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There has been much discussion around the dinner table regarding the economy, politics, education, etc. Although the topics are serious our discussions always disintegrate into humor which falls quickly into the ridiculous and absurd. The boys feed of each other and encourage each one step over the line of good taste and decorum. And, though much can not and should not be repeated, I have to acknowledge Luke for his clever sense of humor. I have decided to add a list of Luke's ideas and insights to my blog (list on the right). Most are humorous, but some are serious and provocative. Since humor is often confused with serious in written word I will distinguish between the two. Enjoy.

Letter From My Grandmother, October 18, 1978

Today I went through one of my mother's boxes of letters and photos. I found the following letter from my grandmother written when I was a month shy of eighteen. She encourages me to take up art. Apparently she even mailed paints for me to work with. In my mother's box I also found a letter written to my mother from my sister, Patty. She tells my mother that I am discouraged with college and have decided to become an artist. I have no idea why my mother chose to save these letters. I never remember wanting to become an artist. Nor did I ever even entertain the idea that I was capable of becoming an artist. Luke says that maybe they saw something in me that I did not. Maybe it is a message from my mother and grandmother. Maybe. So, if I become a famous artist in the future you will know that I was lead by the spirits of my mother and grandmother. And if I don't...oh well, they tried.

**********

Briscoe, Texas

Oct. 18, 1978

Dearest Christi Ann: (Pa Po 'oves)

I will dash you off a few lines to say "Howdy". We are busy as can be so I don't have much time now, but when it gets too cold to work outside then I can have more time to write.

I am wondering if you got your paint set I sent you? And did you get the $20 I sent you back from the money you left here for phone calls? You are a good kid & (repeat) Pa po 'oves.

I hope you can see your way clear to take some art classes. I think that would be a lot of fun. I took art 3 months one time & my art teacher got married & left town. I always had it in the back of my mind to paint with oils. But in the mad rush I never got slowed down to do all that. So time went on & I got involved in a lot of other projects. Then when I was 65 years old some women at Allison went to Wheeler where a man was teaching an art class. They wanted me to go. I said, "no, I don't want to spend my time that way. I have so many other irons in the fire." So if you don't do things at a certain time in your life you don't get them done. I talked Bill into going back to school & getting his degree. He just lacked a very litttle bit. So he took a spanish course and said "never again". So he will not do that.

This has started out to be a miserable letter hasn't it? But really things are looking up. As long as a person is able to get out of bed & put on their clothes & sally forth everything is O.K.

We are doing fine here. Having beautiful weather. We have been making shelves in the patio. I have it full to over flowing. I wish you could see it. I have a lot of exotic plants and they have grown out of bounds. I have orchids & orchid catus & everything else you can imagine. It is a source of great pleasure for me. I have some double petunias that I must dig up & bring in & also some more geraniums. I planted some lily, stock & pansy seed & they are up ready to pot. I am going to make that bed in front of the house higher & set out it to pansies. I am going to fix up the front yard next spring. I already have more than I can get done. Last fall we put a new roof on the old green house.

Do you remember those baby cats that the mama cat hid? They are half grown & 2 are fuzzy. We cleaned out the old house & she brought them out into the well house. They are so cute but they won't let us pet them & Sam & Sarah don't have time to gentle them down. They come over & watch TV on Sat. some. The are involved with school. Sarah has the brownies (girl scout) & Sam has basketball. Sandy takes them to Wheeler Thursdays for dancing & gymnastics. They enjoy that.

James & Bea are in Dallas. James is operating a crane on the 11th floor of a building they are putting up. He lifts thing up from the ground. They have an apartment & the girls like school. They were here 2 wks ago. I kinda look for them this wkend. June & Kevin are in Okla. City. They came up 2 wks ago when James' were here. We had a real good time. The boys hunted dove & enjoyed that.

Your Uncle Jim is still blowing & going. He is putting the doors & windows in his house. I cook them dinner on days he takes off work to do his house which isn't very often. He has been working 3 hours in the evenings on it. It really is shaping up good. He has the roof on.

Uncle Ray is really blowing & going. I talked to him and he said he was going to do a little different. He gets so involved in chasing the elusive dollar that he forgets everything else. I said "yes, you can't see the forest for the trees." You don't live but one time. You don't go around a second time. And you must always think positive thoughts. Negative thoughts are a drag & really too expensive because they cut down your go & slow you down. Granny, do you remember her? used to say worry is bound to help because what you worry about most seldom happen.

A few times in my life I have grabbed a sheet of paper & written down my thoughts. It would consist of what I had accomplished & my flowers & end up about the weather. Then I would stash them in a note book or drawer. Years later I would run on to them & enjoy reading them very much. But I regret that I didn't do that more often. I wrote some family history when Mama was alive. I found that the other day. My grandmother used to keep a diary. But I never wanted to write every day. It would go too much like this. Well, everything fell apart again today. If one is going (to) write say something good & cheery. "Laugh & the world laughs with you, sigh & you sigh alone, for the dreary old earth must borrow its mirth, it has enough grief of its own."

Bill's & Danny's went to Scotland & England. Bill's were here this weekend & had a picture show. It was in color & just like being there. People say to me I looked up my family history & I have a castle in Scotland. Bill found 3 of them & brought me a rock from the Crawford castle. It was in ruins & the oldest one. He traced it back to 500 A.D. I must shut this down. Write & stay well.

Love ya,

Pa Po & Claude

Mabel and Lee

Gina Comes And Saves The Day!

We needed bedding for our new truck traveling getup so I purchased foam pads and planned to make removable covers for them. The plan seemed simple enough so I didn't worry about the issue of having sold my sewing machine at a garage sale. No problem. I would simply sew the covers by hand as I casually watched TV. How could such a simple plan go awry? First off, the concept of "slipping off" cotton covers from foam pads is a near impossibility. I had to keep modifying my pattern, which meant tearing out seams that took a ridiculous amount of time to sew. After hours of frustration my head began to throb, my vision blurred (which was probably brought on by the first 2 hours of working without glasses, which lead to tearing out more seams), and panic was setting in. I knew if I continued I would start cutting things that shouldn't be cut, which would lead to going to the store to purchase additional material. And of course, I had already purchased all the material. I would have to redesign my project using two types of material. This project was never going to end and would cost the equivalent of a designer mattress with custom silk sheets. HELP! I called my dear friend, Gina. She was over in 5 minutes, sewing machine tucked under her arm. She plopped down on my bedroom floor and started sewing seams. When she realized the complexity of sliding on and off the covers she made me look online for a solution. I was incredulous. How do you look up "making cotton slipcovers that slip on"? But, alas, it was there. The trick is to wrap the foam in large trash bags, slip on the covers then pull the trash bags off. It was ingenious. Of course, taking them off will still be difficult. But, at least it is better than buying $100 worth of Velcro, tearing out the long side seams and sewing it all back together. So thank you, Gina. You saved the day.

By the way, our maiden voyage is tomorrow. We are going to Carpenteria. Leonard has to work in Santa Barbara and I will be moving Lenny into his new crib (graduate housing). We are spending the night at the campground. We will see how it works out. Note to self: Make sure all the straight pens are out of the mattress covers.

Additional note: The mattress cover is the black material in the background of the picture, not the sheet in Gina's lap. I was temporarily side tracked with a plan which proved unsuccessful.

Leonard Redeems Himself With A New Project

Although Leonard put a kink into my camping plans he redeemed himself by rebuilding the back of the truck for improved camping experience. I convinced the boys to help their dad and it was a family project. Leonard is trying to organize the truck so we can both sleep in the back of the truck and have storage below. We slept in the truck Sat. night. It was a success!

Walking Plans Change Again

Well, today Leonard is dropping me off at the beach, but not in Ventura. He has to meet a client in Santa Barbara and help Lenny move so he convinced me to walk in Santa Barbara. That means I won't get to camp out for the night. I am afraid I let Leonard bully me into the changes. He starts in with the, "Why are you going there?", "What are you going to do?", blah, blah, blah. We argued all weekend (mainly about family). The boys told us we needed to learn to compromise. I said I do. And, the boys said, "No you don't, Mom. You fold.". I guess I folded again. But, we're getting along right now and I want the weekend to go smoothly. In all fairness, Leonard is very nervous about the lack of work. The boys can really stress him out and then he doesn't have the motivation needed to get through these tough times. In this economy if you are not ambitious, driven, and very creative, you won't make it. Unofrtunately, I am having to be all three for Leonard while he does all the work. It is easy to be ambitious, driven, and creative when you don't have to do the work. Whereas, it is miserable to work when you are not ambitious, driven, or creative. Oh well, I'll get in a good walk.

I Made It!

It took all day but I made it from my house to Hwy 126. The walk was 13 miles and when Leonard picked me up it was 96 degrees. I am exhausted and too sore to sleep. The reflective heat against the concrete and asphalt walkways was almost too much. I knew I was hitting a danger point at the end when I went past hot and started thinking that the heat felt good. At the same time I started to fill my stomach contents trying to rise. I decided I had better find some shade, rest a bit, and slowly drink water. It worked and I was able to finish my walk.

Luckily, Joey got a job working at a machine shop for his girlfriend's dad. He makes airplane bolts. I say I am lucky because he can't drive me to Ventura tomorrow. I am too wiped out to walk tomorrow. Leonard has to go to Santa Barbara on Friday so he can drop me off and I can walk to the campground. I hope they will have a space available.

Although I am completely exhausted, I love the feeling. I used to love Fridays when I would go to puck practice for two hours then play three games of hockey later that night. I look better after my walk. I am an outdoors person. I was not meant to be a House Frau.

Just When You Head In One Direction Life Takes A Turn

After a week of classes at HSU Joey decided he had made a mistake. He wanted to come home and he was serious. Everyone was shocked Leonard and I didn't make him stay, but we were investing all our savings in our kids college. It may have been an important life lesson for Joey to stay, but our economic situation does not allow us the luxury of investing in anyone that is not absolutely sure they know what they are doing. Considering Joey is eighteen, involved with a girlfriend at home, and home is so far away, the chances for success are probably equal to the chances for failure. Dropping out immediately allows him to keep his record clear and avoid failing grades. Lenny thinks most kids should go to junior college first. He is probably right. Leonard is very disappointed and worried that Joey is allowing his first girlfriend too much control over his future. Joey is my third son. I've been through this before. Like his brothers, Joey is intelligent, interesting, and hard working. He will be fine.

My biggest disappointment with Joey coming home was I had already made plans for myself. For the first time in many years I was going to focus on myself and not on cooking, cleaning, and laundry. So, to be at peace with the change in plans I made new rules. Joey and Luke had to shop, cook, and clean...to my specifications. No arguments and complaints allowed. As for me, I am going on my walkabout. I bought a small pack and supplies. Today I will try to walk to Hwy 126. Initially, I planned to walk to the beach, staying at a hotel the first night then getting a ride through the 126, and walking through Ventura to a campground where Joey will have dropped off my camping supplies. My plans are complicated by my arthritis. I can't sleep on a simple hiking bed roll or carry too much in my pack. I decided the economy just doesn't allow me to do this right now. I need to cancel the hotel part of my plan. Today I will walk to the 126 then someone will bring me home for the night and drop me off in Ventura tomorrow.

Will I succeed? Who knows. Luke is getting over what appears to be the swine flu. I could get it any minute. By the way, Luke did not get very sick. Last years flu was much, much worse. How long will I walk? Until I don't want to walk anymore. On Saturday Lenny has to be out of his student apartment. He will come home for a couple of weeks before he moves back to student housing. On Friday or Saturday I will have him pick me up wherever I am at the time.

Look for me walking through town. I'm off!