It's snowing white petals in the streets of Manhattan

I rode the Fung Wah bus into Chinatown and stayed with Brian Stout in his "cozy little money-sucking fire hazard" (Manhattan Apt.). Every tree-lined sidewalk in the city was bursting with bright white. Whenever a wind blew, tiny petals fell into my hair and fallen petals swirled upward into my skirt. Chris' ship pulled into port there a few days later. After the conclusion of my house hunting ventures, we decided to enjoy the spring time. :) So, in a motley group of 7 random people, we went to the Brooklyn Botanic Garden- a pocket of pink and white and multitudinous shades of green in the middle of New York. Oh wow- I have never seen so many blossoms at once. From a distance, the Cherry Blossoms look like cotton candy trees, but close up they look like tiny explosions of fine silk. The petals are so many and so delicate and the flowers look so fragile. We wondered around the promenade a while then admired the magnolias and daffodils and tulips and banzai trees (those are the weirdest things I've ever seen).

One of the seven random people knew another random person who knew of a hole in the wall mexican eatery nearby. The one-red walled-room restaurant was tiny and created quite the atmosphere. The menu was quite different from any texmex menu I've ever seen. Ex: I had a pork and pineapple taco. We talked and talked then migrated to the Brooklyn Museum, where many sunned themselves on the steps while Chris and I scoped the exhibit. A dog was quite entertained by the pattern fountain and all the sunners were very entertained by the entertained dog. His mission was to catch the water spouts before they spouted. He ran back and forth attacking H2O. haha!

The date ended and the group dispersed sending Chris, Brian, and I to Union Square Park to see art sales. So far, I like New York.

We are being restationed to NYC

We found out this week that Chris' next job is at sector New York. Fort Wadsworth is on Staten Island (the orange burough) A toll bridge away from Brookly and a free ferry ride from Manhattan. Believe it or not, the south side of Staten Island has trees and grass! So we sought rental houses there. Found one! Isn't it cute? I'm quite excited about the place. :) Innitially, I was not too thrilled about moving to the biggest city in the nation, but I am warming up to the idea and am excited about all the opportunities the area offers.

It's spring!

The sun came out. Finally. So I opened the window to let the shine in. As I ate my homemade italian sausage and brocolli pasta lunch, I admired the contrast between Dick's white fence and the green green grass. As I admired the greeness, I noticed that the bush acorss the street had yellow buds on it! So I ran outside to admire it too. While I was addmiring the budding bush, I noticed that the tall tree beside it had red buds on it! How can i describe how excited I am? I am so excited! It's spring. I'm going on a bike ride.

Lovely Friends

Oh wow. What gifts friends are. And how loving my lovely gifts happen to be. Rachel, Dana, and Laura all flew up here at the same time! I picked them up in Boston where we did some shopping and bookstoring then drove to my cute house in Kittery, Maine. In the mornin, we woke up to the sun and oatmeal banana pancakes. :) We drove up the coast and climbed around an old fort then hopped around the cliffs of Nubble Lighthouse near York Beach. Then we stopped through adorable Newburyport for our picnic veggie lunch (with seagulls) and, of course, for coffee from an elderly Austrian lady- the name of her bakery is Greta's Great Grains.
Next stop was Salem, Massachusetts (home of the witch trials). There, we passed plenty of witch museums and toured the House of Seven Gables, where Nathaniel Hawthorne set his so named book. Our Boston-accented tour guide lead us through secret passageways and narrow staircases. Dinner at the odd. The next morning, we baked Buttermilk scones for breakfast and took to exploring Portsmouth. Poor Dana was sick, so she read and napped. We crossed the old old draw bridge into the old town and shopped and explored a bit. I showed them around Strawbery Banke and we got to go into the Antheneum (an old and awesome library that I have always wanted to get into). We retrieved Dana, made lunch, talked about the Bible, then went to a movie downtown at the old and beautiful Portsmouth Music Hall. We watched a very elegant film about Queen Victoria when she was young. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EKs3yIZolsM.
Oh Oh after that, we ate at a restaurant that Dana deemed her favorite restaurant she had ever been to. :) So I was very glad to introduce her to it.

On Sunday we went to my church (which I love) together and then took Laura to the airpuerto. :( We BARELY got her there in time! Oh geeeze- she was so calm though- I was impressed. After we kissed her cheeks and sent her off, Dana and Rachel and I did what other than go to the Harry Potter Expedition at the Boston Museum. That was, indeed, an interesting experience- especially since I have not read the books and have only seen one movie. So I was a real life trivia game for Dana and Rachel while we walked through the exhibit. Then we watched a guy make lightning. After that we stayed at the homey apartment of Rachel's friend, who is a student minister at M.I.T. They made us a yummy and we had fun conversation and I got to take a bath in a beatiful bathtub! I was happy. In the mornin, we gave Rachel big hugs good-bye and then Dana and I set out for a Starbucks (they are rare finds here in Dunkin Land). Then we drove around Andover, Lowell, Concord (as in the Battle of Lexington and Concord), and Walden Pond (As in Henry David Thoreau). People were walking around and playing ice hockey on Walden Pond! isn't that cool! I just think that's so cool. Dana and I had some good good car talks and then I said bye-bye to her in the late afternoon.

HOW WONDERFULLY REFRESHING and ALTOGETHER MARVELOUS IT WAS FOR US TO ALL BE TOGETHER AGAIN! I love you, Girls! Thank you so so much. -Heather

Post-snow Snow Post

Today, the snow stopped falling heavily from the sky and started falling heavily from the trees. This morning, I sat behind my storm door while I ate my cereal and watched the heavy chunks plummet and splatter. The falls were so frequent that there was rarely only one splattering at one time.

Lie

I have had multiple conversations lately with Christians who struggle with the lie that they are not good enough for ministry. They feel like someone else must be better equipped to do the job that they are being called to do. College students directing summer camps, young women mentoring youth, and youth leading younger youth seem to feel much like Moses did when God sent him to lead the Israelites against Pharaoh. Sometimes we do not recognize the lie and we stumble over it repetitively and let it hold us back.
A few weeks ago, I went snowboarding nearby in New Hampshire. My first run down the mountain, I did pretty well. My second run, however, was terrible. I fell forward onto bruising knees over and over again. I could not stay up. Each fall pulled my self-esteem and confidence lower and lower. I wanted to quit. I was embarrassed and frustrated. Then, while I was resting, my friend pointed out that I had forgotten to buckle the metal clip that attached my board to my boot. The clip had been swinging under the front lip of my board. I buckled it and got up to test myself. I did not fall a single time the rest of the way down the mountain! That measley clip had been causing every fall.
The fault for my falls went not to my muscles or to my ability. It went to a silly oversight that effected my whole performance. My unbuckled clip can be compared to lies from Satan. We need to put our confidence in the Lord and know that He will guide us and equip us and use us regardless of our own short-comings. The temptation to believe that we are insufficient comes from the liar.

http://www.ignitermedia.com/products/iv/singles/23/The-March-Of-The-Unqualified

Email to

Chris,
I'm suddenly crazy about sweet Italian sausage. So for dinner tonight, I had penne pasta with sausage and green peppers with sea salt and a touch of Parmesan cheese. I made it up. I ate it on a red plate because things taste better off of red plates. Oh and I got a Fish Eye Cab for 5.00. I haven't had wine around since the week you left. While I cooked, I listened to the Singing in the Rain soundtrack. I was dancing and spinning around the little kitchen with a wooden spoon in my hand. It was fun- esp since my long sweater would twirl out when I spun.
Now i have a girly song stuck in my head- "All I do is dream of you the whole night through. And with the dawn I still go on dreaming of you. You're every though you're everything you're every song I ever sing. Summer Winter Autumn and Spring. And further more the 24 hours a day may be spent in sweet content dreaming away. The skies aren't gray; the skies are blue morning noon and night time too. All I do the whole day through is dream of you." :) I miss you sweetheart. I wish you were here to twirl me around.

Betty Botter Baked Bread & Snacked on Sesame Seeds by the Sea Shore

No, I don't know Betty Botter; I just wanted to combine two tongue twisters. Today, a woman-friend taught me the art of mixing, kneading, braiding, baking, and glazing homemade wheat & sesame seed bread. I felt like a 1940s housewife. Her whole adorable house smelled of firewood and bread dough. During rising and baking intervals,the two of us chatted and played with her chubby cats around her old potbelly fireplace.
I left her house as the horizon was turning baby-blanket pink. I turned left instead of homeward right and drove until I could see nothing but wet rocks and sky ahead of me. I pulled into a pebble parking lot and took in the view. If the sky were the dome of the Pantheon, then the oculus was periwinkle, the walls were pink, and the line between the two colors was as distinct as Vespasian's bald spot. The moon made me think of the firefly-filled crystal ball from Prince John's purple-curtained chariot in Disney's Robin Hood. (http://www.youtube.comwatch?v=om8CSWFKJmk) That may be because I had Oo-de-lally Oo-de-lally Golly What a Day stuck in my head this morning. Anyway, the moon was ginormous and bright! It hovered over the ocean that had regurgitated it a few minutes before. The pacific will swallow it back up in the morning. The water reflected the sky's soft tones aside from the foam which shone like neon in the moonlight. The waves lapped and splashed on the darkening rocks and I sat for a few minutes in my car and ate sesame seed bread while I watched the night fall.

Snow White v. Maid Marian

interesting, huh?
AND Little John does the exact same dance with Clucky http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YineYdEwTAQ&NR=1 that Balu does with the orangutan in Jungle Book http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9cWkUhZ8n4&feature=related. BTW, the same actor plays both bear character's voices. And in this same scene, a the band members are taken directly from Aristacats! Don't tell me the love scene doesn't remind you of lion king.

Lady, you are a treasure.

My sister-in-law wrote this. I love it :).

“The Father’s Love”

A Father gently strokes the head of his young child, her eyes gazing up into his. “All the world is for you”, he tells her. “Every mountain is so that you may be close to the heavens, every brook to reflect your beauty, every star to shine your brightness. The trees dance to your songs in the wind; their leaves soften your footsteps. The sweetest nectarine is nothing compared to the sweetness of your soul. Your grandeur is captivated by the first day of spring. The strength of all the oceans combined is no match for the endurance your spirit possesses. The purest silver tarnishes in your presence. You are a prized jewel, a diamond among rocks. All will be impressed by your beauty.”

Many, however, will see it and plan evil plots, for they cannot withstand the goodness you emit. In disguises they will knock on your door, seducing with false promises. They hunger to steal every delicate piece of your precious heart and destroy it, for they gain pleasure from a woman’s pain. Empty and hopeless, these victimized women turn hard and cold. Too fearful of experiencing the agony they had felt before, they shut their hearts to the world and to themselves, living a life without love.”

You will not fall for such disaster, for I will save you when you call upon me. I will carry you when you are weak. I will be the burning fire that keeps you warm on a barren night, and the lighthouse whose light beckons you to shore when you are lost at sea. The meadows whisper my adoration of you, the lilies my affection. One day a worthy man will come for your hand. He will bring you much happiness and love, and you will give to him everything except that which belongs to me; there will always be a sacred place for me in your heart and you in mine. For a love with a man is good, but the love with the Father is holy.”

Feeling an inner peace, the little girl began to nod off into sleep, her hand still grasping tightly to His.

Bandwagon Bobbleheads... roll off

Big eyes in baby beds
Bandwagon bobble heads
Base drum, humdrum, clones on parade

Saturdays in shopping malls
Phone calls from bathroom stalls
Pitter patter, bitter batter, bottled renegade

Despondent fools on bar stools
Buoyant boys on red bull
Bad habits, “dag nabit”, old hopes delayed

Sing along with Spinal Tap
Hypocrisy's a booby trap
Lash out, drop out, end this lame charade

Face down on the floor
Knocking on the right door
Limbs askew, by Christ renewed, a lifelong serenade

first impression of my husband

So I am writing this book and my husband and I are side characters in it. I started typing about when the main character-girl meets Chris for the first time and I got a little carried away. I'm not leaving all this in the book, but I did want to document it somewhere. So here it is- a first impression of my husband.

"I turn to see a tall man in boots and Rangers hat pull a gas can out of his pickup bed....Chris looks clean cut, yet somehow rugged at the same time. There’s a confidence in his stride that looks particularly good in his snug jeans. Both his blue eyes and his smile are bright and his voice is warm and welcoming. 'Now that is a man,' I catch myself thinking."

I am proud of my husband

My husband is helping in Haiti with the Coast Guard.

Faith in a Limitless God

Luke 17:5-6 The apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith!" He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you.

Sometimes, I forget just how limitless Jesus is. He has calmed storms, healed lepers, turned water into wine, turned darkness into light, and made a sinner like me holy. He says that whatever I ask for in His name, He will give me. He says that, by His name, I can plant a mulberry tree in the sea. Why do I shortchange his power despite all evidence?
In Mark 9, a Philippian man brings his son, who is possessed by a demon, to Jesus. He says to Jesus, "If you can do anything, help us.” Jesus responds "If I can? Everything is possible for him who believes." Immediately the man exclaims, "I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!" In response to that request, Jesus heals his son.
The people of Nazareth lacked faith too, but, unlike the father in Philippi, they did not ask for more of it. In Matthew 13, "Jesus said to them, 'Only in his hometown and in his own house is a prophet without honor.' And he did not do many miracles there because of their lack of faith."
I feel like Jesus’ “hometown” is now in my heart. If I lack faith in His power, He will not do many miracles there. But if I ask for more faith, then I see many miracles. Ephesians 2:8 says that our faith is not from ourselves. It is a gift from God. Like the man at Philippi in Mark 9 and like the disciples in Luke 17, we should ask Jesus to give us the gift of faith.

Three Kinds of Snow from an Espresso-drinking Bookstore Shopper

1) Clustered chunks of snowflakes fall steadily like powdered sugar, which gravity seems to pull more slowly than salt. They are in no particular hurry, but they know where they are going and how to get there.
2) Smaller more compact pellets of snow plummet like dry white raindrops. To squirrels, these must be like hailstones. (These do not fall as spaced out as the clustered chunks do. But I think the same quantity of snow falls per sq. inch per hour for both types).
3) Clumsy wondering flurries seem to have no idea where the ground is and don't seem to care much about getting there. They drift leftward and rightward and collide often. Some even appear to drive upward on occasion.

The third is the kind of snow I watched from the espresso shop in historic downtown Dover today. That is where I wrote these definitions.
Afterward, I took my little espresso to an old multi-room resale bookstore. Do you know what a bookstore that is too small for its inventory looks like? Well, The books are compressed tightly and their weight causes the cheap shelves to bow in the middle. Rows of books even line the bases of the shelves, narrowing the isles. In some places, books are even crammed sideways ontop of stout codexes. Some books have seen many a shop and some have long stared at the walls of a cardboard box while others are hot off the press. The diversity in age reminds me of a small-town church. The place was quite comfy. Too bad there was no room for a chair.

Morning Drive on the Blue Ridge Parkway

My Jetta and I drove from Florida to Maine two wks ago. I would call it a life-experience.
I entered the Appalachian Mntns the 2nd morning. I appropriately turned on Edvard Grieg's "Morning" as I wound up my first mount. The music seemed to meander and dip and climb with my road. Then, with amazing precision, the music climaxed just as I rounded into my first valley. I was nearly overwhelmed by the rush of visuals and music. Just below my road was a rusty coal train. Just beyond the coal train was a broad river. And the second burst of music erupted at the same moment that I spotted a shallow waterfall as wide as the broad river beyond the coal train below me was broad. Although it was winter, the view was spectacular. A light snow lay between the bare trees. More twists and turns revealed old red barns, valleys of grazing horses, bubbling brooks spilling out of still ponds, and few humans.
I drove from the Blue Ridge Parkway, across the dog ear of West Virginia, through the crane neck of Maryland. I passed Scranton, PA but did not stop at Dundermifflin, then paralleled Long Island Sound til I reached the Masalin's house.

Clustered crystals of that wintery white stuff

It’s 6AM. When I woke to the site out the window, “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas” came on immediately, like a needle had been lifted and set on the Bing Crosby record in my head. It looked as though Ledyard, Connecticut was being sprinkled with sugar: yards, trees, roofs, cars, and roads- all were covered in a tremendous layer of the finest sugar that I had ever seen. I think it was the snow plow that awoke me. But I am glad for it. It was such a wonderland outside and I decided to go walking in it. I recovered my denim, donned a warm shirt and jacket, and borrowed some men’s boots then trekked out the back door. The snow crunched beneath my soles as I made my way to the stacked stone wall that lines the Masalin’s property. Beyond the old fence is a marvelous slope which peaks near their land then rolls downward until it fades into trees a few acres away. In the summer, the lushness of the meadow is lovely and in fall the brilliance of its colors is stammering. On this December morning, the trickling snow forbade me see too far, but I did witness it in its most dazzling state yet. The sky was as white as the ground, distinguishable only by an icy branched divider. Some branches appeared limp with the weight of the clustered crystals while others bore the burden well. I hope I can be the latter tree when my trials come.

Savannah just became one of my favorite cities.

The history of the colony is layered upon layer and the beauty of the historic district is unrivaled!

The town has 23 grassy squares. Most feature a monument or fountain and are surrounded by antebellum buildings.

All of which are veiled by Spanish moss. (Did you know that it is called Spanish moss because the local Indians said it looked like the conquistadors’ beards. The British thought that quite funny and the name stuck. Once Henry Ford decided to use it for seat stuffing in his cars, but he had to recall it because people were being attacked by chiggers.) There is so much Spanish moss in Savannah that some trees looked like matted-haired beasts!

Chris and I rode a trolley through town then walked along River Street, which was built with the ballasting stones from the bellies of the boats. Now, a Christmas light-decked River Queen docks there.

Chris' uncles run a Victorian Bed & Breakfast there, Park Avenue Manor. http://www.parkavenuemanor.com/ We lounged in their parlor(s) for a while and they treated us to dinner at Six Pence Pub, where Julia Roberts catches her cheating husband, Dennis Quaid

in "Something to Talk About." Other stories set there include "Cape Fear," "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" and songs like "Moon River" by Johnny Mercer.

dog scares seagulls scare girl scares seagulls excites dog

Chris and I ran up and down a beach throwing the rugby ball back and forth.  After tiring ourselves out, we collapsed on the sand and I took a semi-nap on his tummy while he read about Andrew Jackson.  I got bored and went to dip my toes in the waves and sing to the ocean.  Things were wonderfully peaceful until a hilarious floppy-tongued puppy herded a flock of seagulls toward me.  This little chocolate lab bulted up out of nowhere and forced the sleepy birds to take off as quickly as they could; they fumbled on each other in the rush, which was hilariously awkward.  And they didn't notice that I was standing where they were aiming until they were in the air.  The mass avoidance of both girl and dog made the comotion even more awkward for the poor birds.  It was the silliest thing.  So they just went up and up and revealed me to the A.D.D. dog, who immediately wanted to meet me.  So I gave her some attention and she got me wetter than I already was, then I returned to my husband and the dog continuted to pursue the seagulls.

The oldest city in the U.S., a college, a fort, and another fort

We drove down a barrier island to a place that really didn't feel like America.  St. Augustine, founded in 1565, is the oldest port in the U.S. Spanish architecture and mosaics dominate the city's buildings and squares.  We walked through ornate stone arches below embellished bell towers near carp-filled fountains.  We gawked at the hotel ponce de leon's

courtyard and wondered at Flagler College's atrium.

Railroad barren, Henry Flagler built numerous hotels in Florida to bring his wealthy yankee friends to on his RR. Clever huh? The atrium of his school's foyer is filled with sunlight and brushed with gold.  The glimpse I got of the dinning hall reminded me of Cambridge. 

We circumvented the 16th century fort, Castillo de San Marcos, too.  We walked in what used to be a moat and sized up the cannons.  Twas yet another reason I didn't feel like we were in America.

As dusk approached, thousands of little white Christmas lights flipped on.  The trees were doused in them and the buildings were lined with them and the wet cobblestone street glowed because of them!  We stopped for Cider and Yuengling at a colonial tavern.  The room was lantern-lit, the beer came from a barrel, and colonial garbed employees were quite entertaining.

Thanksgiving, we toured Ft.Clinch, a Union-held Civil War fort on the Georgia border.  Then we ate our feast at Cracker Barrel because our hotel hasn't an oven.





I just love driving down roads like this. 

Pumpkins to Poinsettias

The days of my pumpkin spiced lattes are dwindling. The plump pumpkins that lined the grocers’ windows have been replaced with poignant poinsettias and will soon be joined by mistletoe and fraser firs.  In September, I wrote, “If it weren’t for Thanksgiving, Christmas would start November 15.”  http://heatherpaiges.blogspot.com/2009/09/september.html  Ha!  Okay okay I take it back.  I must have forgotten that Plymoth has been forgotten everywhere but the 1st grade classroom and the dinner table. 
Here I am in Florida attending Christmas tree lightings and sampling peppermint hot chocolate.  It's so warm here!  I haven’t worn a sweater in weeks. Rather, I walk on the beach barefooted in a t-shirt. I bet the water here never gets as cold as the warmest water ever gets in Maine. I am a Texan from Maine staying in Florida. Well, I am just tickling the underbelly of ubiquity aren't I?

"Don't Feed the Alligators."

What a welcoming sign
What an interesting area. As I drove through Seminole Park, I felt like Christopher Reeves felt in “Somewhere in Time” when he crossed from 1989 to 1912 and his surroundings flickered and faded from modern to Victorian. My surroundings seem to flicker and fade between Hawaiian and Georgian as I crossed from the entrance booth to the beach…A tropical flower to my left and a rhododendron to my right, a swamp-lake down this street and an ocean view down that, a palm branch on the forest floor and Spanish moss dangling above it… flicker fade.
I approached the beach to find oat-covered sand dunes standing like a wall unbreached by the sad kelp that lay mangled at its base. The sand was course, the shellsherds many, and the water warm. As I looked out across the horizon, the numerous barges and carriers reminded me that my nature preserve was near a port. Above the big-beaked and long-legged birds flew J-hawks and HH65s. Beyond the foam puffed another tugboat.

Beach this Morning

Morning sun beams snuck between illuminated clouds and made the water and the mist bright white. I could not see more than 200 yards down the stretch because of the white film around me. Early bird surfers did a disappearing act as they bobbed up and down with each wave and the figures of joggers faded into the mist soon after they passed me. So every once in a while, I was completely alone and then moments later, I had company again.

My husband is wise.

“Chris, thank you for understanding me and validating me. Sometimes I think you understand me better than I do myself.”

Some people get in fights and doubly hurt each other because they react to their spouses actions instead of looking at the deeper cause of that action. This is like slapping a horse because it pinned its ears. A wise owner deepens his/her level of thinking and considers the source issue that is causing the horse’s behavior and addresses the issue instead of mindlessly slapping.
My husband is so wise. When a problem arises, before he gets angry, he ponders the position of my heart and considers that the problem at hand may be just a symptom or manifestation of a deeper and maybe even yet-to-be-discovered trouble. He has a knack for knowing what the real problem is. Then we talk it out and he comforts me and I apologize and we pray about it and both leave happy and unscathed. This wouldn’t work if we did not both value honesty and desire to know each other better. I am so thankful for this man.

English is ridiculous.

The barren bear bared her beard then barely bit the board that the bored boar bore.

Fireproof

Once you get past the acting, Fireproof (Sherwood (church) Pictures) is a really good film.  The movie is about fixing a broken marriage.   One character just said, "A woman is like a rose.  If you treat her right, she'll bloom.  If you don't, she'll wilt."  I sent Chris a text message saying, "I just want you to know that I am blooming."  :) They're coming out with another film.  http://www.thenextsherwoodmovie.com/

I read this today and teared up for the truth of it then called Chris to express my pride in having him for a husband. “A woman who has known healthy love from a man is stronger, more content, and more self-assured. A haven of a healthy love becomes a safe place to run back to. A haven to rest in . A shelter from the storm. There is someone to hold her in the night. Someone to call her beautiful.”

Chris has 24-hr duty on the boat on Thanksgiving Day. I'll probably get Christmas with him, but they will be gone by New Years. Last New Years, we were on our third date in New York.

Temporarily Floridian

Florida is warm and humid.  Not that I expected it to be any different. Glad it's not hurricane season.

Jaguars football game last week. Woohoo.
Casting Crowns concert Thursday.  Man the lead singer is so genuine.  Some bands play for the sake of music and add lyrics; some bands write for the sake of lyrics and add music.  Casting Crowns is the latter.  I recommend scoping out their music videos on Youtube.  Esp. Slow Fade and American Dream.

Honky Tonk Friday.  Man, we were so eager to go country dancin!  Unfortunately most of the country this "honky tonk" played was rock-remixed.  And most of the dancers were square dancin. What is that?  If we were in College Station, they would have been booed off the floor.  I love A&M.  I requested some Aaron Watson and all was well.  Chris spun me all around the floor!  I am so glad he is a good dancer!

Today we hiked barefooted on a sandy path in a nature reserve.  weird plants.