A Texas Blue Sky Columbus Day With Prickly Pears & Long Lost Cousin Freddy Found

As you can see via the top part of the picture, blue sky has returned to North Texas, after several days in a row of no sun.

With the return of the sun I returned to the Tandy Hills for the first time in what seems a long time.

I was overdressed when I departed my abode, with a sweatshirt over a t-shirt and a wool cap crowning my cranium.

By the time I got to the top of Mount Tandy it was obvious that the solar radiation was radiating sufficient warmth that the sweatshirt and cap could be doffed. And so they were.

I think I must have had a nightmare about my favorite patch of Tandy Hills prickly pear cactus being missing its prickly pears, because when I came upon the patch of prickly pear cactus you see in the picture I was surprised by the horde of prickly pears. This particular prickly pear cactus patch is the only one I make note of whilst hiking the Tandy Hills. So, it can't be some other patch of cactus that I saw missing its prickly pears, it had to be a nightmare related confusion.

I would have harvested this horde of prickly pears to make prickly pear jam, except for a couple reasons. One being I have no idea how to make any sort of jam. With the other reason being that one should not harvest anything from a natural area like the Tandy Hills Natural Area.

Unless you are Don Young and need a Christmas tree.

Changing the subject from prickly pears to something else.

My mom called me late last night to tell me my long lost cousin Freddy (aka Kurt) called. Mom said it was real good to hear from Freddy and, for me, it was real good to hear from mom that she'd heard from Freddy.

Apparently cousin Freddy's wife's parental units also live in Arizona, with cousin Freddy and his family visiting once a year, usually in March. So, my mom wants me to fly to Phoenix in March for a Cousin Reunion at my sister's house. I'm onboard. Sounds fun.

I have not seen cousin Freddy in decades. Freddy grew up in Alaska. The last time I saw cousin Freddy he was visiting Washington when he was, I think, around 8 years old. I recollect cousin Freddy and his mom, my Aunt Mike, being out on Samish Island, and me driving cousin Freddy to McDonald's in Mount Vernon in my classic 65 Fastback Mustang.

Trouble with that memory is my sister, she being the sister whose husband runs a McDonald's empire, told me McDonald's had not arrived in Mount Vernon, yet, at that point in time.

Maybe I drove cousin Freddy to the Kow Korner and my damned age-related memory woes have confused me. Again.

I did not realize til this afternoon that today was Columbus Day, that being the day a European discovered America, even though America was not un-discovered and was populated by people at the time. Columbus did some pillaging and kidnapped some of the natives to take them back to Europe as exhibits, where they died.

Knowing what we now know, in our more enlightened times, I really don't think we should be having an annual Columbus Day.