“Enjoy the cold while it lasts”. Those were the parting words of the weather
reporter on the local news tonight. Highs in the Rio Grande Valley have been swinging between
the lower 90’s and lower 70 ‘s. The cool temps last about 36 hours.
I’ve been lax about taking pictures, so far, this year. It’s
not that we have been sitting idle, I have just lost my lust for the camera lens
temporarily if you can believe that. We celebrated our good friend, Will’s 80th
birthday, attended the Christmas Party for the pharmacy I’m working for and the
Resort’s Work Camper Christmas Party this past weekend. For most of the week, I’ve
been pouting about our commitment here preventing me from being on the trip to
Europe with my Aunt and five of my cousins. It is a trip I’ve been trying to do
for years and this was the year to do it. But the work camping gig would not
allow me the time off. I thought I had accepted the reality till my Google
Calendar went off on Sunday evening reminding me I had a flight to catch the
next morning. ( I forgot the travel agent synced the itinerary when I initially booked the
trip) I have spent the week reminding
myself of all the good things that this winter has placed in our path. I wondered
to myself what would have happened if I had not been upfront and called them to
get their blessing for the time off and just dropped it on them when I arrived
this fall. Others in the park have done just that and gotten away with it. I
don’t think the park is thrilled with the situation, but they didn’t kick them
out either. I know I have missed a trip of a lifetime with extended family in a
place I have longed to see for most of my life, but things happen for a reason.
So, the week went on and I sit here this evening recalling the alternative
experiences I have had in place of the trip down the Danube.
Friday evening, as Judy and I walked to the truck, just
ahead of Will and Champ as we left a great Italian restaurant where we
celebrated Will’s Octogenarian rite of passage’ we talked about the enduring features
of a southern Christmas Season that northerners never really fully process.
Like the sound of crickets and frogs while you look at Christmas lights and
seeing garden tractors and grills on the sidewalk at Lowe’s instead of
snowblowers.
I have a hard time processing the fact that we have only
been gone from Iowa for 8 weeks. Nine, days after we put the jacks down in
Texas I started my bookkeeping adventure for a local pharmacy. I talk often
about this life presenting opportunities to do things we never thought we would
do. Keeping the books for a pharmacy is definitely in that category.
I have had one of the most professionally challenging experiences of my career
in this, my semi-retirement. I took the job coming into a small well-established
operation that lost its bookkeeper of 13 years and had been basically running
on auto pilot for 4 months before I came into the picture. I was hired to be a
fixer. My departure in late March was out on the table from the beginning and
the plan is for me to clean things up, get the train back on the rails and groom
an existing employee ( with no bookkeeping experience) to step up and take over
when I leave. They hired me to come in
and take over. There is no training in a deal like this. I have no experience in the pharmacy business,
but know accounting processes. You go in, figure it out and apply your
knowledge and experience. I’m more like a contractor than a part time employee.
It’s a fascinating and eye-opening experience to see the inner workings of an
industry that I generally shun. I go out of my way to avoid the pharmaceutical industry
when it comes to putting things in my body. The people who own it are
wonderful, down to earth people. Getting to know them is the real gem in the
center of this experience. Yes, I’ll make some money and pay some bills, but
the big take away will be meeting Ruben and Rosemary. They treated their staff
to dinner out, some fun games, prizes and Secret Santa gift exchange
Saturday evening. It was a long way from the stuffy bank Christmas Parties of
my past.
At the park I am gaining experience in the reservation
office and will leave with a working knowledge of the Campground and Resident
Manager software used by most parks across the country. The park management hosted
a fun meal and party for the nearly 100 work campers here at the resort. The
event filled our Sunday evening to rounded out a weekend of holiday and birthday
revelry.
Christmas is a week away. The pictures of grandkids visiting
Santa are filling my inbox. We still look at long driveways and for a moment
think what a pain it must be to plow them, before we remember there is no snow
here. We are planning to spend Christmas
Day with good friends we met on our first volunteer gig in 2016. Others we met
on the road over the years are arriving in South Texas and plans to see them
are being put on the calendar. We will keep ourselves busy and try not to
wallow in the sadness of not being with family. As I talk to other snowbirds, I am reminded none
of us ever get over the depressing feeling of not being with the kids for Christmas.
We are thankful for technology like video phone calls and Amazon Prime.
As we search for
a sweatshirt to put on for these cool days, we are reminded by the locals that
this cool weather is welcome by them and they will indeed ‘enjoy the cold while
it lasts’.
Until Next Time…
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