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 We often drive to Blanco to get outdoors and seek a cure for our cabin fever, to enjoy the local barbeque, and to hunt for books at the library.  We could get addicted to this if it weren't for some concern that this routine would lead to just another form of cabin fever. This time, we stopped for some gasoline and found the local people all in a buzz about the sighting of an extraterrestrial ship.  The first accounts were that it was all a hoax and then others came forward and told of the sighting which made us think that a mysterious ship did make a visit.  Nobody witnessed the craft's landing, but most sensed that there was some form of transport of a group of beings that somehow made the craft exit and then, without any commotion, they just melded into the mix of people of the area. Now that was a problem because we had always thought that ETs would not look and dress like us but instead have exaggerated bodies and some dress that suggested space travel.  W...

 If you are not observant while traveling northwest on Highway 71, Smithville will be in the rearview mirror and so then you will have missed it all.  It's not on the main road but off to the south a block or so. We have driven past Smithville many times but this time, in order not to miss it, we decided to make that our destination. Smithville's main street runs parallel to the highway that runs north-south and therefore parallel to Highway 71.  Highway 71 connecting Houston with Austin runs on the north side of the Colorado River and Smithville is on the south side of the river.  This narrow separation from the main trunk line highway is what has spared Smithville from the ultimate doom of either death from isolation or ruin from big city influence.   We often travel miles and miles for a new lunch experience and this trip was no different in that it was a 90-minute drive to reach our destination of the Old World Bakery and Cafe.  The bakery part is ...

We are short of rain to the tune of about 10 inches so far this year, so the prospect of bluebonnet flowers next spring is getting to be doubtful. We had an occasion to dig a three-foot diameter hole in the side yard the other day and found no moisture to the depth of three feet. But we did get about an inch of rain in the last two weeks, enough to top off the collection system and to provide just enough groundwater to keep small plants alive.  The crape myrtle at the front gate, despite our giving it up as lost, has come alive again, so we shall keep it going with frequent shots of water from jugs brought from home.  Then there are the damianitas that seem to beg for droughty conditions as they are blooming like crazy with their yellow blossoms. Weather experts have said that Texas seems to have a drought about every decade, and to that, I would add, that each drought seems to last about ten years. But here's the bet:  Central Texas will end up the year with its average ...

It could be the phase of the moon, or it could be the combination of the moon and the fall equinox. but no matter what the cause, people were really talkative today, Wednesday the 28th of September 2022. We decided to journey off to Blanco because this small town, the ex-county seat of Blanco County is a friendly place and is the home of the Old 300 Barbeque shop.  I call it a shop because it is not really a cafe nor is it a restaurant.  It's just a place to buy barbeque plates or sandwiches and of course beer and the essential cobbler for dessert. Calling it a joint would be derogatory in our minds. We always opt for the pork loin sandwich that we share because one is too large for either of us.  We bypassed the cobbler because we had also planned to visit the gelato place on US281 that we had prospected for the last few years. We did justice to our sandwich outside on the front porch and made an offhand comment to an older fellow who was reassembling his leather get-up....

 Yesterday was one of our most important holidays, the Fourth of July, a celebration of the independence of our United States of America. The symphony was a combined effort of the choral group and the symphony of the Wimberley area. They carried off a fine performance all the way through. We even had ceremonies of the pledge to the US flag and to then to the Texas flag.  Plus, a presentation of the colors by members of the VFW, and a standing roll call of the veterans of all the armed forces each separately.  Except for some reason the new Space Force was not mentioned. All in the large auditorium of the Baptist Church--how generous they are!

 We have this great world atlas book published by the National Geographical Society, which by the way, we bought at the local library used book sale for $2. Probably this low price of the book pains the Society but it sure makes my reference to maps an easy task without having to wake up my computer. The book occupies a permanent spot on a book stand in our breakfast room, standing ready to supply map information on request. The book happened to be open to the page showing the whole of Antarctica featuring all the outposts and even some commentary of scientific significance. One such comment was on ice coring data of historic temperatures and carbon dioxide content.  I can understand how the CO2 content of the ice can be preserved over many centuries at varying depths, but I am unsure how the prevailing temperature of some thousand years ago can be preserved in the ice cores--but that's another issue that we will not get into here. So here is the comment on the data of the ice...