Go Texan Day.

Today is the day when all the trail-riders come into town for the Rodeo. Translation--- there will be cowboys/cowgirls riding horses all over the Houston area, on their way to the rodeo arena. They don't really call themselves cowboys anymore, I don't think. The correct term is simply "riders," I believe.

The riders are usually in groups of at least fifty-- safety in numbers, I guess, being that they're riding with the traffic from whatever part of the state they've come from. For "Go Texan Day," everyone is urged to wear denim and whatever western wear happens to be your favorite. At one of the local consignment shops years ago, I found a denim shirt studded with all kinds of beads and fringe.... it's an over-sized shirt that's meant to be worn with a white tee-shirt and jeans. Perfect for Go Texan Day, and I've never worn it on any other day of the year. Come to think of it, I could use that shirt as part of a costume for our Halloween party.


Dinner last night with C & L was lots of fun........ C loved the place cards so much that she took the two home that I made for her and her husband. Everyone loves place cards... it never fails. C brought a canvas bag filled with books on Germany..... I chose just four of them to look through... one is a little pocket-sized book just on German restaurant menus, which would be a big help. My husband will look on the Internet and see if there's a German restaurant in the downtown area. This way, we could try out the cuisine before we leave, so we'll know what to expect. There used to be a German restaurant right around here, but they're no longer open. Guess there weren't enough Germans in the area (or adventurous Texans) to make the restaurant a success.

C also had a book on the castles of Germany, which looked interesting. We might turn this trip into a castle-touring adventure. Between castles and cathedrals, Germany certainly has a lot to see. (A bit of castle trivia--- the castles in DisneyLand and DisneyWorld were built to resemble one of the most famous castles in Germany.) And all those picture-postcard-perfect places in my own guidebook--- both C & L told us that every place in Germany will be like that. Lots to see, lots to do, very clean, very friendly, very European.

C & L showed us plans for a new home that they will start building soon. Over 5,000 sq. ft. of living space, and a six-car garage, on two-and-a-half acres of land in Friendswood. The house will have walls of 18-inch-thick concrete, which will withstand a category-5 hurricane. There will also be a concrete "safe room" in the house--- a place to go to during such a storm. I'm a little skeptical about that...... if the storm is that bad, why would I want to stay in the area? Even if the house does withstand the storm, everything else outside the house will be out of commission, such as electricity, water, gas... not to mention the roads not being passable.

Their new home will be beautiful, with all the latest bells and whistles, as the saying goes. But if it were me, building such a huge and gorgeous home, I wouldn't want to be building in the middle of a hurricane path, no matter how thick the concrete walls were going to be.