Thoughts and Ramblings

General things I find of interest.

Quick vacation for the weekend

I visited my parents again this past weekend just to get a quick trip away from school. The outdoor kitties are acting much the same, with Guest Kitty lying around as usual for most of the day. I swear she is still too fat, but she may be getting better about that. OC (Orange Cat) has become much more friendly. He loves to be scratched, but he still hasn’t fully learned his name. Although, those who know cats will agree that he could have learned his name and is just not responding to it. Anyway, he posed for me to allow this photo:

OC_Sitting_on_the_Walk.jpg
OC_Sitting_on_the_Walk.jpg


Seeing the Railroad Bridge

It was nice to pull out the camera again after such a long hiatus. My parents took me to see an old railroad bridge across the Guadalupe River near Comfort, TX (GPS cords: 29°58'36’’ N 98°50'45’’ W). Anyway, here is a shot of the bridge from below:

Railroad_Bridge.jpg
Railroad_Bridge.jpg
We had to contend with several “Road Closed” signs and “No Parking” signs in order to see the thing. There was one case where a sign said that the road was closed at a fork in the road, leaving it ambiguous as to which one we should take. Anyway, you can clearly see why the road was closed below:
Water_over_Crossing.jpg
Water_over_Crossing.jpg
A tree down and about a foot of fast moving water over it. Don’t think I would want to cross that. At least the designers of the bridge had the sense to build it much higher than the river so it was safe from the recent flooding.


Spring Break

Well, I just got back from spring break, and so now it is picture time. When I connected the camera to the computer, I realized I had pictures on there from January which I had not taken off. These pictures were just of the kitties, but still, I thought they were cute enough to include here:

Missie_Sunning.jpg
Missie_Sunning.jpg
Hallie_Yawning.jpg
Hallie_Yawning.jpg
No, Hallie is not hissing or growling there, she is yawning, believe it or not.


Starting Christmas Break

Well, Christmas break started on Saturday for me. Actually, you could argue that it started earlier, because on Friday I went with Aggie Christian Grads to view “The Nativity”. Was a pretty good movie. Later, we we got together and shared what amounted to too many deserts. Below is a group shot of most of the people there (I am on the left):

ACG_Christmas_Party.jpg
ACG_Christmas_Party.jpg
Although I have still done some research while here, it is nice to have a bit of a break. Two days ago, I saw some deer in the field next to the house. I tried to sneak up on them with the camera, but I managed to scare them before I could really get some good shots. I did managed to get a bit of a blurry shot of one leaping over the fence. Maybe next time I can be more quiet:
Deer_Leaping_Fence.jpg
Deer_Leaping_Fence.jpg


Visiting the Parents

Last weekend, I went to visit my parents. On the drive down, I listed to the first two chapters of The Rookie (beware: not for children or those easily offended). I am listening to the next chapter as I write this. Started off well enough for one of Scott Sigler’s novels. Can’t wait to hear the rest.

Anyway, one of the reasons why I decided to visit my parents this weekend was the fact that my grandparents would be there also. On Saturday, we went to Lost Maples State Park. While we were there, I manged to get a picture of my dad with his parents. Not the best of pictures, but difficult to get better when one party doesn’t like to cooperate. Here they are standing next to a rock formation that sort of looks like a giant mouth:

Family_in_Front_of_Mouthlike_Rock.jpg
Family_in_Front_of_Mouthlike_Rock.jpg