Okay, folks, you won't find any native plants or odd critters in this post. Instead, I wish to pay tribute to an old friend of mine–our air conditioning outdoor unit. This morning, I bid farewell to our Rheem compressor, which was dated July 1998. Wow, right? I've lived "with" it since April 2002, when I moved into this home. (James arrived in 2006.) That adds up to more than 20 years!
I remember back more than ten years ago when James and I toyed with the idea of selling and moving. One interested couple came over to tour the house, inside and out. The husband took one look at the outdoor AC and shook his head. "THAT will need to be replaced," he said firmly. Well, as you likely surmised, we didn't sell or move. What's more, we kept the AC. Bless its heart, it kept running and running and running, year after year after year. Until this past March, when we had to have more Freon added, which was a bit of $$. Then more was added earlier this month, which meant more $$. That's when James and I decided not to prolong the inevitable any longer. We especially didn't want to be without air conditioning in blistering July or August and possibly have to wait on equipment to arrive (always iffy in this era of supply-chain woes).
As of this morning, meet our new AC unit, part of an American Standard
heating-and-cooling system installed by the friendly and crew of Will, Blake, Nathan, and Mason with Apache Air & Heat here in Blanco. After the install, owner Stephen Myers came back to inspect their work and answer our last questions. Kudos to Apache!