| Halloween Party at VFW Post 2849 in Cleveland |
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| Dad made it to the semi-finals in the costume contest at VFW Post 8568 in Livingston... |
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| ...and friends Willi and Billy won First Prize there. |
Well, that’s all for now folks! Can't believe how time is flying--the holidays are right around the corner. I promise I’ll talk to you again soon!
