A Hot July Day In Texas Thinking About Catching A Llama With Maxine

I decided to roll my wheels around the neighborhood again, which is why you are looking at my handlebars under some dark shade looking at the Woodhaven Country Club Golf Course.

I took a hedge clipper with me today to clear the sidewalk trail of vexing mesquite brush which has been presenting a thorny aggravation.

I think due to the strong dose of moisture delivered in May and June all things green are growing way more than the norm, hence the mesquite brush sidewalk attack.

I have been getting interesting drought reports from Washington. Today's drought report was from Maxine. Years ago, Maxine and her first husband built a cool house on a big chunk of wooded land, on a bluff above the Skagit River, about 20 miles upriver, as a crow flies, from my former abode in Washington.

I remember soon before I moved to Texas I called up Maxine to ask if she'd like frozen beef products I found in my freezer that I was clearing out. So, I delivered them. I found out later, from Maxine, that those beef products were old. Real old. I'd not paid attention to the date which was stamped on the wrapping. Not fit for human consumption. I wonder if Maxine let her dogs have those beef treats?

The last time I was at the Maxine location was in August of 2004. Maxine had a salmon barbecue party. I drove up from Seattle with Wanda and Wally. Chris and David, who still lived in Ada, Oklahoma, at the time, were back home in Washington for a visit, so they were at that barbecue too. Seems like there were others there too, but my age related memory woe is not letting me remember who they were.

Anyway, back to Maxine and the drought. Maxine told me the high country trails that usually don't open til late August, or later, are already open and hikeable. Maxine participates in the same hiking treasure hunt competition thing my favorite ex-sister-in-law, Spencer Jack's grandma, Cindy, hikes in.

So far the Maxine well is still delivering water. Due to the perfect growing conditions, with plenty of sunshine, Maxine's garden is the biggest and best ever, with things, like cucumbers, already ready for pickling or eating. Maxine has the best garden I've ever seen. Raised beds with lawn between the beds, making for an easy garden to work in. Trails around the house with raspberry bushes.

I remember a big party at Maxine's, long ago, way back in the last century, maybe sometime in the 1980s. A neighbor showed up at the party, desperate for help. Her Llama had escaped. She needed help rounding up the Llama. That was a fun adventure. I remember at one point being face to face with the creature, with it turning and running from me. Gradually we closed in on the beast and it was re-captured.

Thinking about Maxine makes me think of yet one more reason to move back to Washington. In all the years I have lived in Texas not a single person, not a one, has invited me to a salmon barbecue. Or even a catfish barbecue. Let alone invite me to help capture a rogue Llama....