Tuesday, July 29
We began getting back in the swing of life in Mineola today. I went to Yantis for the weekly prayer meeting at First Baptist Church and then drove down to Our Little Lot to transfer some things from the house to Big V and mow and trim the lot. Meanwhile, Barbara stayed at the house, did laundry, and had a big meal ready at noon.
We were both tired from the trip and our morning exertions, so an afternoon nap (something that pretty much went by the wayside while we had the grandkids with us in Big V) was high on the priority list.
We received word this afternoon that a former Liberal student that we both taught, Maria Sandoval, had lost her fight with cancer at the very young age of 33. We were heartbroken over this, as we had watched Maria fight valiantly the last couple of years and had hoped and prayed that she would overcome this insidious disease.
For me, it was the second death to cancer of a former student in recent days. Randy Harris, one of my first band students in North Carolina back in 1970, passed away at age 57 after a long bout. It was another grim reminder that cancer is no respecter of age or gender. Our hearts and prayers go out to the families and friends of Maria and Randy.
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Wednesday, July 30
We really were back in the traces this morning. I went out early and spent four hours mowing and trimming the yard and mowing the North 40, which hadn't been touched for a couple of weeks.
Barbara worked inside, first baking a new dessert she had read about, Brookies, a treat made with a fudge brownie mix and chocolate chip cookie dough slices. It's a good thing we have lots of neighbors and friends to share these treat with, because they are definitely not on our diet plan!
While the Brookies were cooling, Barbara turned to putting together a meal that reminded me of the ones the farm wives used to fix when I worked the wheat harvest in Perryton, Texas. We sat down to a meal of slow-cooked pork chops, mashed potatoes and gravy, and salad...Yum-Yum!!!
The trouble with a meal like that is that there are lots of dishes and cooking utensils to wash afterward, but we got everything loaded into the dishwasher that would fit, washed the rest by hand, and had the kitchen clean in time to take a short nap.
After our nap, we went on a visitation spree to hand out Brookies and see friends. Our first stop was across the street to see John and Wanda. Unfortunately, we didn't take the camera with us, so there was no photo of them.
Next, we went to Autumn Winds Assisted Living Center, which is just across the North 40 from us, but you can't get there from here without driving farther than than.
We visited with former next door neighbor Addie Provow, who just recently sold her house and moved to Autumn Winds. Addie broke an ankle just the other day, so she was moving around slowly, but was happy to see us and hear about the Big V trip.
On the other end of the building, we found Jenny Bunn, recently widowed when Elmer, Mother's oldest friend, passed away while we were in Portales in June. Jenny had been in Galveston with one of her sons a couple of weeks ago and is now back and going through all the processes that remain when a spouse passes away. But, Jenny was a very gracious hostess and wanted to know all about our adventures.
As we headed toward our last visitation at Aunt TJ's house, we commented that this must be our day to visit the Widow Ladies, as they are called in these parts. Uncle Harry passed away in November, 2005. Harry's death was the inspiration and impetus for our retirement in June of 2006 when we decided we wanted to visit family and friends at times other than funerals.
While we were at TJ's house, she asked me if I would take the old registration sticker off the front windshield of her car and apply the new one while we were there.
As we left TJ's house, Barbara said that we had one more important stop to make...at Sonic, since we hadn't been there in quite awhile. So, we made the Sonic run and then returned home to rest a bit and have supper.
Later, I drove out to Yantis for Praise Band rehearsal, but found that only a couple of members of the ensemble were there. I figured I just didn't get the memo about cancellation or rescheduling of practice and returned home...where I reread Danette's email and found that I just hadn't read it to the end. Oh, well...if that's the worst thing that's happened this week, it's been a very good week!
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Thursday, July 31
This was supposed to be a housecleaning day, but when we woke up, we were having a terrific thunder/lightning/rain storm, so we just focused (literally) on the wonderful rain that was falling. Barbara grabbed the camera first and began shooting almost as soon as she got up, by which time we had nearly three inches of water in the rain gauge, the street gutters were running like rapids, and the North 40 looked like Lake Edith.
The rain slacked off around 9:00 and we thought it might be done for the day, but then the skies darkened and here it came again, with lots of sound and fury.
We managed to get a few chores done throughout the morning, but nothing like we had planned for the day...working around the rain was just too much fun.
By mid-afternoon, the storm had abated to a few periods of drizzle every now and then and we were able to get outside and observe the landscape. The rain gauge was showing 3.5 inches, a Godsend for a very thirsty Wood County!
With the temperatures in the low 70's and the rain having stopped, we decided that a little wind therapy on Taz was what we needed after being cooped up in the house all day.
There was a large flock of these guys feeding on a rabbit that had made its last hop, but most of them scattered before we could get turned around and stopped to take pictures.
The new (well, relatively new) overpass on U.S. 69 just south of Mineola has some interesting decorative relief figures. Maybe one of these days we can take time to shoot each set individually.
And what's a Taz trip, even a short one, without one of Barbara's patented helmet selfies?
We rode through town and picked up the Loop from U.S. 80 West to try to get some shots of the sun breaking through the clouds, but the clouds ended up winning.
We headed back toward downtown, but this road left us wondering if we were anywhere close to civilization.
We managed to find our way back to the downtown area, but not before discovering some neighborhoods we didn't even know existed. Our next stop was at Sonic, because what's a Taz ride without a Sonic stop?
Before going home, we stopped off to see Ladd and Angela for a few minutes. Ladd has set three old saddles out on his fence and the horses have discovered that they are great for rubbing against. We didn't actually see the horses near the fence tonight, but we took Ladd's word for it.
When we are at Ladd and Angela's property, we feel as if we are miles away from town, even though we are right in the middle of it.
Ladd had never seen Taz lit up for night driving, so we took time to show off the illumination features.
And people wonder why we call it Taz...
We left Ladd and Angela's place and returned home to settle in for the night. The perfect end to the last day of a wonderful month.
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"Be grateful for the home you have, knowing that at this moment, all you have is all you need." - Sarah Ban Breathnach, Author of Simple Abundance
At Home in Mineola,
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams/Gramsy
