Dance Time

I often think of the wedding last October, more than a year ago. There are many memories. I can close my eyes and relive so much of it.

Dancing with my girlfriend Debbie was fun and funny. We giggled like school girls. She later told me what a great time she had and was ready to go dancing again.

A great quote - There are short cuts to happiness and dancing is one of them.

NC to DC Part II

Following up on a previous post, the NC Christmas tree selected by the White House this year was cut down and baled this past weekend. It left the state yesterday to make its way to Washington. The tree farm owners made the trip too and were greeted and congratulated by the First Lady.

This year we must forego our trip to our favorite tree farm in NC, Top of the Mountain. Tim's leg is still healing. We would not be able to wrestle a large, live tree in and out of the truck. Instead I will buy an artificial tree, a pre-lit one maybe 5' or so.

For many years, prior to our tree farm pilgrimage, we had an artificial tree. It was one we bought in Texas when Melanie was one year old and used for about 20 years. Of course our Christmas joy is not mandated by a live tree or a fake tree or really any tree at all. As long as we are all together and in one piece, we're happy.

Dog Park

The dogs in Plano have their own park to go to, socialize, and have fun. It's right off the bike path and many times we stop while riding and enjoy watching them play. They remind me of the kids at recess playing chase. John and his kids have been here and say Sport would love it. There is a smaller section of the park fenced off for little dogs like Tom's Sophie. From recently viewed pictures of Sydney Bostic, she'd go to the big play area. Jerry's Maggie probably would like the play area if rabbits from the adjacent wooded area got in so she could chase them.
Jacob and Josh enjoyed coming here and watching all the dog antics.

The Dallas dogs have it pretty good also. I read in the paper this morning there's now a dog vending machine in downtown Dallas. The whole point of the article was when a downtown has enough dog walkers (that means these people live in the area) to merit a dog vending machine, that's a good sign.

Watch This!

On NBC - right after the Macy's Parade.

A great show.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

The Flip

Here's the Flip hairdo Peggy was talking about in her previous post comment. The directions for setting and styling sound complicated to me and I'm not sure I did all that. I do remember sleeping in rollers most nights, teasing my hair for volume and more volume (in Tx it's called big hair) and using a lot of hair spray to hold the set. Since there was just one bathroom for the seven of us in the family, I'm sure all this styling and spraying was done in our bedroom. It's a wonder Peggy and I could breathe in the room with all the spray floating in the air!

And Speaking of Photo Archives...

Here I am a few years ago ... okay, many years ago ... holding a sweet baby. I remember it very well. Can anyone guess the identity of the baby?
Hint: Nixon was President.

From The Patton Photo Archives

A Cowboy Proud van at pre-game festivities

Cowboy Proud fans in the stands

Red, White, Blue and Gold

Today outside the high was 72 degrees. Tomorrow the high is forecast to be 57.


Because I took the afternoon off from work and was home, I stood on my front porch and snapped this photo of the golden leaved oak tree in our front yard.

We put our flag out this weekend in celebration of Veterans Day. I will bring it in tonight and it will stay rolled up in the closet until - oh, probably sometime in 2008. The golden leaves will be gone soon because the fall season is about to come to an end.

Those of you who were here last year for the Bostic wedding can vouch for how beautiful our state can be in the fall of the year.

Life is so good.

A Pets Prayer

If it should be that I grow frail and weak,
And pain should keep me from my sleep,
Then you must do what must be done
For this, the last battle, can't be won.

For this day more than the rest,
Your love and friendship stand the test.
We've had so many good years,
What is to come can hold no fear.
You'd not want me to suffer, so,
When the time comes, please let me go.

Take me where my needs they'll tend,
Only stay with me to the end.
And hold me firm and speak to me
Until my eyes no longer see.
I know in time that you will see
It is a kindness you do for me.

Don't grieve that it should be you who decides,
We've been a close family all these years,
Don't let your heart hold the tears.
But smile, for we walked together for a while.

Author unknown

Sonny

June, 1990

November 12, 2007

View Memorial Page created by Will

Letting Go

I introduced Sonny, our 17 year old cat, in a previous post. Last Tuesday night he had an episode which the vet described as the human equivalent of a stroke. Over the past few days, he has not improved much at all. He can barely walk, cannot use the litter box and has only eaten a morsel of food and sipped a few drops of water. The vet said if he did not improve in three days, he probably would not recover at all and we may need to think about the hard decison.

I've been doing a lot of reading on the Internet on this topic - trying to gain some insight on when to hang on and when to let go. This type of condition and its symptoms can be long and drawn out for an old cat. After reading, thinking, discussing and agonizing, we have decided to let Sonny go. I will call the vet on Monday morning and make the appointment.

These last few weeks have been tough. All days can't be happy, all circumstances can't be joyful. I know this. Such is life - no one escapes the sad times - these are life lessons.

Thanks for listening - thanks for thinking of us.

The Bicycle and The Cyclist

This is the bicycle Tim was riding when he had his accident almost 3 weeks ago.


This photo was taken last week. As you can see, it has no damage, only a couple of little scratches on the right pedal. You might think with the injury sustained, this bike would have been mangled. Not so. All of the damage was to the cyclist.

Tim loves this bicycle so he was glad it, at least, is not in any need of repair. He bought it over 20 years ago when we were living in Texas. It is a classic that today has quadrupled in value.

The cyclist is doing well but recovery will be longer than expected. He had his first post-surgery ortho doctor visit this morning. Healing is going well, but he is to continue to keep all weight off the right leg for an additional four weeks. This means that he must continue using the walker. We don't know when he will be able to drive. He will try going back to work on Tuesday, probably starting with half day work. Fortunately his office is close to mine, so I will be driving him to and from work.

So many people have called, sent cards, brought food and made personal visits. Tim is so appreciative of every expression of concern and I am too. With Thanksgiving right around the corner, we are still thankful for so much.

Caught On Camera

This is called TEXAS PROUD

Camping in the Hill Country

We got back last week from another great camping trip. This time we went to the Hill Country of Texas. It's a beautiful area north of San Antonio and west of Austin. Those not familiar with Texas can click here to see a beautiful picture of the area and read a bit more about it.
(You can also click on any of the pictures below to get a better view)

We camped along the bank of the Blanco River. In the warmer months lots of people are seen swimming, canoeing, tubing here.

A few miles up the road was Luckenbach. Waylon and Willie weren't there, but there were some cowboys bellied up to the bar in the back of the post office/general store at 11 a.m. This building and the dance hall were the only two buildings in town. A sign read pop: 3

Fredericksburg is a great little town for shopping so, of course, we spent time there. There's German food, beer, quaint shops, and many benches for the non-shoppers to sit and wait.

This is LBJ's ranch and house in Stonewall. Since Lady Bird passed away this summer, the tour bus will now take you up to the ranch house. It will open to the public on LBJ's hundredth birthday in August '08. The guide told us the President spent 465 days of his presidency here. Wow--I know someone who gets criticized when he spends 3 wks. in Crawford while Congress is in summer recess.

Just down from the ranch house is the Johnson Family Cemetery. It lies beneath a grove of beautiful live oak trees near the banks of the Pedernales River. The large gravestone in the background is LBJ's. To the left of this is where Lady Bird was laid to rest. (where the flowers are). The others buried here are LBJ's parents, siblings, and grandparents.

We also went in to San Antonio to visit my friend, Frances, who moved there in May.

This is such beautiful country and there is so much to do in this area that I know we'll be returning in the future.

Fishing Trip to the Sea of Cortez

Hi All,

I was invited to join 7 other guys on a deep sea fishing trip. The one person you know is Jim Barnwell. Jim is retired but works part time for a wealthy land developer in Mexico; Jim is in charge of his charitable foundation. Anyway, the developer, Larry Large, has a yacht that he keeps on the upper portion of the Sea of Cortez.

We all met in Tuscon on Friday, October 5. Larry had his private plate then fly us down to old Mexico to the town of Porte Pinasta (the folks in Arizona and California call the town Rocky Point. It's an up and coming tourist town - nice beaches and expensive condos. The town is a typical Mexico tourist town - there are the folks that have, and in Mexico, they're not willing to shave with the have not's; and then there are the rest of the folks, living like a 3rd world country - shacks for homes, dirt floors, no running water; no toilet facilities. Pretty sad when you see it.

We stayed there until we boarded the yacht on Saturday. It's a beautiful boat - 112' long and 25' wide. There are 7 berths in the hull of the boat - each berth had a double bed and it's own bathroom and shower. Larry's estate room is on the main deck - very large (no pun intended). The 5 man crew's quarters are on the upper deck where the pilot house is located. There is yet another level on top of the crew's quarters which has a horse shoe shaped seating area which provides a beautiful view.

We cruised all of Saturday; usually were cruising at 8 knots (optimum speed for fuel consumption) and finally stopped Sunday morning in a cove off of a deserted island. Some of the guys went fishing on a small dingy - the rest of us just hung out.

We did this for the next 4 days - cruise, fish, eat 3 square meals a day and have cocktails all day. The crew would come around constantly asking if they could refresh our drinks, get us something to eat - in general, make us as comfortable as possible.

We finally got back to Rocky Point Wednesday - flew back to Tuscon and on back to Denver. I got to sit in the co-pilot seat on the way back to Tuscon - that was pretty neat - the pilot was more that willing to answer all of my questions aboat the plane, instruments, FAA regulations, custom regulations, etc.

When I finally got home, it took a couple of days to get rid of my sea legs - I felt like I was listing to the right when I walked.