“Anyone who loves the law or sausages should never watch either being made.” That idiom came to mind this weekend as we became aware of the various parts of the pig that go into the Mexican version of chorizo, a highly seasoned ground or chopped sausage: lips, lymph nodes, salivary glands–you get the idea. Typically,…
We’ve previously posted about the types of people we meet while camping. As we said then, some are folks we wouldn’t associate with under any other circumstances, but “love of the outdoors and the desire for adventure can create strange bedfellows.” To be sure, we’ve met more than our fair share of colorful characters, but…
All right. We surrender. It’s summertime, and the livin’ ain’t easy. As much of North Texas sweats through a string of record-setting heat waves, we are beginning to refashion our lives simply to survive the ultramarathon of misery that now defines our white-hot summer. We already limit our weekend activities to the early morning hours,…
Once again, we spent our weekend avoiding the summer swelter. That meant limiting our outdoor activities to morning walks and evening cookouts, spending the better part of the day in Cloud 9’s air-conditioned comfort. It even seemed like the birds took a break. Jon noted on our Sunday morning walk that there wasn’t as much…
Next week, we will likely experience our highest summer temperatures to date, with predicted highs reaching 107 degrees, and the potential for heat indexes to be even higher. But for this weekend, with temperatures in the low triple-digits, we enjoyed the shady surrounds of Site 10 at Loyd Park. Although it’s normal for temperature highs…
Over the course of a sizzling summer weekend, Jon read a profile in The New York Times about a couple who recently married. It concluded with the line, “We’re both looking forward to a chapter of domestic bliss, where we stay at home on Sundays and do the crossword and read.” Although we didn’t spend…
We admit, we’re not feeling very patriotic this Independence Day weekend. Our sense of identity as Americans seems under assault. Our nation is more irreparably divided than ever before in our lifetime. Every single issue gets polarized and politicized. Nuance and complexity are nowhere to be found. Compromise is anathema. Instead, we have a pervasive,…
This was a weekend of revelations, brought about by the Supreme Court’s decision in the Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health case, an unexpected visit from a horse and a man with a feather in his hat, and a new set of curtains expertly made by our friends Dan and Stephanie Matney. A few words about…
It has been so long since we enjoyed the company of our Heart of Texas Camping (HOTC) group that we couldn’t recall the last time we did so. More than two years, certainly, but also not quite four. Let’s just say a reunion has been long overdue. This weekend found us connecting with friends old…
As temperatures soared well above 100 degrees, we did something this weekend we had never done before: We traveled back home to escape the afternoon heat. Cloud 9’s air-conditioner couldn’t compete with the afternoon sun directly overhead, so we turned everything off, packed up the pack, and went to Hampshire for an afternoon nap, cocktails,…
