It’s been a good week. The grand-kids are in their new school. I helped around the house. Cooked a dinner. Hung curtains. Folded clothes. And did a little grocery shopping. Basically, I tried to make myself useful.

Took a walk down memory lane yesterday. Drove to the University of Houston. Parked. Went to the building formerly known as the University Center, UC for short.

Disappointment. None of my doctor’s appointments yesterday went as planned.

School days. Here we go. Lunches are packed. Clothes are laid out. Supplies are in tow. It’s the first day of school in a new school for the grand kids. Their mom and I were granted permission last night to walk with them.

I’m on a fix-it roll. Got home from Marathon. Started getting ready for Houston. It’s grand-kid time. Took one last shot at fixing the wonky seatbelt in the backseat.

In the beginning there soon came the middle and after that the end and this is the end of our trip.

I’m at an age where there might not be much left to live. I suspect that’s why I like hiking. It’s slow. It’s measured. It’s peaceful.

We got rain yesterday. A big storm blew through town just as we sat down for dinner. Gave us a nice cooling off. There was thunder and lightning all through the rest of the evening.

We had a quiet day yesterday. Drove to Balmorhea. Floated in the big pool. Drove back. Napped. Went to visit friends. There was music.

Big day yesterday. Drove into Big Bend. Went down to the river. I’m happy to report the Rio Grande is still flowing. I looked into Mexico. No one was out and about. It was too hot.

I admit. I’m stymied this morning. I went outside. Expected cool. Got warm. Almost hot. My ear still hurts. Just a bit. Things are drying up. Including me.

I usually sleep on my left side. And when my body requires a break, which it often does at night, I switch to the right. And back and forth I go.

For the second time in ninety days, I’ve had skin cancer removed. This was a Basel cell on my left ear. They did the procedure this morning. The anesthesia, such as it was, has worn off.

There’s a Barbie movie and everyone is talking about it. And I read an interesting article in Psychology Today, What "Barbie" Gets Right About Male Psychology. I never owned a Barbie, but I like Psychology Today, and I’m male.

The other day I drove through a neighborhood in Marble Falls. The lawns were patches of brown, desiccated grass. My own yard is mostly dirt. Everything looked dead and hot. Yesterday, I drove through a neighborhood in Pearland.

I love Houston. We’ve been into each other for more than 60 years. It’s a big town with big dreams. The place was always about tomorrow and overcoming the odds.

I watched a big old pickup bear down on me yesterday while driving on highway 290 on the road into Blanco from Spring Branch. It was obvious it was going somewhere in a hurry.

I’m going to pick grapes this morning. I have some mustang grapes on my fence, but these are merlot. I like merlot. It seems fitting that I should pick some grapes. I like wine, and I like the folks who run the vineyard where I’ll pick, Texas Heritage.

To begin again you often have to tear something down. A set of beliefs. A relationship. A fence. In my case it’s the latter. The old fence is coming down. I’m in phase two.

I did it. The hose reel came together. The Bluetooth headphones connected. Patience won. And sleep. It is odd to think that at an age when I have little time left, I now appreciate the benefit of taking my time.