Dallas and Back – October

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I made my monthly trek to Dallas and back late last week. It was a cold morning as I left Missouri…getting away well before 6 and my nav system routing be around a nighttime road closure before I even made it to the highway! It was almost sunrise by the time I made my first rest stop. The color in the sky changed even in the short time I was in the building getting a protein shake for breakfast.

The color was mostly faded when I stopped the second time although it was still within the hour after sunrise.

The drive was uneventful although it seems like there is more active construction on some parts of my route than a month ago. Perhaps they are trying to reach a milestone before winter weather or maybe previous work had been hampered by very high temperatures in southern Oklahoma and Texas.

I visited with my dad and then headed to the hotel to relax…recover from getting up a little earlier than usual and driving for almost 7 hours.

The next morning, I was up and ready for a breakfast at the hotel at 6:30 then arrived to visit my dad shortly after 8 AM. We took a walk around the block. The weather was coolish (he wore a quilted vest over his long-sleeved shirt) and the sun was bright. Some of the houses had fall/Halloween decorations. The bald cypress trees I had noticed last time I walked with him were beginning to lose their needles. They will be ‘bald’ soon!

I was on the road heading home shortly after 10. The drive between the assisted living residence in Dallas and the border between Texas and Oklahoma is the most stressful part of the route – the speed limit is 70 mph for most of the way and people are trying to go that fast and beyond even when the traffic is too heavy to allow that safely.

I got home by about 5:30 and my husband informed me that we might be about to see the aurora after it got dark. We went out about 8…and there it was…faint but definitely some color in the Missouri sky!

Ten Little Celebrations – May 2024

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May 2024 was full of little celebrations…with near perfect temperatures and some big events.

3 pink irises - Most of the irises were fading by May but there were three still in good condition in a flower bed at the side of our house which can’t be seen (by us or our neighbors) except by walking around our house. I saw them when I was mowing and cut them to bring indoors.

Bleu Monkey - The first thing we did in Hot Springs was to have lunch. We picked a great place – tasty food and a huge drink (that my daughter did not finish)…but what made it celebratory was the interaction with the other patrons!

Garvan Woodland Gardens – My daughter and I both celebrated our experience at Garvan Woodland Gardens (via golf cart and on foot). I’m sure we’ll go again…maybe experience it in every season over the next few years.

Whirlpool bath at Buckstaff Bathhouse in Hot Springs – The Buckstaff Bathhouse is a way to celebrate history and the great feel hot springs.

Large birdbath – I moved a large glass birdbath from Maryland but didn’t set it up last year because I didn’t think the old stand was stable enough in our environment. I bought a new stand at Branson’s Butterfly Palace last fall and celebrated how great it looks set up near our bird feeders…and that I’ve seen birds coming to get a drink.

Mowing the whole yard in one day – Usually I mow my yard over 2 days…so I celebrate when I can do it one. It helped that May was cool…I probably won’t attempt it when the temperatures are higher.

A new family member - One of my nieces had a baby girl….always a celebratory event.

New glasses - I celebrated new plastic frames (rather than wire rims with pads as the bridge) that feel better on my narrow nose bridge.

Salmon salad – Salad made with canned salmon and celery (and other veggies) with chipotle mayonnaise (or other spicy dressing) has become one of my favorite lunches. I celebrated rediscovering a staple (canned salmon) that my mother always had in her pantry.

Aurora from our deck – My husband and I both celebrated that we managed to see and photograph the aurora from the deck of our house! It was very special.

Aurora Experience

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We didn’t do anything special to see the aurora on May 10th – simply walked out of our house and onto our deck about 9 PM. There was still light on the western horizon and the moon was out….a few stars visible.

The first few pictures I took with the iPhone 15 Pro Max toward the north were the most vivid. My husband was surprised that the phone did such a good job of capturing the aurora…better than what we could see with our eyes. We continued to look at the sky for the next 30 minutes or so.

I got up just before 4 AM to look again. The color was not as bright but seemed more like a curtain that the earlier pictures.

It was very worthwhile to make the effort to see this usual event in the night sky! 2024 has been a big year for sky events already with the solar eclipse on 4/8 and then this aurora being visible for most the US on 5/10. I wonder if there will be more this year.