Happy Birthday July! On the road again with improved eyesight

23 Jul:  Sistah Carol and little Carole Anne have birthdays.!!

16 Jul:  Cynthia turns 18 again, and it is time for Ron's pacemaker reading.  Besides these landmarks, we intend to ride in the early morning through Española to Pagosa Springs, Colorado.  Wish us luck.

15 Jul:  Motorcycle service is to be done by noon, but to avoid riding in the afternoon heat, we will stay one more night in Santa Fe.

14 Jul:  Cynthia goes for a hearing test at 11:30.   Ron takes motorcycle to OCD for 30,000 mile service.  We bus to downtown and go to dinner with John & Linda at Harry's Roadhouse.

13 Jul, Sunday:  We hope to spend a couple of hours with Tony in the afternoon and another couple with Lupe before dinner with Mike and Maria at Harry's Roadhouse at 5:30. 

12 Jul:  Today is a Wonderful DAY!  We slept!  We are doing Nothing, except that Ron did go to spend two hours in the afternoon playing a game of GO with Stuart and another hour with John and Linda before returning.  Ron also stopped at Tony's house and next door to find his daughter who says she has trouble getting in touch with him also.  The Smooches then went to dinner with Nina after riding on I-25 through frighteningly strong thunderstorm winds to Harry's Roadhouse.  Riding back just after sunset was astounding with red sunshine highlighting multiple layers of clouds including highlighting one bank with a pearlescent glow.

11 Jul:  Rich and Carol joined us for breakfast at the hotel.  Sadly, this Hampton Inn's breakfast was sub-par, but we all thoroughly enjoyed our conversation.  Rich has a host of great stories.  We then packed and headed back to Santa Fe on the High Road to Taos (NM routes 518, 75, 76, past Santuario de Chimayo, 503).   Right at sunset (8:15) Ron rode to Walmart and witnessed an incredible red and orange sunset.

10 Jul:  We rode up to Taos through Española and via NM highway 68 to the Hampton Inn south of town, which placed us within five miles of our dinner invitation with Rich and Carol, Cynthia's cousins.  Their two grandsons joined us and were wonderfully well behaved.  Rich is quite a talented chef and made mashed potatoes without using milk.  The meal was really, really good.

9 Jul:  We visited Stewart and Judy, who took us to lunch at Vinaigrette.  Then, afternoon, we spent a couple of hours with John & Linda, just returned from a camping trip in the Pecos.  Mark had invited us to dinner, which was fabulous, as always, and surprised us by also inviting Charlie and Sam.  Vangie showed up a bit later and was a welcome addition.  What a delightful time we all had reminiscing.

8 Jul:  Nina joined us for dinner, also at Vinaigrette.  Cynthia is trying to find a gallery to do an exhibition for Nina.

7 Jul:  Medical:  Cynthia’s right hearing aid was quickly repaired (for free!!) at Sandia Hearing; she is scheduled for a tuneup test on 14 July.  We checked out of the Hyatt at one PM and removed to the adjacent Comfort Inn.  Ron is working on James Lea.  We enjoyed lunch and conversation with Janie at Piazza Caffè, which was VERY expensive, and dinner and conversation with Michael and Claire at Vinaigrette.  Janie's paintings look very, very good, but she reports disappointing sales at the flea market.

6 Jul, Sunday:  Since the forecast was for a cool day today, we slept until 5:30 before arising, breakfasting, and packing.  Hence, we didn't begin our four-hour ride from Clovis, New Mexico to the Hyatt Hotel in Santa Fe, NM until 8:30 am and were again cool until we stopped in Vaughn for gasoline and to remove a layer of clothing.  The ride was quite pleasant and unremarkable although we did see a pronghorn.  Disturbing storm clouds massed on the horizon beyond the Santa Fe mountains.  The bike speedometer read 72 and the GPS measured 68 mph when a NM State Cop passed us in a 65 MPH zone.  Imagine Ron's wonder at riding from Brenham, TX to Santa Fe, NM in July and being too cool most of the way and too hot only from Montgomery to Brenham.  And now it is 3:30 pm in Santa Fe, and a thunderstorm just wetted everything.  As soon as the roads dried off, Ron rode to Walmart for blueberries, raspberries, and bananas.  The three people who answered their phones are all busy this afternoon, so Ron is freed to work on James Lea, after hooking his computer up to the HDMI port on the huge TV.  Route: US 60 W to Encino, NM, R on US 285 N to Santa Fe, Rodeo Road to Cerrillos Road and the Hyatt Place.

5 Jul:  Delicious.  Yes, it felt delicious to sleep from nine PM last night until after six, maybe seven, this morning.  The Hampton Inn serves homemade hot oatmeal in real dishes.  Ron bought blueberries, raspberries and bananas last night.  We walked 2.71 miles this AM, not a lot, but walking on concrete is not great.  Ron set up the jumbo TV screen as a computer monitor to work on James Lea today.  He has made great progress.  Cynthia edited the galley proof for Sunday Offerings Meditations Book as well as the cover design, now submitted to the publisher.  Yaay! We walked to Denny’s for dinner.  And here it is only 8:15 and light is already fading.  Our total mileage today is 4.27 miles

4 Jul:  Happy Independence Day!  We left Snyder, Texas at 7:00 AM en route to Clovis, New Mexico.  It was a surprise to see how late light appears in the mornings this far NW near the time zone change.  We were delighted and surprised by fog that kept temperatures cool, although anxious about potential rain.  That fog lasted late into the morning and was so low hanging that the blades of the giant windmills disappeared for half of their revolution.  Skies were still overcast as we watched a single-wing airplane come right towards us, following the highway.  Rain spit at us from time to time, and blue skies and sunshine appeared only briefly.  It was beyond strange to be cold riding in Texas in July.  Because we haven't traveled this NW route we were amazed by so much green.  Maybe they had a lot of rain?  We saw a lot of crop irrigation in NW Texas and of course oil well pumps and smells.  Why were we surprised it takes four days to get out of SE Texas?  Clovis, NM is very nice compared to many New Mexico towns.  Ron put Denny’s into the GPS so we had an immediate and delicious destination upon our arrival and treated ourselves to spinach, fruit and nonfat yogurt smoothies.  Ron ate grilled salmon on a large salad, and Cynthia tried an egg "Slam".  We checked into a lovely Hampton Inn, not surprised that we are totally exhausted.  We opted to spend a second night and sleep late once.  Route: US 84 N to Clovis, NM.

3 July: Yikes!  We arose before the crack of Dawn, 4:30 AM, and had exercised, eaten, packed, and checked the weather several times before rolling onto the road by 6:10 AM, avoiding downpours forecast soon, and were elated to catch only a few light rain moments.  About 11:30, the rain was increasing at Snyder, Texas when Ron found a nice Comfort Inn.  We slept all afternoon.  Cynthia corrected her galley proof, and Ron worked on James Lea before going after fresh fruit for the morning.  Route: TX 36 N through Rising Star and Cross Plains to Spur 322 N to I-20 bypassing Abilene to Sweetwater and US 84 N to Snyder.  We did get drenched for five minutes as we bypassed Abilene on I-20 and again as we approached Sweetwater.  Cynthia had her rain gear on, so we didn't get very wet.

2 July:  Departure Brenham @7:00 AM with lunch stop about 10:30 AM at a very good steak place in Gatesville.  Being short on sleep and full, Ron started getting sleepy soon, so we stopped at Comanche, Texas at 12:30 high noon at a nice and convenient Best Western hotel.  We slept for two hours.  Then it rained until late afternoon, when Ron rode to a market for bananas, raspberries, and blueberries.  We travel with oatmeal to avoid the salt in oatmeal packets.  Route: US 290 bypass to TX 36 N.

1 July:  We needed sleep more than we needed to leave on the ride Sw at 6:30 AM.  It is eight AM, and we hope to be ready to ride before the temperature reaches 90 degrees.  It will be a very short ride today.  We absolutely must traverse the 60 miles from Walden to Brenham via TX 105 to pig out again at the Blue Bell Creamery (11 scoops), and we were lucky that Sue Ellen and the twins were working.  Then we repaired to the Comfort Inn and slept a couple of hours in the afternoon and again all night.

So Wynn, we are happy that your cancer episode turned out to be only a scare, and we continue to add our routes so that you can follow us on your maps.  Tomorrow, the 2nd, we will ride from the Comfort Inn in Brenham to the nearby Chevron gas station, get on US 290 bypassing downtown to TX 36 north and west towards Abilene, planning to stop when the temperatures get too burdensome (it was 92 degrees at noon today).  If we get to Abilene, I plan to bypass it on Loop 322 north or east to I-20 for a few miles to US 83 N for several miles to US 180 W for a while to some unnamed road that heads towards Lubbock, TX.  Now you know our plans for the next day or two.

Eye Will See in June!

 We are in Texas until after the second cataract surgery June 11.

awaiting Mosquito Blood Draw

30 Jun: MEDICAL… We need sleep!  Walking happened early, we are both fed, showered, and somewhat organized.  Ron is taking a very needed nap. A12:45 we ship a box to Pagosa Springs, drop off two boxes at the storage unit, HEB, PERIODONTIST, Walmart, get air in the tires and fuel. Finish cleaning and packing. 

29 Jun:  The Breakwater is 1.4 miles roundtrip.  And we are crazy busy.  4.37 total miles.  

28 Jun:  The humid Texas air is hard to breathe, but we did do manage to get a few gulps of air on our morning Breakwater walk.  Ron is off on the big walk to the lake that Cynthia is skipping to allow a muscle to heal.  Today and tomorrow we will continue packing and cleaning. Cynthia is pleased the contracts are signed with the publisher; one manuscript is submitted.  The other three will likely get submitted mid July when we get to Pagosa Springs.  3.36 miles.   We learned the name of a friend, Tom, we've seen regularly for the last five years as he runs.  Cynthia even raced him once.

27 Jun:  Medical: RX 10 miles; Ron packed the trunk with a trillion pieces of recycling, picked up Cynthia’s sweater at Loop Cleaners, her earrings at Jeff’s, dropped off recycling plastic bags at Target and then to the Recycling Center only to discover they closed early today. Bummer…  65 miles round trip.  Jon will take the recycling for us.   Our walking miles are 5.62 for the two of us, plus Ron had another 4.5 miles.  The sunset was magnificent, the duckies are growing, and the fishermen are casting their nets.  

26 Jun:  MEDICAL Ron will drive to the ophthalmologist in Brenham; we both have appointments. (120 Miles)  We plan to leave early in order to pig out first at the Blue Bell Creamery.  I wonder what flavors they will serve us this time.  Oh Boy, Oh Boy.

25 Jun:  HMMM!  We lost two days of posting because we are so busy preparing to leave July first.  Ron is doing an amazing job getting five months of recycling ready for recycling on Friday.  Cynthia had a haircut at two. MEDICAL Pick up RX.  Walk 3.95 Miles.  We do continue to walk every morning; Cynthia walks with Ron to the breakwater and back for a mile, then Ron walks solo sweating to the lake and back, 4 miles.  Immediately upon return, he takes a shower, so he is amazingly more clean than usual.

24 Jun:  4.42 miles.  Our big job was moving boxes back to the storage unit.

23 Jun:  4.26 miles; We worked, we walked.

22 Jun:  We are very boring when we are not traveling.  It is too hot to be energetic and excited.  Cynthia has book covers created.  The meditation manuscript is off to the publisher on Tuesday.  The Lea manuscript will be submitted this week.  Yaay. Ron “housecleaned” meaning he worked on recycling and compost.  He successfully walked to the lake plus walked the breakwater twice with Cynthia.  Her mileage is 3.32 so Ron’s must be ten.

21 Jun:  Ron is elated at all he can see. Yay!  Cynthia is doing equally fine today.  But, she won’t walk until tonight.  Our A/C is frozen and had to be shut off except for the fan.  It is very warm in the condo.  3.0 miles

20 June:  She shouldn’t have ‘did’ it!  Meaning, walking 5.10 miles even though surgery was minor, in the heat it is not good.  Plus, it aggravated glutes and icing was needed today.

19 Jun:  We did it! After a glorious, long sleep, we were up early and on the trail by eight AM, but the humidity is enervating, making it difficult to breathe.  We are focused on getting everything ready to leave in ten days.  Yikes!  A second walk tonight was cooler, we beat the forecasted rain, and enjoyed a marvelous sunset.  4.38 miles.

18 Jun:  Ron walked early, but he was feeling enervated due to the heat. Today’s project is entering receipts into spreadsheets.  Cynthia’s meditation manuscript is ready for the publisher, including the cover design and three endorsements.  We walked two miles on the breakwater.   Six days ahead without any appointments.  Yahoo.  We can walk very early twice a day.  Yaay.

17 Jun:  MEDICAL.  Ron walked early, Cynthia did not.  The heat is overwhelming.  We left for the ophthalmologist in Brenham at 11:30, arriving just in time for Ron to stop at Blue Bell Creamery for three delicious scoops.  Ron’s Dr said Ron’s cataract surgery turned out better than his own surgery.  Ron told him it was because he has the best doctor.  Ron is delighted he can now read the road signs, except for speed signs; he got a ticket.  Cynthia had very minor surgery in the doctor’s office to remove excess upper eyelid skin for AMD using a local anesthesia.  Everything is fine.

16 Jun:  Monday, Cynthia loved sleeping in today!  The hip seems healed.  After lunch, she ran errands.  She has two meditations to complete before the manuscript goes to the publisher.  3 miles

15 Jun, Sunday:  Cynthia announced at the church fellowship that this would be her last Sunday at Grace this year because her eyelids will be stitched and her eyes black & blue next Sunday after her surgery.  Ron likes it when his sweetie acquires new colorful appendages.  After church we discovered that Oscar's is closed on Father's Day and the Magnolia Diner had a line filling the foyer, so we repaired to our condo, where we discovered that a thunderstorm was about to begin.  Ron spent a couple of hours in bed, resting and napping before arising to begin work cleaning the kitchen just before bedtime.  Thank God for Cynthia.

14 Jun:  The area Internet is down, likely due to heavy thunderstorm last night.  We awoke at 7:30 after a fabulous long sleep.  Cynthia has a pulled glute muscle; she is icing, resting, and she is organizing a box to go to the storage unit, one to ship to Pagosa Springs, plus the contents of her saddlebag while icing the hip.  Ron walked to the lake, sat down on the exterior patio to do Sudoku's.  We found the Army anniversary parade on PBS and thoroughly enjoyed watching it.  After icing and doing exercises my gluteus strain is improved.  Good night.

13 Jun:  The blogpost inner workings are pretty abysmal since Google sold it.  Ron is resuming eyedrops, two different eyedrops, five minutes apart, four times a day for two weeks.  We ran errands and stopped at The Oscar’s for lunch, then Walmart, and just made it to our parking spot before a severe thunderstorm kept us in the car for quite awhile.

12 Jun:  MEDICAL:  Ron had a very successful second EYE surgery.  As we left town, Cynthia chose to drive right by the Blue Bell Creamery, so we had to stop and celebrate.  Cynthia had Cherry Jubilee, Strawberry Cheesecake, and Cherry Jubilee again.  Ron chose Fancy Tracks, Mocha Almond Fudge, Cookies and Cream, and Mango.  The most wonderful hostess, Sue Ellen, entertained us for half an hour by listening to Ron's multitude of ice cream stories.  She is such a dear, wonderful lady that we felt quite privileged and Cynthia is inspired to write a Sunday offering dedicated to her.  We picked up an RX from Lakeside Pharmacy and arrived home worn out.  Ron napped.  We walked at 6:35 for 4.87 miles.

11 Jun:  MEDICAL:  Dr. Beim got to work around 11:30 at the Bellville, TX hospital to remove the cataract from Ron's right eye.  He was very pleased with his work keeping the lens correcting for astigmatism in place while removing the Malyugin ring used to hold the pupil open wide during the operation.  We thoroughly enjoyed lunch with Samantha and Rush afterwards at the Gathery.  We stopped at the doctor's office to have the eye protector into place better and headed for Blue Bell Creamery where Ron limited himself to a mere six servings of different flavors, Fancy Tracks, Mocha Almond Fudge, Cookies and Cream, Strawberry Cheesecake, Chocolate Chip, and Coconut.  Cynthia ate 2.5 scoops, gave Ron half of her Mocha Almond Fudge, and now we are comatose.

10 Jun:  MEDICAL, Up at five AM, exercised, oatmealed and ready to walk.  We drove to Brenham for an appointment with Dr. Beim and overnight at a hotel for two nights.  Ron is working on Vol II.  No  ice cream and we miss walking!

9 Jun:  This is the week of EYE II surgery!  Up and rolling at six AM but, rain is forecast until nine AM.  The rain stopped.  Cynthia started fitness routine week #16. 5.89 miles

8 Jun, Sunday:  Worship at ten AM.  We slept in to six AM.  Volume 2 is proceeding nicely although validating source citations is time consuming and tedious.  We walked the breakwater at 7:30 PM.

7 Jun:  Yes, awakening at five AM is the new normal.  We walked out the door into a steam bath at 7:30 AM, but valiantly conquered the overwhelming desire to get back into A/C.  Steam is rising from the lake where we stopped for the morning mosquito blood draw.  Next, was the fitness center stop on our way back home so we could do our exercises.  For the first time since cataract surgery, Ron used the machines.  Cynthia completed week #15 with15 reps X3 on each machine, plus increased heavier weights.  Ron pulled Vol II together and is completing the intro pages.  Cynthia wrote one more meditation.  We are two worn out puppies.  5.74 miles 

6 Jun:  We awoke at five AM again.  Is this the new normal?  We slowly/sorta bounced out of bed after exercises, and we were HOT on the walking trail by 8:00 and home by 9:30, wet with sweat.  Cynthia has four meditations left to write, now.  Because writing involves spiritual inspiration she awaits the nudge.  Ron started dozing on the balcony and decided to get the job done by going to bed for two hours. That is the way the day played out, so we had the dry, flat, leftover champagne from 12 May with half a glass each before finishing the day with a walk on the Breakwater in 85 degree wind and heat.  5.43 miles  FYI: A fitness expert at Lifetime in New York City provided the below targets for how long you should be able to hold a plank by age.

• 20s: 1 to 2 minutes
• 30s: 1 to 2 minutes
• 40s: 1 minute or longer
• 50s: 30 to 60 seconds
• 60s and above: 20 to 30 seconds

5 Jun:  Medical: RX Pickup at Walmart.  Progress has been made on several fronts.  James Lea Vol I and II: Ron has completed changing nearly all images to 200 PPI in Vol I, and now he has started pulling Vol II together.  Fitness: Cynthia broke our condo’s global/universal/international record holding a plank for TWO MINUTES!  We walked in 91% humidity.  Cynthia did upper body workout at the fitness center, and we moved the first of many loads back to the storage unit before having lunch with Samantha and her boys.  The evening walk on the Breakwater was lovely.  A fellow walker said, “Two young lovers always strolling the streets.”  6.95 miles.

4 Jun: MEDICAL Another early morning drive to Brenham to see the ophthalmologist for Ron’s three week surgery follow up.  Cynthia had an eye exam and she was very surprised that the RX was the same as four years ago.  We stopped at Magnolia Diner for egg white veggie omelets.  Our walk tonight totaled 4.31 miles.  We are exhausted.  Good night.

3 Jun:  We nearly solved the heat problem by arising at five AM and walking by seven; except in Texas, seven is already steamy hot.  But, we finished a 4.5 mile jaunt, including Cynthia’s fitness workout (week #15/18) and we were home by 9:25. 6.55 miles

2 Jun:  We did more of the same stuff.  Cynthia wrote a meditation.  Ten to go  

1 Jun, Sunday:  We exercised, oatmealed, worshipped at Grace, ate flounder at The Oscar’s, and napped this afternoon.  Ron completed the appendices in Vol. II, and corrected an error in Vol. I.  Vol. II needs to be indexed and page numbers added to Vol. I.  Vol. III is complete, but it needs formatting.  Cynthia successfully organized the meditations manuscript and discovered she needs to write eleven more meditations before it is to sent to the publisher.  Typing with one finger is a challenge.  Ron walked to the lake.

MAY, EYE see Better

We remain in Texas while awaiting Ron's second cataract surgery on June 11.

Ron, Cynthia, Jon and photo of flowers

31 May: Here we are at the end of May, with Ron having one eye seeing astoundingly well, and looking forward to incredible vision following cataract surgery #2 on 11 June.  Cynthia completed 14/18 weeks of upper body fitness reaching 15 reps and increased machine weights per machine and free weights.  It is mid morning, and we are exercised, oatmealed, and decided to walk in the humidity now rather than waiting until tonight.  6.45 miles! Hurrah to #14/18!  

30 May:  (MEDICAL) Here we are running out of May space on a rainy can’t walk day.  I guess we will just have to work on James Lea! Hmmm! Ron thought the rain should stop, and just like that, it did!  We were out the door by 8:45 AM.  In the afternoon, we dropped off the baptismal gown to be embroidered, stopped at the bank, picked up RX, and we shopped at Walmart.  Ron finished one more appendix. The lovely day was completed by an evening walk along the lakeshore.  6.0 miles 

29 May:  4:21 AM, wide-awake because we went to bed so early!  Ron said, “Let’s get up and get our walk done before it is too hot.”  At 6:24, we were exercised, oatmealed, and on the trail.  Despite a balmy temperature of 71 degrees, it was humid; Cynthia worked out at the fitness center, and we fell asleep upon our return home.  After an afternoon working on James Lea, we walked the Breakwater.  6.06 miles week #14/18.

28 May:  Ron enjoyed sleeping after no-sleep in the hospital; he ate breakfast for lunch.  Cynthia was awake at 5:30 AM to get ready for the trip to see Corrie and family, taking along banana/oatmeal cookies, waffle cones and chocolate ice cream to celebrate summer birthdays!  A fun time was had by all of the survivors.  Cynthia was very thankful to have survived the drive in heavy rain, and very grateful it was dry returning home safely.  That was her last driving trip to Bryan unless she changes to a Tesla self-driving car in a couple of years.  We walked to the lake, and Cynthia started week #14 of 18 in the fitness center with 15 reps each exercise.  She is now totally exhausted with plans to go to sleep after our second walk.  We enjoyed a Gorgeous sunset on our breakwater walk.  6.0 miles.

27 May:  MEDICAL  Ron was discharged this AM after an echocardiogram ordered by the cardiologist.  We don’t know why his pain in the back has returned; it might be a pinched nerve.  We are home and exhausted.  Ron still decided to walk to the lake and back to try to exercise off some of the ice cream he ate to celebrate so many years of ice cream abstinence.  Now that he has splurged well, he begins the next multiple years of abstinence.

26 May: MEDICAL. Cynthia asked Ron if we should try going for our walk despite the forecast of rain.  Ron said, “I want to go to ER! Whaaat?  Ron was having a pain above his waist on the right side for a week.  We quickly went to ER at Woodlands Methodist 35 miles away.  He will have more tests.  Ron was admitted after the Dr saw an abnormal EKG.  He appears to be fine, he is cheery, as normal.  Cynthia abandoned Ron and fled home with her son Jon who happened to be nearby when she texted him her predicament of needing a ride home to the condo as darkness and rainstorms approached, especially since the ER nurse reported it to be unlikely that the hospital would have a room for Ron.  And, although the hospital did find a room for Ron about the time Cynthia arrived back at the condo, he still didn't sleep much if any.  And it is Memorial day, not a day to commemorate steaks and hotdogs and beer and chips. It is not the day to raise our glasses to our gluttony. Monday is the day we say a prayer and remember all those who gave their lives for the American republic. A republic, said Dr. Benjamin Franklin, if you can keep it.

Can we keep it?

That’s up to you. But they died trying to keep it. In all the cemeteries of American war dead across the world, among the white markers and crosses across the landscape, row after row here, in France, everywhere, it is held in a language unspoken by the political class, but perhaps you can feel it all the same:

Author, John Kass Podcast,  published Sunday, 25 May 2025 

25 May, Sunday:  Hmmm!  Did the rest of the world know tomorrow is Memorial Day?  We thought we had a week left!  Worship was great this AM.  We had brunch at “The Oscars.” The 93 degree heat prevented an afternoon walk.  Instead, we worked on projects. (Hi Barb W) Ron has completed the appendices (Volume II) apart from adding some source citations and page numbers.  Volume I needs PPI changes on appendices in the book, plus repagination.  Each step seems monumental.  Our walk tonight was only 2.5 Miles. 

24 May: Goodness, but it is humid on our early morning walk! Cynthia completed week #13/18 doing upper body workout at the fitness center.  We spent the afternoon on our projects.  Ron has headphones on listening to music with a perpetual smile while he is working on anything but James Lea.  While he is reformatting the appendices to 200 PPI, the smile fades.  We walked the breakwater at sunset tonight enjoying the Momma Mallard ducks with their babies, live music at the grill, with hundreds of folks gathered to listen and eat.  6.6 miles. 

Hi Cynthia, I don't recognize this view over the breakwater.

23 May: Our new normal is getting up in the dark so we can do our exercises, eat and walk early, like 8:45 AM with hot steam rising off the lake and pouring down our faces.  Yes, it is hot and humid. Welcome to Texas.  Ron is organizing materials to go into a box.  Cynthia is organizing the meditations to be sent to the publisher.  She discovered a shortage of ten meditations; it will be a small book with 52 meditations titled Sunday Offering.  Perhaps there are more to be discovered on Facebook.  We walked the Breakwater after the thunderstorm stopped.  The colors were magnificent, emerald green grass with a Cerulean blue sky melting into the lake water and brilliant yellow sun sinking into the horizon.  5.84 total miles.

22 May: We walked at 9:30, but it was hot and humid returning home. Cynthia is in the 13th week of upper  body workouts.  Last night, Ron did not sleep well.  He is napping this afternoon while carpenters are pounding away outside.  Ron is revisiting the appendices, making certain all of the source citations are done and all of the images are @200 DPI.  Cynthia cleaned the condo and Ron vacuumed.  We walked a total 6.52 Miles. 

21 May:  MEDICAL We drove to Brenham for a follow-up on Ron's eye.  Cynthia was once again willing to ride passenger while Ron drove "home."  We stopped at Cypress Methodist Hospital to see Julie who has severe pancreatitis.      

20 May:   5.99 Miles 

19 May: MEDICAL  We got up early and were prepared to walk as we came into the open and discovered too much wind that might blow dust or dirt into Ron's eye.  Dr. Beim forbade Ron from getting anything into the eye, and the renewed eyesight is so very precious that Ron actually exercised good judgement and turned back into the condo.  About noon, Cynthia drove to her dental follow up.  Then we ate until too much overfull at Jason's Deli, shopped at ALDI, shopped at Walmart, and returned to condo in time for Bill O'Reilly, our "date night" entertainment.  Ron mailed three checks and postcards, leaving only two more items to mail soon.

18 May, Sunday:  We got to church during the pastor's announcements, so by Ron's definition, we were on time.  We enjoyed fellowship conversation afterwards, but none of the snacks met our dietary restrictions.  Elaine is using a walker today.  She thought she didn't need to do physical therapy once she was discharged.  Ron told her in no uncertain terms that physical therapy is for the rest of your life, and with luck and the grace of God, it will be a long, active life.

17 May:  Ron was appreciated as the token male at the DAR meeting in Chappell Hill this morning.  Cynthia has been absent for eighteen years, but some ladies remembered her or had heard her name.  At show and tell time, she reported her seven patriots and how Lawrence Bankston was miraculously reinstated.  The salmon salad at Bevers Kitchen was delicious and the company invigorating.  After Wednesday, Cynthia is giving up her car keys apart from driving a short distances.

16 May:  MEDICAL.  Ron walked this morning while Cynthia went to an appointment with Dr Sharpless; afterwards, she luxuriated with a manicure and pedicure.  She was busy: picked up the dry cleaning, bought more bananas to make oatmeal cookies, filled a RX at Lakeside Pharmacy, and managed to fill the car with gas at the very inconvenient Chevron gas station where she survived crossing three lanes of traffic to exit to the north.  Home now, but, Shhh! Ron is napping.  Ron aged 50 years once he looked into the mirror with improved eyesight and saw all his wrinkles and age lines for the first time.  Cynthia told him he looks like a hunky Secret Service agent with the dark glasses.  We are exhausted. 

15 May:  MEDICAL  At 8 AM, Dr. Beim removed the packaging, and Ron was amazed at how well he can now read fine print.  That noxious double vision is entirely gone from the left eye.  As we drove back to the Comfort Inn, the amazement grew as he now reads road signs, street signs, billboards and names of businesses along the road, none of which were previously decipherable.  We ate breakfast, packed our gear, and Cynthia insisted on driving back to the condo despite Ron's offer to leave the driving to me.  Compounding his amazement, he can now read the computer screen without first enlarging the print 20x.  He is literally flabbergasted and overawed.  It is nothing short of an absolute miracle.  (Cynthia is encouraging Ron to rest!)  We walked to the fitness center, and Cynthia did her upper body workout for week #12/17.  

Ron dressed in pre-op finery

14 May:  MEDICAL.  We drove from the Comfort Inn to the Bellville hospital, arriving at 8:30 AM.  Checking in at a smaller hospital is so much more pleasant than the huge hospitals in Houston.  The surgery was perfect.  We had lunch at the Gathery (click here) in Bellville with Samantha L. and her son Cross, followed by a short walk to HEB for an ice cream celebration, three pints of Blue Bell. 🎉

13 May:  MEDICAL.  We are exercised, oatmealed, walked, and showered before we drove to Brenham, TX to stay at the Comfort Inn for two nights.  Ron's cataract surgery #1 is at 9 AM tomorrow morning.  Cynthia began her fitness workout week #12 of 17.  Ron decided that a stop at Blue Bell Creamery, the ice cream capital of the world, was a fitting birthday gift.  We sampled seven different flavors.  Blueberry Cobbler was Ron's favorite; butter pecan was Cynthia's.  5.14 miles

Carb loading pre-op

12 May:  Hurray, hurray for the 12th of May, our 14th wedding anniversary, and Ron’s 78th birthday!  (He can't even count that high any longer.)  We celebrated with champagne!  (Spellcheck tried three times to change the spelling to campaign.)  Ron started straightening his messes so that he won't have to bend over while his eyes are healing.  One goal was to get a few of the heavier boxes stashed into the storage locker.  The other goal is to get several postcards and checks written and mailed.  6.47 miles

Ron, Cynthia, Jon and photo of flowers

11 May, Sunday, Mother’s Day:  We enjoyed a great sermon by the interim pastor at worship.  Jon liked the new pastor, and we enjoyed lunch with Jon at Oscar's afterwards.  We got home from church and napped for a bit in the afternoon.  Ron is trying to get recycling reorganized in the spare bedroom so that he can move heavier boxes into the storage locker before his surgeries.

Cynthia & flowers from her children

10 May:  Mobile windshield repair arrived by nine-fifteen to repair a chip in the car’s windshield.  Son Jon arrived soon after with a beautiful bouquet of flowers from all of Cynthia’s children.  Cynthia is one happy girlie.  Ron worked on the appendices.  Two walks.  Cynthia added  a daily plank one minute long.  She finished her 11th week of strength training at the fitness center; her goal is 17 consecutive weeks of strength training workouts.  7.46 miles

9 May: MEDICAL RX Our AM walk was completed by 11:30 AM and we were off to Lakeside Pharmacy, Walgreen’s, Storage Unit, Dr Sharpless, the Dry Cleaners, and Oscar’s for salmon and vegetables for lunch.  Ron noticed a little chip in the windshield; a mobile repairman will arrive about nine in the AM to repair it.  7 miles.

8 May:  The packing process begins six weeks ahead of departure because Ron has to move heavy boxes back into the storage unit before next Tuesday when we go to Brenham for surgery on Wednesday.  We will overnight Tues and Wednesday, returning Thursday.  We successfully completed two walks, closed all of the rings on the Apple Watch.  7.13 miles, plus 11th week fitness workout #2.  yaay!  We will rattle our tambourines, play the drum loudly, and sing a new song.

7 May:  MEDICAL.  As retirees, we object to arising at 5:15am, but today we had to drive to Brenham for Ron’s ophthalmologist appointment.  Poor Cynthia has to drive since she refuses to ride on the motorcycle with Ron because he cannot read road signs.  Everything is all set for the first surgery on May 14th, two days after his 78th birthday.  Wish us luck.   James Lea must be set aside until next week.  We must move the heaviest boxes to the storage unit. 4.55 miles. 

6 May:  A rainy day is forecast, but we walked to the lake, sat on the bench, smooched, and returned home without a sprinkle.  After Ron ate breakfast, we drove back to the fitness center for Cynthia’s workout week #11 of 17.  Yaaaay!  4.8 miles.  We shopped at WallyWorld and made it home before getting wet.  Heavy rain started about five PM.  Ron finished compiling Volume II although bit of editing remains.  Cynthia’s excitement builds for possible publication date for James Lea by our departure date of July first.

Baby Becks baptised by Grandmother

5 May:  Happy Cinco de Mayo!  The past few weeks have been exhausting with many trips to doctors, hospitals, baptism, and extensive driving.  Tonight, we will sleep early.  We are tired!  We did walk to the lake and back early before the rain started around 3 PM.  We attempted a second walk late, but the rain resumed, so we walked on all the floors and stairs of the condo building.  5.0 miles.  Great granddaughter Becks baptism was a week ago. 

4 May, Sunday: Worship was followed by lunch at The Oscar’s!  Pastor Mark gave a great sermon about the disciples being told to go tend the sheep.  Ron worked on his Mac; Cynthia emailed folks, and then they both rested.  The temperature has cooled slightly; it is time to walk. 4.76 miles

3 May:  We slept late! 6.18 miles plus ending week #10/17 workout at the fitness center.  The day is Glorious!  Yaaay! Ron worked on James Lea. CFB has a happy ❤️

2 May:  MEDICAL.  Another early to rise AM to meet Jon at 7:45 to take us to the Methodist Hospital in the Woodlands for Cynthia’s endoscopy.  Roxanne will pick us up at noon.  All is well indeed!  Cynthia’s endoscopy showed her stomach lining had a recent inflammation.  EVERYTHING LOOKS GOOD.  Of course, we didn't walk.  Now, we will sleep. 

1 May:  Connie and Chris stopped to say good bye as they head home to Iowa after wintering in Texas.  We are up, ready to hike, and Ron sees completion of James Lea, Vol. 1-3, in the very near future, God willing!  The appendices are Vol. II, and the DNA study is Vol. III.  We walked in the AM.  But when we attemmped to walk out the breakwater in the PM, threatening dark clouds and lightning inspired us to boogie back to our condo. 5.32 miles.  Hopefully, it will rain enough to wash the bike.

April fleurs -still seen through a glass dimly

We are in Texas until Ron's cataract surgeries May 14 and Jun 11

30 Apr: Goodbye April.  5.94 miles.  My gosh, here it is May 6th, and we haven't created a new post for May yet.  Not to worry, we are still alive and well and having fun.

29 Apr:  What a day that began in the dark, arising at 5:30, we exercised, ate, dressed, drove 1.5 miles to Brenham to see the ophthalmologist by 8:45, then drove to Hempstead to pick up the mail, to Jason’s Deli in the Woodlands, and then to the Woodlands gastroenterologist for Cynthia’s appointment.  She is scheduled for an endoscopy on Friday.  Everything serious is ruled out.  Do not be concerned.  2.77 miles 

28 Apr:  MEDICAL (don't forget paid cash $240.00 for driver)   Sometime in the dark of night, Ron arose, showered and shaved while Cynthia slept soundly.  At 3:30 AM, she arose and did her exercises without disturbing Ron in the living room.  And then, boom, he heard the sound of crunches and discovered her completing the exercises. She showered, we ate, dressed, and were downstairs waiting for the driver to take us to the Houston Medical Center at 5:30 AM, a 1.5 hour drive.  Ron passed his physical exam for the cataract surgery, and we were back home by noon after a quick stop at Walmart.  Total walking miles including week #10 fitness center for Cynthia was 6.21 miles.  We are exhausted.

27 Apr:  After worship we enjoyed brunch with Connie and Chris at the Walden Yacht Club.  Cynthia drove to the Fitness Center to complete week #9 of 17 workout.  Ron endured 87 degree heat and high humidity wearing shorts.  No doubt the shorts kept him cooled off.  3.18 miles. Later,  we walked the Breakwater  Scroll way down to discover yesterday’s 

26 Apr:  Cynthia baptized Rachel and Ryan’s baby, Becks.  Afterwards the family ate at the Pizza Shack.  Cynthia and Ron split a grilled salmon, and Ron had a humongous salad.  After we came home, she slept for at least an hour.   It is 85 degrees and too hot to walk until 7:15 when we walked the Breakwater.  2.44 miles

25 Apr:  Sleeping late is a good thing to do once in a while.  We were out the door by noon-thirty and home by 2:30.  The walk was hot and humid, almost hard to breathe. Ron finished cleaning the kitchen and vacuuming; Cynthia baked oatmeal/banana cookies; today’s mileage was 4.79.  She did upper body fitness workout #2 of 3 for week #9-17

23 Apr:  We arose early to get out the door and walk as soon as the rain stopped, except the rain continued all morning. We walked after Cynthia’s  1:00 hair appointment.  Ron cleaned the kitchen.  Cynthia is preparing for the baptism of great granddaughter Becks on Sat  6.0 miles

22 Apr:  We enjoyed a lovely day exercising, eatingi, walking, computer ing, sleeping, and managing a second walk on the Breakwater with very light rain.  It was lovely seeing the Great Blue Herons fly up as we walked, and we marveled at how the baby ducks have grown in just a week. ( 5.84 miles plus week #9 of 17 in fitness center)

21 Apr:  MEDICAL Stomach is gradually better.  Cynthia had an appointment with a periodontist, followed by a late lunch at Jason’s Deli. She needs to eat soft food like soft serve ice cream, two little cones one in each hand.  We stopped at Walmart where Ron bought Haagen Daz Dulce De Leche.   Mmmm! We walked a second time accruing 6.57 miles

20 Apr:  We woke up well rested and thankful Easter morning and enjoyed a significant sermon from Pastor England.  After lunch and a nap, we were unable to get out for a walk because rain just kept coming all afternoon - - - and it is time to get to bed again.  Goodnight. 

19 Apr:  MEDICAL We didn't sleep better, and Cynthia's stomach pains were finally distressing enough to go spend the day at ER.  As days spent at ER go, it was a wonderful day.  They did chest X-Rays, CAT scan, and decided that thtere is no medical emergency to worry about.  Best we can figure is that Cynthia might have stress-induced ulcer.  After all, she has a difficult hubsand to live with.  4.0 Miles 

18 Apr:  Good Friday was indeed very good for us, thank God.  Ron slogs ever so slowly through the James Lea appendices, mostly wasting his time looking for better news in the media.  Oh well, tomorrow is another day - - - and it is time to get to bed again.  It would be nice if we slept better for a change.  Goodnight.  5.72 miles

17 Apr:  We arose reasonably early, exercised and got distracted by e-mail.  The day had already warmed up a bit before we started our walk.  It was pleasant and windy until we turned around to come back.  Cynthia finished her second day of workouts this week.  After eating a bit of lunch (Cynthia drinks hers now) we embarked on the motorcycle for more fluids for the girlie.  We are home and preparing to work more on James Lea.  Cynthia has nearly finished her book of scriptural meditations.  The breakwater walk at sunset is always so lovely, with Great Blue Herons flying right in front of us, a lot of ducks in the no wake area with their babies are precious.  The wind from the lake was strong tonight.  6.60 miles. 

16 Apr:  Pacemaker Recorded Late!  Walking ran late!  The plan was to walk early to beat the heat, however, it didn’t happen until noon. The walk was pleasant because of clouds and wind.  Cynthia started fitness center week #8 of 17.  She is proud of herself!   She has had a stomach ache for two weeks, likely due to gorging on Brussel sprouts at Oscars Bistro; he prepares way too much delicious food for us.  Therefore, Cynthia is drinking meals for a few days.  ClearLiquid, not liquor, in the blender is tasty.  Our total mileage for the day: 6.66 miles.

15 Apr:  MEDICAL: Our $15.00 IRS tax bill is paid.  This is another early to rise AM for the ride to Brenham, Texas for a physical by the ophthalmologist in preparation for Ron's cataract surgery.  The visit was brief; Ron is fit for the surgery in a month.  We had breakfast/ lunch at Magnolia Diner, followed by a late afternoon zoom call with our fiduciary. 2.46 miles.

14 Apr:  Ron wanted to get up at eight AM, but he stayed quietly in bed letting his beloved sleep.  The success of our relationship is because we want the best for the other.  This is most certainly true.  Therefore, we are up and ready to venture forth into the heat of the day.  It was indeed a great day.  The trek to the lake was uneventful and the heat bearable.  With tonight’s walk on the Breakwater, we totaled 6.0 miles, and Cynthia closed all her rings.

13 Apr:  Palm Sunday worship at Grace Lutheran was followed by lunch at Oscar’s Restaurant.  We over-ate, Cynthia napped, then downloaded the Family TreeMaker update before driving to the Fitness Center for upper body work.  She completed week #7 of 17.  Ron worked on his Mac, and he walked to the lake despite the 86 degree temperature.  Walking the Breakwater tonight was pleasant because of lake breezes.  Three cute momma ducks were swimming around with their six babies each. 3.20 miles for CFB; Ron likely totaled six or seven miles.  A couple at the restaurant said they enjoyed watching us, asked if we are married.  Evidently most married couples don’t act like us, like high school freshmen.

four generations of girlies

12 Apr:  Four generations plus Ron, ate lunch at the Cheesecake Factory in the Woodlands.  Actually, Hayden drank her lunch.  The Sourdough bread has 50 grams of fat and 260 calories!  We walked the Breakwater just before dark.

11 Apr:  A glorious day awaits.  Yay for Ron who completed all four of Raquel’s reports and started on James Lea Country Line.  We walked this AM until one-thirty.  After lunch Cynthia left Ron without adult supervision to get prettified.  The weather tonight beckons us to do a second walk.  6.02 miles

10 Apr:  With high temperatures forecast for later today, we got out for our morning walk "as early as possible" and finished before 1 o'clock including Cynthia's upper body workout at the fitness center.  Ron is determined to finish Raquel’s four reports for the appendices today. 6.13 Miles 

We saw one field like this.

9 Apr: MEDICAL Uffda! That is Cynthia’s favorite Norwegian word to express “Uffda,” for a 5:30 AM arising.  We managed to exercise, shower, eat and be on the road by 8:00, arriving in Brenham, Texas by 9:13, only 32 minutes early for Ron’s ophthalmologist appointment.  Dr. Beim marveled that Ron was motionless while he took measurements of his eyes.  The ride home was a feast for our eyes!  It is bluebonnet time in Texas, wildflowers are covering the fields.  The bluebonnet fields we saw were almost as lush as shown in the photo above of Ennis, Texas by Gary Meisel.  We had lunch in Montgomery at Magnolia Diner and rejoiced at the market upturn. 4.0 miles.

8 Apr:  After oatmeal and exercise, the rising markets captivated our attention before focusing on the gorgeous day: the weather is sunny with a high of 73 degrees forecast by three PM.  We did our morning walk to the lake and went shopping for groceries.   6.45 Miles, Week #7 Fitness Center, the increased weights produced fatigue followed by increased endorphins

7 Apr:  The market remains volatile, but news reports are more positive.  The temperature at 53 degrees was delightful walking to the lake this AM.  We walked the breakwater twice later in the day to make certain all of the rings are closed on Cynthia’s Apple watch. 7.19 miles and 16,860 steps.  Yay for us!

6 Apr, Sunday:  Worship was followed by Pastor Diane’s retirement luncheon.  Cynthia completed week #6 of added fitness training.  We walked to the lake in real-feel temperature of 46 degrees.  Ron enjoyed visiting with bro Dean on the phone. 5.20 miles that includes extra walking at the fitness center. 

5 Apr:  We were up early again to retrain our bodies for very early ophthalmologist appointments over the next six weeks, starting Wednesday.  Except that this AM, forecast to be rainy, Ron fell back to sleep.  He even smiles in his sleep!  Rain was forecast for the day, beginning at ten AM, except it didn’t rain until noon, and thunderstorms never did arrive.  Ron is continuing work on Volume II. Ron is walking tonight  Cynthia is editing meditations.

4 Apr:  Can we get up early again tomorrow??  Ron is delighted the .pngs in Volume I are already gray and 300 DPI.  He will correct two items in Volume I and not duplicate the two appendices already in Volume I in the Volume of appendices, Volume II.  He has six of the remaining thirteen appendices almost finished, but the remaining appendices are extensive.  Can you tell that Cynthia is obsessed with this project.  I, Ron, should tell y'all that I love her dearly. Cynthia is letting Barb know what we are accomplishing, but she really is obsessed with getting three volumes to the publisher…(from The beloved bride)  Our total mileage today is 6.12.

3 Apr:  Can we get up early today??  Well, yes! but by the time we were walking, the day was hot and humid.  We oatmealed and exercised before enduring the elements.   The stock market fell so abruptly and so far that Ron was able to sell his most recent QQQ put for a profit.  Now he has the wherewithal to continue "playing" for at least a little while.  Neither of us can tell the difference in the 200 ppi pages versus the 300 ppi pages, but there is a lot to do between now and Volume 2 completion, but all systems are go - - - for tomorrow.  We walked 6.85 miles plus worked out at the fitness center.  Ron has been doing fitness center workouts every walking day. Cynthia started 3 times a week six weeks ago and we have twelve more weeks to do this before we start traveling. 

2 Apr:  Can we get up early three days in a row??  Not so much, but we did get out to walk before the day heated up.  Ron is experiencing approach avoidance with James Lea.  The new LibreOffice 24.2 works wonderfully for the new huge files including hundreds of JPGs, but it changed the pagination on volume 1 already completed.  Fortunately Ron was able to also install the old version 7.6.4 which read the old file correctly. (From his beloved bride: isn’t Ron brilliant?)  Cynthia’s lab results are excellent.  We walked twice but not so intense, so we walked only 5.65 miles. 13, 750 steps. 

1 Apr:  MEDICAL: Can we get up early two days in a row??  Yay!  We did it, groggily.  We exercised, then walked to the fitness center for Cynthia's upper body workout.  After noon Cynthia saw a periodontal dentist at one, after a stop for fitting at Carmen’s Alterations.  The peridontist was such a lovely, sweet lady from Greece, and we had a nice visit besides Cynthia's diagnosis.  After the dental visit we ate lunch at our favorite Jason’s Deli, shopped at ALDI, found Ron’s old hard drive at the storage locker, picked up a James Lea 200 ppi versus 300 ppi print comparison at UPS, got groceries at Wally World, returned to our condo, and walked a second time today. 5.12 miles.

Marching toward better vision (we hope)

We are in Texas until Ron's cataract surgeries May 14 and Jun 11.

Ron's defense

31 Mar, Mon:  What a surprise!  We were up by 7:00 AM and out walking at 9:30!  Cynthia continues working on her meditations book.  Ron is documenting the indexing of the James Lea book but he doesn't remember much.  We walked morning and evening for 6.9901010123 miles

30 Mar, Sunday:  We made it to the church on time and afterwards enjoyed a pleasant fellowship with others from Iowa and Minnesnowda.  Then we enjoyed lunch at Oscar's, but without Jon, who was working his second job.  Ron slept nearly two hours this afternoon while Cynthia edited her book of meditations for publication.  Ron walked, Cynthia continued editing. 

29 Mar:  Our day was productive!  We walked twice.  Cynthia completed week #5 adding the fitness center workout to exercise routine with three sets of 12 reps each machine and weights.  Genius Ron updated Libre Office on his new Mac and he is very pleased to have created a pdf of six Lea files in 300 DPI and 200 DPI for comparison in gray tone.  Yay.  7.0 miles.

28 Mar:  Cynthia’s Clergy luncheon was held at the Blue Agave Mexican cantina south of I-10, the widest and maybe busiest freeway in the U.S.  Our travel time was an hour and eighteen minutes to our destination.  We were blessed to miss heavy rain, but it rained heavily into the restaurant.  On the way home, we stopped at the bank, loaded up with groceries, ate salmon dinner at Oscar’s Bistro, and then we walked to the fitness center with 4.01 miles total for the day.

27 Mar:  MEDICAL We are quite proud of getting up earlier today, especially since Cynthia has an appointment with her foot doctor.  The doctor said everything looks good, sounds good and that Cynthia can consider herself an elite athelete because of all the walking we do.  (I think her age has something to do with it also… 18 again is youthful)  Then we dropped off recycling and bought new shoes at FleetFoot - from the same delightful sales girl.  Once again we escaped from Jason's Deli waaay too much overfull (and happy).   We walked despite mist and Cynthia completed her fitness center circuit. Ron was too full from lunch. We walked the breakwater tonight. Ron is working on Zachariah Lea. 4.87 Miles 

26 Mar:  We will be quite proud if we get up earlier today.  Hmm! We did not and have been crazy busy.  Ron is quite happy that he found another disk for his backups, tried a couple of new things, and upgraded to LibreOffice 24.2.1.  He also retrieved a few directories sfor from backups that had failed during migration to the new computer last Dec 2023.  Cynthia has new exercises from Lauren. 5.38 miles 

25 Mar:  We are trying to get up earlier without much success because we need our sleep and don't get to bed early enough.  Nonetheless, we did manage to get out the door for a nice walk before the day heated up too much and enjoyed a second short walk out the breakwater at sunset.  Since Ron has been experiencing difficulties with LibreOffice, he found that there is a newer version available, but backing up the computer before installation is recommended.  The first backup went fine, but using the old Aitport Time Capsule for a backup has proven to be the next stumbling block.  Stay Tuned.   6.10 miles 

24 Mar:  MEDICAL Quest Labs.  Our early start was only so successful, and we had to rush to get out the door at 9:40, but we made it to the lab early.  After that we stopped at the Conroe Library, where Ron discovered that they no longer have the DAR Patriot Index.  Strange how things have changed so fast; they had them only ten or twenty years ago.  Next we got on the road and almost overshot Jason’s Deli because it came up so fast.  Once inside we stuffed ourselves comatose.  We are now attempting couch potato detox.  5.11 Miles 

23 Mar, Sunday:  Ron is excited to see if his Sunday dress clothes fit more comfortably today.  Unfortunately we discovered a leak when we parked at church; we suspect the radiator.  After anxiety and Google, Ron discovered that his automotive knowledge is centuries out-of-date.  Coolant is now brightly colored, and air conditioners drip lots of water on humid days.  Cynthia has reached goal of 52 Sunday Offering meditations to be published.  She will organize and edit into five topics.  Now that Ron has finished four appendices (again), we need to print them to see if 200 PPI is sufficient for this book.  5.02 Miles 

22 Mar:  Since Ron's cataract schedule in April is five early morning appointments 50 miles away, we decided to start getting to bed earlier and getting up earlier.  We will let you know how this works out.  We enjoyed our late "morning" warm walk.  Today Ron weighed in at 175.2 pounds - - - FINALLY.  Cynthia completed week #4 of adding fitness center exercise circuit to the usual morning stretches and crunches.  Our second walk was on the breakwater with a lovely sunset, lots of fishermen, and duckies captured on video.  The last 14 days Cynthia has burned six hundred calories a day more than she has eaten, and her weight is good.  6.41 miles. 

21 Mar:  MEDICAL  We are totally unaccustomed to arising at 5:30 in order to be on the road at 7 AM in order to see the dentist for an evaluation of Cynthia's jaw discomfort after the root canal.  There is good news and bad news.  The good news is that the root canal is healing nicely.  The bad news is that Cynthia has bone loss around the two adjacent teeth.  (Ron is too hard headed to lose bone.)  Then we had errands to run and arrived at two places before they opened, got the emissions tested, the registration renewed, and had another breakfast at Magnolia Diner.  We are back at the condo at noon:thirty.  Ron finished checking the James Lea appendices and finally remembered that he needs to redo all the JPGs into PNG files so as to crop, resize and grey-scale them.  No wonder he set it aside for so long.  We went for a lovely walk, returning home just as the evening was starting to grow dim.  6.07 miles, 14,810 Steps. 

20 Mar:  Cynthia survived even more weight and more reps at the fitness center.  We walked twice today, second time on the breakwater in a chilly wind. 6.18 miles

19 Mar:  Happy Birthday Grandson Steven.  (He teaches 8th grade science and chemistry.)  Ron continued checking James Lea appendices while riding with Cynthia to do errands.  This evening Ron enjoyed listening to Jensen Huang, CEO of Nvidia, talk about AI.  3.79 miles. 

18 Mar:  We got out the door earlier (11:something) and were pleased that it was quite windy which made the warm day very nice.  Ron called the doctor's office, and his cataract surgeries are scheduled for May 14 and June 11.  Whoopie.!!  And we walked to the point again tonight, but there were no spectacular sunset clouds.  Life is still good.  Actually, quite good.  6.54 miles.  Cynthia started week #4 doing upper body work at the fitness center by adding extra weights. 

17 Mar:  Happy St Patrick’s Day!  Ron’s QQQ bid was successful.  We are crazy busy, but we walked mid-day despite the heat.  Ron walked out the breakwater at sunset and was rewarded with terrific red streamers across the sky.  4.64 miles 

Happy grandmother holding Hayden

at six weeks, Theo is this active

16 Mar, Sunday:  Son Jon picked up our car from the mechanic in Willis who did some fine tuning.  We drove to Roxanne’s and enjoyed Baby Hayden for two hours,  then drove to Jason’s Deli for lunch with granddaughter Samantha, her husband Adam, Noah (3) and new baby Theo (2 months).  After we returned home we walked for 5.36 miles with 13,030 steps.  We've seen the red buds and a couple of other budding trees, but it was quite a shock to realize that several trees are already fully leafed out, fully green.  Yayay, while Cynthia was driving, Ron started the James Lea appendices for Volume II and was delighted to discover that he had done more on it than he remembered. 

Pritikin Super Stars ;)

15 Mar:  Two walks, 9.02 miles.  We stopped to chat with Kyle and Leslie who live along our usual walking trail.  Lesley took our picture, and Brian from Pritikin posted the picture on Pritikin Peeps labeled Pritikin Super Stars.

14 Mar:  We slept better and late and had a very nice, warm walk starting shortly after noon.  Looks like another lazy day developing.   We had two great walks before watching the Space X launch.  Cynthia watched the Challenger launch blow up and hasn't watched another launch until tonight.  This launch was marvelous.  Ron was absolutely astounded to see the booster rocket reverse trajectory and return to land upright on a launch pad.  5.18 miles

13 Mar:  Cynthia didn't sleep well for the third night in a row.  We had a nice walk, beginning about noon (warm), and were able to take an hour nap after that.  Retirement is great !!  It s amazing how little we can get done in a delightful retirement.   4.14 miles 

12 Mar:  Our walk started at 11:30 AM with wind and ended warm.  4.64 miles.  Other than that we accomplished nothing.  Lazy day.  Cynthia delivered a three minute reflection on John 6 at the Lenten service tonight.  Jon drove us because our car is being worked on.  4.64 miles

11 Mar:  70 degrees, sunshine, a great breeze and low humidity created a great day in Texas.  And wow!  We reached the lake to discover two college girls sunbathing.  Ron enjoyed seeing a bikini.  Our evening walk to the point was delightful.  As we approached, a huge flock of ducks (actually American Coots with their bright white beaks - click here) flowed into the water like a giant wave and several great blue herons kept watchful eyes on us.  It is wonderful fun to hear Ron belly laughing watching old Red Skelton shows (click here).  7.05 miles, 17,206 steps

10 Mar:  On this gorgeous, sunshiny day, we walked 7.14 miles in two trips.  Ron continues compulsively attending his financial accounts.  Cynthia is preparing a three-minute reflection on John 6:51, (Jesus is Living Bread) for the first Wednesday in Lent.

9 Mar, Sunday:  We need to get up in the dark to get to church in time.  Oops!  We were unable to sleep last night and finally fell asleep when we should have been arising for church.  It was so bad that we didn't fully wake up until after noon.

8 Mar:  Cynthia was on a tear, cleaning house with smelly cleaners that forced Ron to finish breakfast outside.  Cynthia walked to the fitness center; Ron walked to the lake and back doing his usual trail maintenance.  All is good.  5.02 Miles. 11,933 steps for Cynthia 

7 Mar:  7.0 Miles, 17,183 steps.  Ron was quite impressed by a ninety-year-old man at the fitness center.  We intend to be that able when we get to 90 and beyond.  QQQ came up enough for Ron to squeak out of one option (gamble) with a profit of $64.

6 Mar:  7.17 Miles.  Cynthia gets close to closing all of her Apple watch fitness rings many days, but today we closed them all.  Yay !!  17,399 Steps

5 Mar:  4.93 Miles  Thankfully, after our AM walk, success was also achieved in the QQQ world. 

4 Mar:  Ron finished writing postcards and did get to the post office in time to buy postcard stamps, but his latest gamble in QQQ options tanked due to the fright over tariffs.  It took a while to understand that the Value Added Taxes imposed by most other countries in the world force Americans to pay towards the support of foreign governments. 4.68 Miles

Mardi Gras

Tina's Glass Valentine Tree

3 Mar:  Our string of afternoon naps came to an end.  Ron wrote postcards, planning to mail them but arrived at the post office too late to buy stamps.  On the ride to the Post Office, a few budding red buds caught Ron's eye.  Spring is coming soon to a Texas near us.  We were delighted to get to bed reasonably early again this evening.  5.5 Miles 

2 Mar, Sunday:  Today we got up early enough to be ready when Jon showed up to give us a ride to church.  Afterwards we all enjoyed lunch at Oscar's Bistro (click here).  Ron spent an hour lining up which postcards he wanted to send to which people as a reply to Christmas cards, and then we laid down for a nice afternoon nap.  Retirement is wonderful.  4.6 Miles 

1 Mar:  Here we are, lying in bed thinking about exercising.  Here we are, sitting and eating after our 4.24-mile walk to the lake and back on this beautiful spring day in Texas.  Cynthia is doing circuits in the fitness center on T, Th, and Sat., half-way through the walk.  Here we are, sitting and staring at our electronics after a long afternoon nap. 

February in Sight, but cataracts remain

No, the snow man didn't last from January 20 until today, but Cynthia needed a photograph to brighten up the blog this month.

created by Charlotte, Lauren, & Tyler

28 Feb:  Ron did well with QQQ today.  He hopes that he is finally learning how to profit from options.  We enjoyed a lovely walk in mild weather today and met the most interesting 66-year-old marathon runner.  We also learned the names of John and Cathy the day before they are to return to Le Mars (click here) for a grandchild's birthday.  Two more projects completed this evening; plenty left for tomorrow, but it is time for bed in order to get a good sleep.  Yay - Yay -!!  5.01 Miles. 

27 Feb;  is another memorable day of zero accomplishments, but we had a marvelous time discussing AI, the markets and politics.  On the other hand, part of the beauty of this day is that we both have enjoyed a couple of good nights of sleep, and we got to bed promptly at 9 PM for yet another good sleep.  Isn't it amazing how precious sleep becomes as we age?  I would say that consciousness has a lot to do with sleep.  4.46 miles.

26 Feb:  Up "early" and out the door for a shorter-than-usual walk to the fitness center and back.  Reason being that Cynthia has TWO fingernails in desperate need of professional repair.  (There are some things Ron will never understand.)  After pedicure, her son Jon will bring her back to me and take her car to the mechanic for maintenance, convenient because he will pick up his '69 Cougar from the mechanic.  We were lucky and got in a second walk at 5 pm as it cooled down from the forecast high of 76 degrees.  Winter is over again here in Houston. 7.83 Miles.  We attended the Walden Community Improvement Meeting; what a show.!!  

25 Feb:  A beautiful day is forecast and has arrived.  We walked early in hopes of getting a second walk later today.  Pat (Hi Pat!) noticed that we mentioned her a couple of days ago, so we intend to keep her checking by continuing mentions.  Cynthia did a circuit on the machines at the fitness center under Ron's watchful eye, as supervised by the two ladies working at the gym.  Paul reintroduced himself to us; he is from NE Minnesota, up near Lindstrom.  This area is the first Swedish settlement in Minnesota.  I should thank him for setting me off in search of Pastor Ingqvist (click here).  Yahoo for us! 7.18 miles after two walks!  

24 Feb:  MEDICAL (45 Miles) Today we see the dentist in Montgomery again, to have him fix a sharp edge exposed by the cleaning last Wednesday.  Then we walked to the fitness center and back before going to another dentist on 336 NE for Cynthia's root canal.  WOW were those ever long needles on his syringes, and the dental probes were also amazingly long.  The dentist and his assistant had a great juggling act with her feeding him yet another instrument again and again and again.  No need for painkillers or antibiotics, so he says.  Nice guy with a winning smile, just like brother Dean.  Ron walked a second time at dusk, and it got very dark by the time he was returning.  Mark hailed as he was passing the Lodge, and we talked for fifteen minutes before he left on a 20-mile bicycle training ride after dark.  Ron is still finishing up other projects before commencing work on James Lea volume 2, appendices. 4.20 miles. 

23 Feb, Sunday:  Sundays we get up early to get to church on time.  After church we stopped at Oscar's for lunch wth Jon, and a good time was had by all.  It was already 3 pm before Ron headed out the door for his usual walk.  There were puddles on the pathway, but they were not as big as usual, but then again, the wet grass was also not as soggy as usual.  Apparently Ron's puddle filling has been at least a little bit successful.  We are in the deep freeze again with this second episode of winter.  Wednesday's high was 29 degrees.  We thought winter was over when we had highs above 80 degrees for the entire week of Feb 2-9.  This is the second installment of winter, but a warm up is forecast for tomorrow onwards.

22 Feb:  After a day indoors avoiding any possibility of rain, Ron decided to embrace the risk by walking at 5 PM.  Oops, no, there was a wet mist.

21 Feb:  Ron took another slow day to get through his exercises and eat, but there is no rush with temperatures outside in the 30s.  Isn't Texas supposed to be warm in the winter?

20 Feb:  Pat (at the fitness center) wanted to see her name on the blog; Hi Pat.  We went for our walk later in the day, hoping to be a bit warmer, and that sort of worked except that Cynthia no longer owns a pair of gloves that will keep her fingers warm.  We were quite surprised to see a younger woman and her daughter without particularly warm clothing in the parking lot.  She laughed and said they are from Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  We were proud to make it all the way to the fitness center and back.

19 Feb:  Medical-Dental 12 Miles.  The new dentist gave us both good reviews, but the teeth cleaning lifted an edge of one of Ron's crowns so that his tongue is constantly drawn to that sharp edge and began bleeding - - - after we had left the dental office and eaten at Magnolia Diner.  The appointment schedule is full for the next several days, so we have to hope that Ron doesn't bleed to death before Monday.

18 Feb:  Cynthia is making good progress preparing Sunday Offerings for publication.  Ron continues to have fun learning more about those descendants of Peter Rambo of Mercer County.  5.20 Miles

17 Feb:  President’s Day.  4:45 Miles 

16 Feb, Sunday: Go To Meet-in Day,  Salmon dinner at The Oscar’s was marvelous.  How fun to meet Mark and his California Valley Girl beauty on the trail. 5.08 Miles. 

15 Feb: Sat:  Ron continues genealogy research on Peter Rambo descendants in Mercer County, Pennsylvania.  5.0 Miles

14 Feb:  Happy Valentine’s Day to the most incredible husband in the world.  And Happy Valentine’s Day to all of our friends!  4.32 Miles

13 Feb:  Another lazy, slow day starting out cold and foggy but becoming sunny after a few hours in the morning.   4.53 Miles 

12 Feb:  MEDICAL 12 Miles Dr Sharpless.  Cynthia is organizing her Sunday Offerings for publication.  We walked late afternoon for 4.81 miles.

11 Feb:  Solid fog out the window early this morning with a forecast of rain all day, so we didn't hurry to get out of bed, exercise or eat.  It has been another lazy day of accomplishing next to nothing and enjoying every minute of it.  The new microwave arrived; we made popcorn and are very excited.!!  1.11 miles! 

10 Feb:  We went for a walk late, after the heat dissipated somewhat.  It was very pleasant.  It was great fun to see Mark at the fitness Center. 4.91 Miles 

9 Feb, Sunday:  We attended the Walden Community Church (click here) and enjoyed seeing people we know there.  We decided to walk only to the fitness center and back after the heat diminished just before dark to take it easy on Cynthia's feet and my knees.  We met a couple from Iowa.  John and Cathy. 3.43 miles 

8 Feb:  Another awesome day!  We walked to the lake earlier, but not EARLY.  At three PM, we shopped Walmart for groceries.  On the way home, we stopped at the Cafe on the Green for salmon, but bummer, under new management,  they no longer serve salmon!  So we left, drove home and walked to the Yacht Club for delicious salmon and baked potato.  Feeling energized, we did the lake walk again and met the nicest guy named Shane, who described being in love with his wife: How great is that!  And we did great: 20, 751 steps, 8.73 miles.  Cynthia closed all of the rings on her Apple Watch.

7 Feb:  What a fabulous day, the sun is shining, and half of we are going walking after dark.

6 Feb:  MEDICAL, Ophthalmologist consult in Brenham, Texas 120 miles  Ron is pleased to think he is correct to stick with Dr. Beim, who is a self-professed perfectionist.  His first degree was in aeronautical engineering before he enrolled in medical school, so he is an engineer at heart and communicates with Ron on that frequency.  The downside is that Ron's surgeries will likely be scheduled after Dr Beim's second shoulder surgery.  Oh well, perfection takes a little longer.

5 Feb:  Ron enjoyed a relaxing day after finishing the latest genealogy addition from cousin Jessica.  We walked once to the lake with a reduced schedule of trail maintenance to continue Ron's physical recovery from over-indulgence on trail maintenance.  The stock market closed, so it is time to ride the motorcycle to get groceries, raspberries and frozen mixed veggies in particular.

4 Feb:  MEDICAL:  (40 miles) Woodforest CVS supposedly takes RX bottles to recycle.  Maybe not.  We dropped ours off, but Ron is uncertain the drop off isn’t specifically for medications.  From there, we went to the podiatrist, and then to Fleet Feet to get new shoes with a 10% doctors discount.  Finally, we enjoyed dinner at Jason’s Deli on 336 N.  There was still daylight time to walk.  Because we enjoyed a lovely visit with a couple at the lake, we walked home in the dark.  5.02 miles for the day.

3 Feb:  We slept crazy late, walked 4.05, miles and Cynthia baked salmon for our dinner.  Ron walked a second time after dark.

2 Feb, Sunday:  After worship. we ate lunch with Jon at Oscar’s Bistro.  4.6 miles

1 Feb:  We walked earlier today than usual because the forecast was for warm.  We were happy that it was quite warm enough without being too warm except in places.  Trail maintenance continues albeit at a slower pace, and we met a very friendly guy at the bench, Mike Butler.  Cynthia got away in the afternoon for her essential girliecures, but Ron kept typing genealogy.  We look forward because, "After All, Tomorrow is Another Day." 4.65 Miles