LOOKING BACK
September, 2006
In 2006, our journal project was still in its infancy. We were still compiling emails and editing them into a weekly journal format. That format, unfortunately, limited the number of photos/collages that we could post because of the JPEG sizes.
Following is a segment from our September, 2006 journal. We had traveled from Artesia, New Mexico, to the Richmond, Virginia area to see son Mike.
Days 15 and 16---September 3 & 4, 2006…Sunday and Monday
Time has flown and so have we, at
least it feels that way! For Sunday lunch I fixed all of the “Southern” recipes
I received in Palestine,
cranberry pork loin, chicken and dressing, etc. It was quite a meal, even if I
do say so myself. This caused us to be rather late leaving the house (Big V)
for our daily adventure, but we definitely got one. I’ll explain more on that
later. Since Candi had her car and would be heading back to Virginia
Beach later, she and Michael drove into Richmond in her vehicle, while Jim drove the
two of us in Michael’s. (Did I tell you that we left the cycle at Michael’s on
the 14th? Well…we did.)
Anyway, our destination was the
Canal Walk in downtown Richmond…just visualize
the Riverwalk in San Antonio…just
a little more historic, bathed in Civil War history. Since one of Mike’s
roommates works at the Canal Walk, we didn’t have to pay to take the boat tour,
which was nice. (Nice that we didn’t have to pay and a nice trip!) Did you know
that Leonardo DaVinci’s design for a moveable bridge was constructed as a
railroad bridge across one of the Richmond
canals?
On the boat tour, the guide pointed
out a place where they had an exact replica of the box that a slave, somebody
Henry, hid in when he had himself shipped to Philadelphia to escape his master. It was a 3’x2’
box and he weighed over 200 pounds! Only problem though was that they didn’t
mark “This side up” on the box, so he wound up being on his head at first.
Thankfully, the trip was so rough, he was able to turn the box on his side; but
even then, he was on the brink of death when he finally arrived in Philadelphia. His friends
quickly took him to a doctor and eventually he recovered. We are so spoiled and
complacent about our freedom…can you imagine wanting something so badly that
you’d allow yourself to be boxed up like that? The story touched me so I asked
if the others minded walking to see it. No problem…so we did. It was totally
awesome, because they made the replica in such a way that you can enter it
yourself and see what it must have been like, except, you didn’t have to have
the final side put in place. They also outlined his shape for you to see!)
Candi was the only one who didn’t want to crawl in and get the “feel.” If I can
remember when I email this, I’ll send a photo of me in the box…
Next on our journey was an
extension of the Canal Walk several miles away…we drove! This area was the
bridge that overlooked the James River and
several small islands. With the heavy rains, the James was running rapidly.
This bridge has quite a few iron planks that have been engraved with quotes
about the burning of Richmond
during the Civil War. (When the Union troops were approaching Richmond, the
Confederates decided to burn all the bridges…only problem is that the fires got
out of control and spread to ammunition warehouses causing the whole city to
burn…oops!).
We were enjoying the view when we
realized that there were 3 kids way out in the James on a rock. Not being
familiar with the place, none of us thought too much about it until we heard
the sirens and saw fire trucks, police cars, and ambulances pull up. I was
standing by a woman who filled me in with the scoop. Here’s her take…She had come out to the
bridge to just get away from her troubles, to think, to find peace; and what
did she get…3 stupid kids (one who couldn’t have been more than 5 or so) who
interrupted all of that by riding a paddle boat down the river, over the
rapids, and the waterfall. They did make it through, but then two of them fell
overboard but were able to climb onto one of the rocks. When the 3rd one tried
to get close enough to get the other 2 off the rock, she wound up in the water
and the boat sailed on down the river alone. Now all of these rescue workers
have to find a way to get them out without killing themselves. She had just
grounded her 13 year old son for 2 months when she had caught him out here
swinging on a rope someone had tied to one of the bridges. These kids just
don’t understand that you can die in this river! Every year someone dies doing
something stupid like that. Etc., etc. etc. Now her peaceful day has been
ruined, but she guessed she’d just stay and watch.
I’d like to tell you the end of the
story, but I can’t. We left, but not before I took a pic of the rescue workers
heading out in a boat to try to get the kids.
Candi headed back to Virginia Beach and we
drove over to Mike’s to feed Rex the rabbit. Rex is Mike’s girlfriend Kelly’s
pet, and he is baby-sitting it while she’s out of town. Eventually we got back
to Big V and called it a night after Mike and Jim watched Lost in America.
September 4, 2006
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September, 2020
September 1 - September 30
This month marks two significant anniversaries for us. In September, 1966, 54 years ago, Barbara began a 37-year teaching career in Odessa, Texas. Other assignments were at several schools in Lubbock, and she finished her career in June, 2006, at West Middle School in Liberal, Kansas. Her teaching assignments included kindergarten, 1st grade, second grade, third grade, fifth grade, sixth grade, seventh and eighth grade language arts, media, and journalism, and coaching Odyssey of the Mind teams to 13 OM World Finals Competitions.
We were younger then...and fashions were__________________(Fill in the blanks)
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Wednesday, September 2
We don't know whether the first day of a month are a portent of what's to come, but if so, Wood County is going to be a giant lake in a couple of weeks.🤣🤣🤣
4.1 inches of rain fell on Mineola today. We didn't get much accomplished, but the lawn and all the new flowers and plants seemed to enjoy just soaking up the rain.
This afternoon we went shopping for food items to donate to the church pantry for youth group meals on Wednesdays. It's amazing how 35+ kids can put away the chow!
For the program tonight, we presented Jimmy Clint's story of losing so much of what he treasured in life, but finding the most important thing, his Lord and Savior, while he was serving a jail sentence, Sadly, Jimmy didn't get the opportunity to pursue his dream of talking to high school and middle school kids about the dangers of alcohol addiction and the difficulty of overcoming it, so we have taken his story and turned it into a mission to talk to students and adults..
We've talked to a lot of kids over the years, but never had a more respectful and attentive group (kids and adults) than we experienced tonight.
The COVID pandemic has played havoc with entertainment this year, but the historic Select Theater in Mineola (the oldest continuously operating theater in Texas) has managed to secure some "moldy-oldie" films for special showings. Tonight we joined friends Karen and Jeanetta for dinner at Cowburners, and a movie...Viva Las Vegas, starring Elvis Presley and Ann Margaret.
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Thursday, September 3
Today we joined a group of East Texas Patriot Guard Riders to honor and pay tribute to a fallen American Hero at Cathedral of the Pines in Tyler. And, no, Jim didn't sound Taps while wearing a mask. That shot was staged to send to a friend of ours who is always asking where our masks are.
Tuesday, September 8
Today we were blessed to have our good friend Heidi not only come to visit, but to prepare a special luncheon for us. We first met Heidi a number of years ago when she was the pastry chef at the Georgia Baptist Conference Center in Toccoa, Georgia, and we were volunteers in the kitchen. Heidi and her family moved to Lindale several years ago and while we don't get to see each other as often as we'd like, the times we share are quality times.
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Thursday, September 10
Today was so beautiful we had no choice but to get outside and work on the yard and flower beds. Days like this are to be enjoyed and treasured!
The good weather and good times continued this evening as we put on our riding gear and took Taz for a ride around the county, ending up at Danny and Janice's place in Quitman before riding home in the dark.
Friday, September 11 and Saturday, September 12
We wrapped up the week with two days of honors missions. On Friday we joined a large contingent of East Texas Patriot Guard Riders as we escorted Medal of Honor recipients from Tyler Pounds Airport to downtown Tyler for their participation in the annual 9/11 events.
On Saturday we drove to Sulphur Springs to sound Taps and provide final military honors for a fallen American hero.
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Sunday, September 13 - Wednesday, September 16
These days were filled with non-newsworthy, non-photographic activities...church, Bible study, numerous doctor and pharmacy visits (no emergencies...it's that everything just happened all at once), and special projects that needed our attention.
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Thursday, September 17
Two big "Little" events today. First, Happy 15th Birthday to Grandson Kaiden!!! And second, we loaded the car for a short get-away from the quarantine routine. Our destination...Fredericksburg, Texas. We've always heard about it, and now is the time to find out for ourselves.
Now, a "Little" known fact about Texas is that there is a state law (or at least there should be) that when one drives in the vicinity of a Buc-ee's travel stop, one must stop and make at least one purchase. We didn't want to run afoul of the law today, so we stopped and did what seemed right and proper (well, "proper" might not really fit us, but you know what we mean...🤣
Our next stop was around lunchtime as we arrived at Marble Falls. We didn't want the usual travel "junk food," but didn't know what we wanted until we saw the sign for the Simply Pho House, a Thai restaurant that more than exceeded our desires. We measure Thai food by the grand standard of Thai Too on Cary Street in Richmond, Virginia, and Simply Pho House measured up to the standard.
As we approached Fredericksburg, we saw signs for the Texas Rangers Museum and Hall of Fame. It was getting close to closing time, but we wheeled in to see what it was all about...and it was about a lot of major Texas law enforcement. If you are in the Fredericksburg area, this is a must-stop museum!
We got settled in at our hotel and then went out for some sight-seeing and a visit with Kim, a former girlfriend of Jimmy Clint back in the day.
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Friday, September 18
Today was another travel day to our destination in San Antonio, but first we visited the Museum of the Pacific War in Fredericksburg (another must-see historical site), where Barbara spent more time visiting with Kim while I explored the grounds.
No trip to South Central Texas is complete without a stop at the bustling metropolis (population 5) of Luckenbach. All we knew about Luckenbach prior to today was what we heard from Waylon and Willie, but that changed this morning when we turned in to the narrow road leading to the building and grounds (after blowing past the lane and having to turn around a couple of miles down the road to come back to it.
For such a small place, Luckenbach is one of the most picturesque sites we've visited, and we could only imagine hundreds of motorcyclists converging here for a rally or concert (which, by the way, is still on our bucket list).
Our stop also included a short visit with Charlie, daughter-in-law Carol's brother, who works there.
And then we were off to San Antonio to visit John and Carol and their family (and mainly to have an early birthday visit with Peyton).
Here's Jim, John, Rhett, and Bowman...
Barbara, Carol and Randi...
A day in the life...
Peyton and her birthday entourage...
The star of the show...
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Sunday, September 20
A l-o-n-g day of driving from San Antonio back to Mineola...arrived in time for the Sunday night service and monthly business meeting at New Hope Baptist Church.
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Monday, September 21 - Friday, September 25
Just another week in Our little Life...doctor visits, housekeeping chores, yard work, grocery stores, etc.
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Saturday, September 26
Tomorrow will be the big Law Enforcement, Fire Fighters, and First Responders recognition day at New Hope Baptist Church...and everyone knows that also means a big meal for our invited guests, so we spent today preparing our signature trifles for dessert. Granted, our kitchen space is too small for the two of us to work together most of the time, but it worked out quite well today as we built five trifles. Luckily for our guests, church desserts don't have calories, so they will be able to eat as much as they want🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣
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Sunday, September 27
It was an honor for us to be able to join our church family for this very special day of honoring our area Law Enforcement officers, Fire Fighters, and First Responders for their service to Mineola and Wood County residents.
Barbara and Jean Mabe were in charge of the special handouts to our guests, Jim sang in a trio, and we were deeply indebted to fellow Patriot Guard Rider, Frank Palmer for making the special dog tags that were handed out to our guests.
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Wednesday, September 30
We closed out the month with a Taz ride to the northern part of Wood County to deliver personal trifles to several of our widow friends from Yantis First Baptist Church. It is always a pleasure to visit with these sweet ladies!
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“That old September feeling, left over from school days, of summer passing, vacation nearly done, obligations gathering, books and football in the air...Another fall, another turned page: there was something of jubilee in that annual autumnal beginning, as if last year's mistakes had been wiped clean by summer.”
Wallace Stegner, Angle of Repose
Singing our own September Song at home in Mineola, Texas
Jim/Dad/Gramps and Barbara/Mom/Grams/Gramsie
