TEN DAY UPDATE

I can't believe that I have let 10 days go by without publishing. Last Wednesday I went to my PA for a blood pressure checkup. We are trying to find a new BP med that has less side effects. She gave me a new formula that I will start 4/1. My pressure was down and looks good. She wants me to take it in both arms after she got a 20 point less reading in the right than the left. Since then I am getting various readings but the last check had both arms exactly the same. So that shoots her theory that I had a blockage in one arm. I also had an appointment with my lawyer to get her to finish the new will I had asked for several months ago. She got the info she needed.

We had a lot of fun at SS last Sunday. Reading Joshua 4-6 we sang Joshua Fit the Battle of Jericho every time another person came in the room and had a lot of fun with repeating "the walls came tumbling down" in our men's bass voices. We had a record attendance of 15. We got the Israelites across the Jordan river on dry ground in the flooding season with Jericho destroyed but saving Rahab and her family. Jewish tradition holds that Rahab was one of the most beautiful women in their history.

On the way to church I was driving faster than normal and hit a cat crossing the road. It knocked the lower right fog light loose and it was hanging by the wire when I got to church. I replaced it but it kept falling out, so I duct taped it. Tuesday when we got back to Granbury I took it to Nancy's mechanic. He called for the price of the replacement unit. $234 for the unit plus labor to install. I left it duct-taped. There were only four used units in the US and none near by.

Monday night we were very privileged to have dinner with Dr. Sylvia Grider before her talk at Hardin Simmons University in an invited lecture. Dr. Tiffany Fink had two of her students, a hometown Pampa friend of Sylvia's, Lawrence Clayton's two daughters and a two-year-old granddaughter to fill the table. One of the students sitting next to me had a six year career in the AF working on the bomb squad, defusing and blowing up bombs working with the Navy Seals, Special Forces and AF special teams in Iraq and Afghanistan. She demostrated using the axe for trimming logs when Sylvia gave her show and tell talk about early pioneers in Texas. Sylvia had a sold out crowd and they kept bringing chairs into the room until it was filled. The next morning Sylvia came by Halsell Hill for breakfast. Nancy made Nebraska special Eggs ala Goldenrod, which is the state flower of Nebraska. Lydia joined us for breakfast and we all enjoyed a good meal and visit with Sylvia. I went on to Kiwanis and stayed for a board meeting. We then drove to Granbury and met with the mechanic.

Today we planted flowers and vegies in Nancy's garden. Planted 80 onion plants, sweet peas on trellises, gardenias and morning glories around in the yard. Totally wore me out so I napped for 3 hours this afternoon. I am always behind. Don't know when I will find time to write my LW column. I posted the column printed last week to my Creation blog. I got one reply encouraging me from the column. I printed a copy for Sylvia who is an anthropologist evolutionist and we always have great discussions. I am reading a book Nancy gave me entitled: in six days; why 50 scientists choose to believe in creation. It is 50 essays by scientists with distinguished careers who tell why they can support the concept of creation in six days from every discipline.

We will return to Cross Plains for Maundy Thursday services at the Methodist Church and then go to the Hootenanny at the Texas Folklore Society in Abilene. We will make the Friday sessions and dinner but leave Saturday morning to go to San Antonio to celebrate Easter with Kathy and her family.

SNOW ON SATURDAY

Yesterday we all loaded in the ancient Suburban and went to Abilene where that night we saw TV stories on two places we went. We started at the Zoo where the wind was blowing like mad but it was good for kite flying and someone had a three-dimensional kite in the air. The little boys loved the snake building. I didn't. They got to feed the giraffes. We saw the buffalo, black rhinos, crocodile, monkeys, lions, tigers, jaguars, and birds up close.

Then we went to China Garden for their last day of business. Both the zoo and China Garden were on the news.

This morning we got up to a dusting of snow on the ground and in the trees with an inch of rain in the gauge. Christopher and I walked to get the mail and saw the snow on the tree trunks. Keith moved some of the firewood back down and we had a fire in the fireplace today. Sue and Ike came for Kathy's small hamburger lunch with scalloped potatoes and green bean casserole. They all left about 1:30 and Sue left her purse. I called her cell phone to tell her and it rang in the purse. Fortunately they were going to Abilene so she came back by to pick it up and let me get my nap.

I used my column to attack evolution and will wait to see if it is accepted. Got some work done today.

WORKING WILCOXS

This morning I walked two miles came back and wrote the minutes of the Administrative Council meeting at the church last night. Before I walked I got two simultaneous phone calls from my son and daughter. Never happened before. Mark called from Atlanta where he had a break in his Lockheed meeting and Kathy called to say she was on the road and would be in about 1. That gave me time to write the minutes. I finished them as they drove in the driveway and sent them out for review.

Kathy brought sandwichs from Subway and then they went to work. Keith trimmed trees around the pond and the peach trees. He couldn't get my Stihl chainsaw to start so didn't work on the trees that are down on the fence along the highway.

After my nap I planted my two cherry tomatoes and the blueberry bush. I was told Tuesday that blueberries won't grow here. They need acid and my caliche hill is very base. But I bought it so I planted it. Then Valerie and Vanessa helped me weed the Mexican sage bed to try to pull the weeds and bermuda grass out. Keith had his plastic golf balls and practised shots with Christopher and Brent with their clubs trying to hit a ball for everyone he hit. That was after they slid down the front slope on a cardboard box.

Kathy searched the house and found the rest of the slides of her wedding. She showed me the prints that she had made from the first set she found. It was nice to remember when I had hair and Mark had a full head of hair. I was having trouble remembering the names of some of the Aggie profs in the photos. It has been a while.

Tomorrow Kathy plans to take a trip to the Abilene Zoo and the weather should be good.

Tuesday in the mist and rain, two turkeys came through the yard. Today when I walked I realized that the swallows show up on St. Patrick's Day but I didn't see any sign of them. They have been decreasing and may not show up at all this year.

SPRING SUMMER WINTER

I reported Spring came and Sunday was a summer day. Then today the sun didn't show and I was cold. Tonight it is raining with a promise of 1-2". I will believe it when I see it.

Sunday was a beautiful day mostly spent in church. Sunday morning our SS class finished Deuteronomy with Moses living to be 120 which should be our goal. We still can't understand why he was not allowed to enter the promised land, but know he was right predicting that the stiff-necked Israelites would go after other Gods when they got rich and prosperous just as America has. Then in church Nancy joined our church and was received by everyone. To take some time before the 2:30 funeral we drove to Lake Brownwood to eat Mexican food at Corinos. We then attended the funeral for Donna Burleson. It wasn't mentioned because of the many other causes she was involved in, but she was active helping the CP Library. With her experience in transcribing medical dictation she helped in transcribing some of our oral history recordings. I have been a friend of her husband John because he was a registered professional engineer that exchanged stories with me. We finished Sunday at the Bible Study based on the movie The Passion of Christ. We covered whether we deserved Christ's sacrifice for our sins, but agreed that he died for the sins of all. One interesting comment came when Harris and Julie told about a minister that they knew who preached a sermon that Judas was forgiven. Because of that statement many members walked out of church and he received two threatening phone calls. Made for an interesting discussion. But we have had many interesting discussions in that study as in SS.

Today Nancy and I drove to Abilene to eat at China Garden that is closing on the 19th to become a McMurry parking lot. The place was overflowing and we had trouble finding a blank space to add our comment on a big board they had. I hate to see them go and we enjoyed a great meal. We recycled and shopped HEB and then went to Walmart where I came home with 10 new goldfish, a blueberry bush and two cherry tomato plants. I hope to get the plants in the ground tomorrow, but tonight the weather people are forecasting freezing in a couple of days. I expected an Easter spell to freeze my peaches so I will have to protect these new plants. At least we are going into Spring with moisture in the ground. Should have some good wild flowers this year.

SPRING HAS SPRUNG

The ornamental pears lining Cross Plains Main street are in bloom and one of my peaches bloomed yesterday. This morning I developed a better appreciation of Lent when while picking up trash on the highway during my morning walk I got stabbed by a thorn bush reaching for some trash and later noticed my arm was bleeding. But it wasn't a crown of thorns but reminded me of Christ's torture.

I started this morning at the Methodist Men's meeting and found out that one of the Methodists knew the fellow Sikes that had the Prius go out of control in California according to him. They knew him for years and finally quit doing business with him because of his questionable ethics and lies. Gives that story a new twist. I confirmed the story when they came through the line at the Kiwanis Pancake Supper tonight.

I got a lot of exercise this morning cleaning out the burn barrel. I do that about once a year. Tonight we had a very successful Pancake supper even with the threat of rain an hour before it started, then the sun came out and a lot of people came out. The High School was having a district track meet but a lot of people came and gave generously. My job is to take the money and talk the guests into contributing to the fund raiser. Many were very generous. It is a great time for the community to get together and visit over some great IHOP pancake batter cakes. I eat the ones filled with M&Ms. The small sausages were really good. All the members were working plus three from Abilene and all of the Senior Key Club members. Kathy just called and said she had read in their school newspaper that pancakes were first named that 125 years ago.

GRANBURY GALLIVANTING

Thursday I noticed that license was due in February on Nancy's van. She called and found that she had until Friday to renew it. Nancy had an appointment with her surgeon Thursday afternoon and she drove me to Fort Worth in the van. We ate lunch at Swiss Bakery and I couldn't get her to help me with the chocolate pie I ordered for dessert. She is allergic to chocolate which is about our only difference. We saw Dr. Watson and he gave her new exercises and said that she could now lift as much as 25#. She will do the hip pocket and butterfly exercises twice a day.

After the doctor's visit we drove by the home I built on Fuller Ave in FW and then she drove me by the home where her mother lived next door to her house in Forest Hills where she served on the city council before she retired and moved to Granbury.

Yesterday she got her license renewed and last night we joined Vicky, Bobbe and Yvonne to eat at the Catholic church fish fry. Every year during Lent they serve a fish fry each Friday night with the money going to a different Granbury cause like Habitat for Humanity. Last night was appropriate for us that the cause was the Senior Citizens organization.

Today we drove two cars to Halsell Hill and celebrated our 3rd month anniversary by eating the same meals we had when we met there for the first time December 6.

BUSY FIRST OF THE WEEK

Monday was rainy. I picked up Wallace Bennett to meet with the folks at the Library interested in doing Oral History for Cross Plains. We looked at buying a Vivitar video camera on sale by Sears. Wallace said he would take one so I ordered two, one for him and one for me. I ordered a red and black one and he can have his choice. We feel that the video recording will be much better than just an audio disk and can even take it and walk down Main street with old-timers who remember how it used to be. We now have a long list of potential interviewees and should make some progress soon.

I then drove to Abilene and stopped to eat at China Garden where I got a shock. It will close March 19. McMurry University bought it to make a parking lot out of it. I will miss the good food and service at the lowest cost in Abilene. I picked up cleaning, recycled paper and got the copies of Lou's Story from Hendrick Hospice. When I got home I worked trying to download TurboTax and got that done.

Tuesday Lydia came to clean, the plumber came to replace water valves in the front flower bed so that I can turn off the water to the pond during freezing weather. I went to CP and visited with Carl Edington who is home from the hospital. We put him on the list of Oral History interviewees. He grew up in the Burkett area going to school at small schools long gone. He started working in the oil fields, then went to a copper mine in Arizona. He left that to join the Army in WWII and ended up in the Marines as a MP. He came back went to McMurry for a while got back in the oil business and finally got a degree in Petroleum Engineering after starting in geology.

I went to Kiwanis and we had a lot of visitors from Early and Abilene. We also had a new member from the Cottonwood area, Arnie Smith. When I asked for his email address he said he couldn't remeber because his wife uses the computer but he would email me at my address on my column so I knew he read The Livestock Weekly. So he is my kind of guy! I got home and worked until 9:30 on my taxes.

Today I finished my taxes and e-filed before noon. Tonight I got an email saying it was accepted by the IRS so I am happy. It was a complicated filing with the gifts to TWU to account for. On the way to Granbury I finally stopped at T. Lindsey Baker's museum at Thurber. He had left to go back to Tarleton to prepare for a class he will teach tonight. It is an interesting look at the people and times of the 1920's with coal mines and later oil production by the railroads. The owner lived in NYC but came out often in his private Pullman car on the railroad to see the operation. The photos of the school children were interesting. Most of the boys were barefoot and one had huge paddle feet.

This morning's mail brought a note from Vonnie Rutherford telling me that she taught Ann Coulter in school when her name was Jean. She also taught her older sister. I am impressed.

Driving somewhere near Lipan an animal I first thought was a dog was limping across the road in front of me. I slowed to keep from hitting it and realized it was a scroungy coyote and my friend Larry will be mad that I didn't try to put him out of his misery. I mailed an envelope in Lipan and got to Granbury in time to have some great split-pea soup Nancy made.