Rodeo, Robin Calls, & Miscellany

(1) I'm Experiencing the Joys of Tooth-Whitening.

My dentist here in San Antonio was running a special on Tooth-Whitening ($99.00 -- quite a deal, really) so I bit (pardon the pun) and shelled out the cash for it. (Most insurance plans won't pay for bleaching.)

I have to say I'm pretty impressed with the process. First, they make an impression of your teeth; then they make a mold of your mouth so they can make a mold for the bleach solution to sit on your teeth -- a retainer, of sorts.

You have to do the bleaching for 30 minutes a day for 2 weeks. They say after 5 days you have 90% of the whitening you'll ever get. If that's so, I'm very happy with the results. I'm certainly not "American Idol" white, but the difference is noticeable. My teeth actually look white for the first time in a long time. Women return my smile. Children no longer laugh. Babies no longer recoil in fright and shreik in horror.

Yeah, it was worth it. It may have been a silly, narcissitic thing to do, but it was worth it. So now with the full beard, no more glasses, and shiny white teeth, I dunno if anyone will recognize me if I ever get back to Indiana.


(2) It's Finally Springtime in South Texas.

I tell you, these three-week winters are KILLERS! This winter was particularly vicious; it actually got to 28 degrees Twice!

It's funny the little things you notice, or rather, don't notice until they're gone. As I walked out to my car in the pre-dawn dark this morning I heard the a familiar sound I haven't heard in a couple of years. It was a sound of my youth; one of the first bird calls I'd been able to identify in Boy Scouts. A song so clear and common it literally sings of the Midwest. Yet hearing it here in South Texas for the first time, I realized suddenly how much had changed in my life.

It was a Robin's call.

I recognized it instantly, yet just as quickly realized it was completely out-of place here. Robins are a "seasonal" bird here, as they pass through on their way to-and-from Mexico during migration. The call of the Robin in South Texas bookends the coldest part of winter here.

So, strangely enough, the "first Robin of Spring" in South Texas means the same thing here as in Northwest Indiana. We just don't have the pleasure of their company through the Summer months, and I miss them.


(3) South Texas has no County Fair!

Seems almost obscene, doesn't it? Up North in Indiana the year just isn't complete without a trip to the Fair in August. And while lots of the counties around San Antonio have county fairs, Bexar County does not.

It does, however, have a Rodeo.

Rodeo comes the week before Ash Wednesday, and it's just exactly what it sounds like. Calf roping; bull-riding; broncho-bustin' Western goodness.

It costs a ton (about $20.00 a person to get in, and about that for parking, so it's pricey) so we haven't been there yet. But it's been too long since I've smelled that pungent odor of methane from the south end of a northbound cow, so we may well do it this year.

After Easter it's the "Battle of the Flowers" Parade. I'm not sure I can even adequately begin to explain this. Think of it as hispanic Mardi Gras done after Easter instead of before; and throw in lots of Tequila and firearms.

God, how I LOVE this place.