Sunday, July 20 – Saturday, July 26, 2008
Sunday, July 20
Miracle of miracles…we were all up before the alarm went off this morning! By 9:50 a.m. we were all shined up and ready to head out to Rim Rock Cowboy Church, where we met Mother and T.J. Ladd, Angela, and Madeline are out of town this weekend, as are Ernie and Billee; otherwise, the family could occupy an entire row of chairs.
Pastor Larry Mitchell was fired up with a sermon on the identification marks of a Christian. Again, we were delighted at how all aspects of the service - the congregational hymns, the children’s sermon (Little Pards Gathering), and the special music by the youth group – were totally integrated into one very moving service. We love the atmosphere of the church…everyone is so friendly and informal.
Following the service Mother said she’d spring for lunch, so Barbara, Jaycie, and I followed T.J.’s car back to Mineola to a wonderful restaurant where we opted for the Sunday buffet.
After eating our fill (and then some), we went to Mother’s house to start a load of laundry. I went back to Big V to change into some grubby clothes so Barbara and I could tackle a couple more boxes of things in Mother’s garage.
Everything inside the house is pretty well in place, but there was a lot that we moved from Artesia that just didn’t fit in the house, either because of size or style. We’ll eventually have some storage cabinets in the garage so we can get the boxes out of sight behind closed doors, but for now we’re still unpacking things we’ll probably need – particularly kitchenware – and trying to find a logical place for it. I’m not sure how successful we were today, but we did empty three more large boxes, got a closet cleared out so we could stash some pots and pans, and straightened up the remaining boxes so we had some more floor space.
We did take a break from our efforts long enough to drive down to Lindale, about 15 miles, to look through Wal-Mart and Lowe’s for cabinets. We didn’t have any luck with the cabinets, but Jaycie scored some new clothes, so it wasn’t a wasted trip.
Back in Mineola, we went to Big V for some downtime (reading and naps for Barbara and me…computer time for Jaycie) before going back over to Mother’s house to straighten up some of the mess we had made and to finish our laundry.
Beaten down by the exertion, heat (over 100 degrees in the garage), and humidity, we finally called it quits, said good night to Mother, and returned to Big V for our evening meal. Jaycie had some macaroni and cheese that was left over from last night while Barbara and I sampled the salami, sausage, and cheeses that we brought back from Muenster yesterday.
After eating, we went outside to introduce Jaycie to the game of washers. She showed very good form and hit the board a number of times, but still needs practice to learn how to make the washers stick on the board. Still, she scored the first point in each of the two games we played.
Grams and Jaycie teamed up against me and gave me a run for my money, but I had some good throws at critical times (two ringers – one in each 7-point game…not boasting…just reporting the facts in the most unbiased way possible) and won both games by scores that were really not indicative of how close the games really were.
Back inside we had our nightly treat of Big Red ice cream (don’t know what we’ll do tomorrow, since we ate the last of it tonight), worked at the computers, took our showers, and headed for our respective beds after a long, hot day.
Monday, July 21
We took our time getting around this morning…had a late breakfast while we worked at the computers and just piddled around the house.
About 10:00, we got our bathing suits on and gathered everything we needed for a trip to the beach at Lake Hawkins. Barbara made peanut butter sandwiches and packed some chips, bottled water, and Cokes, and we were soon off in the Vibe. After a quick stop at the post office, we headed east on Highway 80 for the short drive to Lake Hawkins County Park.
When we got to the park, we purchased our day pass and drove on down to the beach area. We had the place all to ourselves this morning…a very nice surprise. Just like last week when we went with Cindy, the water was still, warm, and clear…just perfect for swimming, wading, or floating around.
We bought a couple of floats at Wal-Mart last week and Jaycie brought her inner tube from Lubbock, so we were able to just lounge around whenever we weren’t swimming, eating, or taking pictures.
During one of our breaks we got a telephone call from T.J. letting us know that she was able to get an appointment with Dr. Bankhead for Mother this afternoon. There’s nothing wrong, but Mother needs to get her medical records transferred from Artesia, Roswell, and Carlsbad…also needs to get her meds updated. We didn’t expect Dr. Bankhead to be able to see her this early in the week, so we were pleased that she could get the appointment, even if it meant cutting our beach trip short.
We left the park around noon and got back into Big V at 12:30. Barbara and Jaycie played a quick round of washers while I got cleaned up and dressed for the doctor appointment. The girls stayed at Big V while I went with T.J. and Mother.
The doctor’s office business took about two and a half hours by the time all was said and done. Mother had been to Dr. Bankhead when she was down here for a couple of months three years ago and she really likes her. I could see why right after the introductions. Dr. Bankhead has a great sense of humor…it’s obvious that she takes her practice seriously, but she doesn’t take herself seriously…it’s also one of the marks of a really good teacher.
While Mother was getting an EKG, T.J. and I went to the pharmacy to get her new prescriptions; then, it was back to the clinic to pick up Mother and take her back to the house.
Ernie and Billee returned from their journey this afternoon, so I visited with Ernie for a few minutes before coming back to Big V to get Barbara and Jaycie for another trip over to Lake Hawkins.
We weren’t as lucky as we were this morning when we had the whole beach to ourselves. There were several families there, but the area is large enough to accommodate a lot of people, so we just waded in and enjoyed the water and warm sun for about an hour and a half.
We decided that we were just too tired to cook this evening, so our first stop in Mineola was at the Golden Chick. I scored a box of gizzards and livers while Barbara and Jaycie went with the more conservative chicken strips.
Back at Big V we set our places and dug in to the dinner and then sat back and watched one of the DVD’s Jaycie brought, Disney’s Meet the Robinsons. I think we were prepared to watch enough of it for Jaycie to fall asleep and then we would turn it off, but we got more into it as it went along. It’s a really nice film with a great moral to it. If you have young kids and haven’t seen this movie, we recommend that you rent it and watch it with the whole family.
By 9:30 we had finished the movie, made up the couch, Jaycie had called her parents, and we were ready for bed. All three of us were whupped puppies tonight…way too much excitement for a couple of retired folks!
Tuesday, July 22
The day started fairly early for Barbara and me while Jaycie slept in…guess she was really worn out from two trips to the lake yesterday.
We were greeted with Eau de Polecat very early. It seems that at least one skunk has taken up residence in the park (in addition to the RV park, this is also a major city park), and it must have been greatly offended by one of the early morning walkers/runners/bicyclists who turn out before sunup.
Barbara started baking some muffins for breakfast while I went to O’Reilly auto parts store at 8:30 to pick up my new motorcycle battery…the day was already getting better…fresh, hot muffins and motorcycling in the morning…it just doesn’t get much better than that!
I got back to the RV and immediately installed the battery, got everything hooked up and put back together, and took a test ride about eight miles up the Quitman highway. The bike ran beautifully, but I wasn’t pleased to notice that the battery light wouldn’t turn off.
Back at Big V I plugged in the charger to put a trickle charge on the new battery, which is what the salesman said to do in the first place. Unfortunately, that didn’t help the situation. A quick check with a voltage meter showed that the system wasn’t charging the battery. I made a call to the Kawasaki dealer in Roswell and described the situation; he said it was probably a burned out stator, something that would have to be checked and replaced in a shop.
Obviously, that is something that is going to change our plans for the weekend. I was supposed to ride the cycle to Artesia to get the trailer and Barbara and Jaycie were going to meet Cathey in Henrietta. As it now stands, Barbara and I will take Jaycie all the way to Lubbock in the Vibe on Friday and then come back to Mineola.
The rest of the day did get better. We loaded up the car and headed back to Lake Hawkins to spend a few hours. There were quite a few people there, but it was far from crowded, so we had a large portion of the water and beach all to ourselves. It’s a great way to spend a morning, but by noon the overhead sun is unbearable. We finally bailed out, got showered, and were back in the car and headed home by 12:30.
The afternoon was spent running around and getting ready for supper tonight. T.J.’s oldest son, Donnie, and his wife, Lynette, are in town for a visit, a perfect excuse for another cookout and a big meal.
Barbara and Jaycie went downtown to find a special WebKinz doll for Jaycie, but the store was all sold out; so, we made a quick trip to Quitman where we found just what Jaycie was looking for.
Back at T.J.’s house we started in on supper. Barbara made a new recipe (for us) – slick potatoes, a baked dish with layered sliced potatoes, sliced onions, and butter. I had already baked a loaf of honey wheat bread and was busy grilling steaks, so Barbara took over making my green bean recipe and nuking some corn on the cob. In between the food preparations, Barbara and Donnie teamed up against Jaycie and me in a hot (and I do mean hot – 97 degrees outside – game of washers. I guess Jaycie and I were having an off night, because they really took us to the cleaners.
Once the food was on the table and we were all gathered around, we had a wonderful time eating, sharing stories, eating, etc. Around the table were Mother, T.J., Donnie and Lynnette, Ernie and Billee, Jaycie, and Barbara and me (along with Patty and Copper, T.J.’s four-legged children).
After Barbara and I did the dishes and the party started breaking up (it was past Mother’s bedtime, and she told us so), we gathered our things up and headed back to Big V. Donnie and Lynette came by for a few minutes to visit and for Donnie to download some of the pictures we took tonight.
It didn’t take us long to wind down…the heat and humidity are really taking their toll on us. Everyone says it will get better, but we’re not so sure.
We got some interesting emails today.
The first was from Whitney, sharing these pictures of Little Jimmy.
She writes “Jimmy is doing great and trying out new words every day. Lately we've heard 'precious' (what we call our white cat) and 'thank you'. He likes to play in the backyard and run around in the play area at the mall. Everyday brings something new!”
We also received the following from Cathey. We were going to edit it, but couldn’t decide what to leave out, so we just left it as it was. Besides, this will eventually end up in a printed book for all the kids and grandkids, and it’s an interesting slice of family life.
“Well, the bee keeper lady just left from the Colwell house. She got up on the roof and dusted the bee hive that decided the Colwell chimney looked like a nice, shady place to live…….
Just to recap…….we had noticed a few bees in the house periodically which we thought was unusual but hadn’t seen any swarms outside or anything. So we’d just kill them and go on. Well, over the past month they have increased in numbers IN THE HOUSE. When Jim and Barbara were in town this past Friday we were watching a movie and Jimmy and I noticed there seemed to be a lot more than usual and we were all killing bees like crazy in the living room around the windows.
Well, Jim, Barbara and Jaycie left Saturday morning for Mineola a
nd we did our thing the rest of the weekend. Anyway, a friend stopped by for baseball and we got to talking about the bees and Roy suggested we get on the roof and check around the chimney. Well, sure enough a hive had formed at the top edge of the chimney. Jimmy and Roy went to get spray and I took a picture of it.
I went to run an errand and Roy left Jimmy to spray the hive…….He climbed up on the roof and made his way to the hive and started to spray….well, it made the bees mad and they headed towards Jimmy who is now jumping around the roof flailing his arms and trying to get away. He runs to the front of the house and jumps off the roof and rolls around in the
grass. He got stung on his ears and legs and then scraped his leg up. But no broken bones, thank God!!
Anyway, the can said to wait 24 hours. So we wait the rest of Sunday and then Monday. We got to the hospital for my test, come home in the afternoon and that evening we had a few errands to run and then came home. When we came home we walked in the door and I could hear “swarming”…..We went into the living room and there were dozens of bees in the house!!! YUCK!!!
Jimmy goes to kill the ones in the living room, I get the few in the kitchen and get the phone book and look up the bee lady that a friend told us about. Mind you it’s 9:30 at night and I just expected to get an answering machine. Well, an elderly lady answers the phone and I though I had the wrong number but it turned out that I didn’t. She was very sweet and helpful when I told her our situation. I told her we sprayed as best we could but we really were scaredy cats. She said we should be!!! Oh, no!!! She said she would come and look at it and probably would dust the hive because she has a bee suit. (I’m thinking oh my…we’re going to have an elderly lady in a bee suit running around our roof spraying bees)
Well, she came to the house with a helper and got in her bee suit and went up to dust the hive. Well, apparently we didn’t just have honey bees…we had KILLER BEES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you say OH MY GOSH????? Crazy, huh? So a bee keeper and $85 dollars later hopefully the killer bees are no more!!!! She said she’d come back and spray if we even saw one bee. So Jim
my told our neighbors and we’ll see what happens…….
So, now we are the Rodent Hotel a la Colwell!!!! I swear….we had a bad problem with mice….finally got rid of them, then we had red ants in our master bathroom….got rid of them…..then we had possums in the back yard……they finally left….then we had the crazy house squirrel that ended up dead in the chimney (chimney sweep call on that one) and now the bees!!!!!! So, hopefully the hotel is closed for good!!!!!!!! We’ll see……..”
Wednesday, July 23
If, as the t-shirts say, “Life is a Beach,” then we are really living life to the fullest this week. Once again we got moving around and headed out for a morning at Lake Hawkins County Park to enjoy the swimming beach. Don’t take that to mean that we got in a big hurry to get there, but we made it out there around 10:00 to find a nearly deserted setting and the warm, clear water.
Donnie and Lynette joined us later in the morning and Jaycie was almost in heaven with all the attention they gave to her. They are both wonderful with children and doted on Jaycie until we gave them a break to just lie around on the floats for a while.
We stayed at the beach until 12:30, probably much too long for our minimum daily requirement of sunshine. By the time we got back to Big V, I was looking like a broiled lobster and feeling that I could hire myself out as a blast furnace.
After a quick lunch, we retired to our corners to work on computers before Barbara and I went back to take a short nap.
Around 4:00 Jaycie and I went to the grocery store to get the makings for Big Red ice cream. We had voted last night that Mother’s house would be the site for Donnie and Lynette’s “going away party” (they are leaving to return to Birmingham tomorrow morning).
An hour and a half and two freezers of ice cream later, we drove on over to Mother’s house to get ready for everyone. Soon, the house was bustling with family members. Ernie and Billee were there with Mother. We hadn’t been there long when T.J., Donnie, Lynette, and T.J.’s friend Marge arrived. Marge is “family” to Mother and T.J. in much the same way that we are family to the Terpening/Francis clan in Artesia. Angela and Madeline came over a bit later, and then Ladd also joined the bunch…13 of us happily visiting with each other all around the house, and floating from conversation to conversation.
Angela, Madeline, and Marge hadn’t seen the house since we finished putting everything out on display, so they took the grand tour, with Jaycie giving them all the details on the antique hallway. Jaycie and Mother have discussed a lot of history this week, with Mother telling her about her own experiences during the Great Depression, a part of history that Jaycie has been studying since she saw the latest movie about the American Girl, Kit.
We didn’t run out of ice cream, but everyone did finally run out of time, so the party broke up and everyone went their own way. We are so very grateful that Ladd and Angela came to the civic center afterward and hooked our big trailer to their pickup to take it out to their place. We had talked to them about some of our upcoming travel plans and they said they’d be happy to store the trailer until we need it for our Virginia trip in September and October.
A large storm was brewing in the south, so I decided to take the motorcycle over to Mother’s garage. Since Barbara and Jaycie were getting settled in for the night, I called Ernie and he said he’d bring me back. Timing is everything…we got back here just as it started raining.
Jaycie was watching a movie when I got inside, so Barbara and I checked our email and did some work at the computers until we noticed that the Jay Bird had fallen asleep…our cue to shut everything down and go do the same.
Thursday, July 24
This was a big day for us…even turned out to be bigger and more educational than we expected.
Last night Madeline invited us to come out to watch her riding lesson. She competes with show horses and is training a new horse for some of the upcoming competitions. Her teacher sounded interesting enough when Madeline and Ladd were telling us about him, but they were far short in their description.
After checking the directions from Big V to the Dodson Farms, southeast of Mineola, we took off to begin the day’s adventures.
We were beginning to think we had missed the entrance to the farm when we saw the big red barn and the arena that Ladd had told us about. Turning in, we d
rove past the “No Trespassing” sign on the gate (we didn’t see anyone with a gun) and drove up to the arena where we saw an old cowboy standing in the middle of the arena teaching a young man to study a horse’s motions and to control those motions with very slight movements.
Joe Dodson came over and introduced himself to us. We told him that Madeline had invited us out to watch her during her lesson and asked if it was okay if we just hung around for a bit.
Joe was pleased to have someone out there and took pains to explain to us what and how he was teaching Austin (and the horse). As soon as Austin followed Joe’s directions, he had complete control of the horse by making only the tiniest motions with his head or hand. It was really amazing to watch.
Madeline eventually arrived (a few minutes late, but she told us to expect that, and we suspect that Joe did too). When Joe told her which horse she would be working with, she got her, brushed her, and threw the blanket and saddle on her before taking off the halter rope and putting on the bridle and bit.
For the rest of the morning, class was in session as Joe worked with Madeline and two different horses, all the while letting us know what he was having them do, and why. It was amazing to watch the transformation in the characters of both the rider and the horse as Madeline started doing exactly what Joe told her to do.
Once, when Joe saw Jaycie standing beside Austin and the horse he was working with, he told Jaycie to get a chair and climb up on the back of the horse. He didn’t offer to pick her up, and he didn’t tell Austin to pick her up. Joe expects people to learn by doing, something that puts him in the class of master teachers. Jaycie followed his instructions, and with just a little balancing by Austin, was soon sitting proudly astride the horse.
After a couple of hours of lessons, Joe said it was time to take a break and go up to the house for some iced tea. So, Madeline got in the car with us, Austin and four or five dogs got in the pickup with Joe, and we left the arena area to ride up the toad a bit and turn in to the part of the farm where the house is located.
As we sat around drinking tea in the house that Joe built (it’s a beautiful house constructed of wood…Joe built it himself, taking nine months to finish), we got a little more of his history.
Joe Dodson is a bit of a legend in Mineola and East Texas. He graduated from Mineola High School where he studied drama and was active in athletics. His drama teacher left and went to Hollywood. When he was established there and heard of parts requiring someone with great athleticism, he told them about Joe.
Joe gave up the ranching/cowboy business and headed west, where he made a name for himself as a Hollywood stuntman. In fact, he became a regular on Walker, Texas Ranger
, and his house is full of memorabilia from the years he spent on the show. He told us that in Hollywood it isn’t who you know, but who knows you and what you can do. He worked as a stuntman from 1977 until 2000 and then returned to Mineola to buy out the family farm and get back into training horses.
Dodson Farms, now about 200 acres, was established in 1847 and is on the Texas Register of Family Farms for being in continuous service as a family farm since it was established. The house by the arena is the same house in which both Joe and his father were born.
Joe is also one of a relatively few trainers on the list to receive wild mustangs and train them. He explained that he has 100 days in which to train a mustang and then put him up for auction. The mustang that he is currently working with took 36 days before Joe could put a saddle on him. He’s a beautiful animal, and is certain to bring a high price at auction. Joe said he may bid on the horse himself, but if the horse goes for too much, he won’t be able to afford him.
Joe also showed us a small cabin that he built and furnished to use as a guest house. He’s quite a craftsman, doing all of his own woodwork, welding, and blacksmithing.
We told Joe and Madeline that when we were finished this morning, we were going to drive down toward Canton to check out one of the peach orchards and get some homemade peach ice cream. He told us that he had a bunch of peach trees on his place, In fact, he knew they were about ripe, so he went down to the orchard this morning to check them and pick a few. When he got there, he found that someone had come in and stripped every peach from every tree! Believe us, he was not a very happy camper about that. Whoever did that certainly doesn’t want Joe to find out who he is!
After having our tea and getting the grand tour of the place, we told Madeline, Joe, and Austin that we needed to get on down the road. We said our goodbyes and headed back to Mineola where we stopped at McDonald’s for sandwiches for us and a salad for Mother. We went to Mother’s house for lunch and then took off down Highway 80 West to Texas 19, where we found the peach orchard that T.J. had told us about.
Now, we’ll grant you that the ice cream, made from fresh peaches, was delicious, especially on a scorching day like today, but we voted among ourselves that instead of driving 24 miles to get a dish of it, we’d just as soon stay in the comfort of Big V and have a dish or two of our own Big Red ice cream.
Back in town we stopped in at T.J.’s place so Jaycie could say goodbye to her and then went over to Mother’s house to drop off what was left of the peach ice cream and let Jaycie say goodbye to her. With an early start planned for tomorrow morning, this would be the last chance to visit.
We spent the evening straightening Big V and packing, trying to get all of Jaycie’s things together to take back to Lubbock after spending the week with us here in Mineola.
Friday, July 25
This was a travel day, and we DO mean travel. We left Big V at 8:00 a.m., stopped a block away to get some breakfast to take on the road, stopped again in Henrietta for lunch, made a brief stop at a roadside park just east of Benjamin on U.S. 82, and arrived in Lubbock shortly after 3:30.
After taking Jaycie to the house, unloading everything, and visiting with Jimmy Clint and Cathey, we decided that rather than staying and having another 8-hour trip tomorrow, we’d head back until we got tired and then go the rest of the way tomorrow. Our thought was that it was better to have a long day today and a short one tomorrow.
We tested that theory to the limits, as we kept on driving, and driving, and driving. 785 miles and 14 hours after starting the day in Mineola, we were back in Sherman, Texas, only two hours or so from Mineola, but we were too tired to go any farther, so we holed up in a motel for the night (got the last available room) and crashed for a few hours.
Saturday, July 26
Obviously, we didn’t get an early start today…just puttered around until we decided it was time to leave and head south on U.S. 69. We grabbed a couple of Sonic burgers and ate them on the road as we returned to Mineola, a drive of about 2 ½ hours.
When we got to town, we went to the post office to get the mail, went to Big V to unload and unpack, and made a trip over to Mother’s house to let her know we were back in town.
Later, we went back over to Mother’s house so Barbara could fry up some hamburger (way to hot in Big V to tackle that chore tonight), and I went out in the back yard for doggie dropping patrol.
Tonight…kick back and relax in the comfort of our own home…read, and work on the journal.
Oops Department
It seems that no matter how hard we try, we always manage to leave something out of a journal. Fortunately, these things sometimes get called to our attention, and we’re able to rectify them (kind of).
In the Oops Department for this week we’d like to take notice of Carol and Cal Crenshaw, Barbara’s sister and brother-in-law in Roswell, New Mexico, who celebrated their 43 wedding anniversary on July 9. Congratulations and continued best wishes to Cal and Carol!
"Christ is our steering wheel, not our spare tire." 1st Baptist Church, Bells, TX
Alone together in Big V in Mineola, Texas,
Jim and Barbara
Sunday, July 20
Miracle of miracles…we were all up before the alarm went off this morning! By 9:50 a.m. we were all shined up and ready to head out to Rim Rock Cowboy Church, where we met Mother and T.J. Ladd, Angela, and Madeline are out of town this weekend, as are Ernie and Billee; otherwise, the family could occupy an entire row of chairs.
Pastor Larry Mitchell was fired up with a sermon on the identification marks of a Christian. Again, we were delighted at how all aspects of the service - the congregational hymns, the children’s sermon (Little Pards Gathering), and the special music by the youth group – were totally integrated into one very moving service. We love the atmosphere of the church…everyone is so friendly and informal.
Following the service Mother said she’d spring for lunch, so Barbara, Jaycie, and I followed T.J.’s car back to Mineola to a wonderful restaurant where we opted for the Sunday buffet.
After eating our fill (and then some), we went to Mother’s house to start a load of laundry. I went back to Big V to change into some grubby clothes so Barbara and I could tackle a couple more boxes of things in Mother’s garage.Everything inside the house is pretty well in place, but there was a lot that we moved from Artesia that just didn’t fit in the house, either because of size or style. We’ll eventually have some storage cabinets in the garage so we can get the boxes out of sight behind closed doors, but for now we’re still unpacking things we’ll probably need – particularly kitchenware – and trying to find a logical place for it. I’m not sure how successful we were today, but we did empty three more large boxes, got a closet cleared out so we could stash some pots and pans, and straightened up the remaining boxes so we had some more floor space.
We did take a break from our efforts long enough to drive down to Lindale, about 15 miles, to look through Wal-Mart and Lowe’s for cabinets. We didn’t have any luck with the cabinets, but Jaycie scored some new clothes, so it wasn’t a wasted trip.
Back in Mineola, we went to Big V for some downtime (reading and naps for Barbara and me…computer time for Jaycie) before going back over to Mother’s house to straighten up some of the mess we had made and to finish our laundry.
Beaten down by the exertion, heat (over 100 degrees in the garage), and humidity, we finally called it quits, said good night to Mother, and returned to Big V for our evening meal. Jaycie had some macaroni and cheese that was left over from last night while Barbara and I sampled the salami, sausage, and cheeses that we brought back from Muenster yesterday.
After eating, we went outside to introduce Jaycie to the game of washers. She showed very good form and hit the board a number of times, but still needs practice to learn how to make the washers stick on the board. Still, she scored the first point in each of the two games we played.
Grams and Jaycie teamed up against me and gave me a run for my money, but I had some good throws at critical times (two ringers – one in each 7-point game…not boasting…just reporting the facts in the most unbiased way possible) and won both games by scores that were really not indicative of how close the games really were.
Back inside we had our nightly treat of Big Red ice cream (don’t know what we’ll do tomorrow, since we ate the last of it tonight), worked at the computers, took our showers, and headed for our respective beds after a long, hot day.
Monday, July 21
We took our time getting around this morning…had a late breakfast while we worked at the computers and just piddled around the house.
About 10:00, we got our bathing suits on and gathered everything we needed for a trip to the beach at Lake Hawkins. Barbara made peanut butter sandwiches and packed some chips, bottled water, and Cokes, and we were soon off in the Vibe. After a quick stop at the post office, we headed east on Highway 80 for the short drive to Lake Hawkins County Park.
When we got to the park, we purchased our day pass and drove on down to the beach area. We had the place all to ourselves this morning…a very nice surprise. Just like last week when we went with Cindy, the water was still, warm, and clear…just perfect for swimming, wading, or floating around.
We bought a couple of floats at Wal-Mart last week and Jaycie brought her inner tube from Lubbock, so we were able to just lounge around whenever we weren’t swimming, eating, or taking pictures.During one of our breaks we got a telephone call from T.J. letting us know that she was able to get an appointment with Dr. Bankhead for Mother this afternoon. There’s nothing wrong, but Mother needs to get her medical records transferred from Artesia, Roswell, and Carlsbad…also needs to get her meds updated. We didn’t expect Dr. Bankhead to be able to see her this early in the week, so we were pleased that she could get the appointment, even if it meant cutting our beach trip short.We left the park around noon and got back into Big V at 12:30. Barbara and Jaycie played a quick round of washers while I got cleaned up and dressed for the doctor appointment. The girls stayed at Big V while I went with T.J. and Mother.
The doctor’s office business took about two and a half hours by the time all was said and done. Mother had been to Dr. Bankhead when she was down here for a couple of months three years ago and she really likes her. I could see why right after the introductions. Dr. Bankhead has a great sense of humor…it’s obvious that she takes her practice seriously, but she doesn’t take herself seriously…it’s also one of the marks of a really good teacher.
While Mother was getting an EKG, T.J. and I went to the pharmacy to get her new prescriptions; then, it was back to the clinic to pick up Mother and take her back to the house.
Ernie and Billee returned from their journey this afternoon, so I visited with Ernie for a few minutes before coming back to Big V to get Barbara and Jaycie for another trip over to Lake Hawkins.
We weren’t as lucky as we were this morning when we had the whole beach to ourselves. There were several families there, but the area is large enough to accommodate a lot of people, so we just waded in and enjoyed the water and warm sun for about an hour and a half.
We decided that we were just too tired to cook this evening, so our first stop in Mineola was at the Golden Chick. I scored a box of gizzards and livers while Barbara and Jaycie went with the more conservative chicken strips.
Back at Big V we set our places and dug in to the dinner and then sat back and watched one of the DVD’s Jaycie brought, Disney’s Meet the Robinsons. I think we were prepared to watch enough of it for Jaycie to fall asleep and then we would turn it off, but we got more into it as it went along. It’s a really nice film with a great moral to it. If you have young kids and haven’t seen this movie, we recommend that you rent it and watch it with the whole family.
By 9:30 we had finished the movie, made up the couch, Jaycie had called her parents, and we were ready for bed. All three of us were whupped puppies tonight…way too much excitement for a couple of retired folks!
Tuesday, July 22
The day started fairly early for Barbara and me while Jaycie slept in…guess she was really worn out from two trips to the lake yesterday.
We were greeted with Eau de Polecat very early. It seems that at least one skunk has taken up residence in the park (in addition to the RV park, this is also a major city park), and it must have been greatly offended by one of the early morning walkers/runners/bicyclists who turn out before sunup.
Barbara started baking some muffins for breakfast while I went to O’Reilly auto parts store at 8:30 to pick up my new motorcycle battery…the day was already getting better…fresh, hot muffins and motorcycling in the morning…it just doesn’t get much better than that!
I got back to the RV and immediately installed the battery, got everything hooked up and put back together, and took a test ride about eight miles up the Quitman highway. The bike ran beautifully, but I wasn’t pleased to notice that the battery light wouldn’t turn off.
Back at Big V I plugged in the charger to put a trickle charge on the new battery, which is what the salesman said to do in the first place. Unfortunately, that didn’t help the situation. A quick check with a voltage meter showed that the system wasn’t charging the battery. I made a call to the Kawasaki dealer in Roswell and described the situation; he said it was probably a burned out stator, something that would have to be checked and replaced in a shop.
Obviously, that is something that is going to change our plans for the weekend. I was supposed to ride the cycle to Artesia to get the trailer and Barbara and Jaycie were going to meet Cathey in Henrietta. As it now stands, Barbara and I will take Jaycie all the way to Lubbock in the Vibe on Friday and then come back to Mineola.
The rest of the day did get better. We loaded up the car and headed back to Lake Hawkins to spend a few hours. There were quite a few people there, but it was far from crowded, so we had a large portion of the water and beach all to ourselves. It’s a great way to spend a morning, but by noon the overhead sun is unbearable. We finally bailed out, got showered, and were back in the car and headed home by 12:30.
The afternoon was spent running around and getting ready for supper tonight. T.J.’s oldest son, Donnie, and his wife, Lynette, are in town for a visit, a perfect excuse for another cookout and a big meal.
Barbara and Jaycie went downtown to find a special WebKinz doll for Jaycie, but the store was all sold out; so, we made a quick trip to Quitman where we found just what Jaycie was looking for.
Back at T.J.’s house we started in on supper. Barbara made a new recipe (for us) – slick potatoes, a baked dish with layered sliced potatoes, sliced onions, and butter. I had already baked a loaf of honey wheat bread and was busy grilling steaks, so Barbara took over making my green bean recipe and nuking some corn on the cob. In between the food preparations, Barbara and Donnie teamed up against Jaycie and me in a hot (and I do mean hot – 97 degrees outside – game of washers. I guess Jaycie and I were having an off night, because they really took us to the cleaners.
Once the food was on the table and we were all gathered around, we had a wonderful time eating, sharing stories, eating, etc. Around the table were Mother, T.J., Donnie and Lynnette, Ernie and Billee, Jaycie, and Barbara and me (along with Patty and Copper, T.J.’s four-legged children).
After Barbara and I did the dishes and the party started breaking up (it was past Mother’s bedtime, and she told us so), we gathered our things up and headed back to Big V. Donnie and Lynette came by for a few minutes to visit and for Donnie to download some of the pictures we took tonight.
It didn’t take us long to wind down…the heat and humidity are really taking their toll on us. Everyone says it will get better, but we’re not so sure. We got some interesting emails today.
The first was from Whitney, sharing these pictures of Little Jimmy.
She writes “Jimmy is doing great and trying out new words every day. Lately we've heard 'precious' (what we call our white cat) and 'thank you'. He likes to play in the backyard and run around in the play area at the mall. Everyday brings something new!”
We also received the following from Cathey. We were going to edit it, but couldn’t decide what to leave out, so we just left it as it was. Besides, this will eventually end up in a printed book for all the kids and grandkids, and it’s an interesting slice of family life.“Well, the bee keeper lady just left from the Colwell house. She got up on the roof and dusted the bee hive that decided the Colwell chimney looked like a nice, shady place to live…….
Just to recap…….we had noticed a few bees in the house periodically which we thought was unusual but hadn’t seen any swarms outside or anything. So we’d just kill them and go on. Well, over the past month they have increased in numbers IN THE HOUSE. When Jim and Barbara were in town this past Friday we were watching a movie and Jimmy and I noticed there seemed to be a lot more than usual and we were all killing bees like crazy in the living room around the windows.
Well, Jim, Barbara and Jaycie left Saturday morning for Mineola a
nd we did our thing the rest of the weekend. Anyway, a friend stopped by for baseball and we got to talking about the bees and Roy suggested we get on the roof and check around the chimney. Well, sure enough a hive had formed at the top edge of the chimney. Jimmy and Roy went to get spray and I took a picture of it.I went to run an errand and Roy left Jimmy to spray the hive…….He climbed up on the roof and made his way to the hive and started to spray….well, it made the bees mad and they headed towards Jimmy who is now jumping around the roof flailing his arms and trying to get away. He runs to the front of the house and jumps off the roof and rolls around in the
grass. He got stung on his ears and legs and then scraped his leg up. But no broken bones, thank God!!Anyway, the can said to wait 24 hours. So we wait the rest of Sunday and then Monday. We got to the hospital for my test, come home in the afternoon and that evening we had a few errands to run and then came home. When we came home we walked in the door and I could hear “swarming”…..We went into the living room and there were dozens of bees in the house!!! YUCK!!!
Jimmy goes to kill the ones in the living room, I get the few in the kitchen and get the phone book and look up the bee lady that a friend told us about. Mind you it’s 9:30 at night and I just expected to get an answering machine. Well, an elderly lady answers the phone and I though I had the wrong number but it turned out that I didn’t. She was very sweet and helpful when I told her our situation. I told her we sprayed as best we could but we really were scaredy cats. She said we should be!!! Oh, no!!! She said she would come and look at it and probably would dust the hive because she has a bee suit. (I’m thinking oh my…we’re going to have an elderly lady in a bee suit running around our roof spraying bees)
Well, she came to the house with a helper and got in her bee suit and went up to dust the hive. Well, apparently we didn’t just have honey bees…we had KILLER BEES!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Can you say OH MY GOSH????? Crazy, huh? So a bee keeper and $85 dollars later hopefully the killer bees are no more!!!! She said she’d come back and spray if we even saw one bee. So Jim
my told our neighbors and we’ll see what happens…….So, now we are the Rodent Hotel a la Colwell!!!! I swear….we had a bad problem with mice….finally got rid of them, then we had red ants in our master bathroom….got rid of them…..then we had possums in the back yard……they finally left….then we had the crazy house squirrel that ended up dead in the chimney (chimney sweep call on that one) and now the bees!!!!!! So, hopefully the hotel is closed for good!!!!!!!! We’ll see……..”
Wednesday, July 23
If, as the t-shirts say, “Life is a Beach,” then we are really living life to the fullest this week. Once again we got moving around and headed out for a morning at Lake Hawkins County Park to enjoy the swimming beach. Don’t take that to mean that we got in a big hurry to get there, but we made it out there around 10:00 to find a nearly deserted setting and the warm, clear water.
Donnie and Lynette joined us later in the morning and Jaycie was almost in heaven with all the attention they gave to her. They are both wonderful with children and doted on Jaycie until we gave them a break to just lie around on the floats for a while.
We stayed at the beach until 12:30, probably much too long for our minimum daily requirement of sunshine. By the time we got back to Big V, I was looking like a broiled lobster and feeling that I could hire myself out as a blast furnace.
After a quick lunch, we retired to our corners to work on computers before Barbara and I went back to take a short nap.
Around 4:00 Jaycie and I went to the grocery store to get the makings for Big Red ice cream. We had voted last night that Mother’s house would be the site for Donnie and Lynette’s “going away party” (they are leaving to return to Birmingham tomorrow morning).
An hour and a half and two freezers of ice cream later, we drove on over to Mother’s house to get ready for everyone. Soon, the house was bustling with family members. Ernie and Billee were there with Mother. We hadn’t been there long when T.J., Donnie, Lynette, and T.J.’s friend Marge arrived. Marge is “family” to Mother and T.J. in much the same way that we are family to the Terpening/Francis clan in Artesia. Angela and Madeline came over a bit later, and then Ladd also joined the bunch…13 of us happily visiting with each other all around the house, and floating from conversation to conversation.
Angela, Madeline, and Marge hadn’t seen the house since we finished putting everything out on display, so they took the grand tour, with Jaycie giving them all the details on the antique hallway. Jaycie and Mother have discussed a lot of history this week, with Mother telling her about her own experiences during the Great Depression, a part of history that Jaycie has been studying since she saw the latest movie about the American Girl, Kit.We didn’t run out of ice cream, but everyone did finally run out of time, so the party broke up and everyone went their own way. We are so very grateful that Ladd and Angela came to the civic center afterward and hooked our big trailer to their pickup to take it out to their place. We had talked to them about some of our upcoming travel plans and they said they’d be happy to store the trailer until we need it for our Virginia trip in September and October.
A large storm was brewing in the south, so I decided to take the motorcycle over to Mother’s garage. Since Barbara and Jaycie were getting settled in for the night, I called Ernie and he said he’d bring me back. Timing is everything…we got back here just as it started raining.
Jaycie was watching a movie when I got inside, so Barbara and I checked our email and did some work at the computers until we noticed that the Jay Bird had fallen asleep…our cue to shut everything down and go do the same.
Thursday, July 24
This was a big day for us…even turned out to be bigger and more educational than we expected.
Last night Madeline invited us to come out to watch her riding lesson. She competes with show horses and is training a new horse for some of the upcoming competitions. Her teacher sounded interesting enough when Madeline and Ladd were telling us about him, but they were far short in their description.
After checking the directions from Big V to the Dodson Farms, southeast of Mineola, we took off to begin the day’s adventures.
We were beginning to think we had missed the entrance to the farm when we saw the big red barn and the arena that Ladd had told us about. Turning in, we d
rove past the “No Trespassing” sign on the gate (we didn’t see anyone with a gun) and drove up to the arena where we saw an old cowboy standing in the middle of the arena teaching a young man to study a horse’s motions and to control those motions with very slight movements.Joe Dodson came over and introduced himself to us. We told him that Madeline had invited us out to watch her during her lesson and asked if it was okay if we just hung around for a bit.
Joe was pleased to have someone out there and took pains to explain to us what and how he was teaching Austin (and the horse). As soon as Austin followed Joe’s directions, he had complete control of the horse by making only the tiniest motions with his head or hand. It was really amazing to watch.
Madeline eventually arrived (a few minutes late, but she told us to expect that, and we suspect that Joe did too). When Joe told her which horse she would be working with, she got her, brushed her, and threw the blanket and saddle on her before taking off the halter rope and putting on the bridle and bit.
For the rest of the morning, class was in session as Joe worked with Madeline and two different horses, all the while letting us know what he was having them do, and why. It was amazing to watch the transformation in the characters of both the rider and the horse as Madeline started doing exactly what Joe told her to do.Once, when Joe saw Jaycie standing beside Austin and the horse he was working with, he told Jaycie to get a chair and climb up on the back of the horse. He didn’t offer to pick her up, and he didn’t tell Austin to pick her up. Joe expects people to learn by doing, something that puts him in the class of master teachers. Jaycie followed his instructions, and with just a little balancing by Austin, was soon sitting proudly astride the horse.
After a couple of hours of lessons, Joe said it was time to take a break and go up to the house for some iced tea. So, Madeline got in the car with us, Austin and four or five dogs got in the pickup with Joe, and we left the arena area to ride up the toad a bit and turn in to the part of the farm where the house is located.As we sat around drinking tea in the house that Joe built (it’s a beautiful house constructed of wood…Joe built it himself, taking nine months to finish), we got a little more of his history.
Joe Dodson is a bit of a legend in Mineola and East Texas. He graduated from Mineola High School where he studied drama and was active in athletics. His drama teacher left and went to Hollywood. When he was established there and heard of parts requiring someone with great athleticism, he told them about Joe.
Joe gave up the ranching/cowboy business and headed west, where he made a name for himself as a Hollywood stuntman. In fact, he became a regular on Walker, Texas Ranger
, and his house is full of memorabilia from the years he spent on the show. He told us that in Hollywood it isn’t who you know, but who knows you and what you can do. He worked as a stuntman from 1977 until 2000 and then returned to Mineola to buy out the family farm and get back into training horses.Dodson Farms, now about 200 acres, was established in 1847 and is on the Texas Register of Family Farms for being in continuous service as a family farm since it was established. The house by the arena is the same house in which both Joe and his father were born.
Joe is also one of a relatively few trainers on the list to receive wild mustangs and train them. He explained that he has 100 days in which to train a mustang and then put him up for auction. The mustang that he is currently working with took 36 days before Joe could put a saddle on him. He’s a beautiful animal, and is certain to bring a high price at auction. Joe said he may bid on the horse himself, but if the horse goes for too much, he won’t be able to afford him.
Joe also showed us a small cabin that he built and furnished to use as a guest house. He’s quite a craftsman, doing all of his own woodwork, welding, and blacksmithing.
We told Joe and Madeline that when we were finished this morning, we were going to drive down toward Canton to check out one of the peach orchards and get some homemade peach ice cream. He told us that he had a bunch of peach trees on his place, In fact, he knew they were about ripe, so he went down to the orchard this morning to check them and pick a few. When he got there, he found that someone had come in and stripped every peach from every tree! Believe us, he was not a very happy camper about that. Whoever did that certainly doesn’t want Joe to find out who he is!After having our tea and getting the grand tour of the place, we told Madeline, Joe, and Austin that we needed to get on down the road. We said our goodbyes and headed back to Mineola where we stopped at McDonald’s for sandwiches for us and a salad for Mother. We went to Mother’s house for lunch and then took off down Highway 80 West to Texas 19, where we found the peach orchard that T.J. had told us about.
Now, we’ll grant you that the ice cream, made from fresh peaches, was delicious, especially on a scorching day like today, but we voted among ourselves that instead of driving 24 miles to get a dish of it, we’d just as soon stay in the comfort of Big V and have a dish or two of our own Big Red ice cream.
Back in town we stopped in at T.J.’s place so Jaycie could say goodbye to her and then went over to Mother’s house to drop off what was left of the peach ice cream and let Jaycie say goodbye to her. With an early start planned for tomorrow morning, this would be the last chance to visit.
We spent the evening straightening Big V and packing, trying to get all of Jaycie’s things together to take back to Lubbock after spending the week with us here in Mineola.
Friday, July 25
This was a travel day, and we DO mean travel. We left Big V at 8:00 a.m., stopped a block away to get some breakfast to take on the road, stopped again in Henrietta for lunch, made a brief stop at a roadside park just east of Benjamin on U.S. 82, and arrived in Lubbock shortly after 3:30.
After taking Jaycie to the house, unloading everything, and visiting with Jimmy Clint and Cathey, we decided that rather than staying and having another 8-hour trip tomorrow, we’d head back until we got tired and then go the rest of the way tomorrow. Our thought was that it was better to have a long day today and a short one tomorrow.
We tested that theory to the limits, as we kept on driving, and driving, and driving. 785 miles and 14 hours after starting the day in Mineola, we were back in Sherman, Texas, only two hours or so from Mineola, but we were too tired to go any farther, so we holed up in a motel for the night (got the last available room) and crashed for a few hours.
Saturday, July 26
Obviously, we didn’t get an early start today…just puttered around until we decided it was time to leave and head south on U.S. 69. We grabbed a couple of Sonic burgers and ate them on the road as we returned to Mineola, a drive of about 2 ½ hours.
When we got to town, we went to the post office to get the mail, went to Big V to unload and unpack, and made a trip over to Mother’s house to let her know we were back in town.
Later, we went back over to Mother’s house so Barbara could fry up some hamburger (way to hot in Big V to tackle that chore tonight), and I went out in the back yard for doggie dropping patrol.
Tonight…kick back and relax in the comfort of our own home…read, and work on the journal.
Oops Department
It seems that no matter how hard we try, we always manage to leave something out of a journal. Fortunately, these things sometimes get called to our attention, and we’re able to rectify them (kind of).
In the Oops Department for this week we’d like to take notice of Carol and Cal Crenshaw, Barbara’s sister and brother-in-law in Roswell, New Mexico, who celebrated their 43 wedding anniversary on July 9. Congratulations and continued best wishes to Cal and Carol!
"Christ is our steering wheel, not our spare tire." 1st Baptist Church, Bells, TX
Alone together in Big V in Mineola, Texas,
Jim and Barbara
