The herd of buffalo at 183 and 21 was clumped up together, by the part of the field nearest the road, tonight on my drive home. There are three little cinnamon buffalo babies, where just last week I had only noticed two! They were mingling with the Longhorn in the fading bluebonnet patch, a quintessential Texas scene, in the golden light of the setting sun.

It's been rainy and humid by turns, with more storms likely brewing. The forecast was dismal today, with a big question mark over a dark, raining sky picture, complete with a cartoon cloud blowing wind from its puffed up cheeks, for the next TEN DAYS. Good grief! Certainly it will rain and clear off, they just don't know when. We need the rain, its true. We're pretty close to caught up, if not caught up already, but the water we get now has to sustain us through another long hot summer. This afternoon was suprisingly breezy and sunny, and bordering on hot. I am savoring the lingering spring, now that I have a small taste of what is to come!

I checked the compost and the ants are gone. I did poison them with Amdro, and now I wonder if it was bad to put that in the compost? I have a lot of stuff to put in the compost, since I've been such a bachelor while Charley's been gone, and there is, sadly, rotting food left in the fridge.The compost heap doesn't stink, though, so we must be doing something right with it.

This is my last weekend to putter around by myself and really work on the mermaid costume for my trip to NYC in June. It's almost done, I mostly need to glue some things on more securely. Something to cross off the list! Woohoo! Then I can work on learning to cook in the crockpot, and report on my adventures.

I had a wonderful weekend. I attended a Cinco de Mayo party with the best Fajita spread I have seen in a very long time. I dominated the Bocce Game, and won so many rounds I got bored! Hah! Then I got to introduce a bunch of friends to the game "apples to apples", which is a scream. I was also honored to have guests out on Sunday. Two of my girlfriends, who are going off in different directions for the next large part of their lives, came out to enjoy my solitude with me. We had lots of coctails and giggled and gossiped, and it was a really wonderful day. E is off on her way to South Dakota for the summer to her seasonal parks job, and M is headed back to school - grad school - and both have incredible possibilites out before them. That kind of energy is a real delight to be around. It was one of the easiest, most comfortable afternoons I've spent recently. Lovely.

I'm babysitting tomorrow - an overnighter. O (6) has a kickball game. We're going to be busy. I never knew before spending overnights with the girls, that doing anything besides playing in the back yard, cooking dinner, taking a bath, and going to bed means you're going to be VERY busy and barely get it accomplished with there are small children involved! I get to do the whole gettin' up early and making sure she catches the bus and her sister, D (3) gets to her friend's house for the morning. I love spending time with these kids, who have truly become friends to me over the years, and it is always fun to spend time with your friends. I'm excited about the kickball game. I can't wait to cheer O on. I know she's a bit nervous about this match, and we always have interesting conversations about stuff going on in her life. I hope I can provide some encouragement and insight. She's such a good listener, and conversationalist, and our exchanges always leave a lasting impression on my life, too.

Sounds a little boring, but that's the update on life here at the Butterfly Palace!