We're back to South Texas!

The last two blogs have been spent summarizing 2016 with maps and lists of our favorite places. It was fun reminiscing on the past, but now we're ready to kick back into the present. We stopped in at Denisa's sister's house on our way back to South Texas, where we got to spend the day with another great nephew, Phoenix. Denisa loves holding little boys, and she got a jump-start on his piano training.

At just 18 months, he is a champion soccer player. It's amazing that he hasn't been walking that long, but he is already kicking that soccer ball hard and straight. We had a great time and great weather on our last day in Oklahoma!

But the weather forecast showed cold weather coming, and it was definitely time to head south. We made the 13-hour trip in the car in one day, to arrive back in South Texas just in time. We were celebrating 82 degree weather when we got the report that most of the schools in Oklahoma were cancelled because of all the ice and snow. Instead of being bundled up against the cold, Denisa spent the afternoon at the outdoor pool.

In celebration of that nor'easter cold front that has wreaked havoc in much of the United States, today's post will include the flora we are enjoying here in South Texas. Because they rarely get killing frosts here, many of the flowers that we consider disposable grow here for many years. That also means they grow to huge sizes. A regular potted poinsettia plant can be planted in the ground, to grow into a poinsettia tree.

Another plant that has to be carefully tended in a container in most of the United States, can grow to tree-like status here in the Rio Grande Valley. This beautiful bougainvillea formed a six-foot hedge that is loaded with jewel-like blooms.

The plants around here make Denisa's eyes happy. But her nose is happiest when the citrus trees are blooming. The blooms aren't as showy, but they have one of the sweetest fragrances on this planet. We wish we could package up this smell and send it through the computer to accompany this blog.

On a still day, we can pick up that fragrance just walking by a blooming tree. Denisa will stop in her tracks to just stay in that spot for a couple sniffs before walking on down the street. In fact, she has re-routed her normal walk between the rec hall and our motor home so she gets the most citrus bloom sniffs possible. She braved all the buzzing bees that are also fascinated with the blooms to take this close-up shot. Before you think her courageous, know that her close proximity gave her more whiffs of her favorite perfume.

The average temperature at this time of year is 70 degrees, but it is also common to have days in the 80's in January. After living here for thirty winters, Denisa's Mother knows that cold weather in Oklahoma will often make its way south in a couple days. Sure enough, two days after we heard about the snow and ice closures in Oklahhoma, we were hit by the same cold front. We "enjoyed" unusual days with highs in the 40's. We thought it was interesting to see the local television stations doing news pieces about the frigid conditions that outdoor workers were enduring. We're guessing there are lots of people in outdoor jobs that would relish a day that warm! We even had freeze warnings throughout the Rio Grande Valley--something that hasn't happened in four years! People had to cover their tender poinsettia and bougainvillea plants!