Getting ready to go home

I plan to leave early tomorrow morning to head back to Wisconsin, Tom and the cats. Today I am doing some last minute laundry and basic packing. I need to fuel the Equinox, lay in a few more supplies for the journey and then get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow's part of the trip will take about ten hours.

Last night we had several hours of thunder and lightning and some torrential rains. No damage and no high winds around here. My mother's house is surrounded by huge trees and she worries ("I don't worry!") about limbs or worse hitting the house. This morning I went out and picked up fallen twigs and branches. The small creek behind the house is running hard enough that you can hear the water gurgling. Usually it is barely flowing at all.

My mother spends all morning in church on Sunday (and all evening, too) and my friend Lee suggested I find a state park or museum to visit during the break in the family action. I thought the weather would be against it, but this morning was only overcast. I found a walking/biking trail in Tyler (Rose Rudman Recreational Trail) that fit the bill very well and got in a nice stroll before returning to Whitehouse to make lunch for my mother -- a chicken fajita casserole that I made up as I went along. Usually she goes to lunch on Sunday with a group of ladies from her church. She calls them the widow women, but they are not all widows. But since I am leaving tomorrow, she decided to let me cook one last time for her. The casserole turned out pretty well, even though it did not have the traditional church-cookbook-mandated can of cream of mushroom soup. I will have to try it on Tom.

We have a chance of more storms this evening but it should be reasonably calm weather for me to drive home. 

Later, 'gators.