99 degrees predicted for Friday in our part of the Rio Grande Valley!

 81 degrees here in La Feria at 12 Noon on Thursday with predicted high today of 93 degrees.  Tomorrow, Friday, predicted high of 99 degrees.  And the park people have planned an all-day "End of Season" with games, golf cart races, etc., with at least part of it outdoors.  Imagine they will move all they can indoors.

Went to see an 84-year old man in the hospital yesterday.  We had met him once--he bought Bob & Bobi Raab's old place next door to us--(Tommy was the last owner) and he planned to move in March 8th from Dallas.  He rented a big U Haul truck and after getting it loaded in Dallas he fell when getting out of the cab onto the concrete.  He went ahead and drove the 8 hours down here and then his care giver insisted he go to Emergency.  He had his hip pinned and is to be off it for quite some time, so we won't see him next door until we return in the fall.

I guess we celebrated our 62nd Wedding Anniversary on Monday by eating at Panda Express in Harlingen.  I got the Orchid above and presented to Phyllis Tuesday when we had some 40 people from our Barbershop Chorus eat at Italian Restaurant Bella Mia's in McAllen for our "end of year" get-together. .  Told Director Bob and he had the Chorus sing a love song to us -- though it got interrupted when plates of food started showing up from the kitchen.

Seated by Phyllis is Lois, who we picked up at
Snow to Sun RV every practice day and to go to
every performance.

Angie, the lady at left, has been letting us pick
her up at her park to go to the performances
of late.  Dave, man with goatee in picture has
been with the chorus since I joined in either
2015 or 2016.

William & Mary Curll - he is a baritone and
also treasurer on the Board.

Dennis Bush, sings Lead and has been with
quartets or choruses for 50 years.  He is suffering
from some recent strokes and his wife, Telle is
a care giver now for sure.

Frank (Bass) and Pam (Lead) Frisoni are from
Massachusetts but now live permanently in the
Valley.  They are our youngest -- in their 60's

Our 88-year old director Bob & his wife Barb

Well, I got interrupted about the time I posted the picture of Phyllis eating at Panda Express above.  It did get hot - had 94º in the car when drove to have posters printed in Harlingen and we got some groceries. I also worked up these posters for the printing:

I had these commercially printed on some nice glossy paper and will hand out at practice next Tuesday.

I also put out an email to everyone in the chorus with directions how to get to the park and then to get through the huge park (Llano Grande in Mercedes) a week from today when we will have a picnic on patio of mobile home of Izzy's.  She is 88 years old, has had these picnics the last two years and insisted that we do it again even though she had to quit singing last fall account combination of age & health.

Will be about 35 people with spouses and friends and we will do a lot of singing around the eating and visiting.

We had a good performance (last of the season) last Sunday.  Our 88-year old director loves his directing, but is showing his age.  He had a knee replacement in February of this year and is having the second knee replaced later in March.  He just keeps ticking.

Later, Lynn

A tad warm here in the Rio Grande Valley today

 Official weather shows temp at 96º now at 3:15 pm in La Feria, TX.  Very bright sunshine.  "Cold front" predicted to come through this afternoon is now predicted for 6 am tomorrow morning when it will be 60º.

Photo at left is of my weather "thingy" showing outside temp in upper right corner of 98º   On left is 77º inside with the A/C pumping away. 

At right is from Fox Weather.

This is the only one we were able to cover
when the freeze warning was issued.

These photos taken this afternoon of all the trimming I have done following the freeze in January.

Shows down the line of the
5 plants now

This pic and next 2 were taken at same spot
in December.  Quite a difference!

T

We had a pretty good sized crowd and a successful performance last night in Mission, TX though we were short 5 out of 26 members of our chorus.

Tom Urban and his wife and Tom's sister and her husband fixed breakfast at the hall this morning.  Pancakes, Waffles, Bacon, Scrambled Eggs and then they had some venison sausage.

Then we drove over to DonWes to get vegetables since were gone Friday afternoon when the Veggie Man comes.  The Texas 1015 sweet onions (As good as or better than the Vidalia's) are in and we will be bringing bags of them north first of April along with bags of the huge sweet carrots grown down here.

All for now -- to Harlingen in the morning to sing in choir, then eat out with the VanOenens our neighbors across the street in their 5th wheel from Canada that attend the same church but in the congregation, at La Feria Cafe, then put on our red vest outfit and head west.  To pick up one lady at Snow to Sun RV and one lady at Alamo Palms before going on to Bentsen Grove Resort in Palmview, TX west of Mission.  To eat with our barbershop chorus Tuesday at a fine Italian Cafe in McAllen, TX on Tuesday celebrating finishing our performances for this season.  We have two more practices in March (starting to work on new song "Country Roads") and on the 20th we have a picnic on the patio of an 88-year old Tenor who had to quit singing this hear but has had these picnics at her place in LLano Grande RV Park in Mercedes for last couple years.

Later, Lynn

They walk Among Us!

Think this is to good to not pass on.........................

They walk Among Us!

I was at the checkout at Walmart, minding my own business, when the cashier rang up my total: $46.64. I handed her a crisp $50 bill. She looked me dead in the eye, gave me back $46.64, and continued scanning items like a professional.

Me: "Uh… I think there’s a mistake."

Her: huffing dramatically "Sir, I am educated. I know what I’m doing."

She pushed the money back at me like I was trying to scam her.

So, I did what any reasonable person would do—I gave it back.

She, once again, pushed it right back at me with extra attitude.

I shrugged, picked up my bags, and walked out with $46.64 in my pocket.

They Walk Among Us…

I walked into Starbucks with a "Buy-One-Get-One-Free" coupon for a Grande Latte. The barista studied it like it was the Declaration of Independence, then turned to a chalkboard that read "Buy One, Get One Free."

Her eyes lit up. "Oh! So that means… they’re both free!"

She happily handed me two free lattes.

I didn't argue. I just walked out, sipping my victory.

They Walk Among Us…

One day, I was strolling along the beach with some friends when one of them gasped dramatically, pointed ahead, and yelled:

"Look! A dead bird!"

Another friend immediately looked up at the sky and asked, "Where?"

I just… I had no words.

They Walk Among Us…

My brother was house hunting and asked the real estate agent which direction was north. He explained that he didn’t want the sun waking him up every morning.

The agent furrowed her brow. "Wait… does the sun rise in the north?"

My brother, thinking she was joking, laughed.

She was not joking.

He gently explained that the sun rises in the east… and, you know, has been doing that for quite a while now.

She shook her head and said, "Oh, I don’t keep up with all that stuff."

I... I had to walk away.

They Walk Among Us…

Back when I worked in a 24/7 call center, a guy called and asked:

"What hours are you open?"

Me: "Sir, we’re open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week."

Him: "Okay, but is that Eastern or Pacific time?"

I stared at my screen for a solid 10 seconds before replying:

"Uh… Pacific."

He thanked me and hung up, probably feeling proud of himself.

They Walk Among Us…

My sister has one of those emergency seatbelt cutters in her car—designed to save her life if she ever gets trapped.

She keeps it in the trunk.

They Walk Among Us…

My friends and I went to buy beer for a party. The store had a 10% discount on cases. Since we were professionals, we grabbed two cases.

The cashier did some quick mental math.

"Oh, two cases? That’s 10% + 10%… so you get 20% off!"

We all nodded and quietly accepted our new financial advisor.

They Walk Among Us…

At the airport, I couldn’t find my luggage, so I went to the lost baggage counter.

Me: "My bags never showed up."

The lady smiled reassuringly. "Don’t worry, sir! I’m a trained professional. Now… has your plane landed yet?"

I blinked.

Me: "Nope, we’re still circling the airport. The pilot told us we’re third in line to land."

Her: "Oh! Okay, well, come back after you land."

…Sure thing, genius.

They Walk Among Us…

While working at a pizza place, I watched a man order a small pizza to-go.

Cook: "Would you like that cut into four or six slices?"

The man thought long and hard before replying:

"Better make it four. I don’t think I’m hungry enough to eat six."

Bless their hearts.

They Walk Among Us…

Warm, Sunny & Windy in the RGV

 79º and very windy and sunny here in Kenwood RV near Harlingen, TX at 4:00 pm Thursday.

I got some donuts for the quilting ladies at Care & Share this morning and took some pictures before I left.

When I was taking the photos, Phyllis was in the kitchen so I missed photographing her.  This is later as I picked up some totes of material to take to the shed after they had finished for the morning.

A couple workers from the La Feria Migrant Families group picked up several quilts that the ladies had finished.

 People have already left the park.  Witt's pulled out Wednesday morning and Pat & Lois Sumner left in their 5th-wheel after turning over their house to the new buyers.  Others had other plans and just don't come to pot-luck supper.  But we had over a dozen people and good variety of food Wednesday evening.

I finally severely trimmed back the frozen damage that happened a month ago to my bushes.

This one was the only one that we had been able to cover when the freeze warning was out.  It is doing pretty well.  I deep watered them this morning, also.

      Have been spending a lot of time with emailing directions to the last two performances of the Men & Women of A-Chord Barbershop Chorus along with scheduled events coming up.   We sing Friday evening, Sunday afternoon and then have our "End of Season gathering at an Italian Restaurant in McAllen on Tuesday.  Will have two more practices in March -- he has already introduced us to a new song to learn for next year.    

       Will close off with the 2012 picture of some couple.  My goodness, that is almost 13 years ago!

Later, LCM

Less than a month left here in the Rio Grande Valley

74º dark and windy at 9:00 pm Monday here in La Feria, Texas.

 Had a good performance yesterday with the barbershop group Men & Women of A-Chord at Ranchero Village in Weslaco, TX.  Some 60 paying people---vs the 20 something last Tuesday.  Here we are singing "Riders in the Sky".

We perform next Friday and next Sunday, which will finish our 2025 season.

We went over to DonWes Flea Market Saturday.  Sure is different than before the big building burned down a few years ago.  Got some vegetables since Joe, the Vegie Man, couldn't make it to our park Friday afternoon.  Also picked up a watch battery and a pound of Cheese Curds.

We ate at a new, to us, place with the VanOenens Sunday after church - Edith's Kitchen Buffet. It is in Harlingen.  

This morning we went to Mr. Gatti's in Weslaco with a group from Kenwood.  Cinnamon rolls, Bingo and then the big buffet line with salad stuff, spaghetti, soups, pizza, etc.

Saturday was yard sale day 7 am to Noon in Kenwood.  Got rid of some stuff.

We are getting on short time here, less than a month until we head north.  Thinking of what groceries to buy or not so won't have stuff left here over the hot summer.  With our freezer/refrigerator in the trailer can take some.  Will be getting bags of 1015 onions, Texas carrots, and Spanish Peanuts to take north.  Plan to stop in South East Missouri to visit my brother and his wife on our way home.

 Till next time, Lynn