"I don't know why I'm not gray..."

This guy has been my son for 39 years now. I don't know why I am still surprised when he does things that scare me half to death. Bungee jumping, dirt bike riding (photo at left), scuba diving, jet skis... He's always involved in something that should turn my hair gray! He has two children now, and I was beginning to think I could relax. His call from Arizona last week telling me the following "little tale" assures me my days of worrying for his safety are not over.

When he told me about his adventure, I was getting confused. I said, "Why don't you write about it, Matthew?" He hesitated, then told me he already had. Seems he subscribes to a blog for off-road riders, either on motorcycles or 4 wheel drive vehicles. He had asked them about good roads to go off road on while he was on a business trip to Prescott, as he had some time to kill and decided to explore the mountains around Jerome. For some reason, he didn't rent a 4 wheel drive Jeep as he planned. But the weather was beautiful when he started out, as you can see in the first photo. (TER COTHRAN, it's a good thing you were tied up with family that weekend, or you might have shared this experience!) He made me promise not to leave a comment on the off-road blog (like, Oh, my gosh Matthew, you could have been killed!). I promised.

I got his permission to put this on our blog. And I was the mother who was scared when he was scuba diving with sharks and giant stingrays all over the Caribbean! He sent beautiful underwater pictures from those expeditions.

"I found FR413. Unfortunately, 2wd Chevy Trailblazers, serious thunderstorms, 6300' elevations, rockslides and mud do not mix.

When I got almost to the top, I was surrounded by serious storms, 40mph winds, rain and more rain. I was screwed. The road had started to wash out and I was losing traction. A 3 ft boulder came tumbling down, bouncing like a super ball about five yards in front of me as I approached the top of the pass. My rental 2wd was pelted with pea and golf ball size rocks.

I will never forget that image of the boulder bouncing down the hill, thinking of the damage that it could have done to me and the rental.

I gassed it as there was no place to turn around and I could see blue skies in the distance.

Then I saw this:

No place to turn around. After I backed out of the slot, there was a wall on one side and 1000'+ drop on the other. And it was steep and muddy and raining cats and dogs.

I had to back out about a half a mile to find a place that I could "barely turn around". I had to inch up to the drop off and then pull forward to the wall several times until I was pointed back down. I would get out of the truck each time to judge my distance to the drop. I was concerned with getting stuck and the side of the road collapsing sending me over the edge.

Remember the 3ft boulder from my trip up the pass? Now, the road back down (where I had just come from), was completely blocked from the rock slides. I got out of the truck and could hear the rocks still falling around me and it was still raining like no tomorrow.

I was trapped. Nowhere to go, up or down. Rocks falling all around me, on the side of a mountain in a thunderstorm.

I was ready to abandon the truck and call 911 for help. I grabbed my cell phone. No coverage. I was thinking about waiting the storm out (I had enough water and snacks to last a few days), but I was not comfortable with the thought of riding a landslide off the side of the mountain.

I kept thinking about my wonderful kids and wife. And how long it would take for someone to find me.

I got out of the truck and somehow managed to clear a path through the landslide. I would not be surprised if I did not move a rock that weighed at least 300 pounds. It kept rolling and bouncing all the way down. I could not see it hit the bottom because of the clouds, but I could still hear it crashing for what seemed like an eternity.

I made it back down to Jerome and then to Prescott, and I am currently sitting in my hotel room nursing a six pack.

I am flying home tomorrow and had a route picked out that would take me to Crown King and then down in to Phoenix. I'll stick to the pavement for the rest of this trip.

Somewhere on the mountain. (At right)

Note the water running next to the wall.




A ghost town/old mine on the way up. (Below) I would like to have spent some time here."

~ Matthew Rider

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MIKE FOY correctly identified his old homeplace on the blog. This is what he wrote:

"Thanks for placing one of my favorite places (and bountiful memories) ever. A two bedroom house with an extremely small bathroom served my brother, mother and daddy well for twenty one years before I left for Lubbock and met my soulmate. The house used to have two large Juniper trees in front of the porch and I remember my dad on one particular night was sitting on the porch smoking a cigar and waiting on me to return from a location he was not aware of. I was famous for that, although not very bright of me. I was at the time in love with PEGGY VIRDEN. She and Barbara Gleghorn had gone to a revival at the First Baptist Church and PEGGY had asked me if I would meet her after the service and walk her back to Barbara's house. My father was not aware that I was out of the yard, much less six or seven blocks away waiting on my girlfriend to exit the church.

To bring you up to date on one little segment of this story, I was not the most studious classmate that exited Ballinger High School and my parents put a curfew, if you will, on me going somewhere on school nights. You guessed it, this particular night was a school night.

The revival lasted longer than I anticipated and I knew that I was going to be in deep trouble, just didn't know how bad. To make this a shorter story, when I did finally return my father was still on the front porch waiting for me to show up. I could hear him breathing hard as I passed through those Junipers and that was when he came to life with some choice words and planted a number ten shoe right in the appropriate place to make an impression. Lots of memories in that house on 9th Street. Even remember the phone number. (8191) Maybe someday I will tell you some stories about our hardware store that we had in the early 50s. Love your Blog.” ~ MIKE FOY

The following was sent by CHARLES FIKES:

“I was thinking of something to help IRENE in someway as she goes through some tough times. I thought of the following that happened just a couple of weeks ago.

My youngest granddaughter, Katelyn (four), was staying with her grandmother when the following happened. Grandmother was trying to get her CD player to work and was getting frustrated because it would not cooperate. Katelyn, seeing this, said to her Grandmother, ’Come and let's pray about it.’ They bowed their heads and Katelyn said the following prayer, ‘I wish I may I wish I might have this wish I wish tonight. Dear God, let Grandmother fix her CD player.’ Sure enough, Grandmother got the CD player to work shortly thereafter.

So, if God will answer a simple prayer from a four year old, surely he will answer ours and heal IRENE. Our prayers will be with IRENE during this difficult time.”~ CHARLES FIKES

I have spoken with IRENE's daughter Amy at least once a day since the surgery. I don't think any of us really understand the complexity of the surgery IRENE had, nor the difficult recovery she is going through. At first, she was extremely anxious when awaking in ICU with so many tubes running in and out of her. At one point her pulse was so fast that the Resident thought she might have had a mild heart attack. Thank goodness, that was not the case.

Due to the length (11 hours) and difficulty of her surgery, the swelling prohibits her from speaking, swallowing, or breathing through her mouth or nose. She's assisted by a temporary tracheotomy. She is communicating with Amy by way of a dry eraser board and markers.

Yesterday, Amy said IRENE was frustrated at not being able to speak, and was a little irritable. Well, yah! I can certainly understand. The frustration and anger is a good sign to me. I know she is going to fight the good fight. I also know the prayers and good thoughts we are sending are helping, as Amy said she is resting better today, and not so anxious.

Today I talked to JERRY DAVIS, who was upbeat and mischievous and fun to talk to as ever. That is a sure sign that he is recovering. He's still taking the radiation treatments, but the last one will be August 7th. Let's keep a picture in our minds of his lungs being completely clear and healthy.

Oh, yes, I AM getting a few more gray hairs now. The events of the past year, even the past six months are beginning to show! I'm ready to hear more GOOD STUFF! Send me your stories.

Marilyn

P.S.
If you have missed some of the blogs and would like to read the older ones, go to the "Archive" box on the left side of the blog post. Click on it and it will give you the dates. I believe they save them by week. Anyway, click on a time period and it will show the blog posts from that time. You can also click on any of the web "albums", and it will take you to the web and show the photos with titles.

LOVE IS ALL AROUND US...

PART I

This post will be in two parts. First, I want to put in some of the recent feedback on the photos posted on previous blogs. Maybe if I put the addresses on the pictures, it would jog someone's memory. Reckon? I received the following from MIKE FOY, right before JIMMY COWLISHAW identified one house as his. Even though MIKE was wrong about JIMMY's house, his response was so interesting I thought I should include it:"I was born September 5th, 1938 in the old hospital that used to be on the hill overlooking the Coleman highway. Spent all of my years growing up in Ballinger and enjoyed every minute of it. I don't think that I realized how much I did enjoy it until my parents both died and I don't really have anything special to come back for except for reunions. I was amused at the pictures of houses in Ballinger and the people who probably did not know where they belonged in the history books of our class. The picture I believe that no one could figure out who grew up in was the old AMARINE place on 8th street. The person mentioned that lived in that house with the AMARINE family was your ex. Can you imagine how crowded that must have been? They only had one bathroom and besides the twins living there, they had an older sister and older brother that grew up in that house. Hope I'm right. Sure looks like the AMARINE place. BOBBY and I used to back his mom and dad's Dodge back and forth in the backyard practicing how to back. Good old days. Thank you for the information on Irene. Love all of you and hope everything goes well with all. To answer the question you posed, no, I had by-pass surgery in '98 and stents in 2003. Thanks for asking. Keep up the good work on the Blog." Mike

Of course, I had to tell MIKE he was wrong. The duplex that the AMARINES and BOBBY BURTON lived in burned down years ago, according to JANICE. Now this from VIRGINIA HARRAL EGAN (by the way, VIRGINIA, we were sorry to hear that Mike injured his back, and we really missed having you with us to visit with SUSAN.):
"I think the first house on the blog dated June 27 is the house I lived in from 1941 to1958. It was located at 1001 10th St. I am having to use my imagination, because there was a big porch across the front of the house. I spent many happy hours making mud pies and playing jacks on that porch. Sharon Cook Dankworth lived across the street, and JUNE HASH CURRY lived on the other end of the block. I have very pleasant memories of walks home after school with JUNE.I do remember the rationing that JIMMY talked about during the war. Our parents made it look easy to deal with those hardships. I'm not sure that today's society would be able to cope as well if confronted with these sacrifices. I have always felt very blessed to grow up in a little town in West Texas." Virginia

Yes, VIRGINIA, there really is a Santa Claus, and you qualify for a surprise present from him for correctly guessing the photo of your former home!

Now, there are still two "old homeplace photos" unidentified. Before I put any more of those on, here are the addresses of the two unidentified photos: 400 Largent and 901 9th Street. Did you live there??


Recently, JAMES HAYS emailed me that he is now Brown County's "Health Authority". I wrote back and asked him just what exactly is a Health Authority? Here is his answer:

"In this case, it is a joint city/county health department, can be either or a combination of governmental entities, and a physician is designated to advise and give medical direction to the health department nurse, sanitation inspector, etc. in regards to public health issues -- most recently the notorious St Paul strain of salmonella or whatever pops up. I suppose I could go to a restaurant and count cockroaches. The salmonella thing is mostly copy for an otherwise ignorant and bored media. It reminds me of the story of the government form that asked 'how many employees do you have broken down by sex?' to which the respondent answered 'actually booze is a bigger problem here'.

Re: TERRY'S UFO, while about 14 years old, I read PROJECT BLUE BOOK by Edward Ruppelt, who had collected UFO reports for the Air Force and wrote the book after leaving the service. Very interesting and I have been looking unsuccessfully for a UFO since. I don't discount some of the reports, but keep an open mind. As a semi-trained aircraft accident investigator/aviation medical examiner I was informed that pilots, cops, and military folks make the most reliable reporters of accidents and aerial phenomena. Many pilots and others do not report such sightings until it no longer adversely affects their careers.

Cheers, Salud!, and Here's to You," James

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PART II (This is where the "love" comes in!)

Have you ever been around what I call an “energy vampire”? You know, someone who, when they enter the room, seems to suck all the energy out of the room, leaving it flat and cold and loveless? I’ll bet you have. If so, then you also know when life seems to abound with loving energy. All kinds of love. That is what I have experienced lately. Sometimes it leaves me in awe.

Familial love… The only child who sleeps all night in a chair beside her mother’s hospital bed. Who drives many miles for hours to and from far-off medical appointments for that parent; anguishes when both parents are having health problems at the same time and she cannot be in two places at once. One who puts her own life on hold to be there for the parents she loves.

Agape or altruistic love… The person who sees a need for a young person – not related -- to realize a dream they could never realize without financial and physical assistance; and steps up to the plate to give not only money, but a huge chunk of their time to help.

The love of friendship… So many examples! Prayers, warm wishes, cards, emails, and telephone calls for those of our friends and former classmates facing health challenges. Whether one is the giver or the recipient of any of these, love just spills over.

The ailing friend who sorts and prepares photographs to send to former classmates before her surgery. 

The friend who takes time to drop by a nursing home to help a childhood neighbor celebrate their 100th birthday; who shares an abundant, home-cooked meal or tomatoes from their garden with someone who lives alone.

All of the above is about some of our former classmates. You know who you are -- or who has expressed one or more of these ways of love to you.

The circle of friendship drawing in old friends and making them fresh and new again… I had the pleasure of experiencing that yesterday, as did some who came to visit with us and exchange some of that loving energy while SUSAN (HERRING) STAHL and her wonderful husband Sid drove to Ballinger to reminisce. 

And last, but never the least, romantic love… It was so evident that SUSAN and her husband of 30 plus years are very much in love. The kind and gentle way they spoke to one another. I believe the love and caring were very obvious to all of us in their presence. 

Perhaps I should mention here the love of precious animals. So many of us have loving pets that delight and amuse and even comfort us. Even the stray kittens I started feeding (and naming) provide me with so much pleasure, and assure me that although I am living alone in the world, I am very important and loved by them!

Too often, we are so caught up with the negativity in life that we fail to recognize all these little instances of love. All of us can think of the many times love is all around us, stop a moment, and feel the sheer pleasure of being a participant in the expression of love. Our love or someone else’s. It’s all the same. And it does make the world go ‘round!

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As some of you know, SUSAN HERRING STAHL and her husband Sid decided to swing by Ballinger after visiting with her sisters Lynn and Ellen over this past weekend. Some of us met them for lunch at the Main Street Sandwich Shop in beautiful downtown Ballinger. Sarah Chandler (Class of '58 and a cheerleader in high school with Susan) stopped by and joined us at lunch, also.
(Nancy, Sarah, and Susan at right)
(Sid Stahl and James Hays below)

Afterwards, we came to my house for more fun conversation. SUSAN and JAMES were neighbors for a time in their childhood, and SUSAN shared some funny stories about growing up here. One of the funniest stories was about how she and her sisters always loved it when a next door neighbor went on a rampage. It was summertime and there was no air conditioning at the time, so all their windows were open. When the man next door got angry, he shouted obscenities. When he started that, SUSAN's mother would quickly hustle all three girls to the movies!

Marilyn and Susan

We had some good laughs listening to James tell two Halloween stories. One was during their childhood, and the other was his version of the 1955 Halloween Pickup Chase. I am practicing using the video portion of my camera to capture some of these moments to share with you all on the blog. This time, the videos were too dark, and frankly, pretty amateurish. I'll work on that!

Glenn Smith and Susan

Susan's husband Sid told of his recent, ongoing difficulties getting passports in order for them to take their granddaughter on a cruise. The new Homeland Security rules border on the absurd at times! (For the most part, we realize the necessity for some restrictions, however, this is a twelve year old girl we're talking about!)

The next time a classmate comes to town, you really must try to join us. Such fun. Anyone else who wishes to be host or hostess is welcome to offer their home. Between emails for some and telephone calls by my trusty assistant, NANCY THOMPSON BAKER, we tried to let everyone in the area know about SUSAN's visit.
That ought to be enough for this time around. Until next time, y'all come and share the "good stuff" with us!

Marilyn

Marilyn Moragne and Susan Herring Stahl

4TH OF JULY

This morning on the CBS Early Show, they did a segment on the UFO Festival in Roswell, NM. This reminded me of a story TERRY COTHRAN told me shortly after the 2000 All-School Reunion. I emailed him and asked if he would write about it for the blog. This was his reply:

“Okay, you asked about the UFO story. I have never talked about this incident very much, except to a select group of people. I don't want people to think that I am crazier than they already think I am. To get the complete story, I have to go back to the winter of 1990.

After I retired, I moved to the mountain community of Big Bear, California. It was an especially cold winter that year and in March it snowed so much that I actually got snowed in. All of the roads were closed coming in and going out of town. After about 4 days of being cooped up in my house, I heard on the radio that Highway 118 going south out of Big Bear was open all the way to Barstow. I packed some clothes and jumped into my 4-wheel drive truck and headed to Lake Havasu City, where I had friends and family, and the weather is always warm and sunny.

I was glad to see that my old friend Richard, who also lived in Big Bear, was home at his Lake Havasu house where he hung out during the winter. I was invited to spend the night and stay as long as I wanted to get away from Big Bear for a while.

It was the first weekend in March, on a Friday night. I was standing in the front yard at Richard's house the first evening that I was in town. The sky is always clear with all of the stars glistening as there are no street lights in that part of town. No one was outside with me at the time. As I stood there, I noticed something very large moving in the sky above the roofline and just beyond the house. At first I thought it was an airplane. Then I realized that the object was too low to be an airplane and too big. There were no running lights of any kind and no wings. The craft made no sound whatsoever as a plane would if it were gliding through the air. It was close enough to me that I could see that it had windows and it was lit up inside. Bear in mind that this object was only in my sight for a very few seconds but I could plainly see through the windows (it was that close) and there was what I would describe as human appearing forms to be seen plainly through the windows. I would have to describe the shape of the craft as either cigar shaped or possibly saucer like, depending on the angle that I was viewing it. There was NO noise from this craft and as quickly as it had quietly appeared, it went out of sight in a second.

I ran into the house where Richard and other guests were seated in quiet conversation. I excitedly told them all what I had just seen, and Richard told me I could not have another beer for an hour. I tried to explain that I was on my first beer and I was not hallucinating. They all had a good laugh and went back to their original conversations.

It was then that I decided not to talk about this incident in mixed company. 

Okay, here comes the weird part. I had some other friends (Don and Anita Herman) who also had a house in California and a retirement home in Lake Havasu City that they were building where they came on weekends before they retired. I knew Don from California, as we were both motorcycle cops out there. About 2 years after my sighting of the UFO, I happened to be at Don and Anita's house just sitting around talking about things in general. Somehow the conversation got around to UFOs. Anita said that she had seen one. It seems that the first weekend in March on a Friday night, Don and Anita were on their way to Lake Havasu for the weekend. They were traveling eastbound on Interstate 40 somewhere west of Needles, California, about 50 miles from Lake Havasu City. Anita said she saw something strange in the sky hovering above the interstate. The object she saw was described by her as a cigar shaped object without wings or lights except windows with a lighted interior. She also said it disappeared in a second. I had never mentioned to her or Don about my experience with the same object on the same night until then.

That was my only encounter with anything I would consider "not of this world". After my experience I cannot dismiss the idea of UFOs or possible beings from another "place ".  Believe it or not.

I am staying here in Prescott for the 4th. I will probably go to the rodeo tomorrow and to the parade. Prescott boasts of the oldest continuing rodeo in the United States (1883) even though Pecos, Texas claims the same thing.?” TER

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I think seeing pictures of BiILL KING and GLENN SMITH on their motorcycles in the class handbook must have made TER nostalgic. He went out and bought this Harley Super Glide Custom 002.

I also asked TER about the fires burning in northern Arizona. This is what he said about that:

"The present fire that is anywhere close (to me) is south of Prescott, in the Crown King Mountain area in the Prescott National Forest. Not really a threat to me unless the winds come up in a northerly direction and it would have to come north through the Prescott proper area to get to me. Robin would be in more danger from this fire than I am. But with fire and wind you can never be sure. They are predicting thunderstorms tonight and tomorrow night in the area which would really help the entire region."

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Those of you who have viewed the photos of the old homeplaces might be interested in this little tidbit. On the blog post of June 18th "Snips and Snaps", House # 1 has been identified! I got the following tale from JIMMY COWLISHAW this week:

"The house you show, white roof, porch columns, with the left side addition was the one I grew up in. Located at 515 12th Street. The little addition was put on in about 1946 and was a bath approximately 5 ft wide and11 ft long. Served us well, as we didn't have to take baths in (tin) tubs and use the outhouse. We now have larger closets than that room was, and with 2 adults, 5 kids.. (can you believe the wait?) Last time I was in Ballinger I went by and it was still there. In the back was a little house that Mother used as a wash room, because there were only two bedrooms, kitchen, and living room. 4 girls and a grandmother, my brother, and I slept there. CHARLES FIKES and family lived next door at 513 12th Street.

We had to have a large garden to feed all the clan, but managed to give produce to neighbors in season. Had a milk cow - lots of fresh milk, churned butter, and milk clabber with cornbread. The war caused rationing on items like sugar, gas, rubber tires, and leather goods. Several other items were on the list. I'm sure that other classmates had the same hard times.

By the way, Mother would not let Dad take down the outhouse ('we might need it again'). When I returned on leave from the service in about 1960, Dad and I removed it when she went to town one afternoon.

And yes, GOOD THINGS DO HAPPEN. We are blessed to live in these times of plenty, and I'm also convinced that I take them for granted.

Well, thanks for the times to reflect. Have a good life." JIM

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I was blessed with more feedback from classmates this week than ever before. I'll post them in a day or two. MIKE FOY and JERRY EOFF have both sent me information. (Thanks, guys!) By the way, MIKE, you need to look at the house pictures from the last blog post! No one has identified either of them. Therefore, I'm only going to post one picture this time. Remember, these probably don't look quite the same as they did 50 years or so ago! Did YOU live here?

JERRY DAVIS is moving right along with the radiation treatments. I'll bet that is getting old, and he probably could use some diversion -- like maybe some funny cards, visits, or phone calls. Of course, we know we need to keep the prayers going.

The same goes for IRENE PIEL BATTS. She's gone through a lot of painful procedures lately, and hasn't even had the major surgeries. There will be two big ones on the same day -- July 23rd, in San Antonio. 

I also would like everyone to be sending lots of positive thoughts and prayers for JUNE HASH CURRY. As you know, she missed the 50th Class Reunion to have back surgery. Now she is having some symptoms that may indicate more surgery. She has been a wonderful, positive support for many in our class with health issues in recent weeks. Now it's her turn to get some of that loving energy sent back to her!

Wow! This is so long! Most of you probably will need a nap in the middle of reading it! I'll shorten the next one. In the meantime, I hope everyone has a wonderful 4th of July. We truly are blessed to be living in this great United States of America.

GOOD STUFF still happens here.

Marilyn

ALMOST JULY

When I worked at the Runnels County Sheriff's Office last year, I ran across a file about an attempted bank robbery in Wingate, Texas of all places! I thought it was too wild to be a real case, but when I asked about it, no one who was in the Department at that time wanted to discuss it. When I researched the story on Google, I discovered why they didn't want to talk about it! Can you imagine NOT catching a guy in a CLOWN SUIT?? In Runnels County?? (They recovered the suit and a pair of cowboy boots he discarded.) Talk about red faces! Anyway, the following is an account of this clumsy attempt written up in the Abilene paper:

From the Abilene Reporter News, August 8, 2007

An interview with FBI Senior Resident Agent Gary Macnoll:

“Of all the bank robberies Macnoll has investigated over the years, only two remain unsolved. The most recent was the May 2004 robbery of American State Bank near Abilene Regional Medical Center.

The other one was a doozy. In fact, authorities aren't really sure it was an attempted bank robbery. Whatever it was, part of it occurred in Security State Bank in Wingate, a small community in northwestern Runnels County.

About 1 p.m. on Aug. 14, 1996, a man wearing a clown outfit walked into the bank and said he was there to deliver a singing telegram, Dallas FBI Special Agent Marjorie Poche said at the time.

He was asked to leave, which he did -- with no money taken from the bank. From there, the "clown" walked to the county barn, where he encountered Postmaster Garry Goff. The man, toting a chrome revolver, took Goff hostage in the postmaster's 1989 white pickup.

Goff later was released unharmed and authorities found the abandoned pickup nearby. Runnels County law enforcement officers quickly set up road blocks. The Abilene office of the FBI was alerted, and Macnoll rushed to the scene.

Before the manhunt was over three days later, the area was searched by helicopter, on foot, and by area prison guards on horseback.

The 'clown bandit' was seen by numerous people, who described him to authorities. He eventually shed his clown suit, which was recovered by officers. But somehow he still got away with it.

‘We don't know what happened to him,' Macnoll said.”

The Runnels County Sheriff's Department doesn't know either. Wow! Fingers in the evidence room and a bank robber in a clown costume -- who says life in a small town is dull?
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Some news on our favorite "patients":

From JAMES HAYS: "I'm doing OK, back to work 6 weeks ago. Got another part time job, too. I'm the Brown County Health Authority now, but they didn't give me a badge and a gun with one bullet. Only 3 and 1/2 months 'til I can start getting my pilot's medical certificate back."

JERRY DAVIS just finished his first week of radiation (I thought it was his second week!). He and I played telephone tag today, and we both left voice mails. He said he is feeling fine, and wants to thank EVERYONE for all the cards, phone calls, good wishes, and prayers.

IRENE (PIEL) BATTS has major surgery on her jaw scheduled in San Antonio on July 23rd. I will try to get the name and address of the hospital, as she is going to be there for two weeks.

We had two out of three correct guesses on the houses last week. JUNE (HASH) CURRY correctly guessed that House #2 was her home during high school, and JAMES HAYS guessed that House #3 was his home until 1955. (Read Comments for the last blog entry.) That only leaves one house. Who lived in House #1 (on the last blog post) during their Freshman year in high school??

Here are a couple more for your guesses. Did YOU live here? These were also during our Freshman year. (A hint -- one was a girl and one was a guy.) I realize a lot of years have gone by and some of the houses don't look quite the same. "Use your imagination", as my granddaughter Audrey used to say when she was two years old and stirring a can of rocks.. She told her playmate she was stirring "beans".

NANCY (THOMPSON) BAKER and hubby Jake just returned from three days spent with their son Rodger and his wife Tammy at Fredericksburg. Rodger has spent tours in Iraq and Bahrain the past three years. They are preparing to move to Spain for a three-year tour of duty, and might not be able to fly home until that tour is up. Rodger flew home on emergency leave to see Jake when he had heart surgery last summer. That was for only one night, and since Jake was in ICU, he doesn't remember the visit at all. Nancy said they really enjoyed their visit with them.

I hope everyone is having fun this summer and taking some great vacation photos for me. Some of you will be getting some pictures taken at the reunion in the mail shortly. Irene wanted to send those before we got too old to remember them!

Let me hear about the "good stuff" happening in your life.

'Til next time,
Marilyn

SNIPS AND SNAPS

The following (Snips) are excerpts from emails I recently have received from DENNY HILL. These are in response to my request for information on your vacations. I suppose to some, their work is like a vacation. Such seems to be the case with Denny. If you want to know what kinds of "papers" of which he speaks, just Google "C. Denson Hill" and have your mind boggled! (Google to boggle!) He's in Berlin at the present time.

“I have two papers to finish up with my Polish friend, and a guy from New Zealand is also a coauthor. Then I have two other papers to complete, joint with my Italian friend and another German friend who now works in Sweden. The latter will come to Berlin next week so we can work together.

Basically I just spent my first week here concentrating on my German. That is easy since at the moment I have nobody to speak English with. It has been unusually warm here, so mostly I stay in my room during the day with German TV always on. Then around 9:30 or 10:00 pm I go out for supper and wind up in my favorite kneipe. For the last several nights, after a few beers, I wound up talking to some interesting local Germans. That is actually the best way to warm up my German.

In this part of Germany, you say tschuss! as a way of saying "goodbye", as you are leaving someone. But when you first see them, you would just say hallo!

In Bavaria, when greeting someone, you have to say Gruess Gott! (which I hate), and when leaving, you say Auf Widerschauen. (Textbooks teach you to say Auf Widersehen, but that is only the western German form.) The tschuss version actually comes from the Latin, and is very old. It was adopted in the eastern part of Germany, because they hated the communist way of having to call everyone comrade.
There is plenty to do here, but I am kind of lazy, so mostly when I am not working, or watching TV, I just like to hang out.”Tschuss!
Denny (June 6, 2008)

“Bush lands in Berlin today for a very short visit. Every time he has come here, he has been met by protesters.
The new president of Russia was in town last week. I did not see him on the street, but some people told me he was surrounded by at least 11 secret service types.
Celine Dion is here, staying in some luxury hotel for about a month. She has been seen on the street enjoying the city, seeing the sights. She appears to be very relaxed, and happily talks to people she meets, like while having coffee or a snack at an outdoor caffee. She is giving a number of concerts here, Frankfurt, Stockholm, Paris, etc. What she does is that she flies in her private jet to wherever she has the concert the day of the concert, does her thing, and that very same night, she flies back to Berlin to sleep in her hotel suite, and be with her husband and kid. It is very convenient for her because her jet is parked at Templehof, which is right in the middle of town. (It is used very little now, mostly for private planes. It was the airport of the famous Berlin airlift.) Now it is sort of a museum.”

That is the news from Berlin. (June 10, 2008)

"We finished at least a preliminary version of one paper, and now my collaborators in Italy are trying to finish another one. Later, when I return from Italy, my Polish collaborator will come to Berlin for a week, and hopefully we will finally submit another one, which we have worked on for almost 3 years."
Ciao,

Denny (June 18, 2008)

EDITOR: Now for a few "snaps". Recently I thought it would be fun to photograph the houses some of you lived in when we were Freshmen in high school. I'm sorry, but I don't know how to find those of you who lived in the country. Anyway, let's see how many of you recognize your old homeplace -- or that of someone you ran around with or dated. I will only put about three on each blog post, so here are the first three. Remember, you can leave a comment by going to the bottom of this post and clicking on "Comments" or you may click on the time, right beside it. Also, by clicking on the photo itself, you can enlarge it. If you have difficulty, just email me with your answer to "who's house is it"??

There is a curious coincidence about the third house. My parents bought it sometime in 1958. However, I was shocked to find out which one of our classmates lived there in our Freshman year. Once someone tells me who lived there, I will relate the "coincidence".

I know I keep asking for prayers for those of our classmates whose health may be less than perfect. I also know that not everyone prays. However, if you do not wish to pray for whatever reason, just send some warm, loving thoughts to those in need. Picture them whole and healthy. The following is from one of my favorite little inspirational books, "A Cherokee Feast of Days":

"When we last saw Essie she had been ashen and without the strength we see in her now. Now she sits flat on the ground, legs straight out in front, and reeds tumble across her knees and lie around her. Nimble fingers seek the perfect one to start a basket. Essie is close to our hearts. She has our Grandmother's name. Her reticence does not inspire idle talk, so we ask what happened to change her. With a quick glance, she says, 'God heal.' 'Is it possible? So quickly and completely?' Hesitantly, she asks, 'You got fast oven?' I say I do. 'What make it work?' 'Why, microwaves -- energy. They change the molecules, the structure of the bread from cold to hot.' Seconds pass. She says, almost too softly, 'Prayer energy. Make me well.'"

Well, I believe, like Essie, that prayer energy "changes the molecules". So, keep sending all that loving prayer energy to JAMES HAYS, JERRY DAVIS, ROSALYN HOELSCHER, and IRENE BATTS.

You know, prayer energy is some of the "good stuff" that happens!

Marilyn

SUMMERTIME FUN (?)

Even tho' summer is not officially here, it has been so hot I could not help thinking about vacations. The following is one of my favorite vacation stories. Notice I said “stories”, not vacation! I’ve had some not nearly so full of mishaps! This vacation took place in June of 2006.

“C.J., WE DON’T WANT TO CRUISE WITH YOU!”

(Carnival Cruise Ship Triumph -- C.J.)

That’s what my daughter Carajean’s friends have said to her when she tried to get a cruise vacation together with them and their families. Well, they don’t know what they are missing! Granted, some of her past vacation plans have gone awry. Like the time she thought the arrival time of their plane was the departure time. An hour late, they missed their connecting flight out of Dallas. Their luggage went on without them, not to be seen again until after the cruise they were taking from New Orleans. They caught a flight to Baton Rouge, and then rented a car to drive to New Orleans. Carajean had about 20 minutes at the local Wal-Mart to buy the necessary toiletries, swimsuits, underwear, clothing, etc. for herself and her three children! The girls were miffed at not having their beautiful new cruise wear bought in advance of their vacation; and Carajean said she wore a lot of clothing on that trip with “Carnival Cruises” emblazoned across her chest!

Then there was the time she, her husband Branch, and their three children arrived in Mexico for a week’s vacation sans Ashlyn’s suitcase, which was somehow left behind. Lots of “Cozumel” tee shirts on an unhappy little girl.

And how about the time Carajean left out two pair of jeans for herself and Branch to wear off the ship the next morning? Like a good passenger, she put their suitcases in the corridor to be picked up the night before they docked. Whoops! Both pairs of jeans were hers! The next morning she pleaded with the crew to let her rummage through the thousands of bags in the cargo hold trying to find their luggage – to no avail. Branch disembarked wearing a beach towel from the cabin. When a crew member told him he “couldn’t do that”, he answered, “You don’t want me to take off this towel!” And he didn’t!

I was not going to let such tales spoil my chance to cruise with four of my grandchildren! We made plans, checked, and double-checked all arrangements. Luckily, we found an error or two beforehand, such as Tanner’s name being registered differently from the name on his passport. They would not have allowed him on the ship in Miami if it hadn’t been corrected ahead of time. Both Carajean and I felt confident that there were no more mistakes.

(Ashlyn & Tanner at Miami Airport)

My only concern before setting off on our journey was the private plane we were to take from Amarillo to Miami. Even though it is a twin engine Cessna, there were seven passengers and our pilot. Weight might be a problem. We had foreseen such a requirement, but didn’t know until the day before we left exactly how much weight we would be allowed. We decided in advance to try to pack in small, lightweight duffel/sport bags. 

I really did take all the clothing I needed for the eight days in one 30” duffel bag and one small shoulder makeup bag. We rolled our clothing as I was taught for camping. My total weight for the trip was about 35-lbs, including my 5-lb purse! I did put one long formal gown into Carrie and Branch’s garment bag.

The day before we were to leave, our pilot Nick told us we were allowed a total of 250-lbs for 4 adults, 2 teenagers, and 2 children! We were frantically weighing our bags and rearranging items to see which could be left behind. I jokingly asked Branch how much his laptop weighed. He quickly replied, “Not as much as you do!” I nearly choked with laughter, but decided to let my daughter and Branch make the decisions as to what to leave behind! Later, I noticed the bag of snacks packed by Carrie was much lighter…no snacks and no bottle of wine to make the first part of the trip more relaxing! She didn’t know I had spotted the wine.

My first experience riding in the co-pilot’s seat was a little nerve-wracking, as there were storms all around us. I gladly relinquished that seat to my grandson Cameron when we picked him up in Dallas. Needless to say, any 16-year-old would love that! We made it to Montgomery, Alabama where we made the next stop. Everyone was hungry, but it was late and by the time we used the airport’s van, drove into the city and bought Subways, it was really getting late. Nick was worried about the storm systems between Alabama and Florida. As it turns out, we needn’t have worried. The plane’s engines wouldn’t start! The starter was out and there was no mechanic on duty at the small private airport at that time of night.

The kids camped out on sofas in the small airport's lounge while Nick tried to locate a mechanic. Branch went off by himself and was using his laptop. I thought he was working on the computer programming course he is taking, but no, he was trying to book all of us on a commercial flight to Miami that would get us there before our cruise ship left the next day. When he couldn’t do that, he crossed the terminal to tell Carrie he had chartered a private jet to take us the rest of the way, but it would be at least an hour before the pilot and the jet would arrive. Carajean told him not to tell her the cost or her vacation might be ruined!

The new pilot was a real Southern Gentleman. He put us right at ease – even had snacks and drinks for everyone. He informed us that the FAA won’t let the jet pilots fly more than once in a 24-hour period. Usually, he flies every day. That day, however, for some reason, he had not flown! Yayyy! We were going to make it to Miami and even get a few hours sleep before the ship sailed. Nearly everyone snoozed on this leg of our journey. It was nothing like flying in a commercial airliner. It truly felt like we were floating on the air! Our pilot Nick co-piloted for us, which was a treat for him, too! Then he flew back to Montgomery to see about repairs to our little Cessna.

Nick later told me that the starter going out caused us to miss all the bad weather between us and Florida that night. Imagine that!! He is also flying this same Cessna to Michigan in a couple of weeks to take Carajean and Audrey’s dance teachers to Interlochen to pick up Audrey, who went directly there after our cruise for a three-week ballet camp. Nick asked Carajean if he could take a co-pilot on this 1,000 mile trip! The reason could be that on our return trip from Miami, one engine went out on the Cessna. It was off only briefly, however, I wonder if he thinks trips with Carajean warrant a little extra precaution? Just kidding, C.J.

After our arrival at 3:30 in the morning in a slightly scary Miami (you wouldn’t believe the types roaming the streets in those wee hours!), about 6-hours of sleep, and a $100 breakfast, we finally boarded our ship.

We nearly drove our cabin steward crazy as she tried to figure out who was who. We swapped cabins, as the kids couldn’t be left alone with a balcony. Ahem, I got a balcony suite with a king-size bed and four wonderful down pillows! And I was alone except for a few visits from family during the daytime. Carrie and I played gin rummy and drank wine one afternoon on the balcony. What a luxurious treat for me.

Audrey and Ashlyn shared a cabin and Cameron and Tanner were next to them, all across the corridor from Branch and Carajean’s penthouse suite – which was complete with marble bath and Jacuzzi! 

The kids were assigned the buddy system and everything was okay until the second day, when Ashlyn left Tanner to retrieve something from her cabin. He was gone when she returned. This ship has twelve decks and nearly 4,000 people aboard! We sent out a search party. The Purser’s Office called to say Tanner was with them. A visibly relieved Carajean retrieved her lost little boy. Tanner is seven now, and very bright. But we hadn’t been on board long enough for him to memorize his cabin number, and the card key doesn’t contain the number. When Carrie led him by the hand and asked him what happened, she said this tiny little voice told her, “Mom, I can’t talk about it when I’m under pressure.” ‘Nuff said! Needless to say, we had two scared little kids who didn’t forget the buddy system again!

I walked the streets of San Juan, Puerto Rico – our first stop, with not too much difficulty breathing. There are some pretty steep hills there, though, and I probably wouldn’t do it again. We all got rained on before we reboarded the ship. At least there were no tropical storms or hurricanes predicted!

By the time we got to St. Maarten, our final stop before returning home, we were all having a great time. Branch booked us on a catamaran tour that would anchor at a couple of places allowing folks to swim and snorkel. Having had a delicious rum punch onboard the Golden Eagle, I let the grandchildren talk Grandmama into getting into the water with one of the “noodles” that they assured me would keep me afloat. It was such a beautiful day and the beach seemed very close. I thought I could mosey on over to the beach on my “noodle”, dog paddling as I went.

Wrong! The waves were much stronger than they looked and I had not been in an ocean since being diagnosed with “mild” emphysema. When the waves would hit me, I felt like the breath was being knocked out of me. Of course, that made me panic, which made it even harder to catch my breath. I captured my granddaughter’s eye and waved her over. She tried to pull me to shore, with no success. Then she said she would swim to the boat and get my emergency inhaler. 

As she left me there with a second “noodle”, some young men playing touch football on the beach spotted my dilemma. One swam over and asked if he could help. God bless him, he was a medical student and thrilled at the prospect of “saving” someone! He got me to shore, told me to do deep breathing, and ran to get me a bottle of water. 

By now, I was thoroughly embarrassed and beginning to attract a lot of attention. I told him Audrey went for my inhaler and soon we saw my son-in-law Branch swimming towards us with one hand in the air, holding a plastic bag containing the inhaler. The young medical student asked me if he should swim after it. Between big gulps of air, I told him my son-in-law was not only a physician but also had been a competition swimmer! I hated to burst his bubble, as he was so kind and helpful.

By the time I was using the inhaler, Carajean swam over and told us that the catamaran crew was putting a rubber dinghy into the water to come rescue me! We watched as two good-looking, tanned young men dropped the dinghy over the side and did a few figure 8s with it in the water before getting down to the business of rescuing me. When C.J. saw them her eyes got big and she said, “I think I’d better go with you, Mom. This looks like fun!”

I was treated to a shower to get the sand off and then a few minutes on the oxygen tank. My humiliation was complete, but I was one grateful grandmother for all the assistance!

You know, none of these incidents could be attributed to Carajean. Why was I getting the feeling that I knew what her friends meant when they said, “We don’t want to cruise with you, C.J.”. Things just seemed to …. happen …. when you vacation with her.

(LEAVING MIAMI ~ SAN JUAN, P.R. ~ TRUNK BAY, ST. JOHNS, V.I.)

Now it’s your turn! Send me your vacation story. Pictures, too, if you have them. All of these photos I took with a disposable camera! 

There is always "good stuff" happening! Tell me about it.

Marilyn