Spring sights

It is spring.  New babies everywhere.  There are new calves every day.  The ranch next door, which is property owned by the Johnson family, have many exotic animals, Antelope, of several kinds, elk, and a pair of Emus.  It is always fun to see what "critters" are grazing in the nearby pastures.  Notice the Emu chicks in these photos.  Baby animals are a good thing.

Museum of the Pacific

   Located downtown Fredericksburg.  Tickets are good for 48 hours.  You need it.  It is huge!  There is a small Japanese submarine displayed.  Every 10 - 15 minutes, an professional quality audio/ visual program about the attack on Pearl Harbor plays on the wall behind the sub.  Very moving.  Displays also include a B-25, the propeller fighter, a damaged Australian tank, and several anti aircraft guns.
   The museum is very well done, but the extent of it causes the visitor to be overwhelmed.  Room after room, after room tell and show the story of war in the Pacific, island after island, some of which I had never heard of.  I found myself bypassing whole displays because my short attention span had been used up.
   I exited the main hall and found a temporary display of original World War II art by Texas artist Tom Lea.  Here are a few.  Excuse the quality as they were taken by a cellphone.

Typical Texas Fare

The Albert Icehouse and Grill.  (the Dancehall is next door.  A place to sharpen your two-step skills)

After dark

Last night we went into Johnson City to have supper at the Pecan Street Grill.  R had a lamb burger and I had fish tacos.  Not your typical Typical Texas fare, I guess, but good none the less.  The restaurant is across the street from the Blanco County Courthouse.  Another one of the cool courthouses in the area.

Cross Walk ?

The first cow is asking his friends, " Is this where we are supposed to cross?"

Sunset light

Bull # 184

Meet a Hereford Bull.  He is a show fellow.  He's used to being around people.  His days are spent in the Show Barn.  After his "workday" he is turned out into a corral to roam until the next morning.  We went to the Show Barn yesterday and got a chance to meet 184.  He loves to have his head petted.  He came closer so we could do a better job.  It gave me a chance to check out his huge head.  Curly white hair (fur?)  Short thick body.  Short legs.
      Then there are the horns.  Only the show animals are allowed to keep their horns.  The commercial cattle have their horns clipped as calves. The horns are like our fingernails and clipped and then the roots are cauterized to prevent regrowth.  Notice the horns on 184.  While I was petting 184 I felt his horns,  They are warm  I was surprised by that.  It makes sense, but I was not expecting warmth.  You can see the number.  It is burned into the horn,  Too deep and it hurts the animal.  Too shallow and it does not last very long.  The gadgets on the ends of the horns are weights.  .5 lb to 1.5 lb .  They are used to cause the horns to grow downward.  The weight differences are used to get the horns to be even.  Important in the show ring only.  
   Bull # 184 - a Good Thing

Lincoln 2/13/2016

    Saturday was a fun day at the ranch.  The morning quiet as usual, but the afternoon was really busy.  The blue skies and 75 degree weather helped bring out the visitors.
    As I headed from the pool house (where we rest, eat lunch between tours) I noticed a Lincoln Continental convertible in the parking lot.  It was just like LBJ's cars so I was curious about it.  I found the owner in the hanger and asked him about his car.  He was only to happy to share with me the story.  Car people love to talk about their cars.
     He found it sitting in a barn covered with a tarp, covered with chicken poop.  As he was signing the check, the owner said, "Oh, by the way, it is one of LBJ's cars."  He was skeptical, but started checking.  He found out that after LBJ's death in 1973, four Lincolns Continentals were sold at the local livestock auction.  This was one of these vehicles.
   I asked about the color; light blue.  It is the original color.  There were several other Continentals at the ranch.The Lincoln dealer leased them to LBJ for $1 / year.  The car was definitely well used.  LBJ drove his cars all over the ranch, on and off the roads, meaning fields and pastures.  This particular car had dents and scratches and the front suspension needed to be replaced because it had hit one too many tree stumps or rocks.  The car is has been made more road worthy and when LBJ's daughter Lucy has a parade nearby she calls the owner to be her driver.  LBJ would be happy to see it being driven.  This was truly a good day.

Spring

   Here we sit in Texas in February which we were told is the coldest month of the year.  Yesterday it was 81.  Today is predicted to be 77.  Hmmm.    What is really needed around here is rain.  .39 in so far this year,  Oregon, can you send some precipitation to Texas?
   
    What I also would wish for is a 6 month moratorium on presidential campaigning.  The election is 9 months away and I'm totally tired of all the Blah - blah -blah.  Many of our visitors have expressed the same thoughts.  Some say that they do not ecen listen to the news any more.  Sounds good to me.

Herefords

Notice the horn branding.  A number is engraved on the other horn.

The /cattle on LBJ Ranch are Herefords.  Historic Herefords from the 60's to be exact.  

These cattle were bred to be smaller than current breeds.  They are born large and get to nearly 1000 pounds by the time they are one year old.  To help the process, these Hereford heifers are bred with a Longhorn Bull for her first time.  Although Longhorn get really big, they talke several years to get that large.  In fact, the calves are quite small.  The heifer has a small calf and then next year when she is larger and her body is ready, she is bred with a Hereford bull.  It is a good thing for her.  This calf is one of those Longhorn/ Hereford mixes.

Air Force One-Half

   Any fixed wing aircraft that the President flies in is designated "Air Force One".  The JetStar that flew LBJ to and from the ranch was designated Air Force One as well, but because of it's smaller size, he called it Air Force One-Half.  It is one of a fleet of 5 of these aircraft that were available to the President.  It is parked permanently here at the ranch site.  There is a 6300 ft runway nearby that was plenty long for most aircraft but the pavement would not allow the landing of the heavier 707 that was the "normal" Presidential transportation. The pods on the wings were fuel tanks allowing a non-stop flight from Texas to Washington.
     The flight crew and service crew stayed in a trailer near the hanger.  The required time-frame from notification to wheels up was 30 minutes so they were always on alert

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Schisus

   Argon Laser  That what I got to experience yesterday.  After several hours at the specialist in Kerrville the doctor told me that my right eye had a schisus on my retinia.  " We can just wait and watch it for a few weeks or we can fix it right now with a laser."  My choice was to fix it right away.  

    After 15 minutes in the special chair, I left the office with my glasses enhanced by plastic dark plastic covers.  I have orders not to lift more than 25 lbs for two weeks.  That is the only restriction.  I go back a week from next Tuesday.    A good thing. 

Floaters

   Floaters are the specs that float in your vision when you look at the sky.  As long as I remember, I have had floaters.   A couple of years ago, some large ones appeared while we were volunteering at Organ Pipe Cactus Nat. Mon.  I got checked out by both an ophthalmologist and a specialist in case there was a retina tear.
   About four days ago the I started to notice more and larger floaters.  On Tuesday, when we visited Marble Falls, I noticed that my right eye was also showing a mesh-like background.  I was bothered about that.  So I went to visit a another ophthalmologist again yesterday.  She checked my out and could not see anything but referred me to a specialist today.  So it is back to Kerrville this afternoon to get my eyes dilated and examined thoroughly.  A good thing! ?

Odometer

Thinking about what I wrote concerning my odometer function.  I have no complaints.  In fact I am pretty lucky.  Sunday was my birthday which is good.  But it was also the one year anniversary of my release from the hospital after getting my pacemaker.   It definitely a good thing!