VISUALLY SPEAKING

 What about updates? I'm tired of them. I escape from my present miserable physical realities by substituting other things.

The possibility of getting surgery on my arm is still an ongoing issue. Everybody here is "working on it". I'm not in the mood to expound.

The Big News ( capitalized for dramatic emphasis) is that yesterday I was transferred to another room. My joy knows no bounds (sarcasm intended).

The reason is that renovations are in progress (whatever that means). I wasn't the only mobilized victim. I saw other beds and hapless victims being moved (yes, we get to keep our beds).

I have been  moved from room 609 to 402. I shrewedly requested to be by a window, and my wish was granted.

The downside is that now I have a roommate. His name is Willie and he must be 95 (no exaggeration). He's quiet - - only occasionally talks in his sleep. And calls for a nurse now and then.

I prefer to be alone, but this isn't too bad. It could be worse (remember my roommate the previous time I was here?).

I'm still upgrading the photos in my phone files to a higher resolution.

.....every photo tells a story.....

(I just said that to make a smooth transition)

Siesta - - me when I lived in Texas. I lived in San Angelo for a few years. I also lived in two other TX towns.

My parents had a gorgeous home in Odessa. Me sitting there. The upper part of those windows had stained glass. Mom sold the house after my father died. I moved ALL of their furniture into storage entirely by myself ( thank God I was healthy back then). Then I took mom up north and we bought a house on the high plains.

Let's go waaaay back in California when I was a tiny cowboy.

Look closely. That's me about seven yrs. old, wearing a cowboy hat and holding a stick I found on the ground. I was on the set of the 1948 western movie "Fort Apache" starring John Wayne, Henry Fonda, and Shirley Temple.

The movie set was abandoned when I was there. 1948 was way before my time.

BTW many years later, I met John Wayne. Twice.

Here's a pic taken while "Fort Apache" was being filmed. The fort in the background is where I was standing.

Let's fast foreward to the wilds of Tennessee.

This is one of the dressers in my TN bedroom, with my cherished antique mirror from Italy.

This is a snake crawling down the side of the dresser in my bedroom. The serpent was difficult to capture. He (she?) was in my bedroom for two days before I was able to get him out of the house.

I slept in that room while the snake was in there. I'm a tough hombre.

This is the second serpent that was in my house. He was on a bookshelf in the dining area!

He was on the shelf second to the top, behind all those knick knacks and photos - - and NONE of them were knocked over!! How did he manage that??

I carefully removed all those items, with the snake cozily behind them.

Then the snake slithered down the side of the bookcase. I captured him. Do I have nerves of steel? Perhaps.

The third intruder was a black snake, who was in the living room. This is an encounter between him and my cat Bosco. I locked Bosco in the bedroom and managed to swish the snake out the front door.

While I'm at it, this was one of the adult possums that got into my house ( not to mention some baby possums). This must have been several years ago, because all three of my cats were alive then. They cornered the possum. I got a cage, scooted him in it, and let him loose on the back porch.

I was going to post some more family photos, but I'll wait 'till next time.

Until then, more pics taken in my "yard".

Imagine stepping out your back door and seeing this on an autumn afternoon....

I really don't mind having snakes and possums as neighbors.....

First snow in late autumn

The whisper of a sweet prayer at sunset

Jon, with luv  🤎