Sunday, November 8, 2009
We woke up this morning to the sight of fog rushing across the southeastern New Mexico plains…not “creeping in on little cat feet,” as Carl Sandburg’s poem suggests, but rolling in quickly and reducing visibility to less than a quarter mile. This kind of fog in our area is unusual, so we grabbed the camera and went outside to document the occasion, taking two shots facing the east, where the early morning sun should have been clearly visible. When the sun finally started breaking through, I took a shot from the east facing Big V and showing the fog-shrouded area behind us.
While I was taking pictures, Barbara was busy getting our Sunday dinner prepared…roast and all the trimmings (potatoes, carrots, onions, and green beans), cooked in a crock pot. Boy…she sure does know how to fix a feast!
With the meal well underway, we got dressed and went to town to attend the morning service at First Baptist Church and then returned to take everything over to Jean’s house to share the meal with her.
The afternoon was a typical lazy Sunday afternoon…we didn’t accomplish anything of note (mainly because we didn’t plan to), but did work in a couple of games of washers before the sun went down. I won’t say who won both games, but Barbara wasn’t as happy as I was when they were over.
Tonight I watched the first half of the Cowboys and Eagles game with Jean while Barbara stayed in Big V to watch her new favorite, Extreme Home Makeover. However, I was so worn out from doing nothing all day that I returned to Big V around 8:00 and Barbara and I called it a day.
Monday, November 9
We managed to stay busy with household chores this morning. After a little straightening around Big V, we went to town and did a week’s worth of laundry. It wasn’t a job we were crazy about doing, but it sure did feel good to get everything back and put away.
I took care of our weekly plumbing chore (dumping the black water tank and hauling the contents off in the honey wagon to pour into the septic tank) while Barbara got cleaned up and dressed to go to lunch. Susie and James are going on a trip this week, so she came to Artesia to work today instead of Wednesday. We had our weekly “lunch bunch” at Chaos a couple of days early and then everyone returned to their work (or, in our case, to Big V to read and take a nap).
This evening I spent about an hour gathering pecans from under one of the trees and then we settled in for a night of TV, with Barbara watching her shows and me going to Jean’s house to watch the Steelers at the Broncos; it turned out to be one of the few games in which the team I was cheering for won…maybe my luck is turning.
Tuesday, November 10
Happy Birthday to James Francis in Hobbs, New Mexico!!!
After waiting out another very foggy morning, we got into the Vibe and headed north to Roswell for a short visit with Carol and Cal. Carol had emailed last night asking if Barbara wanted to join her for a little shopping trip.
While the girls did their shopping thing for a couple of hours, Cal and I stayed at the house and talked. Cal has about a million stories to tell from his growing up days in Artesia, his time in the Navy, and his experiences as a roofer and roofing superintendent for over 40 years.
Barbara: Carol and I began our shopping trek at Sam’s, a place that I always find so interesting since Jim and I don’t have a membership there. It was fun to walk the aisles with Carol and drool over all the food selections available. We even had a sample of some products…yum!
Next, was cheap gas there at Sam’s before heading across the street to Cado’s and Dollar Tree where we just enjoyed having someone else to browse with as we checked out all the “bargains.”
Jim: When Barbara and Carol got back, we unloaded Carol’s purchases and brought them in and then sat down and built some sandwiches for a light lunch. We visited some more while eating and then Barbara and I had to hit the road and get back to Artesia. Unfortunately, we had to leave before brother Jerry was finished sleeping (since he works nights at NMMI, his days and nights are completely reversed from ours), so we’ll just have to schedule a visit with Jane and him another time.
Tonight we just piddled around Big V…baseball season is over, there weren’t any football games, and I didn’t feel like watching any NBA games, so we just made like homebodies.
Wednesday, November 11
Today is Veterans Day, a day set aside to recognize the service of all men and women who served honorably in the U.S. Army, U.S. Navy, U.S. Marines, U.S. Air Force, U.S. Coast Guard, and during times of war, the Merchant Marines. Each veteran, at the time entry to his or her branch of military service, essentially signed a blank check to the citizens of the United States of America with the entry on the amount line reading, “Up To and Including My Life.” Each also swore to uphold and defend the Constitution of the United States of America…they didn’t pick and choose which amendments which best fit their race, gender, or religion; instead, they promised to give their all to guarantee that the full Constitution would continue to provide guidance for freedom and the right to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” for the folks at home.
Whether they were officers or enlisted, whether they were on fulltime active duty or in the Reserves or National Guard, whether they served one hitch or made a career of military service, or whether they served only stateside or in one or more other countries around the world, those men and women served as the protectors of the United States of America and all its citizens; many served under conditions so harsh and grueling that by any standards they would be considered “cruel and unusual punishment” if anyone other than our military personnel were subjected to them. Still, they served and overcame with honor, and all of us are forever in their debt.
All Americans should do more than just observe this day; instead, they should offer up their grateful thanks to God and military veterans (and our current military personnel) for preserving our unique way of life. Thank you to all of our veterans!
We decided this morning that we would drive to Liberal tomorrow to visit Leah, Ryan, and friends up there. With that in mind, this became a major housecleaning day so we could prepare to close Big V up while we are gone. Along with housecleaning, it was also time to do some serious cleaning of the Vibe and get it prepared for travel…lots of activity for both of us.
Thursday, November 12
Barbara: Why is it that when you have something you want or need to do, the call of the pillow seems stronger and getting out of bed is such a chore? This is the way it was this morning. We fully intended to be on the road by 6:00, but our feet didn’t even touch the floor until 6:30! Go figure.
By 8:00 though, we were rolling down the highway with Liberal, KS, in our sights. As the miles passed, we eventually wound up in Farwell, TX, where my Daddy was Methodist pastor for many years. As usual, Jim asked if I wanted to stop by the cemetery where Mom and Dad are buried. This time I felt the need so that’s where we headed.
Each grandchild fondly remembers going to the post office in the mornings to pick up the mail with Paw-Paw; then whipping into the adjacent parking lot of the local restaurant to have their morning “coffee” as Paw-Paw visited with the men of the town. In fact, Leah (my youngest) and Missy Jo (Carol’s youngest who is now with the Lord) used to imagine that when they were older, they were going to live in Farwell and own the restaurant. It absolutely broke their hearts when they found out when Daddy died that the restaurant was closed. Maybe that’s when they hatched their plan to re-open it…I just don’t remember. Anyway, it was a very special memory for all the Daddy’s grandkids who each shared time with him there.
The Methodist Church is on 5th Street which is also the street that the Baptist Church is on. So…just as a side note, I want to share this tidbit of info. Our pastor today in Artesia, Rick Sullivan, was a young man entering the ministry at First Baptist Texico-Farwell when Daddy was in the waning years of his as a Methodist preacher. Therefore, they knew each other…small world, wouldn’t you say?
A trip down 5th Street brought us to the parsonage where Mom and Dad lived during the years they served in Texico-Farwell. Then a loop by the high school brought us to the little duplex where Mom and Dad lived after he retired. Just a little history here for the grandkids…Paw-Paw and Grandma left Farwell and moved to Jal, NM and then later Crane. When Daddy retired from the ministry, he told Mom that she had followed him for many, many years. Now he would follow her…where did she want to live? Mom said Farwell seemed like home so they moved into a duplex right across from the high school. They lived there until they moved down to the valley and became a couple of snow birds.
What a walk down memory lane this was! Thanks, Jim, for thinking of it.
Jim: We left Farwell and continued our journey to Liberal, stopping only at Amarillo for gas and Dumas for a late McLunch before arriving at Ryan and Leah’s house around 5:00.
After unloading the car and moving everything into the house, we visited with Leah a bit (Ryan was out on a job with his Halliburton crew).
Leah had an Odyssey of the Mind team practice tonight, so we used the time to go visit Bill Van Wyhe, our friend whose wife has been diagnosed with terminal cancer. In truth, the primary purpose of the trip this weekend was to see Bill and his family, since the doctors have stopped all treatment for Doris except to try to keep her comfortable.
We were able to talk to Bill for several minutes until a couple of carloads of family members arrived. We shared hugs and promised to keep in touch while we are in town.
From Bill’s house, we drove over to our friends, Shawn and Luz Riggs’ house to see if they were home. Shawn and Morgan (their son who is now a senior) were there, but Luz was still at school. While we waited for Luz to return, Shawn and Morgan got us caught up on their latest news and then Luz filled us in on even more when she returned to the house. Luz heads up AVID, a very successful intervention program at LHS and Shawn teaches and does AVID at South Middle School.
We then returned to the house on Roosevelt and spent the rest of the evening visiting with Leah until our tired minds and bodies ordered us to bed.
Friday, November 13
I got up early this morning and went up to the high school to visit with folks for a couple of hours. It was Friday the Thirteenth, but I knew that any Friday that didn’t include a pep rally couldn’t be all bad, and since all sports were between seasons, pep rallies were out of the question.
Keith Adams (the principal who succeeded me at LHS) gave me the grand tour of the new construction area (four new business classrooms) and the refurbished stadium (artificial turf with markings for both soccer and football, new 8-lane asphalt track, new seats, new concession stand, and lots of paint). It is a beautiful facility.
I also got to visit in several classrooms and see some of the teachers who are still around from the “old” days.
Shortly before 10:00, I returned to the house to get Barbara and we started the next portion of the day. Job One was to find MonDel Anthony and schedule a haircutting appointment. We were both getting shaggy, and MonDel is the only person we trust to get us back in shape.
Ed retired after the last school year and is now a part-time elementary counselor at Tyrone, Oklahoma. He also received some grant money to begin a counseling service for veterans and first responders, and was given office space by a local businessman to begin and build his new project, Whirlwind Career Counseling and Guidance Center.
From Ed’s place, we drove across town to West Middle School, where Barbara taught for 13 years and where Leah is now a special education para-professional. We both have friends who still teach there, and always enjoy visiting. In fact, one of my former band members, Melody (Tatum) Green, is now teaching at WMS, so we made a special visit there to interrupt her class and see how she was doing. (She’s now the resident teacher in Barbara’s old classroom…ahhhhhh…the memories!)
How weird it seemed to me to not only find Leah working at WMS but also a former student, Nicole, who was subbing that day. These girls were strong students (not just academically, but strong-headed, too!) So…I know that when they finish their degrees, they will be awesome teachers!
The bottom left pic is one of Terri Patterson and me. Terri taught 7th LA while I was at West, but she says now she’s doing the ESL routine. She’s quite a versatile educator!
We would have liked to have taken some other photos, but time and opportunity just didn’t mesh.
One awesome moment though occurred while we were in the hallway by the office. Coming from the cafeteria with his lunch bunch was Gary Riffe! I knew Gary had retired, but we lucked out and visited school on a day that he was subbing for a math class. Gary and Sherri have enjoyed some traveling and are now back in Turpin, Oklahoma, so he fills in some for math classes at WMS.
From West, Jim and I went over to the high school to see some other former students who are now teaching at the high school. It boggles my mind to realize just how old I must be since I taught these young adults when they were either in the 7th or 8th grade!
First I had to go to the library to see Charlene, Phyllis and Tyna. Phyllis for years was a nail technician and I paid her weekly visits! Now, though, she is a library para with Tyna. How Charlene could luck out with such a fine crew to keep her in line, is beyond our comprehension!
Charlene and I were together at WMS for 13 years before she moved up to the high school. Also, I taught both of her boys (young men, now) and coached both at different times on Odyssey of the Mind teams. There are very strong ties between our families! So…this seemed to be the perfect place for the photo of her family that she sent to us this week.The photo collage below summaries some of our visits at the high school though I did include another one of Leah and I.
Leah and me (at WMS) in top left photo…
Margaret with Jim and me…she now teaches English. Margaret was in my journalism classes.
Five of my former students who were 8th graders the year I retired were in one classroom Jim and I visited…so I had to capture that moment.
The bottom left is Sean, who I taught in 7th grade language arts. His students told me he was an awesome teacher!
Ted and I outside of his classroom... Ted is also an English teacher and is the brother of Margaret. (I also taught their other brother, George! They are great kids!)
The bottom right photo is Michael, who I taught and coached in Odyssey of the Mind. Michael is teaching honors science while he continues to work on his degree in teaching. Michael is the son of the counselor, Shirley, who I worked with at WMS.
It’s certainly a small world! (The right top photo is of me with the library crew…Phyllis, Tyna, me, Charlene).
The photo below that shows Keith (present principal), me (former principal), and bookkeeper Debbie Gray (our REAL boss).
The lower left picture is of me with Chris Perkins, a really good friend who started teaching at LHS when I did in 1989, and the two remaining photos are of us with Mr. and Mrs. George, who we assisted in their transition from teaching in Botswana to teaching in Liberal, Kansas, USA…quite a story there!
All in all, it was a fun and educational day for us. As Barbara intimated, seeing old friends and fellow teachers is a good thing, but seeing former students who are now teaching is a form of confirmation that we did help positively impact lives along the way. Not only that, we can feel confident that this new generation of teachers will have an even greater impact on their students and they move forward in a much more technically enhanced curriculum than we ever dreamed about.
After all the visiting at school, we had a bite of lunch at a new Mexican food restaurant that had been recommended by students and teachers and then went by KFC to get a bucket of chicken to take to Bill and Doris and their family.
We then returned to Leah and Ryan’s house to rest for a few hours before going over to join Keith and Jill Adams and their family for a delightful evening of fellowship and food. Keith grilled chicken and pork chops as Jill prepared all the trimmings and we sat down to a table laden with delicious goodies. We’ve previously told the story about how we “discovered” Keith and Jill as I was searching for assistant principals after I was named the LHS principal in 2003. What is so nice for us is that we have maintained a very good friendship and camaraderie, even though we are out of the business. Levi, Makiah, and Kaylie were just youngsters when they moved to Liberal, but now Levi and Makiah are both in high school and Kaylie is a third grader and has become very fluent in both English and Spanish. All three kids joined in the conversations as we had a wonderful time visiting and catching up.
There’s not a whole lot to be said about today other than it was probably just a typical Saturday.
We made a trip or two to Walmart to buy some groceries and then came back and did some cooking. I whipped up my recipe of spaghetti sauce for tonight’s meal and Barbara made a couple of desserts to have at the house and to share with Bill’s family.
Bill and I go back together to 1980 when I took the band director job at Perryton, Texas. Bill worked at Brier and Hale Music Store in Liberal and since that was the closest music store to Perryton, those are the folks with whom I dealt; when I moved to Liberal as the band director, I saw him on almost a daily basis.
Barbara taught both of Bill and Doris’s sons, Adam and Nick, at WMS, and I had Adam in band at WMS and LHS. Nick came to the high school while I was principal, and I also worked with Eva, one of their daughters.
Bill is tremendous with the technical part of sound and lighting and was a real god-send to Barbara when she was teaching the media classes at WMS. One of my last acts before retiring from LHS was to hire Bill to handle all the sound and lighting for the LHS auditorium, work with the media classes, and run our in-house television station. I was very proud of that accomplishment as he has meant much to LHS staff and students.
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Later, I watched the Texas Tech game upstairs while Barbara, Leah, and Ryan played a board game and kept an ear turned to the game to hear how it was going.
I did find out later that Artesia won their football game tonight, handily defeating Albuquerque St. Pius in the first round of the playoff series…next stop-Aztec, where the fifth-seeded Bulldogs will meet fourth-seeded Aztec High School next
And that’s pretty much it from us for this week…lots of travel and visiting.
From Liberal, Kansas,
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams
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