We finally got some rain yesterday, but not near enough to make up for eight or nine months of drought. Never having lived with one before, I have no idea as to when we need to start worrying about the possibility of our well going dry. Unlike the early settlers, we always have the option of going to the grocery store to buy bottled water, or we can just stay at our townhouse in Houston until the rains come. I can't help but wonder what it must have been like for those settlers, though, to have been so at the mercy of nature's whims. Flooding one year, drought the next. Snake bite, gangrenous infections, Indian attacks. My friends and family think I am brave and adventurous because I went off to live in Indonesia and Bahrain when we were first married, but that was nothing compared to what these pioneers faced. Had I been alive back then, I would have steadfastly refused to leave New England, and my husband would have had to haul me kicking and screaming, to get me into a covered wagon. As it is, I think maybe I should investigate and see what it would cost to have some sort of rain collection system with a cistern installed.
The last couple of times we have been here, I've had the nagging feeling that I was, if not actually wasting my time, certainly not making the most of it. It was really cold both times, so I didn't take my walks or sit on the porch much. Also, we didn't do anything while in Wimberley that we couldn't have done just as easily in Houston - read, eat, go to movies, etc. Of course, I got to visit with Alexis, but I'd feel better if we were doing things where we were actually connecting with some of the locals. I guess I just have to face the fact that we don't actually live here in Wimberley yet. This is just our weekend home for now, and people come to their weekend places to relax and get away from it all. It's OK to just sit around and read or take long walks. I don't know why I always feel so guilty if I'm not working or being productive.
The thing that bothers me most, I think, is that not only have we not yet become part of the Wimberley community, we are no longer really connected anywhere else, either. The townhouse has been more like a hotel than a home this past year, and I can no longer stand to come home to nothing but beige everywhere. Even though it is just a rental, and we will have to paint over it when we leave, I must have some color on those walls! We are gradually drifting away from our Plano and Katy friends, and we no longer belong to a church. I've been to so many funerals and weddings over the past few years, where the minister has never even met the person that he is performing the service for, and I just think that is kind of sad. If something were to happen to one of us, where would we hold the service? I've dropped the hint to John that we should start going to church in Wimberley on Sunday mornings, before we head back to Houston, but he didn't exactly jump at the idea. Guess nothing is going to happen until I force the issue. A good start might be to at least find out when services are at the different churches. It doesn't have to be a Methodist church, but it absolutely must have a good preacher. We got spoiled by having such a good one in Plano, who always kept our attention focussed and really left us thinking. It's the only time I didn't have to worry about John drifting off and starting to snore too loud!
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The last couple of times we have been here, I've had the nagging feeling that I was, if not actually wasting my time, certainly not making the most of it. It was really cold both times, so I didn't take my walks or sit on the porch much. Also, we didn't do anything while in Wimberley that we couldn't have done just as easily in Houston - read, eat, go to movies, etc. Of course, I got to visit with Alexis, but I'd feel better if we were doing things where we were actually connecting with some of the locals. I guess I just have to face the fact that we don't actually live here in Wimberley yet. This is just our weekend home for now, and people come to their weekend places to relax and get away from it all. It's OK to just sit around and read or take long walks. I don't know why I always feel so guilty if I'm not working or being productive.
The thing that bothers me most, I think, is that not only have we not yet become part of the Wimberley community, we are no longer really connected anywhere else, either. The townhouse has been more like a hotel than a home this past year, and I can no longer stand to come home to nothing but beige everywhere. Even though it is just a rental, and we will have to paint over it when we leave, I must have some color on those walls! We are gradually drifting away from our Plano and Katy friends, and we no longer belong to a church. I've been to so many funerals and weddings over the past few years, where the minister has never even met the person that he is performing the service for, and I just think that is kind of sad. If something were to happen to one of us, where would we hold the service? I've dropped the hint to John that we should start going to church in Wimberley on Sunday mornings, before we head back to Houston, but he didn't exactly jump at the idea. Guess nothing is going to happen until I force the issue. A good start might be to at least find out when services are at the different churches. It doesn't have to be a Methodist church, but it absolutely must have a good preacher. We got spoiled by having such a good one in Plano, who always kept our attention focussed and really left us thinking. It's the only time I didn't have to worry about John drifting off and starting to snore too loud!
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