19 Degrees, Heading South

The title of today's post might sound like a ship's position, but it's not. It's the temperature when I got up this morning and the logical conclusion one draws from a temperature like that.


West Texas and New Mexico both look too cold right now, so I'm heading for the Rio Grande Valley, or somewhere warmer, whichever comes first.

Before we leave Kerrville, I need to make one last Starbucks stop for my grande decaf latte'




and one last brief tour of "Old Ingram," a bit of history here that I didn't get pictures of yet. This is the old downtown of Ingram that has been turned into small shops and revitalized for tourists like me.



It is mostly antique stores and art galleries now.



This might be "Calijah," the inspiration for an old Charley Pride song.



And across the street, behind the flamingos of this pretty little shop, is his cowboy counterpart.



I wonder what kind of stories they tell each other in the middle of a dark, quiet night.



The flamingos remind me of a flock that used to summer in my backyard in Montana. It was quite a flock, seemed to increase each year. This past year was the first time I saw baby flamingos with them. I wonder if they will return this spring when I am not there.


Like Tioga George we made a "lunch camp" today and fixed a hot sandwich. We stopped in Jourdanton at this city park.





Yes, Chorro got to run about like a madman. Maddog?



There was a great walking track in the park for a little exercise after we had lunch. Here's what we discovered half-way around.
Is this my first sign of spring?




We arrived at our new home, Choke Canyon State Park.



The sun is shining and the light breeze is warm. I think we will stay here for a few days.


After we had dinner, we took a walk looking for a place to take pictures of the sunset. My friends at Radiant Recovery (radiantrecovery.com) talk about BE raisers. BE stands for beta endorphin, a hormone/chemical our body makes which is intended to ease pain but also soothes us and makes us feel good. Those of us in Radiant Recovery have learned that we have bodies that tend not to release enough BE as a rule. So we try to add BE raisers each day that help us have the feelilng of enjoying life.


I've found that one of my very best BE raisers is a sunrise or a sunset. Chorro and I watched for fifteen or twenty minutes as the sun went down this evening. (I watched, Chorro searched for small mammals in the underbrush.) It is some of my best time, time when I can watch a sunset or sunrise. When I am finally satisfied that I have seen it at its most glorious point, I walk away feeling light-hearted and at peace. Aaahhh.


I'll let you watch tonight's sunset in south Texas too.

Tomorrow is a new day.