Another One Bites the Dust

Jacob and I were sitting in the condo the other day when we heard an all-too-familiar thump on our doorwall. We hurried over and noticed that a bird had flown right into the glass of our second-story sliding door. Upon examination, it appeared that this feathered friend was still alive, but either injured or in a state of shock. When I peeked onto the deck later, it was gone, and I was relieved that I woud not have to touch or dispose of any bird remains. Unless, of course, it just tumbled off the balcony onto the patio one floor below, in which case I will come across it the next time I venture out there . . .

Flying creatures used to routinely bump and bounce off the windows at our old house, and it seems as if nothing has changed since we moved. This is the second victim in four months at our condo. Plus we have found at least one dead bird outside of our house in Texas. Does this happen to other people or just to us?

I don't know what kind of bird this latest one was, but it was an attractive little thing.

Speed Racer

Jacob recently went to a local go-kart track with a group of friends. They drove some pretty nice mini-sized Formula One style cars. The track was was a twisty Grand Prix type circuit and Jacob had a blast! He drove in two separate sessions, so he completed about 30 laps. It looked like so much fun that I was tempted to hop into one of the snazzy little vehicles myself. Look out Danica Patrick!

Jacob zipped around the track over and over again.

Spring has Sprung

When we first moved into our condo, we were delighted to discover that the previous owners had left a remote control garage door opener in the unit. We changed the code and used it without incident, always intending to buy an additional one but never getting around to it. A few days ago, the remote stopped working. I purchased new batteries, and of course it did not take the regular type, but rather those pricey flat, circular ones. Even with fresh batteries, the opener still wouldn't work. I decided it was probably time to just replace it. Jacob and I spent this week manually punching in numbers on our outside garage keypad in order for the door to open and close. We joked about how spoiled we were with the remote door opener always at our fingertips in the car, and how much we didn't really appreciate it until it wasn't available for our use. We planned to shop for new ones on Saturday.

We were leaving the condo this evening and Jacob pushed the opener on the wall inside the garage to let us out. We heard the familiar humming sound, but the door stayed shut. After some brief observations and a few more tries, it appeared that the the arm-thingy (technical word) that normally pulls the door up and along the track up above us, was no longer attached to the actual door. Long story short - an obviously very important spring had broken, making the door too heavy for the opener to lift, and causing the arm-thingy (technical word) to just snap off. This had happened to us once before at our old house, so we were all too familiar with the problem. Luckily, the vehicle that I intended to drive was out in the driveway, so I abandoned the garage, walked back through the condo, and out the front door. Well, it wasn't quite that simple, as Jacob needed his bike out of the garage, too, so we first maneuvered that through the clutter in our downstairs room and wheeled it out through the rear doorwall. Then I went out the front door.

Tomorrow morning will be spent contacting garage door repair companies so hopefully we will be able to utilize the garage again soon. And, wouldn't you know it, tonight happened to be our garbage night, too, so the recycling bin and garbage bags had to be hauled through the condo and out the front door. I will never take my garage door - or remote control garage door opener - for granted again.

The Harvest

When we were in Texas last month, I picked one of the bananas off our tree to check it out. It was hard as a rock and almost impossible to peel. I had to use a knife to slice it open and once stripped down, the fruit released an odor unlike any banana I have ever smelled. Needless to say, no one wanted to taste the thing. I left it sitting on the outside patio table for a few days and even the bugs and iguanas steered clear. I ended up throwing it into the trash.

Recently I have been reading about harvesting bananas. Apparently there are over five hundred varieties of bananas and I have no clue which type is growing in my yard in Houston. I do have a better idea now of when and how to pick the fruit, so I will give it another try later this month.

I wonder if Jacob would wear one of those banana costumes on Halloween? How cute would that be? I will suggest that to him tomorrow.

Not yet ripe.

At least it looked like a banana on the inside.

Birthday Weekend

Jim and I were invited to a party at Comerica Park on Saturday to celebrate a friend's 50th birthday. We ate dinner at the Tiger Club Restaurant, then watched the Detroit Tigers vs. Minnesota Twins baseball game, which lasted four extra innings! The temperature dropped into the mid-50s before the duel was over, and my Texas-acclimated blood was secretly whining about the cool weather. The game was exciting, though, and the Tigers ended up victorious in the 13th inning.

On Sunday, Nancy hosted a BBQ for those of us with birthdays in September. A friend of mine offered to bake me a cake, and, wow, was I ever surprised when I saw the size of it! The thing was so huge and so heavy that I could barely pick it up. Jim stepped on the scale while holding the cake and it weighed 21 pounds! It had a total of eight sticks of butter in the frosting & mix, and, boy, was it ever delicious!

Saturday in the the park, bottom of the 13th and 54 degrees.

We stayed after the game to watch the fireworks.

Check out the vastness of my monstrosity next to Laura's cute cat-shaped cake and Pattye's normal-sized two-layer one.

Life is a Highway

We left our house in Texas late Tuesday afternoon and arrived back in Michigan Wednesday night. Our trip was relatively uneventful, with the exception of an 18-wheeler blowing out a tire right in front of us on I-40 in Tennessee. It made an extremely loud popping sound and sent debris swirling all over the freeway, but we managed to safely dodge the flying rubber. Other than that, the weather was good and the traffic was light along our route - until we got to Cincinnati. It seems as if there is always construction and some sort of jam between Cincinnati and Dayton. Always. The Michigan temperatures were well above normal today, but a cold-front will bring us much cooler weather this weekend. Jim and I are going to the Detroit Tiger game on Saturday night and the low is predicted to be in the mid-40s. Brrrrrr! I guess it is finally time to hang up the shorts & flip-flops and break out the blue jeans & sweatshirts!

A view of our little Texas palm tree that we planted in the spring. It has grown almost two feet. The orange lily-type things were in the yard when we bought the house.

The banana tree just keeps getting taller.

The yard from a different perspective.

Baseball

Jim, Jacob, and I met Jean and Jenna today at Minute Maid Park to watch the Houston Astros take on the Cincinnati Reds. There was a chance of rain, so the stadium's retractable roof - which is usually open - was closed. Being indoors for a baseball game seemed rather odd, but, at the same time, we were happy to leave the warm & muggy Texas weather outside.

Jim and I were torn over which team to root for this afternoon. While we would normally want our hometown Astros to win, the 27-year-old son of Jim's boss is a shortstop for the Cincinnati Reds. He did play in today's game, and we cheered him on, but in the end, Houston won.

Jacob found a big Astros boot.

Jake and I in our upper deck, front row seats, enjoying the cleanliness of the floor before the guy who showed up next to us spilled his giant-sized Coke all over our feet.

Our view, looking out towards right field. Notice the uphill slope in center field behind Jim's head. Also, there is a definite lack of seating in left field.

Jim, Jake, Jean, and I watched the game. Jenna posted important messages on Facebook.

Entomology

I have a collection of insects that I keep - outside - at our house in Houston. As soon as I capture a new specimen, I search the internet in order to determine whether or not it is dangerous. So far, I have not discovered many harmful creatures. Just very gross-looking ones. The bugs down here are enormous compared to those up north. The Banded-Winged Grasshopper in the picture below is about two-and-a-half inches long. The lovely Palmetto Bug (read: American cockroach) next to it is over two inches in length. The Cicada Killer, second from the right, curled up after it died. It has a stinger, but allegedly is not aggressive toward humans. The scorpion-looking thing is actually a gentle Southern Mole Cricket. Even though these critters appear pretty repulsive, they are fairly innocent. I must admit that I am becoming somewhat desensitized to all of the insects in Texas . . . as long as they are outdoors!

Some of the interesting bugs in my collection.

Sold

After almost nine months on the market, our house in Michigan officially has new owners tonight. The buyers made us a decent offer over a month ago, and we have been patiently waiting through counter-offers and inspections and repairs and more. The contract originally listed September 10 as the target sale date, and I must admit that I was surprised when everything actually fell into place before today's 4:00 p.m. closing time.

Back in June of 1991, Jim and I had put a down payment on an empty lot and a not-yet-built house in a new subdivision. We excitedly chose the brick and the siding and the carpet colors and the cupboards for our new digs. We watched the construction of the structure from the basement up to the roof. We eagerly moved into our new home on November 15 that year and lived there for nearly two decades.

When Jim's job was relocated to Houston last year, I was especially sad that we had to put the place up for sale. Finally, we were buoyed and delighted when - after 110 or so showings - a family came along that genuinely loved our house as much as we did. There were problems and issues and troublesome obstacles on the road to today's closing, but the buyers hung in there.

Welcome home Rebecca and Anthony! Take care of our old homestead.

Hermine is Here

On Sunday, Jean and Jenna came over to the house for a BBQ. The weather was very cooperative and we were able to go swimming and eat outside without sweltering too much. While watching tv later that evening, I was surprised to learn that a tropical depression was brewing offshore just south of Brownsville, Texas. Although the area of rain and wind was situated in the warm, hurricane-prone waters of the Gulf, it was close enough to land to assure that it did not have time to develop into anything too strong before going ashore in Mexico. The system became Tropical Storm Hermine and the outer bands of precipitation reached Houston on Monday. It rained in the morning. It rained in the afternoon. It rained at night. We didn't experience any terribly high winds, but it was blustery enough to delay Adam's flight out of IAH for about an hour. Luckily, our house is about 400 miles northeast of where Hermine's eye made landfall Monday evening, so we did not endure any real tropical storm conditions. Hopefully, this trend will continue for the rest of hurricane season.

The Beach

Jim, Jacob, Adam, and I met Jean and Jenna at the beach in Galveston today. The weather was perfect - in the upper 80s and a bit overcast, which was good because when the sun is out full force I tend to whine about the sizzling heat. The water in the Gulf of Mexico is at the highest temperature that it typically gets to all year - 87°. It was great to be able to wade comfortably right into the ocean, and it feels so different from the shocking cold of Lake Superior's summertime 60° water temps. The wind was blasting along at around 15 mph today, and that made for some fun waves to bob around in. We all had a wonderful time, and, in my opinion, one of the biggest advantages of living in Houston is the close proximity to the Gulf. (But, don't quote me on that if a hurricane happens to head this way . . .)

Jacob, Adam, Jean, and Jenna frolicked in the swells. They are the ones on the right - I really need a better zoom lens on my camera!