Girls, Girls, Girls

When I have nothing to blog about, I tend to get more blog reading done. I also did a bit of blog surfing today, which was not what I intended to do, but was quite fun. Now, I am behind on my chores – nothing new there. And I still have nothing to blog about today. I guess I will just throw out some small things:

We sat behind Bo and Sara and the Grand Girls along with the Piper and his royal family (including the newest addition who looks much like the Piper) at church yesterday. All in all, I would say the princesses did great (Jay's two girls and my two GG's). I did take GBN1 out to have an attitude adjustment right off the bat, but she did better after that. Jesse said that as I marched out with GBN1, my face had that "gonna open a can of whup-ass" look. And Jesse would know that look (more on that later). After church, we took all four princesses to have chicken and curly fries at the local greasy spoon. It was like taking a bunch of raccoons to a restaurant. We eventually gave them back to their parents and went home for a nap, as did the four princesses.

Later in the evening, the Grand Girls came back over for some serious ranch romping. Crewcraw (Toby) let the girls help him water the plants. Yes, they were quite soaked by the time the plants were all watered. GBN2 watered herself. She would hold the hose up and then slowly move it to where it poured over her head. You could see her suck in her breath and shiver, but she kept dousing herself. Crewcraw just laughed. He laughed when the Grand Girls got in a squabble over the hose. He laughed when GBN2 got mad and fell on the ground throwing a hissy fit. Since her fit did not get the results she was hoping for, she got over it pretty quick. By the time the GG’s went home, everyone was tired. That nap seemed like a long ago memory.
Jesse took some photos and played with the girls for a while, but then she deserted us for Sunday night volleyball. I have mentioned before that Jesse is a double-bred smart aleck. People think she is a lot like me, although I think she is more like her father – mean and ornery. Today when we came home from church, I mentioned that several people had commented on how nice I looked at church today. Jesse said, "Well, it is because you usually look like crap." Of course this was said with a big grin and we both laughed at her joke, but don’t you think that she is a bit mean? Maybe she should get "the look." I think I should pay her back with a couple of "Jesse Stories."

Jesse was riding her motorcycle home on Friday when she ran out of gas near Eastland’s. As she was pushing her bike across the highway, a cruiser biker pulled up beside her and asked if she was having some problems. She answered that she was out of gas and kept pushing her bike. He watched her for second, and then pulled up beside her again. "Don’t you have a reserve tank?" he asked. Jesse looked at him with that wide-eyed look of females, "Why yes, yes I do." She reached down and flipped the tank to reserve, started her bike, and drove over to the gas station.

Jesse babysat the GG’s on Saturday night while Bo and Sara went to the dance. When she got home, she was telling us how her evening went. She was trying to tell some story about the girls and she said something about the girls and a "thermostat."
"Thermostat? What the heck are you talking about?" we asked.
"You know – thermo, thermo, thermo-something." She replied.
Toby and I were dumbfounded.
"You know – you drink out of it."
I’m sure Toby and I had the wrinkled brow. "Do you mean thermos?"
"That’s it!"
Oh Jesse, you do make us laugh.

This is an oldie, but a goodie photo of Jes and GBN1

Anniversary Dance

In typical Baggett fashion, things did not go as planned for our anniversary celebration, but we adapted and overcame. Toby ended up working all day instead of taking a half-day. We canceled the kayak trip when he figured out that things were going awry. When he did get home from work, he had made reservations at the Hampton Inn in OK City. We threw some things in a bag and took off. Jesse headed to the rodeo with her friends, Lindz and Kat.

Once in The City, we decided on the Stockyards and Cattleman’s for dinner. You can’t go wrong with a rib-eye steak at Cattleman’s. After we stuffed our selves, we went down to Bricktown to walk along the river. It was a beautiful evening and not too crowed yet with the serious party people. We made a stop at the Bass Pro Shop and made a few purchases. If you have never been to downtown OK City, it is really very nice – not like San Antonio, but still very nice.

It was about 10 PM when we got to our hotel and room. Unfortunately the room was not okay. We have always enjoyed the Hampton Inn, but this time they gave us a room that had obviously been a smoking room. It stunk! Toby said there was no way he was going to pay money to sleep in a stinking room. Since the hotel was full, we moved down to the Hilton Garden Inn at the suggestion of the Hampton clerk. The Hilton was very nice – perfect – and cheaper than the Hampton even after we paid for the very nice buffet breakfast. Go figure! So all went well. For a minute there I had had visions of us driving home from The City late at night, but it worked out great.

The next morning we kicked around The City, did some more shopping, and then headed home. We were suppose to attend a barn dance with the young married couples from our church. Even though we are an old married couple, we had been invited because we know how to dance. The young people needed some dance instruction. Not everyone was raised in a bar dancing with their daddy. Did you know that I met Toby at a bar called the Saddle Bronc on my first night at Texas Tech? Yeah, that is how we met – mutual friends getting together for a birthday party at the Bronc. We ran with the same crowd. It was several months before Toby asked me to dance – or I asked him. We were at the Cotton Club that night dancing to Joe Ely. I must have impressed him with my dancing abilities, because he finally asked me out. It seems that I have been dancing with Toby for over 31 years now. Who’d a thunk it?

Martyr

I have this very vague memory of being at my grandmother’s house sleeping on a cot when my teen-age uncle came in with his girlfriend. He had this big toy stuffed donkey, and he threw it at me on the cot. Apparently the stuffed donkey had been won at a fair by another young man and given to my uncle’s girlfriend. My uncle did not like that and was giving the donkey to me. I did not understand all of that at the time, because I was only about six years old. I just knew that he was giving me a wonderful stuffed animal. It was nearly as big as I was. From that night on, I slept with that donkey until I went off to college. It was my favorite toy.

When I was a little older, I saw a similar donkey (only smaller) in a store. I asked my dad if I could have it, and he said no. It made me a little sad and I teared up, but I was really okay with Dad’s decision. I didn't really need the donkey; I had just thought it was cool. Then he gave in and said I could have it. I remember feeling torn. On the one hand, I wanted the donkey – on the other hand, I didn’t want Dad to be upset with me. Dad bought the donkey for me. Although I put the donkey in a place of honor, it always bothered me. I never liked that donkey like my other stuffed animals. Maybe it was because I had gotten the donkey by crying. Maybe it was because Dad gave it to me under duress and not from his heart. The donkey always made me feel guilty, and I never enjoyed it. That is the problem with showing your emotions or voicing your thoughts. Sometimes it is just better to suck it up and try not to be a martyr later on when things don’t go your way. Chances are, you will be happier without the guilt.

31st Anniversary

Today is my 31st anniversary. I had an early morning anxiety dream that woke me up and left me with a slight headache. I was dreaming that I was suppose to be in a wedding wearing a purple dress and shoes by 3 PM, but I could not find the right shoes. When I did find them, I would lose them before I could get them on my feet – all the while I was worried about being late to the wedding. I woke myself up out of deep sleep to avoid another round of looking for the purple shoes.

I have written about my wedding for the last three years. If you want to read about it, you can go to my archives. That stupid dream put me in a sour mood – I will work on getting a better attitude. My email is not working this morning – probably due to Hughes doing another "upgrade." It irritates the heck out of me. Last week Toby and I talked about going to The City on our anniversary. I wanted to go back to the Cowboy HoF to see the rest of the Prix de West show. He wanted to do some shopping – at maybe Bass Pro Shop. We were both hoping for a Red Hawk’s game, but they were to be out of town. There is an old joke between us that I am the one who loves baseball, but I have never been to a professional game. One year he was in Chicago for a meeting, which he said would be boring and I could not go. The company he worked for had box seats and he was able to go to a White Sox game. I got a hat. The next year when I went with him to Chicago, there was a baseball strike.

Anyway, Toby wanted to do something fun for our anniversary this year. When the Red Hawks thing fell through, he asked me if I wanted to go to the DFW area and see a Ranger’s game. I said sure, but I gave him an out knowing that he does not like the DFW area. He took the out, so we are not going there. He was taking today off to spend it with me, but last night he found out he has a conference call and needs to be at work until after 1PM. This morning Jesse and Lindz were making plans to go kayaking at the lake later today. Toby jumped on that bandwagon and decided we could all go. We could take the bicycles and the kayaks and food and drink and cook out… Instead of going to a local lake, we could go to Lake of the Ozarks. We could invite a whole herd of folk to join us. I’m sure it will be great fun. Dammit.

For your viewing pleasure, here is a pic of Jesse and Count Rugen working at the computer.

Dear John

John Gill used to say, "Lou Lou Barker is back in town! Summer can begin!" He would give me that big Gill grin, and I would feel special. John had a way with words and a way with women. He certainly knew how to make a girl feel special, and I was not immune to his charm. I think at some point that every woman in RR has had a crush on John. He was just special. I guess you could say that he was a "ladies’ man" (although I can see Annettes’s eyes rolling now). My 18th summer, I got to experience the charm of the Gills first hand.

John was the original Texas Red in RR. He was also one of the original jeep drivers in RR (the job of jeep driver in itself was alluring to the girls). He built a building for his jeep office and bunkhouse for his jeep drivers probably in the early 60’s. That building eventually became Texas Reds Steakhouse. I don’t remember John being there much and never working – he kind of came and went. TRs was a family-ran business - his brother, Bill, and sister, Martha, ran TR’s back in my younger day. Bill and his wife, Annette, ran TRs for years – all with the help of their children. We all took a turn at working at TRs. It was a fun place to be and a fun place to work. Bill Gill probably put most of us through college.

I guess you could say John was a handsome man, but I’m not sure it was his looks that drew the girls. He had red hair and a red beard. He had a quick laugh, lots of funny sayings, and a quick wit. He was a big tease and a bit of a rebel. I don’t really know what he did for a living – there was always talk that he was a stuntman in movies, but I think he was more of a wrangler for movies – rounding up whatever the movie people needed for making a movie. What ever he did for the Hollywood types, well, it just added to his allure. I don’t know what else to say about John, but he was just Kewl! Even the guys thought he was cool.

So my 18th summer, John spent quite a bit of time in RR and I got to know him a little more. I was working at TRs and as most of us young girls, I had a crush on John’s nephew, Ricky. His nephew, Ralph, who worked in the bar, was just pretty hunky too. They were more my age, but didn’t normally pay too much attention to me (young men being more interested in things that I was not interested in). John had a motorcycle. One day he pulled up beside me and offered me a helmet. I climbed on, and we were off we on a great adventure and a good friendship. Because of John’s reputation as a "ladies’ man," I’m sure that the reputation of any woman who climbed on to John’s motorcycle went downhill. But let me just say up front that John was always a gentleman with me. There was never even a kiss much less anything sexual. That didn’t stop me from having a huge crush on him. I don’t know how he was with other girls. I just know he made me feel beautiful and special. He made me laugh, and I had a great time with him. I wrote to my dad (who had already gone home for the summer) to tell him that I had been "running around with John Gill." Dad wrote back and said that it was fine with him as long as John did not call him "dad!" You see, Dad and John were the same age.

We were over exploring Elizabethtown one day when a family of tourist pulled up. John went into his "jeep driver" mode telling them stories that had them entranced. Then he did something really funny. He reached over and put his arm around me and pulled me close – obviously not a father/daughter relation. I went along with John because I knew what he was up to. The look on the tourists’ face was a bit shocked – which was exactly the reaction John was hoping for. I think he liked getting a rise out of people.

One evening at the Lode, John was there with a beautiful woman his own age. She was hanging all over him. He was cool. When I happened by to say hi, he pulled me into his arms and gave me a big hug – much to the woman’s irritation. With a very pouty face she said, "Why John, I think you would just give me away!" So very smoothly John replied, "Why, I would never give you away!" The woman began to brighten. Then John added, "But I might trade you for a good pony and saddle!" He looked at me with that handsome Texas Red’s smile, and we both burst out laughing. I was no fool. The woman was pretty angry, but it seemed more directed toward me, so I high-tailed it out of there. I’m sure John charmed his way back into her good graces.

There was never a dull moment with John. He just made life fun.

The Community House

The Community House in Red River has been providing entertainment for tourist and a place to gather for locals since about the 1940’s (I was married there in 1977). It started out as a one room log building, but expanded over the years to accommodate more people. On Sunday mornings the CH had a simple church service. Sunday night they held a "sing-song." Monday nights were movie night where they set up a screen and showed Disney-like movies. The rest of the nights were for square-dancing. During the daytime, there were square-dance lessons on some days and card games on others. It was a gathering place for us kids for as long as I can remember. Craig and I were square-dancing with the adults by the age of eight. There was a whole group of us little kids who came every night to dance. Usually, I danced with Craig. We were exceptionally cute back then, although Craig would tell me he would only dance with me if I did not smile. Laughing out loud was out of the question. Someone once told my mom how cute Craig and I were out on the dance floor, but then she asked, "Why does Lou always look so sad?" I remember standing in the square waiting for the dance to start and the adults telling us we could not dance with them – that this was for adults. The Laney’s, who ran the CH, would assure the adults that we could dance. The adults would be duly impressed after the dance.

There were several other kids who also danced at the CH with us and became our lifelong friends. Angela and Kathy were two of my friends. Both girls were beautiful and popular with the boys. Although Angela and I were close friends, it was Kathy whom I loved. She was one of four sisters. Her parents came to the square- dances and dressed the girls in matching dresses. I didn’t really own many real square-dance dresses, but Kathy’s dad would compliment whatever dress I was wearing as if it were the most beautiful dance dress – I loved him for that. Kathy had a little sister named Kim, who was the cutest little girl with blonde hair and big blue eyes – that was in the day when I wanted a little sister and prayed nightly for one. They had a cabin in the Upper Valley where they had horses, and a dune buggy and lots of fun things for summer playing. Her parents drove one of those station wagons with the rear seats, and it had sort of a moon roof – very cool! I thought Kathy hung the moon. In fact, when my baby sister was born and I was allowed to name her, I named her Kathy.

Angela was also beautiful with long dark hair and very chic clothes. She was special, too. Janetta joined us when her parents opened up Texas Red’s Steakhouse across the street from the CH. Janetta was gorgeous with long blond hair. She was suppose to be the "muffin girl" at TR’s, but she would sneak off to the CH to dance most every night. There were only a few guys for all of these pretty girls, my brother being one. Usually when partners were chosen, I would be left out – the one without a partner. It is just the way it was. But there was a man who worked the concession stand at the CH named Gary Pendly. He was a big man, but boy could he dance. When he would see me without a dance partner, he would come out of the c-stand, take me by the hand, and would dance with me. When it came time to twirl your partner, he would often lift me off the ground and swing me around. I can remember just squealing with delight – laughing out loud – something Craig would have been embarrassed over, but not Gary. I loved dancing with Gary!

We danced so much and so often at the CH that we developed our own style of square-dancing. We had "special" moves that only we did. When we had a square with just us kids, we were really something to watch. We also did other dances like the Salty Dog Rag, Put Your Little Foot, and other polkas as well as some round-dances. There was also a dance called the Hully Gully, which was a line dance before line dancing was popular. In between dancing, we played out on the huge porch of the CH. There was a grass area out front where we often played tag or other kid games when we weren’t dancing. I am sure there were some first kisses exchanged as well as some cheap rings to show that you were "going steady." It was a wonderful place to grow up and hang out, but we eventually did out-grow the CH. By the time we were in high school, we no longer hung out at the CH, but our new hang out was the Play House, which I will write about some other time.

Just a funny story that sticks in my mind: On Monday nights at the CH when they showed a movie, all us kids would wait until the lights went out, and we would go sit in the floor in front of the screen. I was chewing gum one night, but I accidentally dropped it. I looked and looked, but in the dark, I could not find my gum. When the lights came on, I looked some more, but still could not find it. I was worried that someone may have sat in my gum, but being embarrassed, I did not tell anyone about the lost chewing gum. When I got home and was undressing for bed, I found the gum. It had fallen down my shirtfront and stuck to me and to my little training bra. I thought it was very funny that my bra was stuck to me when I went to take it off. I still laugh at such stuff. My brother would have been mortified.

The Wedding Party

Our trip to Lubbock was lots of fun. Our main purpose was to attend the wedding of Bear and Anny’s son, Blaine. We got to see some old friends from RR In fact, it was more like a family reunion since I have known some of these friends since childhood. Our children played together, and someday maybe our grandchildren will play together. I have a head start in that department on the other couples. I would try to explain how everyone knows each other or is related, but it is confusing and who really cares? The important part is that after years of not seeing some of these people, it was good to see them again.

Saturday morning Jesse, Reagan, and I met up with my friend Carol for some shopping in the Hub City. Carol has always made me laugh and with Jes and Reagan, we laughed a lot. We met up with the rest of the groom's family for a late lunch at Olive Garden. The girls and Carol and I got there first and buddied up with the bartender for a Blue Moon. It had been about 8 years since I had seen my friend, Sandra (groom’s aunt) and even longer since I had seen her sons. They were not little boys any longer, but grown men. Although I see Anny and Bear (groom’s parents) now and then, it had been a while since I had seen their son, Blaine, the groom. Most of us adults have not changed that much in the last ten years other than getting a little thicker and grayer, but our kids have changed greatly in the last ten-plus years. The look on our children’s faces as they renewed their friendship was priceless.

The wedding was simple and sweet. The dance afterwards was great fun. My pictures were not so great, but you can see the main characters in the story. Here are Carol and her husband George.

Here are Rudi (George’s brother) and Sandra (Anny's cousin).

Here are Bear and Anny (Toby teased Bear - asking him if he had been drinking milk since his moustache is now white).

Here are Anny and the bride (they were not looking at my camera).

Here are the two best-looking girls at the wedding, Jesse and Reagan.

We met for breakfast the next day where phone numbers and addresses were exchanged. Good-byes were said. We spent some time with Toby’s mom who lives in Lubbock and then headed home.

More Busy-ness

Form the get-go yesterday I was in a rush to get things done. Toby had planned a big cookout for his office people and summer interns at Halliburton. He planned on fajitas and volleyball – sounds like a Baggett party for sure. Forty-one people showed up. It was a good time with the weather around 89. But it made for a busy day preparing food and having art class. I made the pico de gallo using about 18 tomatoes. I cut and de-seeded about 20 jalapenos and stuffed them with cream cheese for grilling. While slicing and dicing, I also held art class – one hot mama. Around 5 PM I chased the art girls off so that I could head to town with my food. We ate and played V-ball until about 8 PM. I slept very well last night. This morning I hit the ground running again to get us ready for our trip to Lubbock.

Here is my artwork from yesterday – still in progress. I did not crop the photo so that I could show you a bit of the progress. Normally I do not tape my paper down, but when I plan on really wetting the paper, it is kind of good to stretch the paper. To get the soft color flow, the paper has to be wet. My old art teacher called this style of watercolor "the art of finding the lost line." Once you drop color in, you go back and find shapes (leaves or whatever) and do a bit of reverse painting to bring out those shapes and lines. I love this style of watercolor. To me, it is a true watercolor painting – not just straight painting.

I was reading my "Cowboys and Indians" magazine with an article on the top cowboy songs (in their opinion), but one of the songs listed was "In the Real West" by my ex-sister-in-law, Tish Hinojosa. If you want to hear the song, you will have to google it. You know how I am with videos. Tish is certainly talented, not to mention giving me a wonderful niece and nephew who are also very talented.

I received a phone call this morning from the Piper. I will let him trumpet his news, but know that all is well with the Royals…and their new prince.

Blog Area

Some new blogger friends, Jen and Trailboss, have been posting their work station or "blog area." It seemed like fun. I am a messy person, but there is method to my madness. I also live in a very small house where space is minimal.

Trying to Be Clear

If you take all of the posts that I have ever written about my life in NNM, you know that I had a great life there. But I was also raised in small town Texas where everyone went to church and behaved accordingly. Strong values were instilled in us. My brother and I were and are strong characters even as teen-agers growing up in RR. There are lots of strong characters in RR who were not sucked in to the alcohol and drug use that is so pulling. But Red River is a resort town. There is a party spirit. It can all be fun or it can be deadly. Marriages fall all around youdo to the partying. Young people struggle and often fall into the snare of the party spirit, and they are not strong enough to make the right decisions. It is a generational curse that gets worse with each generation.

I loved my life in RR, but I hated seeing my friend’s lives falling apart. I hated seeing their marriages fail. I hated seeing Bo and Jesse’s friends and my students grow up to the same drinking and partying trap even to the point of dying. How many kids need to die before you realize that things need to change? That is what made leaving NM so hard. You want to help, you want to make a difference, you want it to be okay. But are you willing to sacrifice your children for life in the mountains? Will your children be sucked into the drinking and drugs or will they be oddities. Will they survive? We were not willing to chance that.

I can look back on my life in NNM and think, “Wow, there was so much fun there!” Even today there is a pull to return to the mountains like a lover who calls to you and reminds you of the joy you had together. I have to remind myself of why that relationship fell apart. Now then, I can go back for short vacations and enjoy old friends and hike the trails or ski the slopes with a certain detachment. But sometimes while I am visiting, I hear things like “So-in-so’s son was arrested for drunk driving; he hit a woman with his vehicle…” or “Another group of kids wrecked while racing down the canyon: two were killed…” or “Fred and Jane are getting a divorce; she was having an affair with Jo…Jo and his wife are struggling...” and I thank God that I am not there anymore and my children are safer and stronger for our move.

Yes, those things are everywhere - in every town in America. You hear about such stuff on the news every night, but now then here in OK, it is not up-close and personal. It is not happening to my best friends and acquaintances. Although those things do touch my life now and then, they don’t slap me in the face anymore.

This photo was taken in about 1985 while we were visiting RR and getting together with friends who I grew up with in RR and have remained good friends through the years. Blaine (on the left) is getting married this weekend in Lubbock. Blaine and his parents lived next door to us in RR. He is Mrs. Bear's son. They moved to West Texas in the early 90's to raise their children. We are driving out to the wedding, which should be lots of fun with old friends from RR in attendance. That is Jesse on the right. The boy in the middle is Will, a kid that I had a special relationship with - someone I loved. I have a great story about him that I may share someday. He died a few years ago before his 21st birthday in a stupid accident with alcohol involved. I would like to say that the boys in the car with him, were awakened to their stupidity, but they were not. There is always hope that the young men will change, but they don’t have the tools to do so or the atmosphere to encourage them. They love their life even unto death.

Model Hair

Jesse got a new do. As with most new dos, it was not exactly what she was wanting. She expected it to be a little longer. Personally, I like it. The hairdresser used a flat iron on it, but I wonder how it will be if Jesse allows her natural curl to show forth - could be wild! She got her hair cut today at lunch and said it was a real conversation stopper when she got back to work. I asked her what the comments were, and she said, "You know men; they like long hair." I made her stop and pose for these shots as she was about to head over to Lindz. We took several shots in the bathroom so that we could use the mirror to show the back. She did her best model impression. I like the aviators. Then she was out the door and gone - hair today goon tomorrow.

Difficult Post

This is not a happy post. This was hard. Don't read if you only like my silly, happy posts.

Several times yesterday, I tried to put my feelings about NM down in writing. There is just too much there. It is like a long lost lover who has betrayed you. There are just too many emotions to put voice to them all. I think on the good things. I remember the joy and the fun and the beauty – that is what I usually write about. Living in Red River as a child was wonderful. As a teen-ager it was a bit more difficult. As an adult raising my own kids it was a whole new ballgame. Here is an analogy of life in NNM: It was like being in love with a handsome, charming, fun loving man – on the surface all was great. In reality that lover drank, did drugs, cheated on me, couldn’t make a living, had lots of animosity, was harsh and abusive, but the worst was what he was doing to my children. He was teaching my children that these things were a normal way of life. Although I loved the mountains and my home and friends there, my children came first. I needed to show them that there was something better. Some people would say that raising your children in such an environment as NNM would make them strong. Maybe so, or maybe it would destroy them too. I would rather make them strong somewhere in safety and security. When they are grown and strong, they can make the decision as to where they want to live and how they want their life.

When I talk about NM, I am talking about Northern NM – not a city, but a rural area, sparsely populated. And I am not talking about the rest of NM. I have mentioned dancing in the bars and having a great time. But the alcoholism in NNM is way out of proportion to its population. It is a big problem. When we lived there, Taos County had the highest alcohol related deaths in the country per capita. Off the top of my head I can name three young people who died in stupid, drinking and driving accidents while we lived there – that is a lot more personal than reading about it on the news. Drinking has become such a part of the culture, no one thinks anything of it.

In my teen-age years, the drinking moved on into drugs. Marijuana was the beginning. It was at all of the parties. No one thought much of it – whom did it hurt – that was the attitude. Then those same friends, who occasionally smoked a little pot, moved on into cocaine. Who did it really hurt? Well, I can name several families that it destroyed. Keep in mind that I am not talking about a big city, but a small town of about 300 people. With the popularity of cocaine, came the hard core druggies - people who move into your town and didn’t care who they dealt to – children were targets. I can name kids that the drugs nearly destroyed.

If you are saying, but Lou, drugs are everywhere. No, it is much more than that. It is a way of life to some of these people. I can give you example after example of young people who thought it was normal for your dad to be a drug dealer or for your dad to shoot someone in a drunken brawl.

People come to the mountains thinking there is no crime rate, life is perfect; all of the problems will go away. I have not even mentioned the animosity between the cultures or the poverty or the difficulties in making a living, and I did not mention the gang problems in the schools. Nor did I mention the divorce rate in Red River. It is difficult for me to go on with this without hurting so bad or becoming so angry. I could go on and on with real life examples of the harshness of life in NNM. I will leave you with three articles: one in 2000, one in 2005 on heroin. The last article – well, I know many of the people listed there – my friends, my coworkers, etc. God, I am so mad at them. I loved NNM. I wanted it to be as perfect as it seemes.

My life here in OK is peace and joy. My kids are great, and they are happy. Most important, they are alive and strong. Would I ever move back to NNM? I don't know. I am still so hurt.

Here is a change of subject - two watercolors that I did a few years ago.

NM Photos

La Casa Towanda has recently moved to NM and has been posting some beautiful photos of her new home. They reminded me of some photos of our home north of Questa. We had some beautiful views in that home. Jesse took advantage of those views with these photos. My kids were very active in 4H at the time. Besides doing horse projects, Jesse did photography (Bo did rocketry and made some awesome rockets) and entered these photos in the county and state fairs. She won a blue ribbon at the Colfax County fair with the hollyhocks. Although the judge made a negative comment on the reflections, we kind of liked the fact that you could look through the house and see the view on the other side as well as see the reflection of the mountains too. I loved those flowers. She won a second place youth ribbon at the NM State fair with this sunset, which she caught after a snowfall one afternoon. Even in her younger days she had a good eye and talent with a lens. The picture of our kitten, Tomosita, was also one of our favorites.

A Weekend Full of GGs

It is amazing how little we can do over the weekend and how busy we can be. I greatly enjoyed my time with Mom on Friday. We had lunch with my sister-in-law - something I do not normally get to do during the year since she is a teacher. After lunch and a bit of shopping at Hobby Lobby, Mom did my hair. I returned home a blonder woman than I started. It looks good. The Piper made some Thai food and invited my family over for an evening of good food and fun. Bo brought the Grand Girls to play with the Princesses and Prince.

Saturday morning we headed into town early to pick up the GG for breakfast and a trip to Wal-Mart. Bo and Sara were having a garage sale, and our contribution was to get the girls out of their hair. We bought GBN1 a new life jacket (PFD) at Wal-Mart so that she could accompany us on kayaking trips. She wore her new PFD while in Wal-Mart. One lady said, "Well I guess she won’t drown in Wal-Mart!" Obviously the lady did not have grandkids of her own or she would understand that you let them wear the lifejacket, you let them ride their new bike to the front of the store, and you let them ride in the new trash can. It is just easier that way.

Jesse had to take her car to McNair’s to fix a slow leak on a tire. When she called to report that she had taken care of the tire, Toby asked her if she had a date with an axe murderer (family joke). She just giggled. McNair’s does an awesome tire business, but some of the guys whom they employ are pretty scary looking - so I call them "axe murderers." Saturday afternoon we went to Lawton to do some furniture shopping for Jesse who wants a new armoire. We did not have any luck in the furniture shopping although one salesman told Jesse she looked like Julia Roberts. Too bad he was older than Toby. We ate at Los Tres Amigos, which is good Mexican food and margaritas (we were needing the margaritas by then). Later we did a bit of shopping at the mall.

For Father’s Day, we had Bo and Sara over with the GGs and cooked hamburgers on the grill. It was a beautiful evening. Toby and Bo had a good day. The girls were very entertaining. Between Jesse and Bo playing with Jesse’s new camera, I bet they took 200 photos of the girls and dogs and kitten. Maybe Jesse will post some of the photos soon. Brother and sister thought it great fun to take unflattering photos of Sara and I. Hopefully those will not get posted.

The weekend always goes by way to fast. I am very behind on my blogging and reading. Now and then I sit down to read blogs starting with Buck’s (Buck is always first). I rarely get passed EIP on weekends. This morning I wanted to play catch up, but we had a bit of a thunderstorm that turned my computer off for a while. Now I need to run some errands, and I still have not read everyone I want to read. I’ll be back. I will leave you with a pic of my latest painting. Let me know if you think it needs some tweaking.

Old Age Softball

You read my "Summer Hummers" post, and you know that I have played some softball in my day. The truth is that I used to play quite a bit of softball starting back in elementary school. I played both fast pitch and slow pitch growing up in WF. I played for a softball team while we lived in Dallas and Bo was a baby. I played for team when we moved to Vernon. Then my softball days stopped other than a few family friendly games now and then. It is one of those games that I love, but it hard on me now.

During those early softball years, I played with some pretty serious girls – some I wondered about their sexual preferences, but never asked. They were just rough, tough girls, and lots of fun. Last Tuesday Jesse and I went to see the movie "What Happens in Vegas." It was not very good, unless you like watching Ashton Crutcher and Cameron Diaz scantily clad and being mean to each other throughout the movie. But there was one line in the movie that made me bark out loud with laughter. The scene was in a bar in Vegas where the two sidekicks were fighting and being rude to each other. The guy sidekick introduced the girl sidekick with "This is my lesbian sister – tell them about your softball team." It was just such a perfect line. It also reminded me of last summer while in RR. We were out dancing at the Mother Lode when a group of girls came in. They were all beautiful. They were part of a softball team in RR for a tournament. Some of the softball team struck up a conversation with Lindz. My sister was watching all of this and said, "Hmm, I wonder what team she plays for?" Lindz was horrified.

So last night Toby and I went to one of Jesse’s coed softball games. She had games at 7 and 8 PM. Ashley came to watch too. As we settled down in the stands for the first game, Jesse came running up to say that they were short one girl and needed another player. Ashley was a real sport and went to play softball when she is not a softball person. I was very proud of her for playing, but I was as nervous as a mother hen. She did great, but could not stay for the second game. Ashley loaned me her tennis shoes and I played the second game. It was great fun. Once again, the guys on the team were not expecting anything from me other than a body to fulfill the numbers on the team. When I got up to bat, I hit the ball into the outfield and got on base. They were thrilled. Of course, it was my best hit of the evening – I am so out of practice.

I played hind-catcher. As the game went on, the next team was arriving for their game. It was a team that many of our church young people play for. Not only did a crowd of Jesse’s age friends, show up, but their parents as well. They all got a big kick out of watching me playing hind-catcher. At one point, I was mouthing off to the batter, as any good hind-catcher should do, when I heard my preacher behind me. He was teasing me, telling me to keep my head in the game, but I was thinking, "Great! The preacher catches me talkin’ trash to the batter." Our team came from behind to win the game. Everyone told me how "cute" I was as hind-catcher. Toby said, "You are going to be so stiff tomorrow." I reminded him that my grandfather was pitching for the sr. citizen team at the age of 71. Toby replied with, "Yes, but he was playing with people his own age."

Update

The family reunion has been postponed for the time being. Due to different things, the family decided to hold off on the reunion until a better time - like there is ever a better time. One of the aunties had already set her brisket to soakin' and now will have to serve it to her family. Darn the luck. I plan on going to WF tomorrow to spend the day with Mom anyway.

I also forgot to mention that today would have been my Dad's 80th birthday. This picture was taken in Taos by a stranger who asked Dad if she could take his picture because she wanted to paint him. Dad had a great look - didn't he! The stranger later sent Dad this photo. I aways wondered how the painting turned out. Dad's eyes were ice blue - I did not get that gene either.

It's All in the Genes

I bought a cheap MP3 player, and I do mean cheap. The instructions are written on the tiniest book I have ever seen - except for those little surprises/toys that come in Cracker Jacks. I tried downloading a couple of songs last night, but I did not manage to get it right. Jesse said, “Reading the instructions is always helpful.” Thank you, Jesse. I can hardly read the instructions even with my magnifying glasses. I think they may be written in another language. Why can’t she just do it for me?

Harriet the kitten bit the dust a few days ago. I couldn’t seem to break her habit of getting up in the cars. I didn’t mention it before, because it makes me rather sad. Count Rugen has used up about three of his nine lives, but is one tough kitty. He has taken a couple of rides in the car, been deposited down the road, was missing for a week, and still turned up alive. I have been letting him in the house the last few days to recover from the latest trauma. Zoe may have used him as a play toy, but without a DNA test, we can‘t be sure it was Zoe. Rugen was slobbery wet and barely moving when we found him outside the other day. Zoe did not mean to hurt him - he had no puncture wounds so I know she was trying to be careful with him. But when a Great Dane plays with a kitten, well, we know how it will turn out. Like I said, Rugen is tough.

It looks like I will be going to Sulphur Springs, TX, on Saturday with my mom for the Chapman Family Reunion. My mom has several old aunties in their 90’s still coming to the reunions. I won’t know half of the people there and the other half I will be confused about, but I still enjoy going. The food is always excellent. The Chapman’s are a very musical group - a gene that did not get passed to me - but they will have their guitars and amps and there will be lots of singing. They sing lots of gospel and country. My grandfather played the steel guitar and had a great voice. He was some kind of talented. He and his brothers used to sing at country fairs and such back in their day. He was always pencil thin like my mother - I did not get that gene either. I wish we had recorded him playing the guitar and singing - that would be something to treasure. By the way, his name was Jesse Emil - my brother and my Jesse are named after him. My cousin named her little girl Emily after him. My best memory of Grandpa was sitting on the curb at his gas station in Mesquite, TX, drinking sodas together. He taught us to smack our lips and let out a deep long sigh after each drink. I have been diligent to teach this to GBN1.

Jesse has some excellent photos of my Grand Girls on her blog, and I do mean excellent. She took the photos with her new camera while at the park on Tuesday. Please ignore the last photo. Jesse has a mean-streak like her father. I did not get that gene either.

Bo Man

Today is Bo’s birthday. He is 29 today. That makes me feel a bit old because I can remember Toby’s 29th birthday. He went to have his haircut. While the hairdresser was working on him he said, "Today is my 29th birthday." She said, "No! Really, how old are you?" She would not believe Toby was only 29. She thought that he was just "holding at 29." He had to get out his driver’s license and prove it to her.

When I look back at pictures of Toby at 29, I think, "Wow, what a baby he was!" It is difficult for me to judge Bo’s age by his looks, because he will always be my baby. I chose this photo of Bo taken before his 2nd birthday while when we lived in Vernon, TX. I wanted to show how much he and GBN2 look alike.

A Bo Story to go along with my RR stories:
Although my dad was an educator, during the summers in RR, he did carpenter work. He would spend the summer working on our cabin or he would often hire out building cabins or doing odd construction jobs. Mom was usually working in the beauty shop, so Dad had "charge" of us kids. We had free rein to play all over the mountainside or to run around town on our bikes – such is life in RR. It was one of the magical things for kids in RR – freedom. The town was so small and everyone knew everyone and people looked out for each other’s kids. There was some problems with that scenario, but I will address that later.

One of the things Dad liked to do on whatever construction sight he was working on, was he would build Craig and I playhouses from scrap lumber. Sometimes he would nail boards up in a tree for us to have a tree house of sorts or a "helicopter" as Craig and I called our tree house. He also gave us scrap wood, nails and a hammer to let us build whatever – usually small boats to float down the river. He would cut the end of a small board into a point and let us nail on little pieces of wood to make our boats. Then we would take them to the creek and play with them. He also made us rubber-band guns. Sometimes Dad took a small square board and nailed two pieces of rope to one side for our arms to fit through so that we would have a "shield." Then he would take a long thin piece of wood, nail a crosspiece to it so that we had a "sword." Then Craig and I could hack each other up. What fun!

In 1986 Dad helped us turn an old building into a café. We had lots of construction going on. During this time, he made Bo and Jesse a playhouse with scrap lumber. I probably have a photo of it somewhere, but it will take some effort to find. Basically, it looked like a lemonade stand with an enclosed lower portion and a roof to shade the kids while they played. Bo called it his "Store." He wrote out a sign and hung it up on his store. The sign said something about rocks for sale, and it had their prices. He had "colored rocks" that he had colored himself with Crayons, "silver rocks" that were covered in duct tape, and a few regular rocks, but the best part of the sign said, "and you can watch hummin birds free." Bo took his store very seriously sitting in it all day, working on his rocks and other kid stuff. One day we were pulling out of the driveway when I noticed Seth Hardy sitting in the "store." I stopped and told Seth that Bo could not play that we were going to Taos for the day. With a very serious face Seth said, "I know. Bo asked me to watch the store." It was difficult to keep a straight face, but I did. The truth was that Bo actually sold some rocks now and then to people coming to our cafe. They got a big kick out of Bo, his rocks, and his store.

Bo was always my more serious child. We often called him "the little professor" or "Mr. Statistics" or "Bo Man." For all his seriousness, he had a great sense of humor – Happy Birthday, Bo!

Summer Hummers

Since I mentioned Kate and Gary yesterday, I thought I would continue with that thought. K&G were quite a pair. I don’t really know much about them, but they were "different." Gary was a big guy – he looked like a St. Bernard with big droopy, red-rimmed eyes, but he was always fun and friendly to me. Kate had this reddish-brown hair that was always styled in a pageboy. Although they were older, I never knew their age until one day I was sitting at the bar visiting with Kate (drinking a diet coke, because I was not old enough be in the bar) when she told me that she had been to her 50th high school reunion. She said, "Those people were old. I’m not going back!" K&G were always hosting some sort of crazy party to bring some fun to town. Their Halloween parties will always be remembered.

One June they had a spur-of-the-minute chili cook-off – no real plan – just do it. Mary Wallace (one of my friend’s mom) and I spent the day making a pot of chili. My different family members came in throughout the day, tasted my chili, and gave their opinion. – not hot enough, more cumin, etc. Toby said it would never win, because I did not put beans in it. Good Grief! I put everything else in it! We carried our pot of chili to the bar along with six other people and their chili. I really didn’t think of it as a contest, but more as a party for the locals. Anyone could put a dollar in the pickle jar and buy a bowl to taste the chili. There were three judges, and to my delight, I won. I won the pickle jar of money, which was $62.50. Tom Brown immediately hit me up for a loan. Toby was really tickled since that was the early days of our marriage and money was scarce. He asked me for some of the money so he could buy a beer, but I said, "Hmm, I remember you did not like my chili…"

There used to be a baseball field in the middle of town where the park is now. The locals would gather there for some fun games of softball. Today the park is green and lush with grass, but back in the day, it was more rock and less grass. It was difficult in the Rocky Mountains to find a large flat area with grass and few rocks. The backstop was up near the road with a couple of large logs for the dugout area. Far out in right field was a creek/sewer that was difficult to see because the ground got marshy and the grass grew taller. It was always a great joke to put "the new guy" out in right field and let him find the creek on his own. One day after work I ran home to get my glove and head to the softball field. Toby was supposed to already be there, but he was not. When I asked where he was, everyone started laughing. They had put him in right field. He had gone home to change clothes. Later he told me, "I was running for the ball when all of the sudden there was no ground beneath me, and I landed in the creek."

One year Gary of K&G decided to organize a girl’s softball team. He bought T-shirts that were French cut – rather low-cut and showed a lot of cleavage – with Summer Hummers printed on the shirts. He also bought hats with "SH" on them. You can guess what some people called us rather than Summer Hummers. Our team was not very good with a bunch of mountain girls that had not really played much softball growing up. There were a few girls like me who had played some at home. I had played both slow-pitch and fast-pitch back in WF, so I played short stop or third base for the SH's. Susy A. was the star, but most of the girls were just there for the fun. We usually played slow-pitch because the girls were not good at stealing bases or trying to stop someone from stealing bases. Besides, our hind-catcher, June M, was not always sober. Gary would usually donate a case of beer to the games. If you knocked someone’s beer over, you were automatically out. Here is Gary watching the game and talking to Joel Fontenot.

Usually, we just played the locals in friendly games, but one time Gary organized a real game for us with a team from Questa. They beat our socks off. It was very frustrating. Questa had a pitcher that resembled a backstop. She did not use a glove and few balls would get passed her. Our pitcher was not great. At one point, Questa was batting and they popped up a fly. Both the pitcher and I called the ball and went to catch it. We collided somewhere between the pitcher’s mound and the shortstop’s area rolling over backwards when she stepped back on me going down in a tangled pile. She was taller and had caught the ball, but when we went down, she let the ball roll out on the ground. Ralph Gill caught the whole thing on tape. He showed it later at the bar – in fast motion, slow motion, forwards, backwards, etc – everyone laughing each time much to my chagrin. The film was the hit of the evening at K&G's Bar.

We had one other organized game over in Angel Fire at Cow Patty Field. We brought shovels to clear the field before playing. The other team did not show so we played the guys for a while and drank the beer that Gary had provided. Two hours later, the other team showed up without any baseball equipment asking if they could share ours. Most of our team was slightly inebriated by then. We got our socks beat off again.

The Bars in RR

If you watched the video link in my last post, Ray Wylie Hubbard mentioned two bars in RR. In the comments, Buck asked which bar I hung out in. Well, the bars in RR played an important role in my growing up years in RR. I thought I would re-post a story about dancing at the bar in RR to refresh your memories and help explain how it all got started:
Dancing Memories – from Jan 2006

It was pretty normal for parents to take their kids into the bars in RR for dancing and fun. The age limit was actually 21, but if you were with parents, no one cared. It was just pretty family friendly. On one occasion Dad took me and about four of my friends to the Bull (back then it was called Kate and Gary’s). We were all about 15 years old and there was no one to dance with near our age. Dad then went out on the street and started getting young men to come in and dance with us. He stopped several jeep drivers whom he knew since they worked in RR. He flagged down another jeep with three young men – one of whom he knew and the other two were from Philmont Scout Ranch. In all, he brought in about ten plus young men and told them all that if anyone asked, there name was "Barker". Technically, anyone under 21 had to be with a parent – not just any adult -so Dad was to be their "dad" too. The bar was full of young people under 21dancing and having a great time. At one point, I turned to the guy sitting next to me and asked him his name. In all innocence he looked at me and said, "Brian Barker", and in all innocence I replied, "Hey, that is my name too." Brian was studying to be a preacher at Hardin Simmons and confessed that he had "never been in a place like this!" That night actually started a tradition of going dancing with Dad. Dad often said that he raised his own dance partner. My friends were all impressed with my dad who would take us all "out on the town." If Dad could not take us dancing, other parents would take us. The Gills, the Allens, the Sampsons or some reliable adults would all take turns taking us kids to the bar and being everyone’s "parents" in order to get us in. It was really fun when all the parents showed up and their kids making it a big party.

Some people might frown on "taking your children dancing at a bar," but like I said, there was something different about life in RR. We were family, and it was a family town. Eventually, though, someone ruined a good thing. Someone was not reliable or someone did not take care of the young people or minors took advantage and were at the bar without "a parent." I don’t really know if it was something specific, but the Liquor Control Board, which polices the rules and regulations in NM, cracked down on letting minors in the bar. After that, you had to be with your real parents – not just any parents. It became more difficult for us to go dancing, and it became a challenge for us kids to get into the bars (with or without parents). Liquor licenses and laws were pretty crazy in NM. There could only be so many liquor licenses in a certain mileage. I don’t know the specific laws, but the LCB probably had more power than any other state agency. RR did have two bars in town in the early years. There was also a bar up Bitter Creek Canyon at the Lazy H. For a few years there was a bar called the Mining Co, which might be what RWH called the "hippie/musician" bar. It is now a package liquor store only. There are now several liquor licenses in RR, but the original two bars are still the only ones that have dancing.

One of the original bars was called Tony’s. It had been a gambling establishment as well as dance hall and bar in the 40’s and 50’s. Tony Sr. and his wife Tillie were quite the characters in their day. My dad has a story about Tony Sr. asking Dad and his friends to be in on a gambling scam – that would have been about 1953. Tony Sr. died leaving the bar to Tony Jr. Tony Jr. ran it for years and sold it to the Dickerson’s who renamed it the D-Bar-D. In about 1975, a group of three young men from Albuquerque bought the Silver Spruce Lodge and D-Bar-D. They revamped both places and renamed them The Lodge and The Mother Lode. Two of the young men were married with families – one was single. I dated the single young man making it much easier to get into the bar when I was underage.

In 1977 Toby and I were married and had our reception at the Mother Lode. Here is a picture of Mom and Dad. Here is one of the Bill and Annette with Martha at the reception. One of Mom and Dad walking up to the reception – we walked from the wedding at the Community House to the Mother Lode – you can see Toby and I in the back ground petting the Gill’s dog, Pokey.

The other bar was called Mac’s. As I remember Mac, he was a big rough guy, and he had a killer German Shepherd named Fosdeck (sp?). That dog was his bouncer and security guard. Unfortunately, the dog bit several innocent people maiming them for life, because he went for their faces. Mac sold the bar and it was called the "Doggone Saloon" for a while. Kate and Gary bought the bar about the same time the other bar was being revamped, and of course called their bar "Kate and Gary’s." I have great memories about both places and more stories to tell.

Red River Timeline

I want my readers to understand the magic of RR and the love affair I had (have) with the mountains. Where to start is the question. Should I tell stories in chronological order or just tell stories as they come to mind. I’m leaning toward the latter. There are so many stories to tell about growing up in Red River, but this will give you a basic timeline of our years in RR.

Every year of my life my family went to Red River, NM as soon as school was out for the summer, and we stayed until August when it was time for Dad to go back to work as a teacher. From other posts, you know that my parents met in RR in 1953, married in 1955, and started building a cabin up Bitter Creek Canyon soon after. You also know I was born in March of 1958. Since I was only about four months old, I did not get to go to RR that summer. Mom says they left me with my grandmother while they took my brother (who was about 18 months old) to RR to work on the cabin. When my little brother, Pete, was born in April of 1963, my parents took all three of us to RR for the summer. There are pictures of Craig and I standing in front of the cabin holding baby Pete. The cabin was up and dried in, but certainly not finished. In fact, Dad did not "finish" the cabin while we owned it. He sold it to my Uncle Gene (not really an uncle, but might as well be) who finished the cabin. Uncle Gene still lives in RR and could be mentioned again in my stories. Dad bought the Green Mountain Lodge and laundry in town where he put Craig and I to work giving change in the laundry at the ages of 8 and 9 years old. Mom turned two of the hotel rooms into her beauty shop – I believe that about 1966. My parents owned several other homes and businesses through the years including half of the Zuni Cabins during my high school years. The Zuni had three sets of cabins – one cabin we turned into a gift shop and lived in the other two. We spent most of our winter breaks in RR and lived in RR fulltime for awhile. Those years may require some more explanation later. Toby and I married in RR on June 27, 1977 and spent several summers working there while going to college. We moved back to RR in 1986 after living all over Texas and lived in RR until 1997. I cried hard as we left my mountains and my dream home.

Old Blue
My dad had an old 55’GMC pickup truck. I have great memories and great stories of "Old Blue." It was a two tone blue, four on the floor monster truck – or so it seemed to me when I was little. Dad had homemade sideboards on the bed of the truck to hold in all the junk we hauled to the mountains each summer. My place was standing next to Dad’s shoulder where he could protect me with his arm. I always rode with Dad when I could because I was a Daddy’s girl. Later, Craig and I learned to drive in that truck. I had to keep a pillow in the truck so that I could reach the pedals easier. That truck was well known in RR. Many a young teen-ager learned to drive in Dad’s GMC up and down Main Street in RR. Now is a good time to mention that Dad had a way with teen-agers too. He was as popular as his truck. Ray Wylie Hubbard used to borrow the truck now and then – I often wondered if he was thinking of Dad’s truck when he wrote "Redneck Mother" – then again maybe not. Watch his video for a real hoot! I need to work on posting videos.

I may have told this story, but I could not find it on my blog, so here it is again:
One year Dad had Old Blue loaded down with furniture and such for the cabin up Bitter Creek including a refrigerator. My grandmother (Dad’s mom) was riding in the car with Mom and my brothers while I rode with Dad in Old Blue. I had several kittens in a box that I was playing with on the trip. We had had several flats on Old Blue that trip. Later Mom explained that Dad did not want to have to buy a new tire, so he kept patching this old tire and hoping we would make it to RR. It was a big hassle. Dad was worried that it would blowout before we got to RR, but he kept patching and going. Those are things that little kids don’t understand – the undercurrents, the hardships, the worries, etc. We were about a mile from starting up Bobcat Pass into RR (the Pass is a steep, winding, dangerous road up and over the mountain) when Old Blue shot out across the pasture near Moreno Ranch. We went through the barbed-wire fence before coming to a rest out in the pasture. I threw kittens everywhere in the bumpy ride. When we came to a stop, Dad put his head on the steering wheel and started laughing. Mom came up and was yelling at him. Nanny, who was never ruffled, was freaked out, and I was wondering what the heck was happening. The tire had finally blown. With the heavy furniture and fridge in the truck, the balance of the truck was off causing us to fly out into the pasture. Dad was laughing because the blowout had happened while we were still on the flat road. Another mile and we could have been shot out over the edge of the Pass and probably killed. Mom was mad because Dad was laughing and she had been scared to death when she saw us dive off the road. There were lots of emotions going on. I just wanted to find my kittens. It was a trip that still stands out in my mind.

A Day at the Museum

Our field trip to the CBHoF was fun. We had lunch at Ted’s Escondido Café in OK City (good food and good astmosphere) before we went to the museum – so that we would not be hungry and could just enjoy our time looking at art. The Prix de West Art Exhibit and Sale was being set up, but the show does not actually open until next week. We did get to see some of the artwork for the sale, which was great. The downside was that one of the regular art galleries was closed while the Prix de West show was being set up. Oh well, I guess we will just have to go back :)

I always love seeing the art from famous Taos artists like Irving Couse. Back in the early 90’s, I was in Albuquerque where I met up with an old friend. We went to a store which sold Indian jewelry. While my friend was looking through the jewelry, I was visiting with the sales lady. She told me her mother was in a rest home in Taos. She said that she wished she could get to Taos more often to check on her mother. I told the sales lady that I would be glad to go by and visit with her elderly mother in the rest home. At the time, I did not make the connection, but when I got back to Taos, I did visit with her mother several times. She was a charming lady with a ready smile and lots of wonderful stories. She was Marion Couse, the daughter-in-law of Irving Couse. Meeting her was a wonderful experience.

Being with seven beautiful young ladies draws much attention. The security guards who stand around in the museum were great to point out interesting things in the paintings and tell stories about the artwork. Of course we took some silly photos and had much fun. After looking through the art, we moved on to the rest of the museum. I think my favorite part was the Western Performers Gallery, which had some great movie memorabilia. Even better was the paintings of movie stars like John Wayne, Gary Cooper, Kirk Douglas, etc. The best was painting by Norman Rockwell of Walter Brennan.

We moved on to an area of the museum called Prosperity Junction, which was full size buildings set up as an old western town. The girls performed for the other museum gawkers by posing for silly pictures and singing in the church. Here they are in front of the gnerel store, robbing the bank and hanging out in the saloon. Although I took several photos, my camera is not good with "night-time" photos, but here are a few that worked okay. In the little church, Sarah Ann sang along with the organ music to "Rock of Ages," which drew a few people in to hear her. In fact, all day long the girls would break into song – usually from famous musicals.

Our last stop was the area with Wilson Hurley’s five huge panoramic paintings. They are each 18X46 feet. The paintings are awesome, but then the security guard took the girls around to each painting pointing out small hidden details in the paintings such as this snake or the people on the observation deck near the waterfall. The whole museum experience was enjoyable. We made it home driving in wind gusts up to 40 mph, but the thunderstorms held off until later in the evening. It was a good day.

Field Trip

I'm taking my art girls to The City today to visit the Cowboy Hall of Fame and Western Heritage Museum. It has been about ten years since I visited the museum. At that time, we were with friends who were not so interested in art as they were lunch. I am looking forward to seeing the art work and taking my time looking through it. I am also looking forward to sharing it with my students - seeing things through their eyes. In the past we have made some museum trips that were great fun. I don't do herd travel very well, so I only invited my Thursday young ladies. I did tell the Older Ladies they could join us, but they were on their own. I should have photos and stories when I return.

Speaking of stories, the horses got out again yesterday. My neighbor, Jill, whom I rarely see, had caught the old gelding out in the road by the time I got there. She had a lead rope around his neck and a coffee can full of feed that he was trying to get his big nose into. I was standing there in the road talking to her with the horse pushing us around (unacceptable in my book). I started to pull the lead rope off of the horse so that I could return it to Jill, but I was distracted by conversation and goofy horse. The lead rope came over the top of the horses neck and whacked me on the forehead just over my right eye. Man, it hurt, but I hated to show how much or how stupid I was for doing it in the first place. I was trying to act like it was nothing. Toby came up about that time and took the horse while I continued to visit with Jill. I reached up and touched my head (to see if I was bleeding). I had this giant goose egg rising over my eye. I tried to cover it with my hair and put my hand over it like I was shading my eyes - anything rather than have her see the big bump on my head. I doubt she ever saw it, but I was thinking about dropping to my knees with pain. Finally, I got away from the conversation. I had to help Toby with the horse and the fence before I could show him my head. He was appropriately horrified when he saw the knot over my eye. He sent me back to the house to put ice on it. He did tease me later about trying to hide the lump. It was funny, but I just can't believe I did something so stupid.

My Baby

Jesse came into the world in the early morning hours of June 4th, 1982, in Vernon, TX. She was round and pink with dark hair – a beautiful baby girl. We had planned on naming her Amanda, but the name just did not fit. I wanted to call her Jesse, but not Jessica, after my grandfather and brother. So we decided to call her Jesse Marie. She has been an easy keeper from day one. She has always been a bit independent and adventurous. Sometimes I felt like we were tugging on the reins trying to control a free spirit - at least until we knew she would do fine. She has grown into a beautiful woman both inside and out. I know the desires of her heart, and they are good. This photo was taken at South Padre Island when Jesse was one year old. Bo, whose birthday is next week, was four. Toby is 26 in this photo – the age Jesse is today. You can wish her a happy birthday here.

Morning Coffee

If I went around to my favorite blogs and gathered up all of the comments that I have made this morning, I would have a post already and not be sitting here trying to decide what to write. If you feel like you are just getting the dregs of my wit and sense of humor, well, you are. Like my coffee, I get cold after sitting around. I need to pour myself a fresh hot cup, but someone drank it all.

My day with GBN1 was great. We chased cats all day. When the kittens used their litter box, she clapped and cheered (it’s a potty training thing). I could be heard saying things like, "Don’t hold the cat by its tail." Or "No, get the cat out of the dryer." We did have to make a run to Wal-Mart and have lunch at the park with Jesse and Toby. I bought some fresh cherries to go with our lunch. GBN1 thought spitting the seeds out was great fun – you know she is not normally allowed to spit. She and Jesse threw pennies off of the bridge into the creek below. Jesse flipped her coin high into the air and it landed with a nice splash. Although GBN1tried to imitate Jesse, she barely dropped her coin over the edge of the bridge and it plunked into the water. Jesse said, "You did that just like you spit" which gives you an accurate picture of how GBN1 spits. I think she needs practice, but who am I to say.

I do have an idea for some posts this summer. If I can just get my brain in gear, I want to write about summers in Red River. I want to be able to catch the magic of the mountains. I want to be able to explain how I fell in love with RR. The Piper posted about his love for a certain area – man’s love for the land. I want to be able to explain an even deeper pull, a stronger love than most people ever experience. The mountains and the beauty of the area are only a part of that love. RR has a power over a person that is amazing. It can be great and satisfying or it can be deadly. Many a love story starts in RR, but RR has killed more marriages than it has made. How do you explain that? I will give it a try – starting with my younger days – some of which I have posted about before. Maybe my brother will chime in.

Speaking of brothers - today is Adam’s (my nephew) birthday. Happy Birthday to my charming, fun-loving nephew! The picture is Adam and Craig taken a few years ago in RR. And happy belated birthday to Patrick, my other nephew, who is funny and smart and every bit the pest his father was.

Chasin' Cats

I'm keeping GBN1 this morning. I will post later.