This year, some of our adventures have included visting the downtown areas of cities and towns near to us.
Hidalgo is home to our county seat.
Welcome to downtown Hildago, Texas 🤠
Blog
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Roses in January
While friends and family at home in southern Saskatchewan, Canada are battling strong winds, icy roads, and hazardous driving and outdoor walking conditions, I feel very blessed to be able to walk outside our front door door here in south Texas to practice my floral photography on our neighbour’s repeat blooming climbing rose.
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Juxtaposition
Alongside a secondary highway, in San Juan, Texas, there’s a little park that we pass often.
There’s a mini Lady Liberty, so we’ve often wondered what the park was all about.
Last week, we finally stopped to check it out.
The park is a war memorial, dedicated to armed forces members from the area who died serving their country in various wars since WW2 . Its name is Liberty Park.
The subject of this post, and my feature photo is the juxtaposition of the words carved in the back of the bench and the abandoned items on the bench that hinted that maybe someone had spent the night there. What would be your guess about this scene?
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Slick and Easy
Before Christmas, I asked my FaceBook friends and family if any of them had any experience with the Chef Preserve Vacuum Sealer.
I was looking to vacuum seal a good lot of Swiss Raclette cheese that would be left from our Christmas Eve meal. The cheese is dear in price, so I sure didn’t want to lose any of it to spoilage. Vacuum sealing was the number one suggestion.
A nurse friend of mine from at home in Canada was the first to reply with a detailed and thorough positive review. This gal is a great cook and a thrifty homemaker, and an honest, sincere person, so I trusted her opinion. I gave it a few more days and no one else replied with personal experience, but another nurse friend gave the system a very good review via her friend who uses it. She said she planned on buying this for herself. This is another gal whose opinions I trust.
Although I always check them, I’m never sure of online reviews by folks I don’t know.
I ordered the sealer, and immediately vacuum sealed and froze the leftover cheese.
Raclette cheese saved for next time I was thrilled with how slick and easy it was to operate. I love that the unit is small and that the bags are reusable.
** I’m in no way affiliated with the company, so this review is unsolicited and unpaid**
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And That It Is
Last Saturday, we took a little road trip to nearby towns to explore their main streets. We were also on the hunt for an infamous roadside tavern.
Many people we know here in south Texas had told us about the uniqueness of an establishment called “The Junkyard Bar”.
We’d passed the location several times over the years but had never spotted the bar.
This time, because we were paying attention, we spied the sign (feature photo)
There were no vehicles in the parking lot (except, of course, for the truck on the post) but we could see a young fellow cleaning inside so we asked if we could come in and take some photos. He told us that the bar didn’t officially open until 3pm but we were more than welcome to come in and take a look around, and he even offered us a beer.
We’d been told that this place is wall to wall people during opening hours, so our arrival time was perfect to explore and get some photos of things you’d never see if the place was packed.
I don’t know if you’d call it “atmosphere” but its decor (or lack of it) certainly lives up to its name.
I laughed at “No outside food or drink or drink” 
Stage is reminiscent of the old west 
I wonder how many actually pay 
A tribute to a football team 
The Bar 
The tables have seen better days 
It makes one wonder 
Would hesitate to visit if it was raining 
Tiniest sink I’ve ever seen 
Corrugated metal stalls in the ladies bathroom 
Budweiser is famous for their ads 
The fence on the hill behind hubs is a part of the border wall 
The top of the original bar sign says EST 1957 -
New Year, New Approach
There’s something about a new year that drives us to want to make significant improvements in our lives.
Resolutions for a new year are usually made with the best intentions.
Unfortunately for me, and almost anyone else I’ve spoken to over the years, these New Year’s Resolutions all too often morph into New Year’s failures, disappointments, self-doubt and self-chastisement.
I later moved on to setting goals. This was somewhat less discouraging, but still never 100% successful.
This year, I’m trying yet another approach. This one is about asking intention questions and then working with the answers to set daily affirmations. The affirmations are a guide instead of a hard and fast rule or goal. I like that.
These are my questions and affirmations for 2026 and beyond:
- How do I want to live my life? Affirmations: I’m thankful for my many blessings. I’m happy, I’m healthy, and I’m eager to continually learn new things and develop new skills.
- What personal qualities do I want to embrace? Affirmations: I continue to care about my health and that of others around me. I share what I know and learn, in hopes of helping others.
- How do I want to experience relationships with others in my world? Affirmations: I make regular contact with friends and family. When necessary, I set healthy boundaries. I experience joy in my interactions with others.
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Poser
Anacahuita, aka Mexican Olive or Texas Olive is an ornamental shrub native to this area of Texas.
Although the fruit is inedible, the ruffled flowers are showy and the shrub needs very little moisture to survive and stay healthy.
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There Comes a Point in Life …
I’ve always wanted to try to make focaccia bread.
It’s a satisfying tasting experience to eat it warm and dipped in a plate of olive oil/balsamic vinegar.
Two days ago, I finally took the reins and made it!
I’ll be making it often now.
There comes a point in your life when you need to stop eating other people’s bread and make your own!”
~ Chris Geiger
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A Homely Ceremony
“The smell of good bread baking, like the sound of lightly flowing water, is indescribable in its evocation of innocence and delight…
[Breadmaking is] one of those almost hypnotic businesses, like a dance from some ancient ceremony. It leaves you filled with one of the world’s sweetest smells… there is no chiropractic treatment, no Yoga exercise, no hour of
meditation in a music-throbbing chapel. that will leave you emptier of bad thoughts than this homely ceremony of making bread.”~ MFK Fisher The Art of Eating
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NYE from Our Back Yard
The fireworks in our area of deep south Texas start on Christmas Eve and continue every night, with a few small bursts, until the grand finale on New Year’s Eve.
We can watch them from our back yard and if I take a walk around the yard, we’re surrounded by fireworks in all of the nearby neighbourhoods.
After the massive midnight display, the pops and big bangs continue until around 3 am and because our houses aren’t insulated and our roofs are mostly metal, sometimes a particularly loud pop nearby can sound like it’s directly over our roof or even in an adjacent room.
This was a completely foreign custom to us when we first started wintering here, but after six years, we’ve grown accustomed to it and actually look forward to it, even if it means a mostly sleepless night … thus, my late post today.
As is my custom, on New Year’s Day, I pop open a bottle of prosecco after lunch, and toast the new year with a mimosa.
Cheers to 2026, and with the new year, I look forward to positive changes in my life, and in the world at large.
I wish all of you health and happiness in the coming year!
Radically Retired 