Today was a successful day for Muffie! Evern since we got here she has been attempting to make friends with a yearling deer that comes to the house looking for a handout.
The town has quite a large deer population and the seem to depend mostly upon feed put out by folks who live here. There seem to be deer most everywhere and if you stop your car to look at them, they approach seeking food. They will eat from your hand and are quite bold, but most are shy of dogs.
This particular young deer seems to have been orphaned, or perhaps abandoned as it still has faint spots showing and is just starting to get little buttons for antlers. He seems to always be by himself, but has a route from one spot to the next to look for food. When he don't find any, he tends to eat the shrubery and potted plants around the homes.
We arriced at the home of friends in Port Mansfield, TX yesterday afternoon. It was very windy with a little bit of rain in the night and today we have a cold front. It is only 71° out this 
afternoon, but clear and sunny.
Thus far our trip has gone well and the new RV is just as we had hoped that it would be. We have not had quite as good a fuel mileage as I had hoped, but much better than the old motorhome as we are getting about 11 mpg.
It has been great renewing old friendships as we have not seen the Holland's in several years.
At last the day has come. In about two hours or so we will be heading out on
ce more for a real trip in much the old style of travel. We bought the new trailer in May of 2012 and then only made one trip last fall which was very brief, due to various health and family issues. Finally on March 26 we got out for a week with our neighbors here at Bass Lake but today we at last head out on the next leg of our great adventure!
It has been a long stop, but the time is finally here. We plan to travel only about 200 mils or so per day and to move only when & if we feel like it, just as we used to do when our RV was our only home. I do believe that we are nearly as excited today as we were back in 2000 when we drove the motorhome away from our Ft. Worth house for the last time.
Next stop, Bastrop State Park!
Spring has finally come to Texas and we are off tomorrow morning for our first big adventure in our new RV! We did get out briefly last fall, but medical appointments called us back early, after only one night in the RV. We were begining to think our RV life might be over.
Starting on last Friday, members of our community here at Bass Lake have been moving out to Wright-Patman Lake for our early spring outing. There are about 25 RVs heading out over several days. We will be spending a week at Rocky Point Park. The weather forecast is for chilly but sunny weather and we are really pumped!
We had a bit of snow last night, or actually it was sleet. Not much by some standards.....
This may not look like much to those of you who like winter, but it was plenty for me!
The weather has kept me inside so I did get get a new page put up. If you are interested in reading it, the page is about power line protection devices and is called "Shore Power, your best friend or craftiest enemy?"
Don't blame me! I never once dreamed of a White Christmas!
all written in a book.
And every year when Christmas comes,
I go and take a look
And that is when I realize
that these names are a part
Not of the book they're written in,
but of my very heart.
For each name stands for someone
who has crossed my path sometime,
And in that meeting they've become
the rhythm in each rhyme,
And while it sounds fantastic,
for me to make this claim,
I really feel that I'm composed
of each remembered name,
And while you may not be aware
of any special link,
Just meeting you has changed my life
a lot more than you think.
For once I've met somebody,
the years cannot erase
the memory of a pleasant word
or of a friendly face!
So never think my Christmas cards
are just a mere routine,
of names upon a Christmas list
forgotten in between.
For when I send a Christmas card
that is addressed to you,
it's because you are on a list
of folks I'm indebted to.
For I am but the total
of many folks I've met,
and you are one of those
I prefer not to forget.
And whether I have known you
for many years or few,
i n some way you have had a part
in shaping things I do.
And every year when Christmas comes
I realize anew,
The best gift life can offer
is meeting folks like you!
And may the spirit of Christmas
that for all time endures
leave it's richest blessing
in the hearts of you and yours!
