On the Road Again

Willie Nelson’s theme song comes to mind and will not go away, as I make preparations to move to “summer quarters.” My yellow labs, Lulubelle and Daisy, seem to know it is time to head north; maybe it is the weeks of preparation. This morning, the girls and I will head north with our 31’ summer home, behind our Dodge Ram mega-cab tow vehicle. Our first destination is Sundown, Texas. Yes, there is a town by the name of Sundown, about 36 miles southwest of Lubbock. Spend one evening watching the sunset and you will understand why they named it that.

After visiting friends and family in the Lubbock area, we meet up with 42 members of the Alamo Heights UMC Single Friends in Ruidoso, New Mexico for Memorial Day weekend. Then on to Santa Fe and Taos to do research for an upcoming book on the life of Fayette Smith, a nine year old boy captured in Austin by Comanche Indians who took him to New Mexico. “And then we can’t wait to get on the road again, like a band of gypsies we go down the road again.”

Next stop, Estes Park, Colorado to visit friends Lynn and Ladell Alexander, Lynn and I are school mates from the first grade. “We’re the best of friends—insisting that the world keep turning our way and our way, is on the road again.” They convinced me years ago that Texas is a great place to be from—in the summertime.

Then, on our way north to Mt. Rushmore “seeing things I may never see again.” From the Badlands northwest to Montana “going places that I’ve never been.” Follow us on Facebook. “Can’t wait to get on the road again.”

Head ‘em up, move ‘em out!

National Treasure Restored

Drum roll for Mike and Wanda Day of Telford, Tennessee for renovating a dilapidated farm house that played an important role during the Battle of Limestone Station, Tennessee on September 8, 1863. The house at 138 Davy Crockett Road, Limestone, Tennessee has been a family project since the Day’s family purchased it in 2006. Three generations of their family have worked on the ca 1825 home that local legend says served as an infirmary to the wounded Union Army after the Battle of Limestone Station. A Tennessee historical marker was placed near the home on October 20, 2000. I first saw the house on a visit to nearby Jonesborough during the 2007 National Story Telling Festival. The Spring House at the rear of this house became the cover for my first book in the Westward Sagas series (Spring House – ISBN 0-9777484-0-5 – Plum Creek Press). I look forward to seeing the restored home on my next trip to Tennessee.

Job Well Done!

 

Talkin’ Texan

Being a fifth generation Texan, I have often been told I talk funny. When I travel I sometimes feel intimidated by the comments on my accent from people who aren’t from Texas. Can you imagine being told by a cab driver from Brooklyn that you talk funny?

There are different dialects spoken by natives of the Lone Star State. Texans from the piney woods of East Texas have a twang that surpasses any Georgia cracker you will ever meet. I enjoy the accents in West Texas the best and love the way they say “bidness” (business).

Texas has been a melting pot of diverse cultures for 300 years, starting with the Canary Islanders to San Antonio, followed by land impresarios bringing settlers from Germany to the Texas Hill Country, Alsatians to Castroville, and Polish settlers to Panna Maria in South Texas. Each came with their native tongue, now five or six generations later. They all sound the same with a friendly Texas drawl and a tip of the hat. How ya’ll doing? I love that drawl and sure missing hearing it when I’m away from home.

Over the years I’ve found that words used in my family were not always understood outside the home. You should have seen the look my waitress gave me when I told her the glass of milk she brought was “blinky,” which to me meant it was about to spoil. Frequently older members referred to being “all stove up,” which was their way of describing joint or muscle pain. I have no idea where the word “stove up” or “blinky” came from. Are they unique to my family? Can anyone tell me?

 

Presidents Day

This Monday, February 20, is Presidents Day, a federal holiday. Members of Congress and their staffs enjoy a paid holiday. The day was originally established by an Act of Congress in 1880 to honor our First President, George Washington. If Congress had not changed Washington’s Birthday to Presidents Day in 1968, this Wednesday would be the 280^th birthday celebration of our first Commander in Chief. If “Old George” were able, he might say to our elected officials “My birthday wish is, that you set aside your party affiliations, reason together on the matter of a long-term national budget and finish the job you were elected to do. That would make me proud.”

Happy Mother’s Day

I was fortunate to have had two mothers; both are gone but not forgotten. My birth mother Alta Puryear was born October 18, 1918. I never saw this picture of her in the “wild and wooly” attire until after her death on March 21, 1996. Seems she thought it was a bit risqué for her boys to see. My stepfather gave it to me after her death and it is my favorite picture of her taken in 1936. A life long friend of theirs thought the picture was made at the State Fair of Texas during the Centennial Celebration of Texas Independence.

My parent’s married November 23, 1935 and spent the first year on the family ranch near Spicewood, Texas. I remember stories she told of working with the livestock, which she didn’t enjoy, but, my father did. I assume that is why they chose to part ways after sixteen years of marriage.

On April 7, 1957, Ida Seaton became my other mother; she had to have loved my father because I came with the package. For forty years she worked beside my father, mending fences, tending to the livestock, and being a mother. I will remember two mothers on Mother’s Day.