Back in Texas, The Republic Of.

We made it back to the house on Saturday and found things in surprisingly good shape.  While we did not plan this visit, it will allow us to take care of things such as stowing stuff in the barn which we did not need aboard.  We will replace some of that stuff with other stuff we deem necessary aboard, but may find later that was wrong.  That stuff may well wind up as barter on some Caribbean island. 

 I am closing my business.  As mentioned before, I planned to keep it open but had an epiphany in mid Mobile Bay that it was not worth the effort.  Accordingly, I have put CST Sales, Inc. to sleep permanently. It was very easy to kill off a company of 28 years with just two  state forms.  Wow, all that time, all those road miles and all those business cards, all those trade shows and all those nights away from Bear are now relegated to a few boxes and memories destined to be in a dumpster some day.  Anyone need a brief case or catalog case?  How about a hundred years supply of paper clips?  Look out Mother Ocean, here we come.

This shore leave will be busy.  We now know that a can of pineapple will explode in the pantry.  Thank goodness the freezer did not stop.  We also know mold will grow on a computer screen and the deer cannot eat all the vines that now cover several sidewalks.  Who would ever guess that two inches of garbage in the dumpster actually can make crude in just six months?  We plan to visit family and friends, perhaps attend a high school home coming, visit doctors, dentists and dermatologists and most importantly we plan to VOTE. 
We are healing from the great Tampa adventure and we are already looking forward to climbing back aboard.  Bear renewed her membership in Curves to accelerate the recovery.   This shore leave is, in a way, the most important for getting underway.