November 8, 2008. Harper, Texas Double D.

On the first floor I am reading "My Grandfather's Son", by Clarence Thomas, and upstairs in the bedroom "Miles Gone By" by William Buckley. The contrast in style and content is dramatically different from one floor to the next, which gives added pleasure to the reading. Most folks read these books when published, but as usual, I am just getting around to reading them and I am glad I did, because I never would have read them together. If you missed them before, now would be the time. Compare and contrast is the name of the game, just as in school except from the years of knowledge accumulated by the reader makes for more understanding and criticism. The question of how people get to be where they are is endlessly intriguing to me, so reading about these two individuals well known to me is fascinating and rewarding.

The ranch needed our attention yesterday. The old blue carpet was replaced by ceramic tiles in the living and dining rooms, also the kitchen and breakfast room, all done while we were in Mexico, so we needed to pay the bill, pick up the key and then put the house back in proper order. Now David was at the ranch on Thursday, the opening of deer season, and he reported that everything was back in order with all furniture in place...but I knew that could not be true. It took me about an hour to put everything in it's proper place. You know the drill, two feet here and six inches there makes all the difference with function and style. The carpet was good carpet but was installed in 1981 and was blue, so it was time to say goodbye to this ugly carpet. Now the ranch house looks great, but of course, now we need area rugs. We will watch to see how the girls use the floors before doing anything else. Ken is busy installing small heaters in the pump houses, as winter will come soon to the Hill Country. The cows have been fed twice, in fact, Ken is like the Pied Piper, in that the cattle follows him on the Mule, where ever he goes, hoping for another treat.

This is a beautiful day at the Ranch. Blue sky with not a cloud in sight, and 75 degrees. Perfect weather indeed. But now we drive to the lake to check out that place and close it up, before going to spend the rest of the weekend with David and Suzanne and the girls. In Texas, we seem to always go from one place to the next. But I am taking both books with me when we leave the ranch. I want to finish them when we leave on Tuesday for home. Oh, and David did get a big deer.