The Great American Eclipse

Today was the day many people have been waiting for, the day when a total eclipse marched across much of our nation. Here in central Texas the moon only covered approximately 68 percent of the sun.

Dan and I watched and definitely noticed a dimming of light, but no darkness. Over the entire course of the eclipse, the temperature dropped a couple of degrees, according to our thermometer. Dan used a couple of paper plates to make a pinhole projector, and it worked perfectly. Here's what the eclipse was like at its maximum. The second picture is just an enlargement of the first one.

Oh No!

See these little cards - the size of sports trading cards, but with ancestors on the fronts and interesting personal facts on the backs? I'll actually blog about this - another big project I've taken on - later, when it is finished. Suffice it to say, for now, that on Thursday I picked up a few of the cards from the print shop because they wanted me to fix something in the layout before they printed a preliminary proof-set for me.

They sent me home to make the changes, and let me take all but one of the six cards that they had already printed. I got in the car and tossed them on top of the sliding door that covers a compartment in my center console. Here are a couple pictures of what I mean.

I laid the cards down on top of the little sliding door,  just like I've laid the pen down in this photo.

As you can see, when the door slides open, there's a handy little compartment inside.

I stopped at the first traffic light, and those slippery cards slid forward, and disappeared under the top of the frame (above where the top of the pen is pointing). Two of the cards still had corners sticking out, so I was able to retrieve them. But the other three were gone from view. When I got home I tried to open the compartment, but the door was jammed because of the hidden cards. Oh no!

Dan wasn't able to solve the problem, either, and said I should call the service department and make an appointment. So, on Friday I went down to Georgetown to get some help. The only way to get the cards out and get the sliding door functioning again was to remove the console assembly, AC control head and bluetooth antenna; retrieve the three cards; and reassemble everything. What a surprise: "Retrieving cards from inside the console" is NOT covered under the warranty! Yeah . . . this fun genealogy project is becoming much more expensive than I had anticipated! Ugh!

Just a Little Walk in the Woods

Last evening Dan and I went to Chalk Ridge Falls Park, about a 15-minute drive from our house, and hiked the portion of the trail that leads to the first of two falls - the one that gives its name to the park. I was hoping to get a few pictures, and that's what a got - only a FEW pictures. The sun was still a wee bit too high in the sky for completing the assignments from my great on-line Craftsy.com photography class I'm enrolled in. The park closes at 8:00, so we couldn't stay for the sun to set (about 8:15) and still walk the trail back to the car.

The scenery was lovely. We were in the shade of tall trees almost the entire time. Getting down to the level where I could get some good shots of the falls was a little tricky - steep trail and stairs - but it was worth it.

From the trail

Fishermen on the bank of the river. Pretty steep stairs to get down there.

A little pond

Finally, Chalk Ridge Falls! 

With a fast shutter speed, and . . . 

with a slow shutter speed - all "foamy."

While down at the falls, Dan struck up a conversation with a young couple. We talked for about a half hour, and really enjoyed listening to the fascinating experiences they'd had in their world-travels. They were newly-weds, having gotten married on 7/7/17 in an underwater wedding at Stillhouse Hollow Lake. The young man is a photographer and a diving instructor, and his bride, who was one of his diving students, is from Venezuela.

Robert's Summer Visit - Part Two

Sunday morning we drove to church, stopping at Starbuck's for breakfast, which is our normal routine. Robert went to Bible class and seemed to enjoy it a lot. During the worship service, that followed, he was good as gold. I was very proud of him. We went to lunch, afterward, with six other church friends. Chicken strips were on the kids' menu, so our boy was happy. We sat across the table from our friend, Kelly, who happens to be blind. At first Robert was very shyly mumbling answers to questions put to him. I explained to him that Kelly was blind and, if he didn't speak clearly and a little loudly, Kelly wouldn't understand him, since he couldn't see his lips. That little prompt was all Robert needed. He immediately began speaking clearly and loudly enough for Kelly to hear him, and the two of them carried on a pretty nice conversation.

On Sunday afternoon I took Robert to the splash pad to cool off properly (remember - AC was acting up). He seemed to be having a great time . . . but not for long. Within about ten minutes he came to me with a hangdog look, saying, "I want to go home. I'm bored." I couldn't convince him otherwise, so we came on home.

Monday, today, was a stay-at-home day. Robert did several art projects - mostly painting. One of his paintings he titled, Our Beautiful Planet Earth. As you might guess, it was a painting of the earth, as seen from outer space. His plan is to paint this same picture every time he visits here, and see how much his painting skills improve between visits.

We also played a new game with the deck of cards Robert got in his McDonald's Happy Meal. I Googled "card games for kids and adults" and came up with one called "Trash." It was really fun for both of us (I rate it 5 out of 5 stars for a G-ma/G-kid game), and Robert was very good at it, in fact he won more hands than I did. He's excited to go home and teach Clara how to play. Watch out, Clara!

Finally the HVAC repairman came and got our AC up and running properly. It was an easy fix, and since we are on a twice-a-year service contract with them, he didn't charge us anything. That's the good news. The bad news will come when we call the flooring people to repair the damage this caused to our hardwood. 

This afternoon was the time Grandpa had set aside to watch the Formula 1 race with Robert. According to his daddy, Robert loves watching the races, but not so much today. He was busy playing with his own cars, although he did keep his eye on the status of his favorite driver, Louis Hamilton. And, in the end, when Hamilton came in 4th, he insisted that the 3rd place winner had definitely cheated. 

Today flew by. We spent some time reading a fun book, Howie Bowles, Secret Agent and Robert watched some Angry Birds cartoons. We had tacos for dinner - a meal that Robert helped me plan and shop for. Before we knew it, it was bath and bed time. Tomorrow we will be taking him to meet up with his Mommy at our half-way meeting spot, Sommerville. As always he's been good, and we've enjoyed our time together. 

I've learned a lot from my grandson over these few days. He's a walking-talking encyclopedia, and his favorite sentence-starters are: "Know what?"; "Well, actually . . .", and "Well, technically . . ."

Know what? God's blessings on earth don't get any better than grandkids!