Reconnecting with Family

We got back to Austin in time to vote in the 2016 Presidential Election on November 8, and to see the “Supermoon” rise on November 14.

  

Technically a “perigee full moon,” this was the biggest and brightest in 60 years.  This phenomenon occurs when the full moon coincides with the date the the moon is closest to the earth in its orbit.  Fortunately, the sky was clear, so we had a good view of the moon as it rose' and when it set the following morning.

We made a quick visit to Lake Jackson to see John’s mother and her husband, and to celebrate John’s and my birthdays.

Then it was back to the farm to get ready for Thanksgiving.  We arrived to find that the outer pane of the sliding glass door to our bedroom had been broken…but we had no idea by what.

The impact point was about head-high, but there was no object nearby that could have shattered the glass and no one had been there since our last visit.  We thought maybe a bird had flown into the glass, but there was no dead creature on the porch and no feathers.  The only crime-scene “evidence” were turkey droppings on the porch outside the door.  At this point, our best guess is that one of the turkeys engaged in a fierce battle with his reflection in the glass, and that his strong, sharp beak had shattered the glass.  Any other ideas?

At any rate, I had fun taking pictures of the patterns created by the safety glass and the way colors reflected in it.

When we arrived, we were happy to find that the white-faced heifer Erin and Anna’s kids named “Cupcake” had presented us with a healthy bull calf.  Here he is with his mother

and with his brothers and sister.  They all look just like their daddy.

On Friday, Brian, Debi, Gage, Myles and Mallory arrived to celebrate Thanksgiving with us.  

Mallory got the loft bed, and Myles and Gage sacked out on the sofa and the floor.

It was a great weekend.