In someways, we are lucky in North Texas. While in other ways its just pure old fashioned luck. Still, I really can't think of anyplace else I'd want to spend my retirement years. While I got enough flying in during my normal job, I'm content in riding the trains here in the Metroplex's 4 counties. If I see something worth photography I can get off at the next stop and hop a bus back to within walking distance. When I was still driving, I'd drive past something and turn around and go back to photograph a bird or some unusual object or just something unique as all-get-out. So basically, the routine is still the same without the car insurance, the gas, the registration fees, maintenance, tires, batteries etc.,etc.
Today, however, its ordering in groceries, doing the little things that I keep putting off and cooking. I love the smell of bread and rolls when the yeast fills the air throughout the house.It's just one of those smells from my childhood that I got from both grandmothers early on. Each one with their unique spin.
One was banana pudding with that thick layer of beat egg whites that had browned just right in the oven. The other was the super big and I mean super big cookies and those fried pies of chocolate and sugar in a half-moon folded over crust browned as well. Oh, my. For years it was always a mystery how my maternal grandmother made those super big cookies. She never let you see her cut them out of the rolled dough. Then, the last time I visited with her (she passed in her mid 90s) I was in the air pretty much over where she lived on my way from Dallas to Detroit. It was mom's oldest sister that let the cat out of the bag by accident.
In those days, the little diners got super big jars of mayo, big enough for a hand to go into the jar. That meant there had to be a big metal lid to screw onto the jars. I found one at a garage sale one day and it actually matched what my grandmother had used to cut out those whopper sized cookies. Some were sugar. Some were chocolate chips. It made no difference to me. Grandma just gave me the biggest cookie that I had ever seen and I loved her and her cookies.
Yes, I still like banana pudding that my paternal grandmother made and had a big hutch cupboard in her kitchen where she let pies and puddings cool and on big holidays like Christmas and Thanksgiving, there were always those big fluffy biscuits left over from breakfast that you could sneak one in between meals. That's where I got the love of yeast rising in the oven and floating out from the oven and throughout the house.
This time of year,I don't mind being in the house when the days are cold or threat of rain. I don't mind those things, but I am at the point now where you can call me a 'fair-weather' type of guy. Hey, it helps me stay off the computer, too. There have been some days when I have been on the computer way to much. Of course, indexing images will do that when you have heavy shoot days. Those are days when when you shoot at least 250 or more shots.
Right now, with colors peaking, its hard to not run up that many shots in an outing. With the drought conditions previously I was afraid that the colors would be rather bleak. But,no. They are outstanding. The 70's are in the forecast a couple more times in the next week so I'm trying to get the chores done so that I can hit the road and the rails just right.
The Christmas Tree Farm is the biggest one and the best one that I have seen in the area this year. I had an outdoor lunch at Dickey's BBQ yesterday and got the Christmas tree display from the sidewalk table as I ate lunch. You can see the trees color change that is next to the tree farm display.
