Gate Update -- Thurs., June 14

Cotulla, Texas:

For the past few days our gate has been slow (1-2 log pages). Last night I had one trailer come in to pick something up at 11:48 p.m. Bob didn't have anyone until 6:00 a.m. today.

Some workers say they're wrapping it up; others say not. Don't know if we're movin' or stayin'. I hope someone lets us know before moving day.

Dairy Queen in Cotulla has become the ladies meetin' place. I've set up a meet for next Wednesday,  June 20, at 1:00 p.m. Last week there were three of us and it looks like we may see two or three more this coming week, depending on how busy people are and whether or not someone's moving. It's really nice to have good interactions and conversations because gate guarding can make you feel (choose one): isolated, stir-crazy, ding-y, imprisoned, bored, at one with the desert scrub, buggy, unkempt.

Seems people have been dropping dogs off in the desert and the dogs are finding their way to gate guard's RVs. Kit and Jerry had a mama Labrador decide that under their motor home was a perfect nursery. She gave birth to 11 (!) puppies. Now Kit & Jerry will be the first to tell you they're not particularly dog people. What to do? Kit asked all drivers coming in their gate if they knew anyone who wanted a dog with puppies. One worker called his wife and they decided to take mama and all pups! Wow. That's a lot of dogs. And quite a relief for Kit and Jerry!

Another gate guard couple with three indoor cats had a scrawny, malnourished, limping dog show up at their RV. They've never had dogs so weren't quite sure what to do with it. There is no Humane Society in this area. Their solution: go to the store and buy food, bed, chew toys, and treats. I'm not sure, but I think they just adopted a dog. The dog bed is under their RV. Outside temperatures are at 100 or more degrees.

How can people so heartlessly drop off an animal in the desert scrub in summer spring? Do they think a mountain lion will eat it? Do they think it will die of thirst and starvation? Why couldn't they take it to a no-kill shelter in San Antonio, 1-1/2 hours away? It's sad.

We're six weeks into our gate guarding gig; have five weeks left to go. Think about this, our temps have been in the highs 90s to low 100s for the past two weeks. This is spring. Summer starts next Wednesday. So far, so good with our air conditioners and generator. Seems even the bugs bug off at this time of year. Haven't seen any mosquitoes or bite-y flies for over a week.

The caliche dust is like a fine sand. We have to dust frequently, wash our air conditioner filters, vacuum, scrub the linoleum and shake out the area rugs. When I washed out the main air conditioner filter yesterday, I filled the kitchen sink with water, rinsed out the filter. The water was so sandy, I had to drain the sandy water and repeat the rinse two more times. Dirrrrrty!

Bob is plowing through more Lee Child books. I am working on reading "American Idol," about 3/4's of the way through it. It's interesting to learn about the back story of how Idol came to be, the audition process, the backstage happenings, the judges' interactions, the staging, the marketing...it's Hollywood, but inspired by the British "Pop Idol."

Bowie and Sunnie (cats) are doing great. Sunnie loves the new wet food we bought on Tuesday. Bowie turns his nose up at it and won't even try it. 

Bowie says, "Why are we changing wet food? It it ain't broke, don't fix it."

Sunnie on the other hand enthuses, "Oh yum! This is so much better than that other stuff! More, more."

At least one of the cats will eat the food we bought Tuesday.

Bob went into town this afternoon to pick up mail and buy some groceries. Main grocery item we were hoping for was more of the delectable Texas peaches. The Super S in Cotulla does not have them. They had rock hard peaches from California. Yuck. No more fresh, local peaches for us today. He did bring back corn on the cob, apricots, avocados and tomatoes. I plan to make fresh guacamole tomorrow. Mmmmmmm.

For dinner tonight we had a huge green salad with tuna salad on top. Very satisfying and healthy. Tomorrow night, tostadas with guacamole and Cholula hot sauce.

And just so you know, our refrigerator is nice and cold again! It's the little things out here.

Travel Bug out.