Walking and Thinking

About four or five mornings a week I go for a walk between 6:45 to 7:00 AM. If that seems early to you, remember this is hot, humid Houston. So far, the early morning hours are still cool or at least cooler than it will be from 9:00 AM through the rest of the day. West University Place where I walk has big oaks shading the sidewalks but there are a few magnolia trees scattered through the area. The other morning I was walking and thinking when this lovely scent stopped me. It was a magnolia tree that was just beginning to bloom right beside the sidewalk. Most of the buds and opening flowers were too high to photograph except for this one. I stood there for a few minutes breathing deeply and fighting the urge to reach up and pluck this flower and take it back to the apartment to enjoy the scent and the delicate beauty. I've made photographs of magnolia blossoms and I've seen many photographs made by others, yet I never get tired of seeing them.

But back to the subject of this post; walking and thinking. I was thinking about how major world events affected me all my life and I was wondering how this pandemic would affect my grandsons for the rest of their lives.

I was born to a mother and father who were children during the Great Depression and the Dust Bowl. I've saved Christmas wrapping paper and bows, jars, old clothes, never hired anyone to do anything unless it was absolutely necessary, knew how to cook cheap cuts of meat and how to extend meals, fretted about mortgages and car payments, packed food to eat along the way when we traveled, seldom ate at restaurants and, well, you get the idea. Of course over the years some of these penny-pinching ways disappeared but I still see that Great Depression influence in my life.

I was almost five years old when the United States entered World War II. I remember my Mom and Dad with chairs pulled up to the radio and knew that something had happened although I did understand what war was. But it was a terrible thing and we had to have black curtains on our windows at night while my Dad sat close to the radio to listen to the news. My parents had brothers who went to war. The passenger train from Houston to Dallas which we rode every summer was crowded and people got up to give their seats to tall, skinny, tired soldiers. There was quiet talk among the adults about the Pacific, about Europe, about England. At five or six years old I didn't have a concept of geography but I knew they were far away. After the war, the brothers came home and while the adults sat listening to their stories, I would slip into the room and sit back against the wall on the floor to hear what they were saying. I think that WW2 was the beginning of my love of history and travel and probably politics as well although I did not recognize the political side of history at that time.

When I think about the Pandemic and my grandsons, I wonder how the economy will affect their lives. How difficult will it be to find jobs? Find the job they have hoped for? I've wondered how long colleges will stay closed and for my baseball playing grandson, when will his college baseball team be able to play again. He has worked to be a pitcher since before he was old enough to play T-ball.  And what about my drummer grandson. When will venues open for live music? And what about the fun factor of being in high school and in college, parties, dates, sports and then of starting a career. The fun factor is important in a young person's life. Will it return soon? I hope so but I truly believe that this pandemic will affect the way they see the world for the rest of their lives.

What about you? Do you think that a world event affected the way you have lived your life? If you have grandchildren, how do you think it will affect their future?

Nesting in Houston

One morning recently on my morning walk I found this plant on the sidewalk where it had fallen from a big old oak tree. I've seen it before both here in Houston and in San Miguel. I looked through pages and pages of tree parasite images but never saw it although I think it is a common one like mistletoe. I love the color and look of this plant. It reminds me of bird nests. So I picked it up and brought it home. Now it is sitting on the counter between the kitchen sink and the dining room.

I didn't really need a two-bedroom, two-bath apartment but that was what was available when I needed a place. It is roomy, with lots of storage, light and close to grocery and drug stores. My furniture is rented except for the dining room table and chairs. which belonged to my mother. Seeing it all day helps to ground me since I am surrounded by so much that is temporary. 

The bedroom is really big with two large walk-in closets but minimal furniture.

The kitchen is well arranged and with adequate storage but I hate the flat-top electric stove. I've cooked on electric stoves for many years but I don't like this one at all.

And, here is the office/gym. 

So now you have seen my temporary nest. If I have to hunker down in Houston, this is a comfortable place.

Wearing a Mask

I left San Miguel four weeks ago and I never thought I would be wearing a mask four weeks later but a lot of things have happened in those four weeks that are beyond anything I could have imagined. Looking back, how naive I was.

I understood that the coronavirus was going to affect many people and that medical systems would be  stressed but I thought that the United States could handle the virus better than Mexico. So I could go to Houston, get an apartment for six months. The complex where Ned and I had lived for two years was next door to an HEB, Krogers and Walgreens were across the street. When I arrived I was renting a car for a week to gather up what I needed for an apartment and then I wouldn't need a car. I could walk and if I wanted to go somewhere too far to walk, I'd get an Uber. Within about one day after arriving in Houston it dawned on me that "staying in place," or isolation, or quarantine, or whatever you want to call it was happening NOW. There was no time to settle-in. There was no time to see most of my family. So, I look forward to talking with them and long to hug them.

Services like Instacart, Curbside pickup, Whole Foods, Krogers, and HEB delivery all sound great but the demand is so huge that the delivery times are out about 10 days and they are so overloaded that the 20 items you ordered may be down to 10 items available when they are delivered. Although if I walk to the grocery store I can find the things I ordered except for cleaning supplies, toilet paper and paper towels.  Toilet paper can sometimes be found but I have not seen paper towels since the day after I arrived. Thank God, there is no shortage of food.

Naive? Yes! A few months in Houston. The emergency would be over. I'd go home but everyday brings more knowledge about this disease. To get it fully under control, we need a vaccine and that is probably 18 months down the road.

Although this is a rather stylish one that a friend brought to me, I hope that wearing a mask doesn't become the new normal.

Refugio en el Norte - Day 15

It is hard to believe that I’ve been in this apartment as of today for 15 days. I’ve settled in and developed little routines with breakfast and at my desk, just making myself a home in Houston. One of the things that I do every morning is go walking. Across the street from the apartment complex is a lovely, tree-shaded neighborhood called West University Place. It’s mailing address is Houston but it is actually a small city within Houston. When I go out at 7 AM, it is just before sunrise. The air is cool and so far the humidity has not set in for Houston. I lived here for years and I know that before long I will be peeling off sweaty clothes as soon as I return from my early morning walk. But it is lovely now.

This morning I passed several houses where a gardener had mulched flower beds yesterday and the smell of the mulch was pungent and earthy. The squirrels were already out looking for breakfast and they would jump to a tree trunk and peek at me from the other side to see if I was going to keep walking. Some houses had sprinkler systems that were busy spitting water on the lawn and flower beds so sometimes I felt the a light mist on my face. There were a lot of red-breasted robins on the lawns looking for the early-bird worms. One big blue jay must have had a nest somewhere close by because he spouted warning chirps at me. Of course, I knew it wasn’t were he had flown up into the tree because jays are smart and they try to distract you from finding their nest. 

Everything seems so normal at 7 AM. How could that be when we are bracing for, but hoping against, overloading our medical system and losing too many of our citizens.

Banking

Life isn’t easy in Houston. In fact, trying to stay in isolation is proving difficult, more so each day. Not the time I spend in my apartment but the part that keeps me connected with the outside world is difficult.

I need cash. Unfortunately, I find myself with large bills when what I need is small bills so that I can tip the person who delivers groceries or other door-to-door services that are available.

I’m not renting a car while I’m here, at least not yet. Using the iPhone, I looked for close by locations for my bank. Yea! One is just seven-tenths of a mile from the apartment. That isn’t a difficult walk for someone who has been walking the streets of San Miguel.

A lot of “essential” businesses have changed hours so I called to see if that location was still open 9:00 - 5:00. No, their hours are 9:30 - 4:00 but I’d have to use the ATM because the banking lobby isn’t open or I could use the drive-thru. I said that I would walk through the drive-thru because I needed smaller bills that the ATM distributed and I didn’t have a car. The banker told me that no one is allowed to walk thru the drive-thru. What? I explained that we are in the a pandemic and rules should be adjusted for this time. We discussed my problem. He finally said that I could try it if I wanted to but it was dangerous. I wanted to say, “being 83 is dangerous in this pandemic and I don’t think walking through a bank’s drive-thru is any more dangerous.” But, I didn’t say it.

So, tomorrow I’ll walk to the bank at 9:30 and walk thru the drive-thru. I’ll let you know if I live through that and if I get the cash that I want.

I have another story, a long one, about trying to enter the cyber world since I moved into the apartment, but that is for another day.

Refugio en el Norte - Day 5

I am not sure of how to start this post. It has been a long time since I wrote anything for this blog but I feel the need to write and I have the time so I’ll see how it goes. I am writing from an apartment in Houston which right now is my refuge from a dangerous world because of Covid-19. Hence, the term, Refugio en el Norte, which is a play on the name of the street I live on in San Miguel de Allende.

A planned trip to Texas to visit family, go to FotoFest, and SXSW became more than a 10 day trip because of my concern about being in Mexico alone should I become ill with Covid-19. When I had to put my sweet Carly who had been going downhill for about nine months, to sleep two days before I was scheduled to leave, I made the decision that when I arrived in Houston I would stay in Houston until I could figure out what I needed to do.

Ned and I liked the apartment we rented in Houston 10 years ago while he was sick so the first thing I did after getting the rental car was head to that complex. It is next door to an HEB/Pharmacy and across the street from a Kroger and Walgreen drug store. Also, close to a number of restaurants that I could walk to. Of course, now that the restaurants have been closed except for takeout, that doesn’t count for much. I rented one that was immediately available and took possession of the keys last Tuesday. Wednesday the furniture I rented was delivered and I moved in. I’ll be writing from my Refuge in the North. What I’ll write about I’m not sure but I do feel I need to write. It may be too personal for some or boring as hell for others but that is okay if you decide not to read it at all.

PS: I wanted to send a photograph of the sala of my apartment but for some reason something has changed since the last time I wrote on the blog. I can’t figure it out tonight but I’ll work on it tomorrow. Busy day tomorrow. LOL

A Flood of Memories

Having lived in Houston for most of my life, I've seen the bayous flood many a time so I started thinking about some of them. One of the most memorable was probably when we were headed to the airport to pick up Son #2 who was coming home for the summer from Manhattan School of Music. It was dark. We were on a two lane road. It was raining hard. The water from the fields on either side of the road started coming over the road. In a few minutes we couldn't go back and we didn't dare go forward. Someone in a pickup truck came along. He said he was headed to the Hog Breath Saloon and he would take us there. He assured us it was high ground. Not knowing how much higher the water would get, although the rain was letting up, it was already coming in under the door so we left the car and went. We didn't want to be "those people" on TV who are sitting on top of their floating car as they are being rescued by the first responders in a power boat. 

The Hog Breath was as bad as you might think it would be. Maybe worse. A parking lot paved with oyster shell. Old wooden building on concrete blocks. Pool table and players with an attitude. Bar lit with neon lights advertising beers. Men in jeans and T-shirts with the sleeves cut out. A few pudgy women out of central casting with big Texas blonde hair, tight jeans and tank tops. Loud country music. Lots of smoke. You could feel that they were wondering what the hell we were doing there. We definitely didn't look like we belonged.

About three hours later, our friend Tom managed to come by another route that was a bit higher to pick us up and get us to the airport. That night was an adventure. Wish I had some pictures of the Hog Breath Saloon.

I don't remember how bad the November, 2003 flood in this picture was but usually when Buffalo Bayou floods it is all the way up the embankment to the left and over the four-lane road to the next small embankment. When I made this picture the flood had receded but was still outside of Buffalo Bayou's regular banks. We lived close by and I had been photographing the bayou for a project so I took two Holga cameras and went over to get pictures of some of the flood waters that were still rushing through Houston.

At one point I walked up the embankment where it was a little steeper to get around some mud and the ground started giving way under me. After a trying to make another step or two, I realized I was only making the situation worse so I laid down spread-eagle and got stabilized. I started inching sideways but a little more ground gave way with each schooch. Trust me, schooch is a verb in Texas. By the time I finally schooched onto stable ground my feet were about two feet from the rushing water.

And there was the flood when. . . . .
This blog entry is already too long. I'll save that story for the next Houston flood.

The picture is Buffalo Bayou headed toward downtown Houston which you can barely see through the trees. Buffalo Bayou flows on through downtown and becomes the Houston Ship Channel a few miles east of the downtown area. 

FotoFest, 2016

While in Houston I will try to hit as many of the FotoFest Exhibitions as I can. Yesterday was the Museum of Fine Arts where I saw Vera Lutter's Inverted Worlds made with huge Camera Obscura so of course the prints are also huge. I would guess most of them are at least four by six feet and some are made up of two or three panels of four by six. The exhibition was especially interesting to me because of my connection with Shootapalooza Heather Oelklaus and her Little Miss Sunshine pinhole camera truck.

There was also an exhibition called A History of Photography: Selections from the Museum's Collection. I liked seeing the variety of processes from the very beginning up until today's digital that have been used to make images.

There was a case or two of photography books and I did not realize that the Museum has Manfred Heiting's book collection of 25,000 books on photography.

In addition there is also a very fine exhibition of Lewis Baltz's work of the rapid changes due to construction in the California landscape. The style is stark and minimalist and caustic, influencing photography since the 1970's.

If you go to the Museum I hope you have time to see Sculpted in Steel, Art Deco Automobiles and Motorcycles. 1929-1940. Although it isn't photography, it is a beautiful display of hand-crafted automobiles and motorcycles that are truly sculptures. The link should take you to some pictures of these amazing works of art.

So far I have not been able to get a FotoFest Map and the online guide is a bit difficult to follow but I'll be out everyday and I'll report back on what I see.

The Way We Were

While in Texas I went to my 60th class reunion at Charles H. Milby High School. Actually it was the 59th for my class but we joined the class of '54 in celebrating. I was able to make arrangements to go photograph in the school one day after the close of classes. I'm glad I did because the school is about to undergo a major renovation. The good thing about the renovation is that they are going to save the "old" original building from the 1920's.

This is still the main entry of the school. Behind the door on the right wall was the principal's office. The principal's office was never a threat but on the left wall was Mrs. McClendon's office (or was it Miss? I don't remember) but I was afraid of her. She was the Dean and she knew everything that went on in the school. One Friday for some reason I was going to skip school but I needed a book so I could study for a test on Monday. I thought I would be able to just slip into school get the book and slip out again while every one else was coming into school in the morning. Wrong! She saw me leave and I had to bring my Dad to school to meet with Mrs. McClendon to get back into school on Monday.

There were a lot of memories in those halls and they go back more than 60 years. Ned's Dad and Aunts graduated from Milby. One of Ned's Dad's best friends from Milby had a son, Jack, who was in our class. I met Jack in Junior High School and Jack was also one of Ned's best friends. In fact he was in our wedding and it was great to spend some time with him. My best friend was Margery, also in our wedding, and she was at the reunion. We had a great visit.

One of the surprises in the building was the old auditorium which has been made into the library. I was told that the facade to the stage had been saved so when I looked into the old auditorium, now library, I thought that the facade had been moved forward because the space seemed so small. Wrong again! It was exactly where it had always been. How could that be. The auditorium had seemed so big. I was in Drama and in a number of plays so I wanted to see the stage. It was still there although now being used for storage. It too seemed so much smaller than I remembered it.

Another surprise in the school was the number of administrative offices. Sixty years ago there was a Principal, an Assistant-Principal and a Dean of Students and the people who worked in the small office. Most of the original building now houses administrative offices. I'm not sure that the kids today are getting a better education but there are lots of people working on it. We never had police officers in the school but they were in the halls. That they are needed is a sad commentary on society today.

The reunion was a great celebration. There were lots of people I haven't seen since 1955 but members of our class have achieved a lot and traveled far. It was great visiting with them. One sad note was the memory board of those who had passed on. We have lost almost one-half of the class. The Memorabilia Room was wonderful. So many people have saved newspaper clippings, programs and pictures. I spent a long time in there remembering "The Way We Were." Back in the Ballroom, The Way We Are today…..We are still making the most of life and we are still dancing.

Pickles

This post isn't just about pickles. It is about living in San Miguel.

But I will tell you about the pickles because they made me very happy today. Eleven years ago I couldn't find a pickle in any store in this town and if I went to Costco in Celaya or Queretaro I could find one gallon jars of sliced dill pickles but that was it. I used to bring pickles back to San Miguel when we drove back from Texas. Actually I brought back sacks and sacks of grocery items that I couldn't find around here. Here is what I wrote back in 2007 on Billieblog about bringing groceries down from Texas.

I have used up my stash of pickles and when I went into Bonanza today I found pickles. Pickle relish, Sweet Gherkins, Dill and Bread and Butter Chips in regular household sizes. They were a little pricey but since I'm not driving back and forth anymore and I want pickles and I don't want to can my own pickles, I'll just have to pay the price.

When I look back at the things I listed on the Grocery List in the link above, I realized that I can find most of those things here now or I've found some substitute. Feeling like I can cook American or Mexican with the products I can find in a store is a nice feeling.

But living in San Miguel is more than just being able to cook anything I want.

Today I was talking with my financial advisor who has vacationed in San Miguel. He was asking if I still felt safe. I told him that not only do I feel safe but I find that my life is very rich and rewarding. I told him about some of the cultural things going on here. If you don't read Babsblog, click on her post about all the things that are going on here in the next few weeks.

Besides the cultural events, I have lunch or dinner with friends several times a week. I'm in a drawing group and I'm about to start a drawing class. I'm learning to play Mah Jongg. I go to Yoga and to a cardio/weight class a couple of times a week. I'm working with a personal trainer one day a week as well as doing some cardio walking three or four days a week. I'm in an investment/social club. I have my photography and I meet up  with some other photographers about once a month just to talk about what we are doing. Yes, my life is full of activities but most of all is the blessing of having so many friends here.

When I try to think about going back to Houston I can imagine buying a high-rise condo and getting it furnished. I think about seeing my Houston friends and family more often but then my imagination runs out. What after that? Could I find things to replace the activities in San Miguel? And if I did, could I afford them? Would it be as easy to keep meeting new people and making new friends? I don't think so.

And so, with each day that passes, I become more sure of my decision to stay in San Miguel. Although I do realize that there are things that could change that decision, they are just too terrible for me to worry about. I'll just stay in the moment and keep on being excited about pickles showing up on the grocery shelves. Now if Bonanza could just get in refrigerated horseradish.....that would be another red letter day.

A Born Saleswoman

While I was back in Houston, I went to the Walgreen's that I use because I needed moisturizer, sun screen.....stuff like that. I had shopped in there before among the cosmetics and toiletries and had been helped by a tall woman with an Indian accent. But before, I had known what I wanted. This time I was going to check out some other products because the ones I was using were not keeping my skin moisturized in San Miguel's low, low humidity. Besides I had been using the same products for a long time. Maybe there was something better.

This time she saw me looking and reading labels so she came over to tell me that she had another product that had almost the same ingredients but it was on sale. Mmm....SALE. I like sales. I told her that I had been using the same product but I was looking for something better for the dry climate where I lived. She said that the sale product would be just perfect. I followed her to look at it. Before I knew it, I had bought eye cream, wrinkle cream, moisturizer with sun screen and a night cream AND then she sold me an exfoliating makeup remover with the money I had saved though the sale.

That afternoon my daughter-in-law, Betsy, had some friends over and we were talking. I told them about the saleswoman at Walgreen's. They all started laughing because they had similar experiences with her and they thought that she really knew her products and tried to find the best product at the best price for them. They thought she was an extraordinary saleswoman.

I would have never thought that an employee in the cosmetics at a local Walgreen's would have such a loyal following. She really was a born saleswoman.

Oh, did all the creams work? Well, my skin is definitely more moisturized. I think it is too late to help the wrinkles.

My Weight Gain Plan

As usual when I come to Houston I follow a weight gain plan. I can't help it. Houston is one of the great restaurant cities in the USA. I always have to hit some of my favorites and try a few new ones as well.

I'm sure that anyone who followed Billieblog isn't surprised at seeing raw oysters when I write about eating in Houston. This is from my usual place, Goode Company Seafood. I wasn't sure I was going to have raw oysters because May isn't a month with an R in it. But I went and sat at the end of the bar where the oysters are being shucked right before your eyes. The Shucker wasn't eliminating very many oysters when he hit them with his knife. I'm not sure what sound he hears that means it isn't a good oyster but I always figure it is good sign if there are very few oysters in the bag that are thrown away. I also checked out the size of the oysters. I don't like them really, really big but then I did not want to order a dozen if they were as tiny as clams. Everything looked good so I ordered a dozen oysters on the half shell. Oh my, they were really, really good. Another day I stopped at Goode Company for the Campechana which is a giant seafood cocktail of shrimp and crab. Oh, so very, very delicious.

My Dear DIL took me to Torchy's Tacos in Rice Village. I had a shrimp taco and it was huge and very tasty. I like the tacos better that Berryhills. It is a franchise that I think started in Austin. There is another Torchy's or two in Houston and I predict that if you are in Houston or Austin you will probably have one near you before too long.

I went to see my friends Guy and Debbie. After a bit of wine in their garden we walked to Brazil's at the corner of Westheimer and Dunlavy. We have been there many times before because I love it and I love the mix of customers. Everything from students to artists, to writers to professionals.  It is another neighborhood place that serves good food at a good price. You want a great salad....they have it. You want pizza.....they have it. You want pasta.....they have it. You want coffee and a pastry.....they have it. You want a nice glass of wine.....they have it. You want to eat outside.....you can. You want a little live music....they have it several nights a week. You want to sit with your laptop.....no problem. Yeah.....I like this place and I think you would too.

Local Foods on the corner of Kelvin and Dunstan in Rice Village is a fairly new restaurant that focuses on local products. My favorite items at Local are the Coconut Thai soup and the Banh mi sandwich along with two amazing sides. You always have a choice of seven or eight sides but I usually have the kale raisin salad. I know that there are a lot of other tasty things on the menu but I've never been able to go there without ordering one of these two things. The problem is that the Coconut Thai soup is a random daily special. I've been known to open the door and look at the menu board just to see if I can get the soup.

Okay this shrimp salad isn't in a restaurant, it is lunch at a friend's house. Life can't get much better than visiting with a friend and then joining her at her table for a delicious lunch.

I've eaten at a bunch of other places as well. I don't have a scale to step on and I'm not sure I'd want to. I'll get off my Weight Gain Plan when the plane touches down in a few days in Mexico.

Insider's Tip

On April 12 Chico's FAS, Inc. (NYSE: CHS) declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.055 per share of its common stock, a 4.8% increase over the dividend rate from June 2012.

Since I arrived in Houston I've been shopping Chico's. I can definitely see the stock value going up and bigger dividends.

Just saying.....

Oops, Maybe I should talk to Martha Stewart before I post this.

Exploring Houston - Evergreen Cemetery

This week I drove to Eastwood where I own a vacant lot on Rusk Street. I've driven around the area many times but for some reason I had never driven South of Dumble Street on Rusk. Just four blocks South of my lot, Rusk dead ends into Altic Street and there in front of me was a cemetery. I never pass up a cemetery especially one that looks like it has old tombstones in it and I could see some old tombstones.

The one I photographed above reads:

ELENOR

wife of

J. R. GRYMES

 

BORN

April 1, 1827

DIED

March 20, 1903

 

There were quite a few tombstones with similar kinds of dates. The oldest burial I found was in 1895. But about half of the cemetery was colorful with balloons and flowers from Mother's Day. The tombstones and the decorations in that section had a very Hispanic flavor and there were some recent graves.

Thank God for the internet. As soon as I could I looked at a Google map and found that the cemetery was called Evergreen Cemetery. Then I googled Evergreen Cemetery Harris County Texas. There it was. Even a short video about someone who was helping preserve the cemetery. Even better, here is the text of a Historical Marker which I didn't find while I was walking around but it gave me the background of the Cemetery.

The Evergreen Cemetery Association organized in 1894 and purchased 25 acres at this site to establish a cemetery. The first recorded burial was that of the infant Nellie Storkes on October 4, 1894. Charles Hooper replaced first sexton Joseph Grenedig in 1898 and served until 1924. He was succeeded by his son, James, during whose tenure (1924-1936) 10 of the original 25 acres were sold. Hooper family members cared for all or part of the cemetery until 1984. Three distinctive ethnic burial arrangements exist here. Southern folk burial sites are often subdivided by families and enclosed by a fence with an arched gate. German families are buried together and their grave stones decorated by fine craftsmanship. Rows of evergreens and crepe myrtles often separate the German sections. Hispanic grave sites tend to be individually situated and decorated with floral arrangements. Among those buried in the cemetery are veterans of conflicts ranging from the Civil War to World War II, city and county officials, and local labor group and fraternal organizational members including the Masons, Odd Fellows, Knights of Pythias, and Woodmen of the World. The cemetery is maintained by an association comprised of descendants of people buried here.

1994

location: 500 Altic St.

I've lived in Houston for most of my life but it seems like every time I go exploring I find a place that I didn't know anything about. I love that.

UPDATE: More information about the cemetery here.
 

What Do You Want for Breakfast?

I love to go somewhere to eat breakfast. Not everyday but sometimes. Today was a day to eat breakfast out. Texas does BIG breakfasts. Isn't this fun....you can look at a menu but how about looking at the actual breakfast plate as well.

It is the Empire Café on Westheimer. I love it for lunch too. I think the building started life as a gas station. Now there is a big canopy and tables out where you would fill your gas tanks. On the side they either added a long room on or it was the service bay. I guess the Empire Café has been around more than 20 years. After they became popular you couldn't find a place to park but eventually they bought the house behind them and made a parking lot. Still sometimes I have to park down the street because the parking lot is full.

They make great coffee and for breakfast they have about four people grinding the beans and steaming the milk. I love the funky laid back atmosphere and I love the people watching.

After breakfast I headed for Baseball USA to watch Will's baseball game. His team, the Wranglers, won. It is really amazing how much these 13 and 14 year old boys know about the game and that they are aware of how many outs and where people are on base and where to throw the ball. It wasn't that long ago that their heads weren't always tuned into the technical aspects of the game.

After the game, I stopped at the grocery store. I think the family is headed off to several places tonight so I'm going to take advantage of being alone to make me a salad of crab meat, romaine lettuce, black olives and celery and I'll dress it with a light vinaigrette.

Small World Houston

I'm in Houston, a city of over six million people. What are the chances I would end up in a medical waiting room with three other women and one of them would also have a house in Guanajuato, Mexico. Small chance! But add the improbability that we would both count Phyllis who also has a home in San Miguel as a best friend.  I'm sure that a statistician could figure the probability but whatever the number is I'd still be amazed.

The two of us were so shocked, we asked one of the other people in the waiting room to take a picture of us.

Ha! I thought these kind of things only happened in San Miguel de Allende.

Layers of Time



Last year I didn't make a lot of images with my big girl camera but one day in early April I drove over to the Heights. It is an old neighborhood in Houston that for the most part has been rejuvenated but there are still pockets where old homes and businesses are in disrepair.

I photographed some of the old buildings but the things that fascinated me most were details. I don't know what it is about photographers and peeling paint or posters but it seems to be a continuing thread with them since the 1930's. Maybe it is something about layers of time or abstracts. Yeah, I think that is why I made this image.