May 10, 2009

Backyard visitor

Just before sunset last night my cousin looked out the kitchen window and noticed that three of the cats were sitting in a circle staring at something just outside the fenced back yard. Three of the dogs were just inside the fence, focusing their gazes on the same area. We went out to investigate and found the fellow above, hissing and trying to strike at the cats.

Next door neighbor Tommy has a new handgun he’s been wanting to try out. It did the job. I may never walk outside again, at least until I get a good sturdy pair of snake boots!

[tags]outdoors, snake, moccasin, Texas outdoors, wildlife[/tags]

March 20, 2009

Ennis

My cousin Kim said I needed to visit Ennis before deciding where I want to live. Ennis is one county over, a pleasant drive through rolling hills in farm country.

Kim recommended that I start with the town square, but on my way there I spotted a sign for a visitor’s center and museum, so I stopped there first. Ennis was founded as a railroad town in the later half of the 19th Century, and trains still roll through the town all day every day.

I paid my $2.00 at the old railway ticket window, then Bill donned his conductor’s cap and we began the tour. Bill is 83 years old, legally blind and mostly deaf despite two hearing aids. He’s spry, witty and possessed of an old-world charm seldom seen these days. He jumped the rail in the replica railway office and struck up several “typical working poses.”

One way that railways competed was by providing a fine dining experience for their passengers. The museum features a display of some of the beautiful china that was used in the dining cars.

The scale model replica of the old switching yard is quite impressive. Someone put in a lot of hours building it. Being a rairoad town put Ennis at the center of commerce for this area. Everything from food and farm supplies to lingerie and school books was transported via rail by the turn of the century.

Numerous displays throughout the museum feature antique tools of the trade.

A local railroad buff donated a large collection of scale model trains.

I spent so much time in the museum that I didn’t get to see much of the town. Ah, well - guess I’ll just have to go again another day!

[tags]Ennis, museum, railroad museum, railroad town[/tags]