Episode #2: August 2024 Is Here Already August 5, 2024

 The month of July has come and gone and it was a good month. I cannot believe how the days, weeks and months seem to fly by. I was a bit concerned about how I would fill my time in retirement after such a demanding and hectic work schedule for nearly 50 years. So far it has been a very enjoyable time of life. Carol and I have our hobbies and we continue to enjoy the time together and the time we take for those hobbies. The temperatures were mild for most of the entire month and that was an unexpected pleasure. We even had a few inches of rain in the early part of the month which is very uncommon. The high temps stayed in the mid 90s and I am pretty happy with that.

While we all know of the July 4 holiday, the day we celebrate our separation from the rule of England as a new and independent nation, our neighbors must have read a different history book, as they celebrate Independence Week and a Half 😲! The fireworks started the last weekend in June with the annual show sponsored by the local volunteer fire department and continued near non stop until July 6  sponsored by the locals of the community here. There is no telling many thousands and thousands of dollars worth of dollars were spent in this area alone. We had to put the dogs in the garage with fans on to dampen the sounds or they would be scratching and jumping on the back door. They nearly lose their mind with the fireworks. 

I finally got my truck repaired from the body damage resulting from when guy not paying attention backed right into it while sitting on the side of the rode. The amazing thing is his vehicle was brand new with a backup camera and sensors to alert him. The repair was to be a 3 day process, but ended up taking 2 weeks as a result of the shop being closed for 2 days around the holiday and there was more damage than was first identified. The rental his insurance furnished me was a new Dodge 1/2 ton pick up that was a pretty basic truck but it was new and it was a nice ride, so we put some miles on it while we had it.

While in Durant Oklahoma for a community wide rummage sale (which was a bit of a bust with a lot and I mean a lot of junk that should have gone straight to the dump ground) we came across a local grocery store that had some really good prices on ribs and chicken, so we bought some. I smoked my first ribs and they were freaking delicious. I think we both went into a carnivore coma as a result, but they were just that good.

Early in July I took a drive to Aubrey to visit my former work mate and buddy Tom for his birthday which I think is his 78th. He is doing fair, but his health is not very good these days. I know he makes the best of it, but he is house bound more of the time these days especially as it gets seasonably hotter.  However being at home and watching TV with Debbie is not a bad thing. But it was a nice visit and so  glad I went.

July was the month we had our first still born calf. My red heifer was bred one day last year when Vince's white bull paid a visit last year. We came home from church and saw the buzzards in the pasture and I walked up to find it in the tree line. I am guessing it was still born because it was born sometime early that Sunday morning and I knew she was getting close to delivery but this caught me by surprise a little bit by happening today. The calf was solid white, hooves and all. This was her 3rd calf so the cow knew what to do. The first one was very dark red, the second was brindled so it would have been so cool to have this white calf.

We had the grand babies full time the last part of the month as expected with Nichole going back to work after her maternity leave and while is it hard trying to figure out the needs of a baby girl, it was a lot of fun having them. Theo is such a funny little boy and his little mind is growing all the time. He is really starting to think critically and saying some of the funniest things. Doll Baby is settling into what her routine will be. Brad took a week off to study for his exams to qualify to work as a financial advisor for Thrivent and passed the first test with a second one to take near the end of next month. He will have to bank 85-105 hours of study time to get past this next one then he will able to start making an hourly wage and be eligible for benefits. He put in his 2 week notice and will finish up delivery for FedEx early in the month.

I missed my fitness goal this month again. I managed to log 11.2 miles walking for a year to date total of 107.8 miles and cycling totaled 81 miles for the month and 276 year to date.