This one is just a baby. The one I rescued was at least 8-9 inches long. 

I slept well after yesterday’s excursion of doing nothing and awoke around the usual time. There was heavy rain in the forecast, and I wanted to beat it by going walking as soon as possible. Incidentally, it rained 2 inches during the night. 

Sandy has developed a new habit. Now, when I get up, she generally stays in bed until it is time to go walking. As soon as she hears me harnessing up Mikey, she comes bounding out of the bedroom all excited and ready to go. I wonder how long she would stay in bed if I did not harness Mikey and did something else instead? Maybe I will try it just to find out. 

We wandered around trying to cover our usual half mile, but it started to drizzle and we beelined back to the RV managing to get inside before the sky opened. 

This was followed by the usual breakfast although the actual food was just a little different. I had cooked a couple of ears of corn in the microwave last evening and for some reason unknown to me, left them in there. Without further ado, I reheated them and they made a very substantial breakfast along with the coffee. Unusual, maybe, but still tasted good and definitely much healthier than a bacon sandwich. 

I am not a big meat eater although since becoming friends with Malinda and Daniel, I have been eating much more of it than I normally do. They love to barbecue meat and sausage and such and I get a lot of invitations to eat with them. Usually, they will not let me get away with just one helping, darn it…although they have learned that I drink beer slowly on purpose so as not to overindulge and/or get inebriated. 

It started to rain hard, and we sat and watched from inside the warm and cozy RV. The dogs found their hidey holes and zonked off while I sat and wrote for a bit. Again, we have nothing planned. I do need a haircut and a couple of things in town, but they can keep until the weather clears up. 

I caught up on the blog posting to bring us up to today and then looked around for other things to get up to. With the weather as bad as it is, any outside activity is not going to happen, and we are restricted to whatever I can find to do indoors. 

I cleaned the place up and the rain stopped so I took the opportunity to go into town mainly to pick iup from the dry cleaners. Of course, when I got there, they were closed, which I should have guessed being a Saturday. 

I made my way to The Home Depot as I needed to get some tie downs to try to anchor the bird feeders better to prevent the deer from eating all of the seed. I found what I wanted and, on the way, out, spotted a miniature rose bush that I just had to have. I had been really trying hard to avoid the flowers, but the tie downs were right next door. Oh well… 

I drove back to Henly but on the way, I noticed a large turtle trying to cross the road about 50 yards ahead. He had already started to cross, and I just knew he would not make it as the road was very busy. I pulled a quick U-turn and screeched to a stop on the shoulder opposite where the little bugger was scrambling for his life, heading for the opposite side of the road. Turtles are renowned for how slow they travel and over the years, have been subject to many stories and nursery rhymes to that effect. 

With a quick glance up and down the road, I jumped out of my car and ran, sort of and picked the little guy up. Actually, he was not small at all and a very fine specimen about 8-9 inches long and in great shape. We kept running as one car went by on the inside of me and then an 18 wheeler screeched to a stop on the shoulder not 50 feet away. I waved at the driver and pointed to the turtle, and he went on his way with a wave probably thinking just how stupid I was.

I climbed the bank on the side the turtle had been trying to reach and carefully placed it on the top so he could scoot into the field where I guess he was trying to get. Maybe scoot is not the right word as we are talking about a turtle. 

I jumped back in my car and sat and thought about what I had just done and why did I do it. The answer to the last part was easy, to save the turtles life as it would have been squished probably by the same truck that had screeched to a halt to miss me. 

In retrospect, it was probably a dumb thing to do but I had to try. I also learned that my body still knows how to run but probably only because it was being chased by an 18 wheeler. 

We went on our way back to Henly to be greeted by my little buddies and we went out walking the park for them to get some exercise. Me, I already had mine walking around the big store and rescuing turtles. 

Back at The Caboose, I sat outside on my new porch, which, incidentally, still needs staining and listened to an Audiobook. As it happens, it is a very exciting story. It is named, Billy Summers by Stephen King and although unusual as most of his stories are, is gripping enough to not want to put it down. In my case, turn it off. 

We sat listening for a couple of hours, Mikey in the spare chair and Sandy on my lap looking for and getting, continuous petting. Eventually, my arm got tired from all of the stroking, so we compensated and went out walking again.  

This time, we ran into a couple of our friends, one with the funny little bulldog. The other was the older guy who has had a couple of strokes and walks for exercise. We chatted for a bit and the dogs got different degrees of attention until it was time to move on. 

Back at the RV, I took one final look at the various bungee cords that we have intertwining the bird feeders hoping they would be enough to hold off the deer. Incidentally, probably because of the free seed, the deer have left the flowers alone. 

We adjourned back inside of The Caboose for the usual evening’s entertainment and food. 

Written 05/13/2023. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com  

The Adventures of an Old Man and an RV. Henly RV Park, Henly, TX. Sunday 05/14/2023

About this size although this is not the one. I did not have time for a picture as I was being chased by an 18 wheeler…

The first thing I did after we got up was check the bird feeders to see if yesterday’s efforts had succeeded. I was frustrated to find that they had not. The big feeder was empty, and I tried to tip it and was unable to so I can only surmise that the loose-fitting lid is easy for the deer to lift and for them to empty it that way. When it comes to free food, deer can be very ingenious. 

The small seed feeder on the other pole was also empty and evidently, they had been able to tip that one too. So, it is back to the drawing board for me, bird feeders and deer. 

We went out walking the park as we usually do saying “Good Morning” to whoever we met along the way. I had managed to forget my phone…again but I guess we covered around a half mile. There was very little activity but as it was Sunday, that did not surprise me. 

The weather was cloudy and there was a chance of rain in the forecast. It had rained overnight but not the gully washer we had the night before and by the time we walked, it had cleared a little. 

I made us breakfast and then settled down in front of the computer to read the world news. I read an article about the Texas State Legislation, and it mentioned that even with all of the shootings in the State this year alone, the party in power keeps making it easier and easier for almost anyone to own a gun. I really do not understand the peoples love of guns. Maybe it is the power that it gives them when they hold one but with some people’s current mental states, they definitely should not be able to even get close to one let alone own it. What is worse is that the guns do not have to be registered and can have high-capacity magazines. Go figure… On the other hand, maybe the idea is to let everyone shoot everybody else to lower the population or something like. Now if the politicians were honest people and did not take contributions from the gun manufacturers, that would also help.

Or even to start a civil war.

In this State, my thoughts and beliefs are in the minority. Texans love their guns. Incidentally, I own a handgun but mine is locked in a safe place and only comes out for the occasional cleaning. At one time, I owned several handguns but as time wore on, I realized there was no glamor in owning them and got rid of all but the single one that I kept. To be truthful, I do not know why I even kept that one! I do not think I could shoot to kill unless it was their life or mine.

I wrote in the blog trying to get caught up and posted yesterday. We have no plans to do anything special and it is a Sunday after all, a day of rest…Of course, that only applies to the working people as every day is a day of rest for me and the dogs. Most of the time, the hardest thing we do is to go walking or write out a grocery list. 

I had thrown a load of laundry into the washing machine, and it was doing its thing as I wrote. An hour and a half later, I switched it to dry mode after adding a couple of nice smelling sheets. Love that washing machine… The only thing I have to remember to do is to open the grey water valve to allow the washing machine to drain and of course, close it when the laundry is finished. I could leave it open but the theory is to allow both tanks to fill so that when the black water tank is flushed, it is followed by the grey tank to help clean everything out of the system.

Sandy was giving me “the look” and we harnessed up and wandered around before returning to the RV to sit outside and listen to an Audiobook. We sat there for an hour before I just had to have a small bottle of wine which turned into a couple before Daniel appeared at his RV gesticulating at me to come over and have a beer. 

We wandered around for a little bit before I put the dogs inside and walked over to Quatro although that may not be its name anymore and sat and worked on a beer.  

Peggy, BJ and Kerry were there, and we sat around and told or listened to each other’s stories which produced many moments of amusement. The two roomies left, and we sat and chatted for a while until Kerry decided she had to go as well.  

We watched as a small truck camper pulled in right below us and we were interested in the setup. The truck looked especially different almost a custom job. Intrigued by it, Malinda walked down the hill to chat to the owners and then came back with the scoop. The truck camper was an $80,000 model and there were only 3 like it according to the owner. Not surprised at that price. The truck itself was indeed a custom job like the camper and the back seat had been removed and a generator and other mechanical things installed in the space. Incidentally, they also had a regular truck that they used as their vehicle while at the campgrounds.

We discussed the fact that between the two units, the set up cost as much as Quatro when it was new at around $160,000 but with much less living space. On the plus side, the owner said they were totally self sufficient when they went boondocking and could stay out for two weeks at a time or more with their only limitations being food and water.

The three of us sat and talked, swapping stories. While this was going on, Daniel had lit his grill and had small steaks cooking away which we ate along with potato and pasta salad. Again, I had not expected to be fed looking more for their company and maybe a beer or even, two. 

Finally, I left and walked back to The Caboose and even though it was getting dark, took the dogs out for just a short walk. Then, back indoors, it was the usual evening’s entertainment although, this time, I did not have to feed myself. I did feed the dogs which of course, they gobbled down as by then, it was almost 9:00 pm. 

It is truly great to have so many interesting friends. 

Written 05/14/2023. Read my other blog at https://pondblog2011.com