Jerry CGI+

Had a day in the high 90s, 98° at the airport, thanks to Harold.  Forecast says we have another week of the hard stuff before it breaks.  I’ll trust that more as it gets closer. Not a whole lot going on.  Movies, youtube, news, games…

It was trash day, but I zonked out hard this morning before I got the chores done.  So it was a tad warm when I finished the chores and got the trash and recycling in the bins.  It was one of those days where sleep controlled the activity.

And I got a store run in this evening.  Bread, butter, flautas, minis, paper bowls.  I’m good for a while.  Tamales, boudin, and pulled pork are the top billings.

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I found a new driving video on youtube that was of Gatesville, TX.  It’s where my dad’s parents and sister lived.  I visited many times in the 50s and 60s.  My grandparents’ house was remodeled on the exterior, a sliding door added where there was once a swamp cooler.  A little shocking compared to the way the house originally was.  But the big shock was to find my aunt and uncle’s house next door was gone, taken down, the basement filled.  Being on Main St, it will be a business soon enough.

I found an image of the house in the video, and there was a glimpse on Google maps from the rear, but that was obscured by the massive double oak in the middle of the yard.  The front view on Google map is leveled dirt.  My grandparents had one lot, and my aunt had two lots, a dog run with two driveway entrances on parallel streets, the empty lot next to my grandparents’ house.  It was a big place for a kid, but going back in the 90s, it seemed to have shrunk considerably.

My aunt’s house was unique, it had a sandstone front, which was popular in the town in the 20s and 30s.  Someone made a living out of it, and everyone wanted in on it.  The rock is plentiful for the grabbing in the area.  Cheap, thermally superior, sound damping.  The back of the house was wood, and it was quite a structure.  It had a large main floor, four large bedrooms, living room, dining, den.  There was a 12 foot ceiling and tall windows.  Rear entrance was a 10’ concrete stairway with steel rails.  There was a large crawl space beneath, plus a basement on the rear side.  The property sloped from the street to the rear, so the rear side face was considerably larger than the front.  There were other structures, work shop, garage, storage, big carport.  It had a charm like no other house I’ve known.  Sad to see it gone.

My uncle was on disability from the army, and he trot lined the Leon River for catfish.  There were a lot of fish fries.  My aunt was a seamstress, she made a quarter of the prom dresses for the high school, and wedding gowns.  So it was a bit of a public house.  Two boys, and the youngest a girl, my cousins.  It was family.  Central Texas cooking, enough food for everyone, everyone ate their fill.  Green beans, corn,  potatoes, gravy, dinner rolls, black eyed peas.  A lot of the veggies came from the garden, picked within the hour, pod to pot fresh.  The cooks were not permitted to wash dishes.

So I had a nostalgia reality check.  But I still have the nostalgia and childhood memories.

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Myka was hungry for her wet food.  Most of it is gone.  She has been working on the kibble test.  The novel flavor had a good start, but as of now, the old tried and true has a slight edge over the new stuff.  It’s also the most expensive, which means I’m not surprised.  The Temptations seafood is getting no action at all.  Time will tell.

I have duties tomorrow to put up the horde at 10 am while the neighbors are gone for part of the day.  Dixie passed away in a vet’s care recently, so two dogs and one cat make up the horde now.

No complaints.  Life rolls on.