Wonderful News

I am almost my old self today...the flu this year is a real booger-bear! I was at the high school today...got to see all the kiddos I have substitute taught since they were in the 3rd grade...I have been a very good fit this year at 5th and sixth grades...last week, I subbed for the high school science teacher.. he told me today that his students told him that they had all been so good for me because they said I was like their grandma and they would not misbehave for their grandma! LOL!!! I have known them for over six years now. What a compliment that they think so highly of me!

 I went to the McLennan County Courthouse after school to get the 2007 tags for my pickup. Did not have time to stop in and see Andy Harwell, County Clerk, as I usually do when I go to the Courthouse...Andy was a teenager back in the '80's when he and his dad, Jack Harwell, Sheriff of McLennan County for many years, would visit us at Hilltop Lakes, Leon County, to deer hunt and just stay a few days.... Jerry Davis and Louie Lee usually came along, too.

Anyway, I had to get back to pick up some more of that Arizona alfalfa hay for the horses. I did take time to find out who had bought the old homeplace, 2220 North 4th Street, where I, Sue, and Charlie grew up and had such wonderful childhood memories. I was thrilled to find that it is a young couple with children, who plan to live there one day. Sue and I had seen the For Sale sign and were afraid someone would buy the property and tear the house down. 

Daddy built that house in 1948, and it is still a good house. He was an excellent carpenter and built many homes and commercial properties in and around Waco as Head Carpenter for W.B. Lenamon Construction Company in the 1950's and 1960's. I called the family and told them how thrilled I was they had purchased it...that if they were told two old women had been seen walking around it, it was just me and my sister, Sue.  2220 North 4th  (my old homeplace where I grew up) and 2224 North 4th ( next door to it and now just an empty lot that is a part of Cameron Park but was the old Head homeplace from 1921 to 1957) are both so special to my family. So much life went on there! And of course, Cameron Park being right across the street from those two addresses made them even more special.

I look forward to meeting the family...I will have to ask their permission before using their names, as a lot of folks do read my blog, and they may not want it to be such public knowledge! I called Sue, and she was thrilled also! We have a lot of old pictures of the places and our family for them to see. What wonderful news!

The FLU

My daughter-in-law, Esther, and her and my son Jimmy's four children came up about two weeks ago...one handsome  little boy and three beautiful little girls! Did we have fun! Chasing the cats and the horses and all! The baby boy, Noah, was not feeling too well while here. I later found out he had the FLU!!! And yes, he did give it to me!!! Anyway, I have been pretty ill for a few weeks now...had a relapse, I think, and a lot of the congestion settled in my chest...sounded like bubble wrap when I would breathe! Some better, but not 100% yet. It feels good just to lay on the couch and try to get my strength back. The weather has been so gorgeous..too bad I can't really enjoy it yet.

Anna Nicole Died Today

Vickie Lynn Hogan, aka Anna Nicole Smith, died today, February 8th, 2007. Even though she was unorthodox and over the top, I always admired Vickie Lynn for being such a great survivor.Thrown on her own at the tender age of fifteen, she not only survived, she flourished in the ways that were best for her. She had the true Texas spirit called SPUNK that lets you make lemonade out of lemons. Even if you disapproved of her, you had to admire her zest for life and tenacity to get what she wanted. No one really knows what another has endured, and she had endured a lot. She was a flame that burned brightly and scandalously. The Bible says do not judge, as it could be you except for the Grace of God. I don't think as Anna Nicole she ever had that blessing of the Grace of God. Rest in peace, Vickie Lynn, and the Lord bless and keep you.

Daddy's Birthday

Today, February 8th, 2007, my Daddy, Ralston Cecil Head, aka "Goober"...for the peanut...would have been 90 years old. He was born to James William ("Billy") Head and Sally Lee Allen Head in 1917 in a house on St. Charles Street in East Waco, across the Brazos River from downtown Waco, Texas. His family had moved to Waco from the Big Sandy/Winona area near Tyler, Texas, in 1914, when his father went to work for the City of Waco as a gardener for Cameron Park. Goober and his siblings grew up roaming Cameron Park...it was their playground, just as it was for me, my sister Sue and my brother Charlie. Goober died March 9th, 1989. I think of him many times a day. I miss his wit, wisdom, and unique personality, as well as the great love he had for his children and grandchildren. I know he would be so very proud of the great-grandchildren he never got to see. I believe he would say we all turned out well.

Red Robins and Geese

Last Monday, January 29th, I was surprised to see Robins! It is too early in the winter to be seeing these big rusty-red -breasted birds....usually winter is just about over, once the Robins start coming North out of Mexico where they have spent the winter. Still seeing plenty of them this week. Tonight as I was putting out the hay for the outside horses, I heard a flock of geese going North, and this is only the 5th day of February! They were flying very low....and definitely headed North. The higher the geese fly when coming South, the colder the winter will be. If these prognosticators of the seasons are correct, it means winter is just about over. And I am ready for that! Time will tell if the Robins and the geese have corectly foretold the end of winter. You heard it here first!

Texas Chili and Folger's Coffee

Winter in Texas means Chili time, so tonight I made a big pot of Chili. I like cornbread with it or really crisp Saltine Crackers. Texas Chili is pretty spicy, but I like the medium-hot style. I get a two-alarm chili mix, add it to scrambled ground chuck, cook it a while, then add a can of old-timey and a little bit greasy Wolf Brand Chili. That gives it a real Texas taste. You can add Jalapenos if you want it hotter. As cold as it's been lately, you need something to warm you up quick! Trust me, that will do the trick. I love hot tea in the winter, too, and a cup of Folger's coffee with heavy whipping cream and Sweet-n-Lo in it. In the 1980's, when I had my little grocery store at Hilltop Lakes in Leon County, Texas, I ordered a case of every kind of coffee available, but liked Folgers the best. Even with Starbucks and all the specialty coffees out there today, I still like plain old Folgers the best. The day my youngest son, Robert Lee Powell (Bobby), was born in 1975, I milked three cows and turned in the baby calves to nurse the other three cows we had. Over the years, we raised a lot of baby calves and even a few spotted fawns on the bottle or on nurse cows. With all that milk, I made butter from the cream. There was plenty of cream for cereal, cooking, eating, or in your coffee. Heavy whipping cream makes a cup of coffee a treat, almost a dessert. I became quite spoiled in that respect, and I still am after thirty-two years. One of Life's Guilty Little Pleasures is having a big cup of Folger's coffee with lots of sinfully heavy whipping cream in every drop along with the morning paper. The older you get, the more the little things mean a lot.

Writing Again

Tonight I decided it is time to get back to writing ....after my Aunt Sister passed away in September, 2006, I found it almost impossible to write. I did write a few Letters to the Editor....I am a Texas Yellow-Dog Democrat.....in case you don't know, that means I would vote for an old yellow dog on the street before I would vote for a Republican. Hopefully, my letters helped my fellow Americans realize America was on the wrong track and the way to get it back on the right track was to VOTE DEMOCRAT! Obviously, a lot of folks were listening and had the same thoughts. I can just hear my Daddy, Ralston Cecil Head, born in 1917, a survivor of the Great Depression and World War II, and a darn smart man, saying, "The folks in charge of the country right now haven't got the sense to pour P-s out of a boot with the instructions written on the heel!" My Daddy did not suffer fools gladly or gracefully. He once told me he had not made it through WWII to have to put up with any kind of bullsh-t, and he didn't. He seldom talked about the war, and I certainly did not understand why he was the way he was until I was grown. He told me often that the Republican Party was for the rich man...if you wanted to help the little man, ALWAYS VOTE DEMOCRAT!!!!  And that pretty much holds true today. Daddy died in 1989. Not a day goes by that I don't greatly miss both him and Mama, who died in 1994. What I would give to be able to talk to them about things....I wonder what they would have thought about the O.J. Simpson murder trial, George Bush and Dick Cheney, and the disastrous fiasco in Iraq. I can pretty much guess what they would have to say, but it would be wonderful to actually see and hear them again. None of my beloveds will die as long as they live in the hearts of their descendents and friends. As long as someone remembers you, you will never die.