Message Sent

Bernie Madoff received the maximum sentence (150 years) for 11 federal crimes including securities fraud, wire fraud, mail fraud, money laundering, perjury, and making false filings with the SEC. It seems he was a rich man who made himself richer and certainly deserved serious punishment. I have listened to the media report this morning that the judge sent a strong message by giving Madoff the maximum sentence.

Still, I couldn’t help but think that I have heard of murderers who got less time than that. So what was the message? If you kill someone, you are bad, but if you take their money (when you already have money) you are "extraordinarily evil," "unprecedented" and "staggering" as Judge Chin said of Madoff’ and his crime.

It reminded me of some things that occurred while we lived in NM. In 1988 a musician in a local band was drunk and high when he ran over and killed a jogger in the early morning hours in Taos. I don’t remember his exact sentencing, but it was light. I do know that the musician spent weekdays in jail and then was free to work on weekends – playing his guitar in local bars. I also know that the musician was married, but did not have kids or any real dependents. I knew the musician and his wife who were nice people. I knew there was no intent to kill, yet because of him, a family lost their husband and father and provider.

Now I also knew another family in the area who rented a small cabin near our home in Questa. This cabin had been a tourist cabin in RR, but was old and run-down. It had been sold, moved, and replaced by modern cabins. The old cabin was basically a living area and kitchen with one bedroom and bathroom. The family that lived in it had eight kids. The father was in jail in Taos for fraud. He had been a preacher of sorts, but had fallen in with someone who had a money-investing-scheme-gone-bad. The father was not rich, had not gotten rich, and was not the ringleader of the investing company. But he was in jail, and the judge was not lenient at all even knowing the hardship placed on the man’s family. So what was the message sent here? What is more important in America – money or life?

32nd Anniversary

Today is my anniversary, and we are having a rather quiet day at home after a very nice trip to OK City. We kicked around The City on Thursday and Friday. We played pool and drank a couple of beers at the Bricktown Brewery. Many of our first dates were playing pool, drinking beer, and scootin' a boot. It is amazing how it all comes back to you when you get that pool stick in your hand. We ate at Chelinos, because we love Mexican food. Then we went to the Red Hawks game. Toby had seats near third base, on row two. I could reach out and touch the players - it was great. The evening was a bit warm, but occasionally we got a nice breeze. I really had a great time. Toby used Hotwire to get us a room at the Crowne Plaza. Through the years, he has been known to find some real doozie hotels - what he calls knife and gun hotels - where if you don't have a knife or gun the hotel provides one for you. But the Crowne Plaza was very nice, and I was very tired and slept like a rock.

Friday we did some shopping and then went to the Prix de West. It is an excellent show this year, if you get to see it. We had lunch at Ted's, which is the best Mexican food in OK as far as I know - unless you are eating at my house. We got home in time for a short nap before we had to help Jesse rig the boat to go to the lake with her friends. We launched the boat and then sat around and visited with the young people in the evening shade. Jesse made a couple of runs across the lake with Lindz and Kat.

But as the evening wore on, there was not much wind and Toby had to tow the cat with the kayak. Before we left the kids, I took this photo of Jes and her friends.

I thought it looked so peaceful with the girls around the kayak in the setting sun. It reminded me of when the girls were younger and spent so much time together.

Although I took my camera on our little trip, I forgot to take any pictures in OK City. I only got the few at the lake. Today we did some much needed yard work and then rested. We had plans on eating with the GGs tonight, but that may not happen after all. Jesse posted a nice photo for our anniversary.

Anniversary Get-away

The decision has been made. We are going to OK City, kick around, see a Red Hawks game, and go to the Prix de West at the Cowboy Hall of Fame. When we told Jesse what we were doing, she said, "I like the name Freida." As in most "Jesse moments" I had to stop and think, "I said Prix de West - not Freida West." Speaking of Jesse, she has some nice photos on her blog.

I may take the laptop and post, but if not, I will be back before my actual anniversary on Saturday.

Newsworthy or Not

I can’t decide if I have a bad cold with fever or bad allergies and hot flashes. Whatever I have, I am tired of it. That’s right – I’m sick and tired of it. Being sick does not make me a happy camper. I didn’t blog yesterday because I just seemed so blah. Instead, I went over to Kris’ Journal and unloaded my thoughts on her. Fortunately, she is a good egg and let me rant. Kris has very noble ideas about Geronimo and the plight of the Indians. Me, well, I feel about the Indians the way I feel about most people who live off the government and don’t pay taxes. Do I really feel strongly about this or am I just in a bad mood?

Geronimo's Bones:
After reading the Wiki article (and following the footnotes as well as reading some local articles), I think the whole think is a hoax – college kid stuff. I think a lawsuit against Yale and the federal government is a bit ridiculous. Their lawsuit also names President Barack Obama, Defense Secretary Robert Gates and Army Secretary Pete Geren as defendants. Now that makes this big news – the poor Indian against big government. The not-so-important side of this story, but of local importance, is that the Apache Tribe here in OK doesn’t want the bones removed from Ft Sill. They believe that Geronimo was buried here, and here he should stay. The NM Apaches want the remains from Ft. Sill, too. If you understand that, then you understand that this is not about the poor Indian vs. big government. It is about a dispute between tribes. So which descendants of Geronimo should we side with? Does that seem all that newsworthy now?

Newsworthy:
My 32 wedding anniversary is coming up on Saturday. Toby has been talking about taking me some place special. He has several ideas, but no final destination. We have thought about going to OK City, having lunch at Lake Hefner and going to a Red Hawks game. Then we would spend the night and go to the Prix de West Art Show at the Cowboy Hall of Fame on Friday. Another possible trip would be to meander up to Eureka Springs, which is a honeymoon spot and art community with a possible canoe trip thrown in. Then a third possibility is to go to Lubbock to see Toby's mom, pick her up and head to Ruidosa and the horse races. All three possible trips would be fun, although that last one would not be so romantic as practical. A fourth possibility is that we stay home due to lack of direction. We will all just have to wait and see.

Father's Day Weekend Report

Friday night Toby and I drove to Lawton so that I could buy a frame at Hobby Lobby for the truck paintings. We had dinner at Los Tres Amigos – Toby’s favorite Lawton eating establishment. Well, we like Whataburger too.

Saturday we lazed around most of the day since we both have some sort of summer cold. By late afternoon, we were ready to do something. We loaded up the catamaran and headed to the lake – just the two of us. We sailed most of the evening with only a couple of minor sailing errors. The first error was in rigging the boat. We put the mast up, launched the cat, and then realized that an important string was tied near the top of the mast making it impossible to put up the sail. We had to back up and start over putting the mast back down, etc. Each time we put up or take down the rigging we get a little better at it. The second mistake was mine. As Toby and I sailed in to the dock area, an important piece of rigging snapped and the main sail or boom came loose. Toby was holding it with one hand and steering the boat to the dock with the other. In my exuberance to be of help, I said, "I’ll jump out on the dock and hold the boat!" Toby should have said, "Yeah right! I’ll get the camera." Instead of jumping on the dock, I jumped right in the water and was no help to Toby. In fact, it caused concern with him hollering, "Are you okay?" as I came up coughing and sputtering. If you know me, you know that I find such things extremely funny – hence the coughing and sputtering while laughing. We got the boat over to the ramp and loaded up without any other mishaps.

While everyone was dressed up at church, Jesse took some cute photos on Father’s Day of her, Bo and Toby. She also took some great photos of the GGs and Bo. While milling about visiting with church folks, we lost GBN2. She wondered back into the church building without telling anyone causing the rest of us to run around the parking area and churchyard looking for her. Sometimes her little independent nature reminds me of her Aunt Jesse. This same independent nature showed through when we went to the lake for some sailing. GBN2 was right in there with the other kids thinking she could swim (float) with the big kids. We had to watch her like hawks.

We spent Sunday afternoon much like last Sunday with the kayaks, catamarans, floaties, kids, etc. all at the lake. I did not take my camera this time thinking you had probably seen enough lake photos. This time the GGS were there along with Piper’s Royals. I should have taken the camera, but Jesse took hers. Maybe she will post some photos. Both GGs had a great time splashing and playing with The Royals. It was a good Father’s Day at the lake, but both Toby and I were worn out when we got home last night.

Visiting with BJ

There is an organization in Duncan called The Gabriel House. It is an after school program for under-privileged kids. They have all sorts of activities for the kids including an art program. This year they are short funded. The Painted Ladies have been asked to help put on an art auction to raise money. I don’t know how much money art will bring in, but that is not my problem. My part is to ask other artists to donate paintings. That may sound fairly simple, but you would not believe the excuses that people come up with so as not to help out. I find many artists to be temperamental or maybe just mental.

I did have one interesting artist encounter yesterday. A lady named BJ Archer was on my list of artist to call. I have met BJ, but she is an older lady and never remembers me, and I admit that we have never had any real conversation. Talking to her on the phone was rather confusing. She wanted to donate a painting. The problem was that she thought one of her paintings at a local gallery would work best. She asked me to pick up the painting and bring it to her so she could make a decision. I complied. I ended up staying at her house for over an hour looking at her paintings, her studio and listening to her stories. At 81, she had some stories. She told me how she came to be an artist. She had lived in Taos, but had been very lonely and felt out of place there. I can understand that. Taos is another world – a third world country. Anyway, it was fun to visit with BJ. She is an excellent artist whom I have admired at past shows. She donated a very nice painting, I thought it would be okay to share it with you since she did donate it. Here is "The High Road to Taos."

Full Day with the Painted Ladies

Yesterday was a full day with the Painted Ladies. We met a little earlier than usual at Glenna’s house out on Lake Waurika for some blackberry picking. Oklahoma blackberries are just pretty darn good, but picking them is the pits. With temperatures soaring in June, bugs in abundance, and thorns longer than any rose bush, I really don’t like picking berries. I didn’t want to be the party pooper, so I sucked it up and did my part. After spraying lots of bug killin’ chemicals on myself, I felt fairly safe from the creepy-crawly varmints. Fortunately I did not see any snakes, but the threat was real enough – I just did not let my mind go there as I thrashed through the bushes. We picked berries until my clothes were soaked in sweat and my arms looked like I had been fighting with my ninja kitten – blood, sweat, and tears! The good news is that Glenna has a swimming pool. So as the Junk Diva says, we went Chunky Dunking – that is where old fat ladies all dive in the pool to cool off. I did a cannonball into the pool – refreshing! Glenna’s nine-year old grandson was visiting and joined in all the fun – I think I am in love. He was just cute and fun and quite the gentleman. He let me take a picture of him for painting reference. After a wonderful lunch in Glenna’s beautiful kitchen, we spent the afternoon painting. The Painted Ladies finished their second group painting.

Here is the original photo, which we quartered and each painted a section.

Here is a photo of all our four paintings. It is fun to see how they all come together. Be sure and look at the individual paintings, because they are just too cool to miss.

Painted Ladies

I’m headed off to be with my painting buddies today. We decided to call ourselves the Painted Ladies. It reminds me of Willis Alan Ramsey’s song, which I mentioned years ago on this post called "Precious Moments."

I found Willis Alan on MySpace and listened to a few of his songs – it certainly brought back some memories. The first time I ever heard Willis Alan was in Red River back in about 1972. He came to town to play at the Outpost. I had never heard of him, but all the other music fans in RR were excited about him. I guess he had quite the cult following around Austin. There was a band playing at the Motherlode that summer, but I don’t remember their name. I do remember having a crush on one of the musicians, and I managed to be sitting with him at the Outpost when Willis Alan was playing that night. After the first song, I remember thinking, "What a horrible voice - kind of scratchy." But the musician I was sitting with was awed, "Isn’t he great!" In my mind I thought, "Not really," but my mouth said, "Why yes, he is." Okay, I was trying to impress the guy. After listening to the rest of Willis Alan Ramsay’s concert that night and listening to his album the rest of the summer, I learned to appreciate him much more. Everyone seemed to be "in to" Willis that summer and played his album over and over. That is the way the kids were in RR – everyone following the fad. That may have been the same summer everyone was drinking Olympia beer.

Several years later, Red River put on a bluegrass music festival and invited WAR to play - along with some other popular bands. Since I worked nights at TR’s, I had my days free to work at the music festival taking tickets, which was a story itself. I was working with Judy Miller, a good friend of my mom’s and very interesting lady, when some serious bikers came through the gate. We took their tickets and stamped their hands to show that they had paid for the day, but the ink was dry (after all it was a hot summer day). Judy kept trying to get the inkpad to work, but it was dry. She seemed flustered. A big biker dude snatched it away from her and then hauled off and spit in it. He worked the spit into the ink, stamped himself, and handed it all back to Judy. I still remember the look on her face as she took the inkpad and stamp.

That was a side trip. Now I will get back to WAR. The music festival was held at Powder Puff Ski Area. The audience sat on the side of the hill to watch the bands below. I had made my way to the audience to hear WAR, but he was late – very late. Eventually, Wayne Kidd, the emcee came on and announced that WAR would be coming on shortly, but because WAR was being such a jerk we might all want to go take a break and not listen to him. It seems that Mr. Ramsey had gotten a bit difficult to deal with – maybe a bit arrogant. That may have been the summer everyone was drinking gin and tonics with a twist of lime.

I had not heard WAR for years, but my big brother, who has a "in" with lots of Austin musicians, brought me a WAR t-shirt a few years back. I wear it all the time. People ask me, "Who is Willis Alan Ramsey?" And I reply, "Do you remember the song, Muskrat Love sung by Captain and Tennille? Well, he wrote it."

My Past LIfe

I don't believe in reincarnation, but I did follow this link that I found over at Eric's place to see what my past life was if there was such a thing as a past life. Here is what it said about me.


Your past life diagnosis:
I don't know how you feel about it, but you were male in your last earthly incarnation.You were born somewhere in the territory of modern Egypt around the year 1425. Your profession was that of a builder of houses, temples and cathedrals.
Your brief psychological profile in your past life:Ruthless character, carefully weighing his decisions in critical situations, with excellent self-control and strong will. Such people are generally liked, but not always loved.
The lesson that your last past life brought to your present incarnation:Your lesson is to study, to practice and to use the wisdom that lies within the psychological sciences and in ancient manuscripts. With strong faith and hard work you will reach your real destiny in your present life.
Do you remember now?

Sunday at the Lake

Sunday we went to the lake. Jeramie proposed to Rebekah. She said yes - no surprise there.

The floating island was fun. Here is the yellow kayak in front of the island.

We had two catamarans to play with along with the two kayaks. Here are the two Jesse's.

Here is another duo - the newlyweds.

Sometimes it was a bit chaotic at the shore with everyone shuffling around for the big toys.

Wrong Standards

Don’t you know the Pharisees were mad? They had been doing things their own way for hundreds of years. They had been following lots of rules and making up more rules – doctrines of men. They had been walking around in their own man-made righteousness making it difficult for anyone else to be as holy as they were. Then along came a man, a carpenter’s son from Bethlehem, and told them they were doing it all wrong. Jesus told them that their rules were not making them holy - they were cleaning the outside of the cup, but leaving the inside filthy. They were whitewashed tombs filled with dead men’s bones. They may have been keeping all the doctrines of men, but they were not feeding the poor or taking care of the sick. They worshiped God with their mouths, but their hearts were far from Him. We know this because they had no love for the brethren. The goal was love from a pure heart, and they totally missed the boat. This carpenter was healing people on the Sabbath, eating with tax collectors, washing His disciple’s feet, casting out demons, and teaching with authority. He told them that God’s words were spirit and truth and that God’s words were His words. People were listening to Him, and so the Pharisees killed Him.

Things have not changed much since that day. There are still people who want to follow the precepts of men – taste not, touch not, etc. They think that will make them holy, but they have no love for their brothers. They hold to a religion, but deny the power of God. The worst part is that they tell others that this is the way to the kingdom of God. They tell people that you must not touch this or taste that or drink that. People, who do not know God, believe this. They judge people by this standard – just as the Pharisees judged people thousands of years ago. These rules and man-made doctrines have become the standard for who is "religious" and who is not. People are missing the boat again.

Am I saying that sinning is okay? Not at all! But just as people do not have a clue what righteousness is, neither do they know what sin is. I’m just saying that many people are holding to the wrong standards. I could say lots more, but this helps me to get something off my chest.

More Birthdays

June is a busy month in my family. Not only do Jesse and Bo have birthdays a week apart, I have two nephews whose birthdays are June 1 and 3. When the kids were little, we usually had several parties and maybe one big one for everyone. My kids thought birthdays lasted all week.

Today my dad would be 81. Dad's birthdays were always fun to celebrate - kind of kick off party for the summer in Red River. One year we had a big party at the Motherlode in RR. Lots of people surprised Dad when they showed up wearing overalls, which was Dad's signature summer clothes. Knowing that Dad did not normally wear his overalls to the bar for a night of dancing, we bought him a brand new pair, which he promptly changed into at the party. The next day, he was walking down Main Street in RR, when Steve H, owner of the Motherlode, hollered from the porch of the bar. " Hey Otto, you left your pants at the bar last night!" Steve didn't think how that sounded shouted out in public. Dad was a bit embarrassed, and yet he thought it was pretty funny.

Here are some photos taken at Texas Red's on Dad's birthday. You will see Jesse on the far left sitting in my cousin's lap. That is my sister in the blue standing up behind Bo, then me, Mom and Dad. Here is Loretta serving Dad a birthday ice cream and probably singing some silly song as was the custom at Reds. Although those are some nice photos of my family, Dad was also famous for growing his beard in the summer. I loved that about him. He certainly didn't look like your typical school principal.

I am headed to WF today to spend the day with Mom.

And Then Came Bo

Toby and I had been married two years, and then came Bo. We were one of the first couples to get married in our group of friends, and certainly the first to have a child. We were just babies ourselves. We took Bo everywhere with us. He was just a few weeks old when I would put him in the two-dollar garage sale stroller and walk up the hill in San Marcos to meet Toby after class. Sometimes we would take the student bus to campus and walk down the hill to the married housing where we lived. The college students were awed by Bo. Toby worked construction in San Marcos and on Fridays the crew would meet at one of the pubs for some pool playing and beer. We took Bo and set his car seat on a pool table. Everyone looked after him. After we moved to Dallas, I would often pack a picnic lunch in Bo’s diaper bag, take the same stroller, catch the bus to downtown Dallas, and meet Toby for lunch. We would walk down to the memorial park across the street from where Kennedy was shot (downtown Dallas was not big on parks back then) and eat our lunch. Then we would take the bus home – the black ladies on the bus loved Bo’s blond hair and blue eyes. In fact, Bo took his first steps down the sidewalk in Dallas waiting for Toby to come from work on those same buses. We bought bicycles and a seat for Bo at a flea market and often rode around White Rock Lake - not very safe, but it was the way it was. Bo went where we went, did what we did, and ate what we ate – we didn’t know any better.

Maybe because we wagged him everywhere, he grew up with us. Don’t get me wrong; he loved playing with other kids, but our friends did not have kids yet – he spent a lot of time with adults. Bo was always such a little man. He loved learning. We had several nicknames for him such as The Little Professor, Mr. Baggett, Bo Knows, Mr. Facts and Statistics, etc. Bo kept a meticulous notebook of baseball cards. He would draw out tournament play for the World Cup Soccer games. He would make amazing 3-D toys out of paper and junk. And he was competitive in all things. He had all our grown friends playing imaginary baseball with him- and he always won.

He still loves learning, making things, and is very competitive, but today he turns 30 years old. He is married to a wonderful woman and has my two precious GGs. God blessed us with Bo. He has been an awesome kid, son, and man. He has never given us a moment’s problem – always moving straight up the mountain.

Bo,
Just like it was yesterday, I remember the day you were born. I remember taking you in my lap and looking you over for any flaws. All I found was your frownie-face birthmark. You weren’t too attractive that first morning, but I remember the love I felt for you was almost overwhelming. You may be a grown man with your own family, but I still feel that love for you. Happy 30th Birthday!

Cat Names

Who is the baddest cat in all the land? He lives at my house, but he is nameless. Many names have passed our lips, but none have stuck – not like the cat sticks to your pants leg. Through the years I have had lots of kittens, but never one like this. He is an attack cat with an attitude. He is fearless. He is funny and entertaining, but he is a pest. The only time he is a sweet kitty is when he is asleep. The rest of the time he in attack mode searching for who or what he can pounce on. He seems to love people, but he has an odd way of showing his love – love bites. He loves Jack, the Red Heeler, but gives Ranger the Rat Terrier a wide berth. Ranger gave him a good shaking one day – it was humbling, but only for a short time. I’m not quite sure what to do with this kitten. Will he outgrow the attitude or someday will I have a full grown cat that terrorizes the household.

Here are the names we have tried; I thought El Diablo would be a perfect name. Jesse likes Jean-Claws van Damme. He could be called Jean-Claws or Damme Cat. Toby calls him Pesto. The Piper thought Hellcat was appropriate. GBN1 thought Fighting Biting Bad Cat was a good name. Fightie Bitie would work well. She called the other day and said that she had a new book about Dick and Jane. She said they have a cat named Puff, and she thought that we could call our kitten Puff. Hmm, I don’t think so. What do you think?

Weekend Report

The Duncan Art Guild paint-out went fairly well. Eleven people showed up to paint. It was not the usual DAG members, but a nice assortment of folk. The wind blew from the southwest and that may have stopped some people from wanting to plein aire paint. It was definitely not much fun holding down your paints, sitting in the heat, and trying to knock out a winning painting. Here is my painting. I painted Barb painting her painting. Clever - don't you think. It did not win, but Barb's painting did win. I was close :)

After the paint-out I made it to the lake around 6:30 PM to join my family who went sailing the new catamaran. Toby said that there was almost too much wind earlier in the day, but by the time I arrived, it was just right. Jesse and Toby did manage to flip the cat. Jesse said it would have been fun, but she caught her arm on the mast guide-wire (there is probably some technical term for the wire, but I don't know it). Her arm-pit is pretty red and raw and sore. That did not deter them; they continued to sail until dark. I forgot my camera yesterday and did not get any photos of the paint-out or the sailing. Maybe Jes will post some.

It was late when we got home, but I managed to catch the last bit of the hockey game - go Wings! Toby and I climbed into bed about 10:30. It was just as we were going to sleep that I heard the wind pick up - howling actually. I asked Toby if it were suppose to storm. He said, "Maybe." With that, we heard a big crash against the house. I said, "The gazebo!" We both ran outside to see the gazebo tangled in the picnic table with poles scattered all over the yard like a garage sale. We gathered up the tent part and put it away - so that we did not have to ask our neighbor for it tomorrow. By the time we climbed back into bed minutes later, the wind stopped gusting. It was just a freak thing. It left two windows on the front side of the house broken - so much for the nice gazebo this summer.

Still Killin' Flies

Stealing a page from Jesse, I decided to just tell the story in photos with just a small amount of commentary. We had Jesse's party last evening with lots of fun and food. There were probably forty folks here - not counting little ones. The little ones came in and out of the house so much that the house was full of flies. We were still killing flies this morning although it took us a while to locate the fly-swatter.

Here are the little ones playing on the cattle guard. The cattle guard is for future use, and we got teased about it not guarding in cattle sitting in the yard like that.

We cooked fajitas on the grill along with chicken, sausage and pork. Piper made his famous pico de gallo: I made mine as well. Other people brought different side dishes. Lindz baked a strawberry cake for Jesse and a margarita cake for Emily who turned 21 yesterday. That is Emily on the right.

The young people played volleyball until it was too dark to play. Then sat around visiting in what Jesse called "a Martha Steward" setting.

Diva and daughter sitting with the Royals. Tucker and Alex showed off the razzed up lawn mower that they plan on racing in the 4th of July festivities. It used to be our old mower, but now it will do about 100 MPH - if you could keep it on the ground. It will definitely be blog worthy material on the 4th. About 10 PM they all came in the house and played charades and similar word games. It was midnight before everyone went home.

The Bachelor Brothers Grim

I do believe we have some of the most beautiful girls in the world right here in OK.

Party Preparations

First I want to thank everyone who went by Jesse’s blog and left a comment on her birthday. All of you were great! She had a busy day yesterday at work, and no one really acknowledged her b-day (she works with men mostly). So, I know she was tickled to get all of the traffic and well wishes on her blog. Today we are preparing for the big volleyball/fajita party. Lots of folk are coming over this evening and many are bringing their kids. Toby and I set up the gazebo that my parents bought for us several years ago. We thought it might be fun for the party. The last time it was out of the box was when we were building on the house. Mom and Dad thought it would be a nice place to get out of the sun while building. The wind caught it one day and blew it around bending some of the poles. We put it back in the box and left it - worried that the OK wind would destroy it. Don't worry, This time Toby anchored that baby down with some major tent pegs.

I have lots to do today to get ready for the party – cooking, cleaning, getting out the lawn furniture, setting up the VB net, etc. Toby took a half-day in order to help. Okay, he would use any excuse to take off from work. We also plan on setting up the frisbee golf game to keep the little ones entertained. I thought about buying water guns…

Tomorrow the Duncan Art Guild is having a "paint out." It is something new. Artists will show up at Redbud Park in Marlow, ante up 5$, and then do some plein aire painting. At the end of two hours we will show our work and vote on the best piece. The winner gets the pot. It sounds like fun. Of course the people who cooked up this event will not be able to be there – leaving me in charge. Heh, heh, the mice will play…Last Wednesday with my painting ladies, we drove over to the park and took some photographs. Then we practiced on one of the views. This is my attempt at the Redbud Chapel. Sorry, my photo caught a bit of shadow this morning. I will let you know how the paint-out goes.

Birthday Girl

Today is Jesse's 27th birthday. She was born in the wee morning hours of June 4th. With her dark hair and dark eyes, I remember saying to Toby, "This is not my baby; she is way to pretty." Here is a photo taken about 20 years ago. Here is one taken this morning. She thought it was rather lame for me to take her photo in front of the fridge, but I thought it a nice comparison shot with the old photo. We were having lunch earlier this week when Jesse asked us to take her to lunch on her birthday. Toby replied, "Are we going to Denny's?" It is kind of a family joke since Denny's does a free birthday dinner. Years ago when Jesse saw the Denny's ad, she said, "If you have to eat at Denny's on your birthday, you life is pretty lame."

Tomorrow night we will have some friends over and cook fajitas on the grill, play some volleyball, and maybe drink margaritas. I think she has a pretty good life. I know for sure she brings joy to her parents and laughter to her friends.

Blog Traffic and Change

Several people have mentioned the lack of blog traffic lately. Jesse thought it was sad that only her mother commented on her blog, but said she doesn’t mind. If you do happen to go by her blog, be sure and check out her videos posted last week. Buck blamed it on lack of interest in his hockey posts. For lack of traffic on my blog, I blame it on lack of interesting material. My blog has turned into a GGs Journal and sometimes art post – not everyone is interested in my grand kids like I am. It could be that after four years of blogging, I just have nothing left to say. Maybe summer and warmer weather makes people want to do something besides sit in front of their computer. Stories often roll around in my head, and I think, "I should blog that." Somewhere between my brain and my fingers on the keys of the computer, the thoughts get lost. It happens with my art too. Possibly it is an age thang, but I am a believer that change is good. Seasons come and go. My season is rather dull right now, and that is okay. Some day we will start building our house. Some day Jesse will have a beau. Some day I will have grandsons. Some day I will travel again. Some day I will paint something amazing. When those days come, I will share stories and photos and paintings. Until then, bear with me.

Last weekend not only did we camp out, but we also helped a church family move to a new house. Ashley’s family moved from their home in the country to a house that they had remodeled in town. So many people from our church turned out to help that there were almost too many helpers. There is a lot of love in our fellowship.

We also went to WF and had supper with my mom. She seemed to be doing fine and is busy with her friends. We may go to the Chapman family reunion next week. Mom has aunts who are in their 90’s. She thinks this may be the last reunion since the aunts are so old. Once they are gone, there may not be anyone to keep the reunions going. It is the way of things. It is another one of those changes of season. As old family reunions die, new family reunions will pop up - if it is important to people.

Sometimes I don’t really like the changes that come with getting older, but there is no point in whining. Change will happen. I may mourn the old, but I want to experience the new. No change is good too, but it does make for duller blogs.

Camping with GGs

Twenty years ago, my mom and dad bought a two-room tent for camping out with their grandkids. I think they gathered up my kids and Craig’s kids who were the only grandkids at that time and camped in El Rito, NM, where they had some acreage. It was their one and only time to camp out with the grandkids. After that one time, they made Toby and me the keepers of the tent. Supposedly the tent belonged to the whole family and anyone could use it. Through the years, Toby and I have used the tent quite a lot. I have blogged about this tent and our adventures in it many times. It is a pain in the butt to set up and take down, but it is a nice roomy tent. It has a jillion pole pieces that fit together and usually cause a family fight on how to do it. The how-to numbers on the pole pieces have long ago vanished, but they were never much help anyway. We usually get the tent up with one side taller than the other and have to break it down and redo it all. I have learned not to give my opinion on how to put the poles together. It is easier to just wait and see if it works out. I have been known to be wrong. I have also been known to smirk when the tent turned out lopsided, which was probably not wise when everyone is holding tent poles that could be used as weapons. One year at Camp Y'shua, where our whole church goes for a family camp out, we had a friend set up his camp chair and watch us put up our tent. He said it was the best entertainment he had had in along time.

I thought all tents were difficult to put together, but realized that modern tents are practically push a button and out pops your tent. Lately, Toby and I have been shopping for a new tent, although the old one is still usable and has a wonderful mold smell to add to the usual tent smell, and the zipper doors are not so easily zipped anymore. It is really not so bad.
Friday night, we set the old tent up in the yard with the help of the GGs. Talk about entertainment! It was like putting up the tent with all its usual problems plus two raccoons running around getting in to things, ghosts disappearing with the hammer, pirates sword fighting with the poles, monkeys jumping on the air mattress (which went flat before morning). You get my drift. At one point GBN1 accidentally zipped up GBN2
‘s hair in the tent door. There was a fight over who got to sleep on the pink air mattress. Excitement was high, but we finally got everyone quiet and in bed about 11 PM. Then Toby got up and said, "I forgot to turn the water off in the garden." GBN1 popped up and dramatically said, "Oh no! Not the water!" Drama was high, too.

At 5:30 AM, I was cold and needed the bathroom. I told Toby that I was going in the house, and I was not coming back. I managed to get out the broken zipper door without waking the GGs. About the time I snuggled down in my own bed, here came Toby with the GGs who were not willing to go back to sleep. It had been a short night. Now I know why my mom and dad only camped out once with their grandkids. And then I think, "But if we had a new tent, and maybe a new air mattress…"