Well, Campers, here we are halfway through Advent. Hopefully, the decorating, gift buying and wrapping, menu planning, shopping, finding and polishing the good china and silverware, more gift buying, more grocery shopping...hasn't stopped y'all from sitting by the fire quietly enjoying a hot toddy or hot chocolate with your loved ones.
IMHO, the latter is what Christmas is all about, the prepping is useful, but not crucial.
OK, off my pulpit and on with the show.
First, to answer the question on everyone's mind. Yes, my Brother arrived safely and has somewhat settled in to our guest house. He's having issues getting his computer on line. Since that is his connection to his on-line job, solving this issue is somewhat important. So, I'll be going down to take a look-see when I get done with this.
Met him for Breakfast yesterday at our favorite Sunday Post-Church Brunch restaurant, Texas Sunrise. We thought we'd start getting him transitioned from California to Texas, cuisine wise. My normal breakfast there is Chicken Fried Steak and Eggs. Superb!
He mentioned that he wasn't quite ready for that big a leap cuisine wise and went with scrambled eggs, Bacon and Hash Browns. Oh...and water to drink.
He's not quite ready to embrace Texas although he does have an appointment with DMV to change his license and ditch his CA plates. Small steps, but in the right direction.
It is good to have him around.
One of the big deals in our little slice of Heaven is the annual Christmas parade downtown. That happened Friday night. All of the participants were lit up and decorated with Christmas themes. The parade route is 10 blocks of Main Street (AKA US290&US87 more to follow on that aspect). It's a round trip kinda thing, down one side, back up the other side. Folks were lined up on either side and about 4 deep. Kids were sitting on the curb, adults in the back. It was pretty well packed.
Surprisingly, there were also a lot of visitors there. They asked lots of questions about the town. Future Residents? Who knows?
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| Yeah, I know, a baseball cap doesn't provide a lot of heat! |
It was a tad cool, so jackets, hats and gloves were pretty much mandatory. We did have a short 5 minute rain shower, but nobody bailed on it. The parade MUST go on.
Heck, even the Glockenspiel OOPS I meant Weihnachtspyramide was gussied up! ;-)
I didn't count the number of floats, but US290 and US87 were blocked in town for an hour. There were a LOT of 18 wheelers in the post-parade parade when Main Street reopened. Oh well! Small town Texas. Gotta love it.
Other than the cold, my ex-LA Brother thought the parade was pretty neat. I did also. He's settling in pretty well.
Not much else going on round here. Think I'll go take a nap!
Peace out, y'all!
Gloves for the weather? How cold was it? Heck if it rained rather than snowed ....
ReplyDeleteEver get rain at 34, 33 degrees? Those fingers appreciate coverings. Small-town USA best town-USA juvat........ :)
DeleteRob,
DeleteIt rained, which gets you wet, a small breeze causes the rain to evaporate, which makes you colder. Besides it hasn’t been all that cool so far, so we’re not as used to it as other locales.
We felt cold.
juvat
Nylon,
DeleteAgreed, Small Town USA is wonderful!
juvat
I much prefer actual snow to cold rain. Cold rain is a life-sucking experience even without any wind.
DeleteBeans, agreed, MUCH better!
Deletejuvat
Badgers always serve hash browns with chicken fried steak. You put the eggs on top of them, so the yolk soaks in.
ReplyDeleteStB,
DeleteI did leave the hash browns off my description, didn’t I. I think they come automagically, which is why I didn’t remember.
In addition to the yolk, they’re also good for mopping up any gravy traces left behind.
juvat
This is so!!
DeleteTru-dat!
Deletejuvat
it's good to have family near
ReplyDeleteBoron,
DeleteYes it is…for a lot of reasons.
juvat
It comforts me that such small town traditions survive. I suspect it comforts others as well; that is why they show up.
ReplyDeleteYeah, Little Brother was pretty impressed with the quality of the float decorations. The parade was well executed all in order, no gaps, very well organized. Heck, even the horses were in step. (OK, that might have been a slight exaggeration, but they were well behaved.)
Deletejuvat
One of the many things to like about Texas!
ReplyDeleteVERY many things!
Deletejuvat
God blessed Texas....
ReplyDeleteYup, we have proof of that.
Merry Christmas y'all.
JB
JB,
DeleteYep! Couldn’t wait to get back and didn’t waste a minute.
juvat
Nice parade. Glad your brother escaped.
ReplyDeleteStay warm.
Beans, I didn’t count them, but I’d bet there was over a hundred floats and other entrants. And the quality of the floats was way better than in past years.
DeleteAs to stay warm…Piece of cake, just got back from town. My highly accurate truck thermometer was reading 82 on the way home.
Gotta love Texas!
juvat
"He's not quite ready to embrace Texas" ? He is a refugee though right? No missionaries need apply.
ReplyDeleteThe words “This is how we did it in C********a” should never come out of their mouth, IMHO!
DeleteYes ,he’s a refugee.
juvat
Singing Christmas Tree in Fredericksburg was cancelled Saturday night due to some moisture that made climbing up and down the "tree" a "little iffy" and since a large number of the singing participants are...well...ummm...."mature" so it was cancelled. However, weather cleared Sunday, cooled off some and the singers did a wonderful job. Some of the older Christmas songs were sung in their original language of German. Mrs. Cletus was on her perch at the top of the tree. Thankfully it wasn't very windy.
ReplyDeleteCletus Valvecore
Cletus,
DeleteGlad things went well and it wasn’t windy. No excuse, Sir! I forgot about it. I’m sure it was spectacular!,
juvat
Crusty Old TV Tech here. Bravo, good to hear about brother getting away from Granola-land. Someday, you will have to introduce him to the joys of grits. Grits and Grillades, ah, nothing finer for breakfast! And the Burg is still looking good in Weinachten time, as always.
ReplyDeleteCoTT,
DeleteI’ve never tried Grits and Grillades, so looked up a recipe. Sounds pretty tasty, but is it a breakfast dish? The recipe called for the Grillades to be cooked for an hour and a half. Either the dish is intended for brunch, or the cook is getting up very early. If I’m not committing a Cajun mortal sin, I may try it for dinner sometime.
Thanks for the recommendation.
juvat
Crusty Old TV Tech again. Yep, in Louisiana and parts of SE Texas, it is had for breakfast. Passed through Moisant Field (New Orleans International Airport) a couple years ago around 0900, and there was a place with grits and grillades. Oh man, heaven.
ReplyDeleteI’ll have to keep an eye out for the dish and give it a try. Thanks for the info!
Deletejuvat