I Ate The Wieners

I Ate the Wieners

We thought long and hard about how to deal with the coming cold spell.  It was expected to be in the mid-teens on Sunday night and near zero on Tuesday morning. 

Forecast

 

Our main concern was electricity.  We have fairly frequent blackouts here in the country, so we use a propane generator that comes on automatically if a blackout happens.  So, I checked the generator, and the red light was on — Oh no!  That meant something was bad wrong.  It would not start until I removed the filter and stuck my finger down into the carburetor hole while holding a moveable plate open.  OK, if we have a rolling blackout, maybe I can use a wiener instead of my index finger in the hole and tie the plate open.  Not the optimal solution, but it might keep us from freezing until a repairman comes.

The next concern was water.  Our water system was not designed for polar temperatures.  The water pipe coming from our well to the water tank is above ground.  So when we have freezing temperatures, I wrap the pipe with electrical warming tape to prevent freezing.  The pipe emerging from the tank is also exposed, so in the past, I built an insulated box filled with oak leaves that has always worked.  But, knowing that extreme temperatures were coming, I covered the leaves with several inches of earth for insurance.  I also drained the water pipes and faucets to the garden and elsewhere.

So, what could go wrong?

I took a hot shower and went to bed about 9 PM.  A few minutes later, Pat woke me to report that the water pressure was very low.  The temperature was only in the mid-20s but apparently some water pipe had frozen anyway.  We had faucets dripping in the house in vain.  Well, no real critical problem because we had filled our two bathtubs with water in case something like this happened.  The down side is that there will be no effective thawing temperatures for maybe a week.  Of course, we are concerned the pipes or faucets may be broken after they thaw.  Bummer!

Three Inches of Snow and Cold

Our heat pump furnace was running almost continuously and kept our home cozy warm — until about 2 AM when it stopped noticeably.  And, no other night lights were on anywhere in the house.  Obviously, the electricity was off.  Now where are those emergency flashlights?  We quickly lit a couple of propane stoves in our bathrooms and tried to light the propane fireplace.  But, the triple A battery was corroded, so I replaced it with a new one.  Still no spark.  Oh well, if needed we can place an extra blanket on the beds until the electricity comes back on.  We returned to bed.

I pulled up the blankets and started thinking about something I might have missed.  It was then that I remembered the two bare rooted, Jujuba trees I had stored in the tool shed.  “Don’t let them get too cold,” was the warning we received after purchasing them from the Womack Nursery in DeLeon.  So, by then the electricity had come back on so turned on a small electric heater running in the shed to premvent excessive freezing.   But I hesitated.  It was cozy warm in my bed.  Do I really want to walk out in this blizzard in the middle of the night to save a couple of trees?  Then I thought of the investment we had in those trees — eight hour trip, motel cost and $80 for trees.  No way that I’m gonna lose that investment by letting them freeze now that there was no electricity.  So, I tromped out through the windy-snowy blizzard and rescued those trees by bringing them indoors. 

 

Saved Bare-root Jujubas

Pat was up when I returned, so I mentioned that if we had another blackout during the day tomorrow, we could try our luck with starting our generator using that wiener method.  A guilty little smile crept across her face and she admitted that for supper she had eaten the last two wieners.  “You really ate the wieners that might have saved us from freezing?” I asked.

“Yes, I ate the wieners!” she said.  I thought you were kidding about using wieners to start the generator.

Somehow, this potentially hazardous act of satiation struck us as very funny, so Pat and I broke into laughter.  Been a while since I had such a good laugh.

The bed was a little chillier this time, but it still felt very good.

So much for emergency Generac backup generators that sometimes break down when they are really needed,

 

House Finches and Cardinals Survived Too

Table of Contents: https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6813612681836200616/3382423676443906063?hl=en

Finding Utopia

Finding Utopia

Sabinal River Dam in Utopia

 

 

Welcome to Utopia, Texas

 

Loop We Took

Because Pat had been somewhat exposed to the Chinese Covid Virus, we chose not to visit with family members in this part of the world.  But, we felt an almost desperate need to escape from our Covid prison in Bryan for a while.  So, we decided to be as careful in possibly, and try to minimize exposure of others to Pat's -- and now my -- potential Covid.

Anyway, while chatting with (and possibly exposing) the receptionist at the Kerrville visitor's center, she mentioned some country highway loops we might enjoy.  My first thought was that in our previous lives as motorhomers, we had surely driven most of the roads.  But, what the heck, surely we could enjoy them again -- especially now that we drive more slowly and stop more frequently.  

On the highway between Kerrville and Medina, we climbed up and over Bandera Pass, then down the other side to Medina -- the apple capital of Texas.  We were disappointed to find FM highway 337 closed.   It enjoys a reputation as "The most scenic highway in Texas."

FM 337 Closed

Passing through the quaint town of Medina, an urgent need for some caffeine struck us, so we found a coffee shop where friendly Carolyn stuck us $2.80 for a large pecan coffee and graciously posed for this photo.

Here's Carolyn

Kidnap the Skinny

We resisted the urge to gobble some delicious-looking cakes -- so we remained susceptible to kidnapping.

But because so many ideologies promise "Utopia" I especially wished to visit the town to find out what real Utopians are like.   We found out at the Lost Maples Cafe where I dined on lamb chops and Pat on chicken-fried steak.

Pat at the Lost Maples Cafe in Utopia

 

Lamb Chops, Toast and Baked Potato

 

 

Often, when we order meals at a restaurant, one order is enough for both of us.  So, Pat asked our happy waitress if the lamb chop order would be enough for two.  She replied that we would leave hungry if we split this order, so Pat ordered chicken-fried steak.  

The lamb chops were very tasty, but after cutting out the bone, there remained only about 3 bites of meat on each chop.  Not enough for me and hardly enough for two.  But the consolation was that I was introduced to the lady who grew the sheep that produced my chops.  Nice lady!  Pat's steak was a little thin, but we filled on sides of salad, potatoes, etc.  The meal was OK otherwise.

But the atmosphere was delightful.  Mostly composed of local ranchers, business folks and motor bikers with conversations spilling over from table to table and loud with laughter.  Nobody wore Covid masks or maintained proper distances.  Yes, this was Utopian.

No Lying

Lost Maples Restaurant

Lost Maples Cafe in Utopia

 

Utopian Pie Fixes Everything?

 

As I usually do, I wandered around the cafe reading posted messages and perusing photos.  I happened upon this movie poster.

Seven Days in Utopia

The movie -- starring Lucas Black and Robert Duvall -- was photographed mostly in this town of Utopia and in this Lost Maples Cafe.  Pat and I had seen this movie before, but now it was worth watching again just for fun and to recognize locations we had now visited.  Not a great movie, but OK.

This town of Utopia did not seem to fit my vague notion of a perfect Utopia -- but it was nice.  Throughout history, folks have attempted to describe and attain the perfect "Utopia".  Religions have their "Utopian" heavens and philosophers have theirs.

"Carl Marx described three necessary phases toward achieving his idea of Utopia. Phase 1: A revolution must take place in order to overthrow the existing government. Marx emphasized the need for total destruction of the existing system in order to move on to Phase 2. 

Phase 2: A dictator or elite leader (or leaders) must gain absolute control over the proletariat. During this phase, the new government exerts absolute control over the common citizen's personal choices -- including his or her education, religion, employment and even marriage. Collectivization of property and wealth must also take place. 

Phase 3: Achievement of Utopia. This phase has never been attained because it requires that all non-communists be destroyed (murdered) in order for the Communist Party to achieve supreme equality.  (Stalin, Mao and Pol Pot came close but even they could not kill all the non-communists.)  In a Marxist Utopia, everyone would happily share property and wealth, free from the restrictions that class-based systems require. The government would control all means of production so that the one-class system would remain constant, with no possibility of any middle class citizens rising back to the top." (https://people.howstuffworks.com/communism1.htm)

With this in mind, we thought we might run into Comrade Ocastro Cortez or Bernie Sanders in the town of Utopia -- but no such luck.

According to the Marx definition of Utopia, I want nothing to do with the destruction of folks with whom I disagree.   The Marx view of Utopia is my vision of Hell.

Libertarians have their own view of Utopia.  It's a place where nobody is allowed to initiate force on anyone else.  It's a live-and-let-live attitude that calls for government to stay out of issues such as sex and drugs.  These seem to be good ideas, but I don't believe that there will ever be universal acceptance of these ideals without the use of force.

So, Utopian ideology fundamentally leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

OK, so I'll step down from my soapbox and return to the post-utopian loop.

Our next stop was Garner State Park.

Garner State Park Sign

 

Frio River Swimming Hole and Bald Cypress

Garner Park Pavilion

Pat on Pavilion Fence Eating Ice Cream

The Sterling, Bair and Heacock families sometimes spent parts of the summer in cabins in Concan, Texas, so Garner Park was only about 9 miles to the north.  Interestingly, dances have been held in this pavilion every summer since the Civilian Conservation Corp built it about the 90 years ago -- until Covid stopped them this last year.  I have fond memories of this park and remember solo hiking cross-country about 18 miles over Ol' Baldy mountain to and from Garner Park -- at the age of 12 or so.  At one time, Garner Park came close to fitting my childhood description of Utopia.  

Pat serenely eating ice cream on the pavilion wall does no harm to these memories -- but we were not allowed to dance.

Table of Contents: https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/6813612681836200616/3382423676443906063?hl=en