Written Sunday, January 25, 2004
This past week has been cool and rainy so we have been doing indoor activities. We have still managed to get 3 miles of walking in every day and I was able to go on the Wednesday bike ride.
We had a dog incident on the bike ride that impressed me. Tuffy is our leader. He chooses the route and takes care of obstacles or problems as they present themselves. On the ride 3 German shepherds and one mixed breed dog came charging out of a gate. Tuffy stopped and got off his bike confronted the dogs all the while misting the air with ammonia. Those dogs put on the brakes and backed right off. He also sprayed the ground as we approached places he knew that dogs resided. I liked the route that Tuffy chose because it was more rural. We did get sprinkled on a bit when we were closer to home but it was warm enough to not be a problem.
On Thursday we took Bert and Wayne to Ropa Usada (used clothing). It is fun to watch faces when they see it for the first time. On the way home we stopped at a Jukebox museum. Some were so old that the song selections were handwritten and some were even older than that! Jukeboxes have been around for a very long time.
On Friday we enjoyed the meal and music presented by the McAllen high school music department. They have some very talented kids. There was an English teacher seated at our table and we had some interesting conversation with her. She was a Michigan native married to a Minnesota man but now living in McAllen. She said that one Sunday she and her husband were trimming some lemon and orange trees in their yard. She was picking up branches when she felt like her little finger was on fire. She said the pain was excruciating. She went inside and washed her hands but it didn't help. Her hand and arm were getting numb all the while hurting like crazy. Frightened and hurting she asked her husband to take her to the emergency room. She was lucky enough to get a doctor who knew what it was right away. She had made contact with a fuzzy worm called an Asp Caterpillars">Asp. It is furry and looks like a fuzzy caterpillar or wooly worm we have up north but this one has a tapered tail. It is a little like a porcupine in that when contacted it injects spiny things into your skin with histimine. There is nothing that can be done about the pain and it takes 4 or 5 days to go away. If this happens to you, you should take tape and place it over the site and pull to remove the spiny things. So if we see a fuzzy caterpillar down here I will take care not to touch it.
Yesterday Bill and Jo hosted a gathering. Marlene and Bernard came over from Harlingen. Bert and Wayne were there too along with us. We had a good time and a good meal. Maggie entertained us all royally by chasing her ball around the back of the pickup. She does this in an absolute frenzy.