At Long Last, Juneteenth

On Thursday, President Biden signed legislation making June 19, a.k.a. Juneteenth, the 11th American federal holiday and the first to obtain legal observance as a federal holiday since Martin Luther King Jr. Day was designated in 1983. Texas was the first state to recognize Juneteenth, in 1980, and the first state to adopt it as…

Planning a Southwest Sojourn

The weekend found us planning this year’s big road trip, a sojourn through the Southwest to White Sands, Saguaro and Joshua Tree national parks. White Sands National Park, located in New Mexico’s Tularosa Basin, was originally designated a national monument by President Herbert Hoover in 1933. It was redesignated a national park by President Donald…

Feeling the Burn

An article by Catherine Zuckerman in The New York Times got it right. “Raise your hand if you’re completely burned out,” it began. “Your inbox is an overflowing bucket of urgent requests. You are consistently asked to do more with less. Your mind is constantly reshuffling priorities, perpetually calculating the number of minutes left in…

Recipe for Disaster

We started our weekend a bit earlier, thanks to our decision to stay encamped from the previous weekend. With Cloud 9 already set up and ready, we had only to leave our work world behind and head to Cedar Hill State Park for Date Night cocktails. The weather was still too chilly for dining al…

On the Road Again

After an extended and unanticipated bone-chilling stay at Hampshire, we were finally able to hit the highway and head to Cedar Hill State Park for a warm weekend away. The historic winter blast took a toll on residents of all 254 Texas counties, but we fared better than many. At least when our pipes burst,…

Cloud 9 at 6

This weekend marked the sixth anniversary of our first camp-out in Cloud 9. It’s hard to believe that we’ve traveled far and wide in our tiny home, covering thousands of miles from mountains to prairies to oceans white with foam. Along the way, we invested in a major remodeling project and a significant appliance upgrade;…

Now What?

OK, we admit it. We were addicted to Trump. But now that he’s fled the scene, we find ourselves looking for a new “drug.” It’s not an easy addiction to overcome. We take some comfort in knowing he won’t disappear entirely from the news. With his impeachment trial scheduled to commence soon, we’ll at least…

E Pluribus Unum

It is the “traditional” motto of the United States: E pluribus unum, classical Latin for “Out of many, one.” Its inclusion on the Great Seal was approved by Congress in 1782, making it the de facto motto of the U.S. from its earliest days. Eventually, Congress adapted “In God We Trust” as the official motto…

Winter Wonderland

The weekend weather forecasts called for snow on Sunday, but that didn’t deter us from heading to Cedar Hill State Park. Considering the events that had unfolded at the nation’s Capitol on Wednesday, we needed an escape. We were not at all surprised that the president could whip his followers into a frenzy. After all,…

Broadsword Calling Danny Boy

As the title of this post implies, we spent some time this weekend watching “Where Eagles Dare,” the 1968 World War II action film starring Richard Burton, Clint Eastwood, and Mary Ure. Considered by many as one of the best war movies of all time, it was shot on location in Austria and Bavaria, and…