Rambling thru life

Where are you Christmas? Why can't I find you? Why have you gone away? Where is the laughter  You used to bring me? Why can't I hear music play?   My world is changing, I'm rearranging. Does that mean Christmas changes too?   ------------------   I awoke early this morning.  Unable to sleep I picked up my cell phone and started scanning the news.  I was looking for evidence during this holiday season that the Christmas season was here.    In the news I saw evidence of our nation in distress.  I read about the murder of a pregnant wife and the death a nine year old, who was left in the trash bin.  I read about millions of people gambling their hard earned cash for a once in a lifetime opportunity to win the lottery.  Of course there was news about the weather, and the concern that the dear might starve with all the snow covering the food source.  Finally, in small print, I found a small article of the generous giving to the salvation army.  But the

Today LoriAnn and I are heading home! A big thanks to Kathryne and Brad for hosting the family gathering for Thanksgiving, for letting LoriAnn and I stay with them, and for giving up their bed to LoriAnn and myself.  This day however, we headed north on Interstate 35 which runs almost to our front door.  We topped off the gas tank and got a bite to eat about 60 miles up the road in Perry.  We stopped for BBQ and gas in Des Moines.  We drove into our driveway less than 12 hours later.  For this day, we drove about 780 miles.  The total trip was 3240 miles. Overall impression: Texas is a large state with many different topographical regions.  West of Austin is the hill country that we liked.  East of Austin was flat.  Galveston was fun, and a potentially tourist location but not a place to live.  We liked the region around Tyler and may consider this as a future place to settle.  We did not like Azle and Eagle Mountain for the lack of commerce and arid condition.  We did not lik

From Fort Worth, we drove north to Oklahoma City to visit LoriAnn's nieces Kathryne and Sarah and their families for Thanksgiving. On Thanksgiving day, the 3.5 hour drive north was un-eventful. There was hardly anyone on the road. With the help of the GPS we found Kathryne and Brad's house without any problem.  Because Sarah and Josh were visiting Josh's family, the Thanksgiving celebration was postponed until Friday.  But we still needed to eat.  Although I think people should be home with their families on the holidays, I was thankful for the people working at Braum's so that we could get a good burger. That afternoon, I went with Brad to wash his car. LoriAnn, Brad, and I then took the dogs out for a walk.  Honestly, the walk was the most exercise that LoriAnn and I had all week.  That night Brad and I played the Xbox, while LoriAnn and Kathryne were baking in the kitchen.  Thanksgiving day started out as a lazy day with everyone sleeping until after 7:30.  Sar

Our goal today was west of Fort Worth, around the Azle and Eagle Mountain area.  I have friends that live in the Azle area.  We choose to end the Texaz search in the Azle area based on my memories of the area. We left Tyler, Texas in the sun and headed west.  We crossed through Dallas on the interstate just fine.  Going through Fort Worth, the interstate was closed for over an hour as they removed an eighteen wheeler from the road. Sitting on the interstate not moving for an hour was very irritating. Entering the city limits of Azle, our expectations were quickly dampened.  The terrain is rolling hills which we like, but the land was a lot more arid than we like.  We drove through the old town and then into a residential area. Again the first part of town we entered was depressed.  Trying to stay positive, we drove around Azle some more until we found middle and upper class homes.  Leaving Azle we drove around the eastern tip of Lake Eagle Mountain and then north along the lake.