Wintering

We are enjoying our vacation and really delight in having little on our schedules.  Cloudy-rainy days are for reading. I've discovered ebook lending from the Bellville library and am reading The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks about a black woman's cancer cells that were/are used in all kinds of medical research and her poor black family got nothing monetarily from the buying and selling of her cells. It is thought provoking and I recommend it. John is reading one of his favorite spiritual authors -- Thomas Keating. The book is Reflections on the Unknowable. He's read me excepts. It's quite good.

One thing that strikes me about living here for a while is the amazing amount of resources available as opposed to the poor, rural community where we live in Oregon.  I was in an Asian super market recently that was bigger than a super Walmart and had nothing but Asian food. It was like a trip around Asia in one big place.  Houston has a lot of top ranked medical institutions like Herman, Memorial, Methodist, Baylor, and Children's hospitals that we pass on the way into the city. Of course, the fossil fuel industry is what fuels most of the growth in the state not the least of which is the nation's fourth largest city - Houston.

I got a chance to visit St. Christopher's Episcopal church in West Houston, which has a beautiful healing chapel with a stature of the mother and child which looks more like Christ and child. See below.

Of course, the sunsets and sunrises are spectacular which the sun decides to visit us.  After mass on Sunday John and I went to a local favorite restaurant called Tony's in Sealy. John got pie and Blue Bell ice cream for breakfast. Hey! We're on vacation!  Hope all is well with you.

Healing Chapel at St. Christophers's Episcopal Church

 Sunrise

 Cherry Pie and Ice Cream for Breakfast

 View from the deck

Happy New Year from Texas

GF chelate cake I took to the party

View from the deck

The place we are renting

John and I wish  you a very Happy New Year. We celebrated with the IXL ranch family and their friends and boarders on New Year's Eve.  Steak and Lobster and the rest was pot luck. Really good food. I ate lots of desserts. Nice people, all wrapped up in horses and dogs. Most of them have known the family for years.

It's been raining a lot here and today's no exception. Road flooding has been an issue but that doesn't keep us at home. We explore the surrounding towns. We excel at being lazy and just sitting on the deck in the sun. Have seen some of our friends which is always great. Found some great Mexican restaurants. And there is always the Long Horn Saloon in Brenham Texas.  We'll get around to some day trips one of these days.  Have a wonderful, healthy and happy new year.

Fairy the cat enjoying a snooze

What retirement looks like

Winding down the New Year Eve Party in the horse barn, with horses

Tack room that served a dessert room, with dogs

on being an artist from Eckart Tolle

Merry Christmas

Crossroads Tavern or the Cat Spring Country Club not far from our place

Cats like king beds.

John and I are on the road with the cats, who are behaving very well. We've arrived in Cat Spring and the notable feature of the tiny town is the rail road that goes straight through it with an at grade intersection. We can hear the rumble and whistle of the train from our deck on the horse ranch. Comes through around 7 AM and 5 PM.  We are recovering from the five day trip and have explored Bellville, Brenham, and Sealy all of which have a library and a post office. And lots of Mexican restaurants. I'd forgotten how good Mexican food is in these parts. And then there is barbecue. Yum.

We have beaucoup horses for neighbors. This ranch boards a lot of horses. All kinds plus runs a few cow-calf pairs. Couple of big bulls.  For John's benefit we have hit two catholic churches. I like the one in Sealy because it has comfortable seat cushions. It's the little things in life.

Bellville Library on a sunny morning. Got up to 76 yesterday.

We've visited with our friends Marlis and Ralph and they have beautiful Christmas decorations. See photo. John and I sat on the deck this afternoon and enjoyed the intense sun and cool air. They've had a lot of rain here. Dust of Harney County to mud of Cat Spring. We are not complaining. We're surrounded by lots of pasture, paddocks, fences, and horses. We're about a mile from the hard road.

I've been reading lots. I recommend The Messy Truth by Van Jones about the political situation in the US now.  We have satellite TV, which we didn't have in Harney County.  I've discovered CNN and MSNBC, particularly Rachel Maddow and Chris Hayes. What a week in politics but we don't want to get carried away with that commentary. We're on vacation! And it's not snowing and icy!

Our favorite place to hang out. Live oak trees are wonderful.

We hope all of you have a wonderful holiday. Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!  

One of our neighbors

Earth Rising is on sale!

The fourth book in the Deovolante Space Opera series is on sale on Kindle for 99 cents until December 19.  This is the last of the special Christmas offers for my Deovolante Space Opera series.  Look for Earth Risingby searching on Marjorie Thelen in Amazon.com. In this book our erstwhile group of Earth physicists and Deovolante aliens team up to try to help planet Earth rise to a higher vibration but run into opposition from no other than Earth and her inhabitants.  Enjoy!

My very best wishes for a happy holiday season and a joyous new year!

Marjorie

Hoodoo Canyon and Earth Rising Promotions Coming Up Next

Following on the Kindle Promotions for my Deovolante Space Opera science fiction series, the next two books are Hoodoo Canyonwhich goes on sale for 99 cents on Monday December 10 and Earth Rising which goes on sale Monday, December 17. Any of these books can be read as stand alone novels. Hoodoo and Earth Rising are particularly fun because they feature Eloise Bright, renowned theoretical physicist, who meets a professed alien and she has to decide if she really believes her eyes. They are entertaining and filled with the usual memorable characters. Give them a try!

Wings of the Wind is now on Kindle

Last week I announced I have now published a historical romance, Wings of the Wind, set in Galveston Texas in 1850. Mercedes Lawless meets Captain Jean Lafitte when he walks into her emporium and says he is now the owner.  That doesn't sit well with Mercedes. She launches her own investigation of who bet her store, which takes her to New Orleans and back aboard the Wings of the Wind. The story is light, fun, and a picture of life in 1850. 

Lorna Cagle, author of Jenny and Louisiana Picket, read an advance copy and here is what she says, "An exquisite story of intrigue that exposes the underbelly of New Orleans society in the 1850’s, as a courageous woman  seals her fate aboard the Wings of the Wind.   

Wings of the Wind Now Available on Amazon Kindle

Announcing a New Romance Novel by Marjorie Thelen

Wings of the Wind:  A prosperous shopkeeper, a pirate captain, a clipper ship, and uncle who isn't what he seems. A historical romance set in Galveston, Texas, 1850. 

Now available on Amazon Kindle. Search on Marjorie Thelen in Amazon for all my books.