Road Trip to Dallas/Sustaining Elder Care – October 2025
/My October trip to Dallas was 4 days rather than 2 because my sisters and I have decided to move my dad to a different memory care facility….and we are exploring our options. More about that in later posts. I visited with my dad the first afternoon I was there and then the next three mornings. He is a morning person just as I am.
The drive from my home to Dallas was a sunny fall day. I made my usual stop at the Texas Welcome Center on US 75…noted the beautyberry there. The high point was a tree I had not noticed before because it was a little further from the path. It was an oak but not the same as the trees near where I park. The lobes were rounded…so a type of white oak. The acorns were huge. I realized that it was burr oak (Quercus macrocarpa)! I picked up an acorn from the ground, and it will become part of my tree table materials!
The day had warmed up enough for my dad to have some quality time out on the patio. Someone had already watered so I just enjoyed talking to him and taking some pictures of the late fall blooms/seeds. All the plants were ones propagated from his last house. I found myself wondering if we would put as much energy into plantings at a new place. My mother always enjoyed the garden more than my dad. He likes getting outside but more for the sunshine and walking than garden views.
We did some rounds of easy physical therapy exercises and worked on a 300-piece puzzle that had been started previously…or rather I worked on it with him saying he couldn’t see well enough but enjoying the feel of the interlocking pieces I put in place. I purchased a 35-piece puzzle that I left for one of my sisters to start with him. Maybe he can do that one by feel. We are realizing that at some point, the puzzles will drop off his activity list.
He wants to wear long sleeved shirts and a quilted vest even though the residence is kept relatively warm. One of the staff people teased that he somehow senses what the outdoor temperature is and dresses for the outdoors!
