Okay we made through August. When we mved to Louisiana we were told, watch out for August. It's the hottest month of the year. Well, it was. But we made it through, and we are enjoying the cooler temps. If you can call 80 or 90 cooler temps.

As far as my days are, I seem to be doing the same routine. Wait, isn't that what routine means? Doing the same thing over and over. I try to don something else to shake it up, to add some excitement. Working on this blog, for instance. Keeps me writing and keeps my fingers nimble.

    I don't type like a good secretary does, I use only two fingers per hand. But fast. Like using a touch keyboard. I remember where the keys are so hitting them seems to be easy for me.

Have you ever seen one of those puzzles where they have a screen full of a single number like 33 and somewhere on that screen is the number 39. Find it. I love those. I usually get it in the first couple of seconds. Then my wife will ask me where the mate to her socks is and I spend the next hour and half looking for it. Good news, I do find it. Most of the time.

As the days get cooler, we will venture out more. See more. Do more. Can't sit behind the desk all day. I save that for the evening, when the sun has gone down, and the tv is off, and quiet permeates the house. The only sound you will hear is the pecking of the computer keys.

I want to tell you about Papaw's Place. A rundown, rusting old building out in the middle of nowhere. Outside, you're afraid to go in, but if you do, your  eyes are met with the most beautiful and colorful interior you have ever seen. Add to that the smells of freshly baked bread  and the sounds of music coming from an old neon lit jukebox. It's like being transported back to the fifties, where girls wear poodle skirts and the guys have leather jackets and greasy hair. Papaw used to say if he ever ran out of lard, he could use some of their hair grease. Now that's a gross thought.

What special about the diner is not so much the food and atmosphere, but the physical building itself. You see, it has always been a mystery to anyone who lived in the area., that no one remembers when it was never there. Like it has always been in existence and it will always be there. It looks like it may fall down at any moment but truth is, it won't. Papaw says it won't.

That's another thing. Papaw. He looks to be around 65 years old but to everyone's recollection, he has always been the owner. And cook. He has been there since the diner was built and it doesn't seem like he will never leave. I have wondered myself where he came from.

 In Oct of last year we decided to move south. Over a period of 12 years we struggled through cold winters and snow depths which covered our vehicle and ourselves. We lived through the storms, and the tornados and the below zero temperatures. Last year we had temps of 30 to 40 below zero. On top of that, I had my heart failure. I was unable to clear the snow from our car and the ground around our home. So we decided to move to a warmer climate. We picked Louisiana because my wife's sister used to live in the area we were going to. She told us about the area and how it was when she lived there.

Well, times have changed it. We wanted warm weather and it seems mother nature got our order wrong. We asked for warm and we got hot. Very hot. I like my food hot but outside temps, not so much. The humidity made it much worse. If you had someone pour a pitcher of warm water over you as you walked to your car door, that is Louisiana.

 The one thing I do remember about living in the south is the way you are treated. People say yes and no sir. People hold doors for each other and say thank you a lot. Friendliness is everywhere. Our car was overheating on the freeway and when the people in the car behind us saw it they pulled up behind us on the shoulder. It was a young couple, in a new car. He said his momma told him to help whenever help was needed. He found the problem, a radiator hose had busted. He followed us to the next exit, then right into an auto parts store where he got the hose needed and fix our car right in the parking lot. Don't ever say bad things about young people. There are many who are just like him. My wife slipped his wife a $20 bill and told them to have lunch on us. He didn't want to take it but after talking to the wife, he said okay.

We had to go through a lot of changes moving here. Including paperwork. It took time to change our driver's license and change our health insurance. But after jumping through all the hoops, we are officially Louisiana residents. The heat? Well, you get used to it. And I won't have to shovel snow this winter.

This is something I wrote years ago but found it appropriate for now....

I come to a door

I feel jumpy

I go through

I feel brave

I come to another door

I feel frightened

I go through

I feel strong

I come to another door

I feel lost

I go through

I feel mature

I come to another door

I feel hysterical

I go through

I feel in control

I come to another door

I feel crazy

I refuse to go through

These doors are killing me