The weekend.

Since I had to work here in San Saba all day last Friday, Denise and I didn't have time to go get mom and take her out to eat. So, after sleepin' in and relaxing, she and I drove over to Temple Saturday night and made up for it. It was my turn to pay, so guess where we went?



Oh yea, and it looked just like this too (Yep, I'm reusin' and old shot... Hell, it doesn't get any better lookin' than this, and this way the ladies don't get all snitty with me for takin' pictures). The food at Dynasty in Temple was fresh and delicious, as I hoped.

The shrimp were scarce in the Shrimp Fried Rice, but I made up for it with shrimp and crab meat (wanna be) from another dish. The Generals Chicken was as good as ever, and the egg rolls were good too. There was even fried chicken wings and fried scallops on the side. I'm tellin' ya, one plate just about did me in.

After dinner we went to the Dairy Queen by the mall and got three small Heath Bar Blizzards for desert. That just about did me in. Like a lion that's just gorged itself on a gazelle, all I could do was lay on mom's bed and vegetate. I may even have had a short nap. I can't remember.

Denise and I had plans to go to the multiplex and see Robin Hood after dinner, but something went wrong there. We got back to Mom's place with those Blizzards, sat (or laid) down in front of the TV and didn't budge until it was too late. We made plans to see it Sunday, but those caved in on us too.

Denise got a wild hair and decided to clean off my front porch. She dug out all my planters and used to hose to wash everything off. I was doin' laundry and pissin' around on this thing. At one point, midway through the afternoon, I called Mom and told here I was comin' over. She'd had a project for me Saturday night, but I didn't have the energy then.



I drove over, with the sun roof open and the cigar smoke wafting out. The tunes were blaring too. I recently picked up the latest CD from the Black Keys. It's wonderful, if you're into them. Check it out.

The project turned out to be an air conditioner that she'd bought for my sister back when she was living with mom a while back. Sis had taken the unit with her when she moved to Oklahoma City, and then had returned it when she moved into a place that had good AC.

The upstairs room at mom and dad's place is always hot. Really unpleasantly hot in the summer, so mom went out and got this AC unit that plugs into the window and circulates all the warm air out as it generates cool air for the room.



You should'a heard me cussin'. I had a HELL of a time fittin' that long plastic part into the window. I tried to call my sister, who had originally set the thing up, but only got her voicemail. Sheit! But in the end I figured it out, and now the thing is coolin' the room so that my cousin Sue can come up from Houston and visit mom and not swelter in the heat.

There's other stuff to cover, but I'll have to wait for another day to take you there. The library is closing and it's time to head back to the jail. I'll take the class from about 1652 to 1748 today. Fast and furious. Y'all be good. Cheers.

BUSY!

Yep, busy. It all started in the middle of last week. Denise and I went down to Austin Wednesday night and took in a show.



Joe Bonamassa was playin' at the Paramount Theater down town. I took the little camera Denise gave me for Christmas and was able to capture a few good, if a bit shaky videos.

I had to film surreptitiously. The ushers at the Paramount jumped all over people who were tryin' to take pictures that last time we went there. They've jumped me for taking pictures there before, so I was one handing this thing down the end of my knee, tryin' to keep Joe in focus and the center of the screen. You be the judge.


Thursday was a regular day. Down to Florence, then San Saba, and then I drove back to Killeen and onto Ft. Hood to give finals to two of my evening classes. As I was driving onto the base I realized that my stickers are about six months out of date. They expired in October of 2009, but the guards have been wavin' me through all this time. Security's tight!

So, after finishing the finals and getting out of class I had to go by the sticker place and get mine renewed. I was easy though. The later you show up to that place the fewer people are standing there in line.



Next morning, because most of my Florence kids would be gone for some school activity, I took the morning off. I arranged for the few folks who would show up to be sent to the library and Denise and I slept in.

I got on the road by 10:30 and headed to San Saba. I had to go in Friday to make up for the classes I'd missed to go to the concert. The drive was painless, and classes went smooth as usual. Like fallin' off a log. And seein' as how the Dairy Mart is open later than usual on Friday...



Yep, I went by for my usual treat, with a twist this time. A large order of onion rings to go with that Jalapeno Sourdough bread Bacon Cheeseburger... All the way, with mustard and mayo. Bliss!

I didn't get home from Saba until a little after 9PM Friday night, so there was no time to take Denise out or go get mom and have our regular Friday night dinner. Further more, with all this goin' on I'd forgotten to call mom and tell her what I was up to. So you can guess what I heard Saturday morning when I finally remembered to call. "Where the hell have you been?"

Saturday afternoon, while I was sprayin' poison on my crop of weeds, a former student from Florence drove up to show me his new toy.



John Jaeger was one of the smartest kids I ever taught down there. His sister is even smarter, which is to say, she doesn't have as many distractions as John has. He's recently been married, and he's in the Marine reserves. he says he's going to Afghanistan soon.

Anyway, he contacted me on Facebook last week to say that he wanted to bring his new 383 Nova by to show it to me. He wanted to let me drive it too...



But there was an issue. he's got a loose wire that causes the car to die at inopportune moments. He got it into my driveway and shut it off to show it to me, but when I got in to start it up for my joy ride it wouldn't start.

Long story short, after I showed him my toys... the big blue safe... we sat around and I shared a Yuengling with him, which he enjoyed, he tinkered with the wiring until it got going. By that time it was time for him to head out. Once he got it going he didn't want to take any chances. He waved good-bye and pealed out, burnin' a long black stripe in the road in front of my house. I'm sure all my little old neighbors were pissed, but I loved it. He says he's got someone workin' on the rats maze of old wires and that he'll bring it back up and let me drive it soon. I can't wait!

After that, Denise and I went to work cleanin' out our cars. I got out the shop vac and went to work while she shampooed the mats.

By the time we were done with that it was time for me to grab by laundry and head over to Temple. Denise was too pooped to go. I hosed myself down, gathered up my dry cleanin' and headed to the drive-by laundry in 57th, and then over to get mom.



It was my turn to pay, so you know where I wanted to go. The general's Chicken and Shrimp Fried Rice were in rare form. I tossed a few more shrimp and crab bits in there for good measure and mixed it all up. Mmmmmm, good.



Mom was too. She's doin' fine, and loves herself some of the generals chicken too.



After we stuffed ourselves we decided to do a run up to the cemetery so she could show me the nice flowers she put on everyone's plot. That was a quick drive-by, and then it was back to her place for an after-dinner tipple.

Yep, It was a busy several days, so even though we had stuff to do, Sunday had to be set aside for relaxation. Denise and I slept in and then rolled around most of the day. She put a great stew in the crock pot and when it was ready we shared it. It was a wonderful day.

Now I'm back in San Saba, sittin' here in the library, workin' this post out on my laptop, tryin' to get it finished so I can get outta here and give yet another exam.

I took advantage of the fact that we had substitute guards in the education building today. After my noon class finished their exam one of the offenders asked if we could get out of class early. I told him to go ask, thinking there was no way we'd get away with it. Sure enough, I was out of there by 1:30 and off to the Dairy Mart for the fourth time in as many weeks. I'm tellin' ya, I've GOT to stop eatin' like this... Some day. Gettin' away with shit is so much fun! Cheers!

Friday night dinner with Mom, and the weekend.

Denise and I took Mom out to eat Friday night. It was Mom's turn to pick the place, and pay. That's how we keep from fightin' over the check every week. It works out fine.

We haven't been to the Olive Garden in ages. Mom loves it. Truth be told, so do I, but we usually get our Italian food at a few other spots in town. There's better places around here, more authentic feeling than the OG. But the salad and bread sticks are wonderful, so we always enjoy ourselves.



Denise went for the Chicken Marsala; Sautéed chicken breasts in a savory sauce of mushrooms, garlic and Marsala wine. Served with Tuscan potatoes and bell peppers.



We were all slobberin' over the picture of the Mixed Grill; Skewers of grilled marinated steak and chicken with a rosemary demi-glace, served with grilled vegetables and Tuscan potatoes. It's new in the menu. Mom decided to be the guinea pig.



I was torn over several dishes, but decided to go with an old favorite... The Seafood Alfredo; Sautéed shrimp and scallops tossed with creamy fettuccine alfredo. I've loved this dish for years. It's always good.

We killed two bins of salad between us, and then the main dishes arrived. The camera came out, and my womens both became bashful.



Witness protection program.



No doubt about it. God knows what they did, but nether one wants their picture taken. Makes ya wonder who yer really livin' with.



After the OG, it was back to Mom's place and a slice of her fresh pecan pie.



We relax in her bedroom, which she has set up as a den. back when Dad was alive, he spent most of his time in the kitchen watching his TV, and Mom stayed in here watching hers. Her bedroom is still set up that way, though dad's TV and chair are gone, replaced by a nice flat screen TV mom watches when she's in the kitchen.



Inevitably, one of her cats will jump up and want some lovin'. They provide her with a lot of love, and she gives back in triplicate.

Saturday, Denise and I slept in and were lazy all day. by the evening, nether of us were in the mood to go out. We hadn't had a pizza night in a while, so I called the Pizza palace here in town and ordered a large double decker.



It had ham, sausage, pepperoni and mushrooms, with extra cheese. I think there's a little left in the fridge, but it's not long for this world. The make the best pizza in town, hands down. There's something about their crust. It's just wonderful.

Sunday, yep, more lazy layin' around. By dinner time we were thinkin' about goin' out, then Denise asked me if a patty melt from Whataburger sounded good to me. Maybe you've seen the commercial?



I got down there to the drive-up window and found out they've stopped offering them. Couldn't believe it. They're a seasonal thing I guess. They only put them on the menu for a short time.

I told the girl in the window, "That's like handin' free Crack out at a school and then cuttin' folks off. It's just WRONG!" She laughed, then said "Yea, I love 'em too." Question is, why the hell do they pull shit like this?

We ended up with the new Grilled Chicken Melt; A grilled chicken breast, layered with melted Monterey Jack cheese, grilled bell peppers and onions, on a freshly toasted wheat bun, fries and one big chocolate shake that we shared.

That's it folks. That was our weekend. We rented a few movies too, but that's gonna wait for another post. This morning, Denise went off to work while I relaxed in from of this thing and then went back to bed. Spring Break. Cheers!

Well, I went to see my tax lady today.

I was afraid, what with having sold those two lots last year, that I was gonna be stuck with a fat bill. Capital Gains. Everyone I talked to about it would get this somber look on their face. they had me thinkin' I was gonna have to pay something like eight or ten grand this year. I went in today so that if I did get stuck with a huge bill I could take the next few months to save up the cash.

Sheeeeit, it was a breeze. Took my little German tax gal about fifteen minutes to tell me that my bill was only (ONLY?) $2300.00. I was elated. I told her to go ahead and set up an automatic withdrawal. get it dome now, so I can finally start thinkin' seriously about some of the stuff I want... need to spend money on this year.

There's a new deck in the plans, and a nice flat screen TV with a surround sound system. And, maybe even a down payment on one of these...



You know, or something like that. We'll see.

Denise is in Kentucky now, chillin' with her friends, kids and grand kids. She had a great time in Nashville, with lots of folks from other colleges pattin' her on the back, tellin' her how brilliant she is. Several of them want her to come to their campus and give her presentation in person.

I told her it was great to hear her bubbling with pride after this experience, rather than the long string of familiar complaints I usually hear when we've both come home in the late evening and she needs to unload from a day of dealing with rude students and pain-in-the-ass employees.

She'll fly home late Sunday, so I'm still batchin' it here as the weekend commences. There's a concert in Austin this evening. I plan to head down to Stubb's, get myself a big plate of BBQ, stroll over to the outside venue behind the restaurant and enjoy some Gov't Mule.



This'll be my third time to see them. Lookin' forward to it. It's always good.

Some time before the gig, my plan is to stroll over to the Paramount Theater, a few blocks down the road from Stubb's, and pick up a few tickets to see Joe Bonamassa. He's gonna play the Paramount on March 24th. Denise and I will enjoy that.

So, I'm gonna go take a nap, and then I'll load up the cameras with new batteries and head south. Y'all be good, and we'll talk again on the other side of this one. Cheers!

Not sure what to say about yesterday.

I was driving back to the base from San Saba, going there to teach my evening classes when I found out about the shootings. Denise had called and left a message on my phone, which I always turn off and leave in the car when I go into the jail. She was on lock down on the main campus, unable to leave her office. The classes on base were canceled when the base was shut down, so I just drove home.

On the way, thinking about it all, I started to call a few people. I thought that some folks might worry, knowing I work on the base. So I called my mom, and then my sister, and then my cousin' Bob. It turned out none of them had heard about it yet. I called a few friends, and then called out to the base, trying to talk to my colleagues and friends there, who were all locked into their buildings, about a block from the site of the shootings.

As you might know, there was a graduation ceremony going on right next to the place the bastard did his shooting. Well, I had some friends there. I've attended those graduations before, and had thought about going to this one. I was gonna skip class and go. It's a huge blast, watching your students get their papers. I posted about it once. I always tear up, but I'm just a big softy.

I started to tear up in the car, thinking those thoughts, thinking about how close my friends were to the shooting, and then I got really pissed off. This was personal to me. These are my people! I've taught on the base for about 13 years, since January of 1995. I've seen thousands of these kids go through my classes. Odds are, when they publicize the names of the fallen and wounded, I might see a familiar face. That thought hits me hard, like a bolt of lightning. That makes it all very personal.

Denise and I drove over to Temple, to try to give blood at the hospital there where the victims were flown. They'd put out the call, and I felt I had to do something. But they'd had so many people come in, from all over the area (even from Dallas), that they were overwhelmed and had to turn us away. We'll drive back over there today and try again.

After that, we'll drive down to Florence and watch my other kids play their last football game of the year. It'll be fun. They'll play my dad's old school, Academy. You remember when I used to take him out to see their games? I'll be torn, but I'll try to root for the right team. They'll probably have some sort of special prayer for the victims of the shootings. Lots of those kids have parents in the Army, or who work on the base. We're all touched by this.

Anyway, We'll have a quiet weekend. Sunday, Denise and I will go to Temple, pick up my mom and my cousin Pat, who's visiting mom from up north, and then we'll all head to Austin. We're gonna eat dinner at Pappasito's, celebrating a few birthdays. Denise and I both turn a year older on the 8th. It's fun, and makes it a extra special day to me. I've already picked up her presents and a card. The last two times, she and I ended up picking up the exact same card. We roll with laughter when it happens. I can't wait to see if it's happened again.

Jesus, now they're saying there's been another shooting in Orlando, and another in Tokyo. Dammit! Fucking cowards! What the hell is wrong with these people?

Well, I'm outta here. Y'all try to have a good, safe weekend. I want to say thanks to everyone who called and emailed yesterday, worryin' about me. I felt the love. I hope you all feel it back from me. Cheers!

Had a great time over the weekend.

First, we drove over to Temple and took mom out to eat last Friday night. We went to BJ's, as I'd predicted. It was great, and a funny thing happened. As we were led in to our table, I looked up and saw a former student of mine sitting there at the next booth with his wife and kids. We shook hands and then the waitress moved us off to another booth. Mom loves a booth.

Anyway, we ordered our drinks, appetizers and main dishes, and then about ten minutes later the waitress showed up with another round of drinks for all three of us. Turns out, my former student had told her to bring us another round on him. What a cool surprise. I guess it is good to know people.

You should have seen mom, smilin', lookin' at that second top shelf margarita and sayin' "Oh, I really shouldn't." Yea, she did. I think she killed most of it by the time we left. It was a great evening. We went by her place after dinner and visited with mom and my sister. Then it was home to chill and think about our upcoming weekend.

We got up at the normal time Saturday and laid around, resting. Then we packed and headed up to Ft. Worth, arriving at about 6PM. The hope was that we'd be able to change at my buddy Jim's house but he and his wife Terry were both gone, so we had to figure something else out. In the end we were both able to get dressed and head over to my High School pre-reunion dinner at Joe "T" Garcia's on the north side of town, near the stockyards and Billy Bob's.

The dinner turned out to be a hoot. I didn't recognise most of the folks that were there, but I did reconnect with one guy that i hadn't seen in twenty years, and he told me how to get reconnected with another guy. The restaurant had changed a lot since the last time I'd been there. It's a beautiful place, with huge outdoor gardens loaded with fountains and a pool where you eat. But the Mexican food there was not up to our Pappasito's standard, and the outdoor setting was beautiful, but it was about 100 degrees, so I was wishin' we'd made arrangements to meet somewhere else, indoors.

After the dinner we drove over to De Soto and got into our hotel room. Early the next morning we met our friends at the Dallas Convention Center and spent about three hours walking through the Southwest Foodservice Expo. It was fun, just like it always is. We spent the afternoon sampling all kinds of food and adult beverages, fending off vendors who wanted to know what sort of restaurant we had and could they send us information. I'd just smile and say "No thanks", and we'd walk on by. Kinda sad, to tell you the truth. I'd hate to be one of those folks, searching the passing crowd for any inkling of recognition or interest.

We bugged out of there at about 2PM and headed back to the hotel to freshen up. We had ideas about getting together with our friends, following them to their hotel, but it didn't work out. So we went back to our place and relaxed for a while. Then we drove back over to Ft. Worth to hang out with my friends over there before going to the game.

It was great to see Jim and Terry again. He's in town from his job in Pennsylvania and was doing some work on his mother-in-law Judy's barn. We sat around and got reacquainted. They floated an idea that we should join them and most of Jim's family in a year, next June, for a cruise to Alaska. The more we think about it the more we want to go. Some time around 6:30PM we got back in the car and headed for Arlington. We parked at the Ballpark and got into the place just as the teams were starting to take the field.



It's a beautiful place, The Ballpark In Arlington. Home of the Texas rangers. Built by the local tax payers back when George W was a part owner. While we were at Jim's place he noted that we never get pissed off at the Rangers for never winning anything. I agreed with him. We both reasoned it's because they never have been worth a damn. We expect more from the Cowboys because they've won the big one several times. The Rangers just plod along, looking really good from time to time, but then always sucking up in the end. Sunday nights game was no different.



I was ready for the food and drink to be expensive, but it was still a shock. $6.75 for a beer, $4.50 for a regular sized hot dog, $4.25 for water.



I plunked down $12.00 for this Margarita for the little woman. Later on I went up to the vending area and got a chili dog. A foot long dog with chili and cheese and grilled onions... $9.00. But it fed the both of us and was really good.



We had decent seats, just up from the visitors dugout, about eight rows up from the grass. Denise had never been to a professional baseball game before. I told her "Don't get too excited. It's the Rangers. There's college teams that could beat their ass."



At some point they did the dot race up on the score board, but then the real thing started out there on the field. It was hilarious. Denise was perplexed. "Why don't we see all this stuff on television?" "Commercials darling. Commercials."



In time, the game evolved in a bad direction. The Rangers kept hitting pop flies out near the back of the field while the Padres got base hits. The Rangers hitters got on base twice from bad Padre's pitching, but normally they were getting out while they tried to get home runs rather than simple base hits. The Padres hit the ball out between the outfielders, got on base over and over again and got two runs in. They ended up winning by two to nothing.



In the 9th, when the Rangers had one chance left to score, the mascot came out and stood on top of the Padre's dugout to get the crowd motivated.



The second baseman came out and gave it a decent try, but again, knocked it out into the glove of the left fielder and the game was over. It ended very quickly with no fireworks or hoopla. I was sorry that Denise didn't get to see them win. But she loved the game, so we'll do it again. Sure enough, the Angels came to town after the Padre's and the Rangers started to win. Last nights game was exciting as hell... tied at seven till a last minute homer by a Ranger won it. Too bad that team didn't show up when we were there to see them.



We sat in our seats for a bit to let much of the crowd dissipate, but then headed to the car. The sight of the new Cowboys stadium at night was stunning. You can't really tell from these pictures, but the place is friggin' HUGE. I can't wait to get in there and see it from the inside.

After that we went back to the hotel and crashed. Early the next morning, Monday morning, we got up and drove back up to Dallas to join our friends at a free breakfast being put on by one of the vendors at that Food Show. Prairie City Bakery was having a big feed at the Fairmont, so we headed over there and found our friends already there, chowin' down. While we were there we found out that they had plans to go to the Dallas Zoo after breakfast. Sounded like a good plan to us, so we decided to join them.



I hadn't been to the Dallas Zoo in about fifteen or twenty years, so it was interesting to see how the place has changed.



Since it was hot as hell, with temperatures in the upper 90s (a cold front having blown in), most of the critters were relaxing in the shade.



It was hard to find any four legged friends who weren't conserving their energy...



Takin' a cat nap, or something.



If you had some water to slop around in, chances are you were sittin' in it.



Of course, if you live in a water park, the heat really wasn't an issue for you.



Just get with your people and take a collective dip. We had a great time watching the critters, four legged and two legged, and you can go to FlickR and check out the rest of the pictures. You can also go there and see more baseball shots if you want to.

After the zoo, Denise and I headed over to Ft. Worth for the last time and headed over to see Keith's Mom. I'd talked to her earlier in the day and found out she was still working part time as a tutor and that she'd be home after 3PM. So, with both of is exhausted after walking around the zoo for three hours, and with a lot of emotion in my mind, I drove over to the old house I'd known so well thirty years earlier.

Denise and I walked up to the door and I rang the bell. There was a clamor of barking when the bell rang, reminding me of the Irish Setters the family had always had. Keith's wife, Pagel, and his adult daughter came to the door, and two big Setters, barking and straining at their collars. They were just dyin' to lick us to death. Pagel and I hugged, I introduced Denise and we went in and sat down on the couch.

As we were visiting, Keith's mom came home from her tutoring job. There was a lot of squealin' and we shared a big hug. Seeing her again, I remembered just how she looked and sounded. It was a wonderful reunion. They filled out a lot of the gray areas in my mind, telling me how things had been in the last three decades. They told me that Keith had held two long term jobs in that time, one as a handy man at a local school and the other at a local toy store. They told me that the toy store job had made him very happy, giving him the opportunity to fill their house with a combination of Star Wars and Batman toys.

Looking at what was left of his collection, it reminded me of another friend and his toy cars. Only it sounds like Keith had gone totally nuts over collecting. There was a method to his madness though. I told them that when he started collecting Star Wars figures, we were still in high school. He had them all tacked up on his wall, still in the plastic. I'd say stuff like "Why the hell don't you play with them you idiot?" Well, this "idiot" eventually sold all those original Star Wars figures for about $20,000! I couldn't believe it, but then I could. Keith wasn't stupid. That wasn't his problem.

His mom said that he'd eventually lost both of those jobs. She said he'd gotten into an argument with his boss and lost the handy man job, and that he'd lost the toy store job when he'd turned in another employee for something, who then turned him in for something else. His mom said that he'd fallen into a deep depression when he lost that job, and that it was several months later that he'd killed himself. He'd secretly bought a pistol, but had also horded pills from his father, who'd died of cancer a year or so earlier. In the end, having pledged to Pagel that he'd never make a mess of it, he took the pills.

It was all very sad. Apparently they sprinkled his ashes in the back garden, where his fathers ashes had been mingled with those of many beloved family pets. When I heard that I half jokingly said, "Well, I guess that means you can't ever move." They laughed and agreed with me. We talked about a lot of old times, and I tried not to get stuck, draggin' lots of morbid details out of them. In the end, Denise and I got up to go and we all hugged. I told them I'd keep in touch and we headed out. I'm really glad I went. I just wish I'd done it a few years earlier.

After that, Denise and I went over to Jim and Terry's place again and relaxed for a while. They gave us more details on this Alaska cruise. Jim also posed the idea that we all go to England in a few years and do the Farnborough Air Show. So, we've got all sorts of plans to work through. We'll see how that all goes down.

After that, Denise and I headed over to Pappasito's and had dinner. It was wonderful, and made me wonder how places like Joe "T" Garcia's manage to stay in business. Then it was a 2 and 1/2 hour drive home, where we collapsed from exhaustion.

Since then I've been sleepin' in, workin' on pictures and relaxing while Denise goes to work at 6:30 every morning. It's been rough, but I'm holding up to it well. This upcoming weekend is the Fourth of July, so it'll be busy. Denise is flying to Wisconsin tomorrow for a baby shower, but I chose to stay home. My friends from the food show are competing in a chili cook-off in Temple, so there'll be good things to eat. And then there's the official fireworks display at Ft. Hood. It's always a fun time. I just have to try to be sober enough to drive down to Austin and pick Denise up Sunday morning.

So, you guys try to have some fun, have a wonderful Fourth, and we'll talk again later. Cheers.

The weekend.

As usual, the weekend started last Friday. I didn't have to go to San Saba this last Friday. I've finished all the make-up classes from the week I went fishing. But I did have to go in to Ft. Hood and give a late exam.

One of the soldiers who'd taken my Government class this last semester had been unable to take the final exam and now was about to head back to Iraq. He'd called me just before I went fishing a few weeks ago. We finally got together Friday morning. He took his exam, I graded it and then turned in the paperwork to give him a grade. After that I took my car to the local Toyota place to get serviced. It was time for an oil change, tire rotation, balance, rotation and alignment check.

I sat around there for a while killin' time and then Denise came and picked me up. It was about 2PM, so we decided to go to Fuddrucker's for a burger. I had one of those half pound buffalo burgers, with a cookies-n-cream shake. Denise had something like a quarter pounder. Nether of us thought our burgers were as big as they should be. They must really shrink up on the grill.

After that she took me back to the Toyota place. They'd finished early. Told me they couldn't check my alignment because my tires are bad, unevenly worn, and the alignment check wouldn't work. So they put the best two tires on front and only charged me for the oil change. Oh, I'll keep drivin' these for a while, but I guess I need a new set of tires before this summers road trip. Nice!

After the trip to Fuddrucker's, Denise decided she was too full to go to eat Chinese food with Mom and I Friday evening. So I went over there by myself. Her loss, because the food was wonderful Friday night.



You've seen this before. Mom and I got to Dynasty later than we usually do. It was about 6:30PM, which means the place was crowded, and the food on the buffet was fresh. See, the larger the crowd, the faster the food has to be replaced, the fresher it is. There a science to this stuff. Stick with me. I'll take good care of ya.

Saturday was a lay around and relax day. We did a little puttering in the yard, but other than that we just relaxed. Sunday was looking like a similar kind of day, but the family had made plans. Mom told me last week that she was planning more fried chicken and Home-made Peach ice cream for Fathers Day. We'd come over and enjoy the big feed, and then we'd head out to the cemetery to make sure dad has some fresh looking flowers on his stone.

So, Denise and worked around the house and I worked on the computer until it came time to head over to Temple.



My job, in case you haven't seen one of these posts before, is to arrive with a big bag of ice and get the ice cream going. Mom was already most of the way through frying the chicken, and the pile was high!



Mom had already mixed the cream, as usual. So I get to work, putting the contraption together and getting it going.

Meanwhile, the new family tradition has my better half, Denise, mixing the drinks. Usually she makes Strawberry Daiquiris, but this time she had a different plan.



This time she mixed up a batch of sweet little Margaritas in mom's blender. I reached up on the top shelf and brought down the good glasses, and presto...



Mmmm, I tell ya, she does a good job. But no sooner did I turn my back to get a gulp of this icy goodness than out of the corner of my eye I see Denise sneaking some chicken from the pile.



FOUL! there's no sneaking a piece without giving the big dude a bite! So, as you can see, she offered. And I took. Aaaah, white meat. I've never been a fan. Dark meat only for the FHB. The three ladies in the house all prefer the white stuff, so she can steal all of that she wants. Let them fight over it, so long as they keep their mitts off my thighs and legs.



Happily for everyone, there was plenty of goodness to go around. Enough that after gorging ourselves Sunday there was enough left over for me to have chicken for breakfast this morning. And even after that there's one big thigh left. Breakfast for Tuesday? Sho nuff!



Back to work! After a time, you can hear the motor start to labor. The cream is freezing and thickening, making the motor work a little harder.



Of course, as all this merriment went down, thoughts of the absent reveler were close to my mind. I'll never forget all those Sundays in the 1960s and early '70s, having to sit on top of the old ice cream maker as dad worked the handle. In time, a sign of growing up was when I shifted from sitting on top to turning the handle while dad held it down.

These are memories as old as our family, like the weekend mornings when dad would whip up some S.O.S. for our breakfast, or the football games on TV when he'd operate the popcorn maker, standing over the stove and grinding it to make sure the popcorn didn't burn. Cherished memories. So he was there with us, watching to make sure I did it all right. He trained me well.



The magic happens when the motor stops and my job shifts to opening the tub, making sure no rock salt has contaminated the goods, and then spooning out four portions of the fair nectar. usually mom gets the first helping, but this time she came into the kitchen and told me to bring the first two plates to my sister and Denise. While I did that she started to spoon out her own glass of ice cream, and then it was my turn.



Of course, there's wisdom in the order of things. The sweetest ice cream is always at the bottom of the bin. We've been doing this enough that these sorts of details become ingrained. So the first two or three glasses of cream are spooned out so that mom and I can get down to the good stuff.



After everyone has had their fill, the left over ice cream is spooned into bins and placed in the freezer for later, and the chicken is parceled out in to different bags. One, with a mix of light and dark meat, is left for Denise and I. The other is left for mom and sis. Then, after I clean up the machine and leave it out to dry, mom, Denise and I headed to the cemetery.



Mom has always been the one in the extended family to see to it that the plastic flowers on the graves of her siblings, in-laws and others were always fresh looking and seasonally appropriate. It was time for us to go out and replace the flowers on her parentsd grave and make sure dad's flowers looked good. I drove, and then Denise helped mom arrange the flowers and place them on the stones.



Dad's marker turned out looking pretty good, and it turned out there were plenty of flowers left over to give my grandparents a nice new bouquet.



That's Denise and mom, workin' on the old folks headstone.

If you blow up this shot and look just above Denise's head, to the left, you can see a sad sight. There was an old guy out there, sitting on a bench in front of... I'm assuming it's his fathers grave, drinking a beer(?), crying. I was touched by that.

It would never occur to me to come out here and talk to my father. He's always with me, in one way or the other, everywhere I go. I talk to him whenever something happens that brings a memory up. Sometimes I cry, but those times are becoming fewer and fewer. Mostly I just remember things and smile to myself. The old, bad times are withering away, but that started before he died. Why dwell on all of that? It serves no good purpose.



Mom borrowed my pocket knife at one point so she could cut away at the green styrofoam and begin to place the flowers down into the vase that's attached to her mom and dad's headstone. Meanwhile, Denise made sure the bouquet was arranged in the right order.



Nice eh? They did a wonderful job, and I made it through the whole thing without balling.

We drove mom home after that, sat around a bit longer and then headed out. Mom said something about hearing that the Corn Festival was happening this weekend down in Holland, so we decided to make a run by there to see if it was still going on. Of course, we'd missed it all, but the trip to Holland gave me a chance to go by the graves of my Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents from the Wilson side of things who are buried there in the local cemetery.

I stood there with Denise, thinking about all the times I'd come with my dad to see the graves of his parents. They both died while we were deployed and living overseas in the 1960s ('64 and '69). I finally cried when I remembered standing there with dad, the first time he'd seen his mothers grave. He'd been unable to come home for her funeral. His brothers wouldn't hold it off till he could get there. I remembered being about ten years old, standing there and holding his hand. I saw that he was trying to hold it all back, but he couldn't. Men weren't supposed to cry back then. So I cried for him. Anyway, that's the way I see it now. I was just frightened and confused then. I'd never seen him cry before.

After that Denise and I drove home through the back country, back through Summers Mill and Belton, through the country that my father grew up in. I told her many of the same old stories dad had told me a million times. I showed her where he was born and where his family worked Mr. Hollands cotton fields in the '20s and '30s as sharecroppers. I showed her the farm my grandfather bought with the money my dad sent back from the war, and where dad burned his fathers clothes in '64 when he came home for the funeral. He told me he just couldn't stand the idea of anyone else wearing his fathers clothes.

We made it home by sundown, with the temperatures still up in the 90s. It was along weekend, as this has been another long post. But you'll be happy to know that the library in San Saba is closing, so the end is within sight.

You guys take care. I hope all of you had a great weekend, and all of you fathers had a wonderful Sunday! Cheers!