Three horses walked up to a bar…

An update

Three horses walked up to a bar. The bartender says to the first horse…. No, this isn’t a bad joke¹ or a still from “Rio Bravo.” It’s Bandera, Texas, January 2024.

Hello, Friend ~

It’s been over three months since I last popped into your inbox and wow, we’ve been busy. Since last time, we’ve:

• spent five days in Paris (more about that in the future);

• moved to Texas;

• got new cell phone numbers (cell phone plans were our biggest failure during our time in Europe ~ more about that in the future);

• bought a new car with a check (a check!! ~ man, that felt good);

• fired our previous home builder because he abandoned our project;

• interviewed five new builders to find one to complete our home;

• hired one of them (he’s doing a great job ~ hallelujah!);

• successfully navigated one bank’s paperwork after the firing & the hiring;

• successfully navigated another bank’s overzealous efforts to protect us from scammers; and

• pruned scores of trees and pulled more than two dozen stumps on our property (with the generous help of our new neighbor).

We’ve made lots of progress but clearly, this has not been a vacation.

It hasn’t been all work, tho. We’ve also:

• enjoyed walks in San Antonio’s extensive greenway system;

• enjoyed shopping in ginormous and well-stocked grocery stores;

• researched telescopes in preparation for the April 8th eclipse; and,

• bought cowboy hats at a rodeo.

The hats start with unformed crowns and brims.

Then, the crown and the brim are formed to taste.

In other news, one of my photos was selected for inclusion in the book, “Light, Glorious Light 2023,” published by Lenswork:

Shadows, Dresden, 2020

Fingers crossed, we’ll be in our new house sometime in August. I don’t know what my publishing schedule will be between now and then, but I hope to share more 5-Minute Vacations from our last few months in Europe.

For today, I’ll leave you with a new word (at least new to us):

Today’s Travel Word: Rewirement

Some friends told us their retirement was more like a “rewirement” because they had to “rewire” their habits after decades-long careers. An example of our “rewirement” is that on Sunday evenings we still think we have to get ready for the work week. But we don’t. What a pleasant surprise to remember that we no longer have to prepare for the work week.

Until next time,

Ciao!

PS ~ If you are new to my photography, you can see more at scottgilbertson.com.

1. In lieu of a “three horses joke, I’ll offer this internet-sourced joke:

A guy goes into a bar and orders three separate shot glasses of Irish whiskey. He drinks all three. He does day after day after day, and the bartender finally says, “You know, I can put all three of those shots into one glass for you.” The guy says, “No, I prefer it this way. I have two brothers over in Ireland, and I love them. This glass right here is for Finnian and this one here is for Fergus, and this one is for me. This way I can feel like we here together having a drink.” He comes in day after day after day, the bartender sets up three glasses. And then one day, the guy says, “Give me two shots today.” “What happened? Did something happen to one of your brothers?” the bartender asked. “No, no, no,” the guy said. “They’re okay. It’s just that I decided to quit drinking.”