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Along the Natchez Trace

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

There's Always the Weather...

It's been pretty quiet here lately.  We've seen a few flocks of cranes fly over, but I'd think most have already migrated by now.  Hey...  the Bosque del Apache NWR's  "Festival of the Cranes" is coming up this coming week and those critters better be there by now to make that a success!

Bill has been working outdoors a lot....  mostly clearing brush and trying to figure out why the water feature is leaking.  

I've been spending more time with Rosie.  Hey...  have I told y'all about Rosie?  Well, a couple of years ago for my birthday, Bill got me the Rosetta Stone program.  (yeah...  2 years ago at least)...  You'd think by now that I'd be speaking Spanish quite fluently.  Well, I suppose if I stayed with it maybe that might be so.  But...  I've had lapses...  lots of lapses.  I could blame it on computers crashing, I could blame it on time spent volunteering at refuges, heck, I could blame it on anything ...  but that's kind of a cop out.  Truth is, I just haven't stuck with it.  

Someone asked me if I only knew "cerveza" and "banos" (see... I don't even know how to put that tilde thingy over the n)...  but that's not so.  I also know Corona, Dos Equis, Modello, Carta Blanca....  and in a pinch I can come up with margarita.  Oh heck... I forgot Tecate.  

Okay... truth is, I kinda know my number, my colors, foods and stuff like that.  But verbs and tenses and putting it altogether into a sentence is beyond me.  I'm like a toddler learning how to talk.  In fact, I buy workbooks designed for grade schoolers to help me out.  AND...  unlike the NY Times crossword puzzle, I wouldn't even THINK of writing the answers in ink!

Okay... so that pretty much takes care of our days here.

It looked real dark and dreary a couple days ago...  the wind came up, the sky got real dark....
And we got rain!

Unfortunately, it lasted less than 5 minutes.

This part of Texas needs rain real bad!

It stayed windy...  it even stayed dark and threatening for a while.
But...
Real rain never came.

So...
Bill's back to clearing brush...
I'm back to frequent trips to the local library...

And...
Maybe next time I'll have something more interesting to write about than the weather.

That's All For Today!

7 comments:

  1. That's one grey montage! It needs a margarita.

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  2. I'm thinking my comment on Judy's blog has upset a few people, I did not mean to do that. I am simply frustrated here. No orientation, no one showing me around the buildings, they are expecting that I know where the garage is or where the tool shed is. I started working less than 24 hours after I arrived, and did not really have a chance to explore on my own. I had been asked to volunteer Nov and Dec (because the couples are coming in later after spending holidays with their families) and have heard from one ranger that I am on the schedule for 6 months but the volunteer coordinator has not asked me to work 6 months, is she just assuming I will stay. When I stated that "no one told me that" I was told "it's in the manual under the counter". When I worked at Mesa Verde, I felt like I was part of a team, I do not feel that here. I was told that orientation would be in about 3 weeks when the next couple arrived, so I guess its too much to ask to drive me around the Refuge so I know where things are.

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  3. I was considering getting the Rosetta Stone program to learn Spanish but the cost of it turned me away. Do you think it's better than other 'learning a language' programs that sell for much less? Just curious.

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  4. I heard on the news that there is a petition for Texas to secede from the US. Maybe you changed your state of residence at a bad time!

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  5. I was directed to memrise.com to learn Spanish as a sort of game. It has been a good addition to Pimsler and Rosetta Stone for me. It goes quick, it's small bursts of new, and it makes me actually type the words so I'm actually learning how to spell the Spanish. Free and fun.

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  6. I'm of the opinion that foreign language, like many other things, is easier learned young and otherwise is something that is harder for others in general. I took to foreign languages like a duck to water and did well with 2 of them in school in a classroom setting and quite a few French words swim up into my memory at odd times. But I noticed others around didn't fare so well...until they went abroad and learned through immersion. If I had to try to learn a language again I'd do my best to go that route. Perhaps next time you travel you'll stay with a family or on a private property and let them force you to learn in context. Context makes the difference in all learning, in my humble opinion! Not a bad idea to have a good foundation though, good luck!

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  7. Accordingly a great deal used for distribution this grand post.

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