May 9, 2012 - Farewell to Cousin Clarence Gilbreath

This afternoon I learned of the death of my cousin, Clarence Gilbreath, from Alzheimer's disease. He was the youngest of four siblings who all were diagnosed with this dreadful disease. His sister, Verbena Landers, lost her battle less than a month ago. I last visited with Clarence and his wife, Wanda, in 2009 in Fair Oaks, a suburb of Sacramento. He had just been diagnosed with the disease but was still able to function nearly normally, even driving his car.

May 7, 2012 - Inside the Texas Capital and Texas History Museum

Today we wanted to spend more time at the state capital. It was very interesting as they are only in session every other year or odd years. You see they all have day jobs and are a part time state government. The governor can call them back into session if needed and that might be a few days to thirty tops. Wow just think of my state California did this we would only be half screwed up and not so much into debt. Well off my political feelings to our state leaders. The whole building was open to view and we just explored every inch but there...

May 6, 2012 - Texas capital and LBJ Presidential Library

Well after a night of lighting, thunder, and heavy rain we woke up to a cool humid morning. After eating we went for a walk around the park. Then just after noon we headed out to see the state capital. We tried to find parking so we could see the visitor center but there were none to be had. We then went to the President LB Johnson library that is close by. The library has ten floors but only the 4th and 10th floors are used for exhibits. They are in the process of making major changes so the 4th floor was closed. On the 10th was story of...

May 6, 2012 - Night Photos

Tonight, about sunset, Nancy and I walked over to the Lamar Street Pedestrian Bridge in hopes of getting some shots of the "Super Moon" but heavy clouds moved in and totally obscured it. We were disappointed because the same thing happened last night when the moon was officially full. Maybe tomorrow night we will be rewarded.

May 5, 2012 - Moving day .... Austin Texas

We departed Fort Sam Houston this morning about 9:30. It was a short trip, about an hour and half, to Austin. We are here and set up for the next four nights. While we are here we want to see the L.B. Johnson Presidential Library, The bats from the Congress St. bridge, and the State Capital. I am sure we will find more to see while we are here. It is just after noon here and we are planning to go out this afternoon so I will have pictures later tonight or in the morning for sure. UPDATE.... We headed out to see the bats. The bat website...

May 3, 2012 - Photos and Physicians

This morning I saw Dr. Harris again.  He injected six points on my spine with a combination of four pain-killing drugs.  Today I have to make a note every hour until bedtime about my level of pain and then twice daily until next Thursday, when I have a follow-up visit.  At that time he'll decide whether to go to the next step of cauterizing the nerves. My ophthalmologist called this afternoon to tell me that my eyelid surgery has been approved by Medicare.  The surgery is scheduled for Thursday, June 28 at Bailey Square Medical Center.  My...

May 1, 2012 - DAR New-Member Welcome Ceremony

This morning, at the last DAR meeting of the 2011-2012 year, there was a welcoming ceremony for new Thankful Hubbard Chapter members. There are now 282 members in this chapter. We were given a certificate of membership and a DAR pin. The chapter officers for 2012-2014 were installed by the State Regent Elect, Pamela Wright of the Lady Washington chapter in the Houston area. There are no meetings during the summer.

Apr 27, 2012 - Encouraging News from Doctors

This morning I saw my primary care doctor for evaluation of my knees, which I injured a couple of weeks ago in a fall in a parking lot. I was greatly relieved and very thankful that neither of them were broken or fractured. However, the fall aggravated the existing arthritis. He gave me a cortisone injection in my right knee to hasten the healing. This afternoon I saw Dr. David Harris at the Center for Healing and Regenerative Medicine (CHARM) to discuss treatment options for my degenerated lumbar. He recommended radio-frequency neurotomy...

Apr 26, 2012 - Austin and a visit with friends

Fri 4/20 Time to move again! This time, 143 miles north to Georgetown, just north of Austin. We got 10.4 mpg on this pull. We had chosen the East View RV Ranch on the east side of Georgetown. Nothing fancy here but a good place to park it for a few days and close to Ginger’s ex-coworker, Cindy, and her husband Bob. We left Ingram mid-morning, drove up secondary roads (TX 16, 290, 281 and 29) and landed early! Nice scenery, although we had light rain most of the trip. We had arranged to meet Cindy and Bob at a popular restaurant (Monument...

Apr 24, 2012 - Bach Cantata at Blanton Museum

Today Virginia Staats, Ginger Rantoul, Inge Rider, Dianne Bennett and I attended the last Bach Cantata of the season at the Blanton Museum. Two works were on the program today. First was "Magnificat" by Heinrich Schütz in Latin, then "Christ lag in Todes Banden, BWV 4" (Christ lay in death's bonds) by J. S. Bach. Both were very beautiful. We're looking forward the next season, which will begin in October. The featured work of art today was "The Martyrdom of Saint Catherine" an oil on canvas by Mattis Preti, c. 1658. Preti was greatly...

Apr 23, 2012 - Lunch with Friends in Bee Cave

After exercise class I dropped Nancy off at home and then headed for Bee Cave to have lunch at Maudie’s Tex-Mex with Alyse Kyriay and Mekala Padmanabhan. We all used to work for Unisys Corporation. Periodically we get together to catch up on each other’s news. We had a very nice visit.

Apr 22, 2012 - Return to Austin

This morning I left the campground around 9:45 and drove over to the east side of Waco to meet my cousins, Van and Helen Smith, at the Cotton Patch for lunch. I was very early but I didn’t mind because it gave me a chance to get a convenient parking space. While I waited, I did some computer work and played a few games. We had a good lunch and a very nice visit. I wish it could have been longer. On the way home I stopped only once – at the Bell County Secure Rest Area. The door to one of their storm shelters was open, so I checked it out....