Making Cookies

A Wonderful Gift From A Parent

It's 8:10, and Beth and I have been up since 7:00, talking, with Tin Tin settled on my lap. It's another sunny, warm morning — high around 94° — so I'd better get my walk in early. Beth has started a fresh batch of cookies to give to the neighbors, so it's going to be a busy morning for her. I'm sitting here watching her, writing the blog over a second cup of coffee and a scone.

7:20 AM

Morning Coffee With Tin Tin

Yesterday was a hot one, though the locals don't seem to mind. Beth and I were up early and on the road to Central Market just as Evie was getting up. It's always busy on Saturday, so we wanted to get a head start — though I'm not sure 9:30 was early enough, because it already felt crowded. We took our time, got what we needed along with a few things we didn't, like more fresh scones and a pound cake.

Fresh Bread At Central Market

More Bread

We also stopped at Beth's former house to let the cleaning crew in for a final cleaning before the new owners take over. By 10:30, I was ready to take the dogs to White Rock Lake, which was busier than usual for a Saturday morning — lots of bikers and runners, so many that I had to be careful crossing the paths with the dogs. We were out for about 25 minutes, and by the time we got back, they went straight to their water bowls, panting.

Biking White Lake Paths

Since I'd had two kolaches for breakfast, I wasn't very hungry and skipped lunch. The French Open was on, so I watched it off and on through the afternoon as an American came back from two sets down to win a three-and-a-half-hour match. I took a decent nap around 1:30, and when I woke, the match was still going, so I got to see the finish.  

Tin Tin Relaxes

Around 3:30, I made a quick run to Tom Thumb for Diet Coke and Fresca — a 20-minute errand. Around 4:45, Evie put together dinner: chicken with mushrooms and artichoke hearts, into the oven for an hour. We had our wine until 6:30, then sat down to eat. It hit the spot, as my mom used to say. Afterward, we watched a couple more episodes of Margo Has Money Problems, and I caught the Spurs defeat the Thunder in Game 7 — moving on to the Finals, where they'll face the Knicks.

Another Warm, Humid Day In Texas

Sunrise At 8:17

It's 7:45, and I've been up since 7:00, Beth since 6:00, both of us on our devices, occasionally letting the dogs out into the yard. It's already 74º, overcast, and we're heading to Central Market at 9:00, hoping to beat the Saturday crowd. If we get there early enough, I'm counting on a fresh kolache — a sausage in a sweet roll. They sell out fast.

Our days haven't changed much this past week. Beth's up early, then me, then eventually Evie. I got the blog written and am waiting on Evie to choose photos, though I don't have many these days, so I'm pulling from lake photoss taken a year ago. Once that was done, I toasted a couple of slices of bread Beth had picked up at Whole Foods and called it breakfast.

Beth spent most of the morning on the phone — Texas Retirement, Charles Schwab, and a financial advisor her realtor recommended. I took the dogs out for our usual morning constitutional, down to the lake and back, taking our time, letting them lead, sniffing every tree and bush along the way. The trail was busy, as always — bikers, runners, the occasional couple walking, most of them wearing headphones. There's also a road that runs alongside the homes, seldom used, but a truck came by slowly, stopped, and the driver asked me where the Arboretum was. Completely lost, but I was able to point him in the right direction.

When I got back, Evie was busy cleaning up the kitchen and doing laundry, keeping things running. I settled in with my book, helped Beth with the occasional question, and drifted along until lunch — chicken salad sandwiches Evie had made earlier. I read a bit more afterward and managed a short nap.

Interesting Smells

Checking Out The Front Yard

Around 3:30, I thought about taking the dogs for a walk, but at 90º, that idea died quickly. Instead, I let them wander and sniff around Beth's yard and the empty lot next door. Twenty minutes of meandering, and they were perfectly happy. So was I.

Dusk At 8:57

Beth finished her calls by 4:00, and we held off on happy hour until 5:00. We still had a couple of good cheeses left, so we had those with crackers to start. Dinner was easy and just right — Beth fried up bacon, Evie made BLTs, and nobody complained. We watched the last episode of Landman, then started a new series whose name has already escaped me. Beth and Evie turned in at 9:15. I stayed up and watched forty-five minutes of the new Jack Ryan film with John Krasinski. I wouldn't recommend it.

Top Of The Morning

Kayak Morning 5/29/2025

Osprey: 5/29/2025

It's 8:45, and I've been up since 7:20, trying to help Beth with some questions about IRAs and inherited IRAs. I'm not much help on that front and usually point her toward ChatGPT.  It looks like a sunny morning ahead, turning overcast in the afternoon, with a high of 90°.

Tin Tin

Thursday was another busy day for Beth. She left for school at 8:00 to work on her classroom — getting it set for next year, securing books, and taking home what she needed before summer school students move in. So Evie and I held down the fort. I took the dogs for a 25-minute walk, and Evie tackled a mountain of laundry, both ours and Beth's. I also finally found a book I'm enjoying: November Road by Lou Berney, set in Dallas during the Kennedy assassination.

Lunch was another round of sweet potatoes, ground beef, black beans, and sweet corn — and there's enough left for today if I want it. The afternoon moved quickly. I read until Beth texted at 2:30 asking for a pickup; the school is only a mile away, which is handy. We watched another episode of Landman — one Beth had missed — and I took the dogs out again, though we kept it short since the heat had both of them laboring.

Watching Landman With The Pups

Earlier in the afternoon, Evie had put together a pasta sauce with eggplant, so dinner practically took care of itself — just boil the noodles and throw together a salad. We had a glass or two of wine beforehand, then ate and watched a couple more episodes of Landman. We have one left for tonight. I also caught some of the NBA game — the Spurs thoroughly dismantled the Thunder, which I enjoyed. By the end of the evening, I was happy to climb into bed and get back to my book before drifting off to sleep.

Sunny And Warm In Dallas

Morninging With Tin Tin And Kaia

It's 7:30, and I've been up for an hour with Tin Tin on my lap. Beth was up at 6:00, and I'll be driving her to school at 8:00 — she's spending the day cleaning up her classroom, putting things away for the summer, and saying goodbye to colleagues. It's now 8:15, and I've just returned from dropping her off. We stopped at LDU, a popular Australian coffee shop, on the way — a busy spot with five or six locations around Dallas.

Morning Coffee

Wednesday was a wet one here in Dallas, with rain through much of the morning and into the afternoon. Beth and I were up early, both on our devices — I was writing the blog while Evie slept in. Beth left for the last day of school, because her classes were graduating from sixth grade in a ceremony attended by parents. Her students were excited to see her, showering her with presents and farewell hugs. They had really missed her over the last couple of weeks and were well aware of what she'd been going through. Evie and I spent the morning tidying up, catching up on devices, and finishing the blog. For some reason, I was dragging, and around 11:00, I went to lie down with my book, briefly drifting off to sleep.

I've been having trouble finding a new book lately — I've downloaded a couple that looked promising, only to discover I've already read them. Idiot! Beth was home around noon, having stopped at Whole Foods, and brought back enough food for a couple of dinners, so we're off the hook for shopping for a few days. I was ready for lunch, having had only yogurt and granola for breakfast. We had leftovers from Tuesday night, so I put together a plate of sweet potatoes topped with ground beef, black beans, and sweet corn. Delicious. By 1:30, I was ready for a nap — read a bit, didn't care for the book, started another, and fell asleep.

Off To The Lake For A Walk

Beth was tired from her morning at school and the Whole Foods run, so she and Evie settled in to watch some TV. I decided to take the dogs for a walk down to the lake. The rain had let up, and the sun had come out, leaving things warm and humid. We did our best to stick to the shade of the trees on the way to the lake and back, but twenty minutes was plenty in that heat, and all three of us were glad to step back into an air-conditioned house.

White Rock Lake And Dallas

Around 5:00, we celebrated the end of school with shrimp cocktails, a glass or two of wine, and a good conversation about Beth's morning. Dinner was easy: rotisserie chicken, baked red potatoes, and a sinfully good cake from Whole Foods. Since Marisa was in Austin, we skipped Malcolm in the Middle and went straight to a couple of episodes of Landman, the second season of a series we'd started when we first arrived in Dallas a month ago. Beth and Evie called it a night by 9:15, but I stayed up to watch a cop show — Law & Order: Criminal Intent — until 10:00.

A Big Day: School Ends, House Closes

Marisa And Me, May 27th, 2022

May 27th, 2025

Kayak Morning, 2025

It’s 8:20, and I’ve been up for an hour with Beth. We must have gotten quite a bit of rain last night because the outdoor furniture is drenched. At the moment, it’s 69°, and we’re expecting more rain over the next couple of hours.

It’s a big day for Beth. She attends the graduation ceremony for her sixth-grade class, then goes to her realtor to sign the closing papers on her previous house. And then summer vacation begins.

The photo from May 2022 was taken when Marisa spent a week with us while her parents were in Africa, touring Kenya and visiting the gorillas.

Yesterday was uneventful as we spent much of the day hanging out with Marisa and Beth. After finishing the blog and eating breakfast, the dogs were getting antsy, so I took them for a walk down to White Rock Lake and back—an easy 20-minute walk, depending on how long they spend sniffing the grass.

Cormorant On White Rock Lake

Once Marisa and Beth got busy sorting through old papers, Evie and I made a grocery list and drove to Tom Thumb, about 10 minutes away. The store was surprisingly empty at 10:30. Unfortunately, we had gone there for eggplant to make pasta, but the eggplant looked awful. We picked up what we needed for last night’s dinner and will get some eggplant today for tonight’s meal.

It’s strange sitting around much of the day without a TV, since Beth doesn’t have the usual channels like CBS, NBC, or CNN—just streaming services. So we all get our news from our phones or computers.

Around 1:00, Evie made me a toasted ham, cheese, and tomato sandwich for lunch. Yum. As usual, I started getting sleepy, so I began a new book, Mecca, which is set in California, and then took a nap. Evie wasn’t feeling well, so she tried to nap too.

The afternoon went quickly, and it was too warm to take the dogs for another walk. Marisa stayed until 4:30, then packed up her cats and headed back to Austin. She’ll be at medical school for another week, and then she has a couple of weeks off. It’s about a three-and-a-half-hour drive, mostly on highways.

Beth and Evie started prepping dinner around 5:00: sweet potatoes topped with taco-seasoned ground beef, black beans, and sweet corn. We ate at 6:15, and it was a healthy, great-tasting meal. We even had enough left over for lunches. Evie still wasn’t feeling well, so she skipped dinner and went to bed for the night.

Beth and I watched three episodes of the second season of Landman, after having watched the first season when we were here in early May. I also watched the Thunder defeat the Spurs to go up 3–2 in the series. We went to bed around 10:15.

Our Week Begins

Memorial Day

It's almost 8:00, and Beth and I have been up since 7:00, with Marisa waking at 7:30. We planned our day, and Beth just left to supervise the moving of the last of their household items from their previous house, which closes tomorrow. Marisa will join her, and both should be back with the movers in an hour or two.

Morning With Evie

Monday was a low-key Memorial Day, with little celebration beyond the flags in Beth's neighbor's yard. We had no real plans, so we mostly hung out. Beth and I were up early, of course, though both Evie and Marisa slept in. I decided to make the usual breakfast — yogurt with granola and blueberries. Once everyone was up and fed, Beth, Marisa, and I took the dogs for a walk along the White Rock Pathway. Because of the holiday, the path was busy with bikers, skateboarders, scooters, runners, walkers, and strollers. It was warm, close to 80º when we left around 11:00, but it didn't seem to bother the runners. We were out a little over half an hour, worked up a sweat, and the dogs were happy to get home.

White Rock Lake Trail

Beth, Marisa, And The Dogs

When we got back, I went to work outside cleaning Beth's grill, inside and out — a dirty job given all the grease. I scrubbed with a wire brush, hit it with degreaser and paper towels, and got it ready to be put up for sale. It's a Weber Genesis gas grill, so I hope someone wants it. For lunch, I had the leftover lemon chicken, then decided to take a nap around 1:30. Tin Tin joined me, so I read for a bit and drifted off for about an hour. The afternoon went quickly. Beth and Marisa got some work done, while Evie and I watched Stephen Colbert's final show — another blow to free speech — and before we knew it, it was time to figure out dinner. 

In The Pantry, Hiding From Thunder

We went back and forth between eggs and home fries or burgers, fries, and onion rings from Rodeo Goat, a place about ten minutes away. Rodeo Goat won. Beth ordered around 5:30 and drove off to pick it up at 5:50. While she was gone, I took the dogs for a walk, and for the first time, they seemed reluctant, wanting to turn back — probably worn out from the morning. By 6:15, we were devouring our burgers and fries and watching another episode of Malcolm in the Middle. We followed that with the final three episodes of 1923 before going to bed around 10:15. Tin Tin joined me for the night, snuggled in a blanket at the foot of my bed.

One thing I forgot to mention yesterday: occasionally, a photo pops up on Facebook of a young man — just out of high school, sometime in the 1960s — and when you look beneath the photograph, you realize he died in Vietnam. It always shocks and saddens me how young they were and what a waste of life. 

REMEMBER

Chautauqua, 2014

It's 8:20 on Memorial Day morning, and both Beth and I have been up since 7:00. It looks like a sunny, warm day here in Dallas. Tyler left for Atlanta yesterday, so it's just the four of us now. We're not quite sure what the day holds — most likely some well-earned rest and mapping out a to-do list for the week ahead. Since I didn't take any photos yesterday, I went back and pulled a few favorites from the past to share.

My Parents 50th Anniversary

Yesterday we were all up early since Tyler's flight departed from Love Field, about half an hour from their house. Everyone was out of bed by 7:00, and Beth and Marisa drove him to the airport at 8:20. Evie and I were left behind in a quiet house until around 10:00 — Beth had made stops at the dog park and Trader Joe's on her way home. I had planned on taking the dogs for a walk, but since they'd already been to the park and the heat was already building, I decided to put the time to better use. Beth needed Rami's grill cleaned up so she could sell it, so I spent a good forty-five minutes scrubbing and spraying it down with degreaser, hoping to make it presentable. It wasn't a particularly demanding job, but the heat and humidity made sure I earned a good sweat anyway.

Istanbul, 1974

While I was outside, Beth and Evie got Tyler's bedroom set up and worked through a good deal of laundry. After a light lunch of leftovers, I took a brief nap and started a new book — This Is Not About Us by Allegra Goodman. None of us did much for the rest of the afternoon; it was simply too hot to venture outside, and it felt good to just settle in and let go of anything that needed doing. Tomorrow is the big day — the last day of Beth's school year, which she's planning to attend.

Ohio, Summer, 1975

We celebrated the end of the week with a little spread of good cheeses, crackers, and a classic Texas favorite — pimento cheese dip with corn chips. Dinner was the leftover schnitzel; I made a couple of sandwiches, mayo included of course, along with French fries. In the evening, we watched a few episodes of Malcolm in the Middle and a couple of 1923 before bed. And as has become something of a nightly ritual, I stayed up to catch the NBA game as well.

July, 2024

Dalmatian Coast, 1974