Springtime Chores

Springtime has really sprung in Central Texas and Bob and I are taking advantage of the great weather to get some chores done. 

We are lucky enough to be the proud owners of a Bobcat that helps with some of the heavier chores and saves our bodies now that we are getting older. 

Unfortunately due to the drought of last summer we lost a lot of our fruit trees...3 peach trees, 1 pear and 2 plums.  It's heartbreaking because many of those trees we planted long before we moved and built the house over here.  And the peach trees always seemed to produce peaches one after the other so we never had too many peaches all at the same time.  

The Bobcat makes quick work of having to pull them out of the ground. 

So one after another Bob pulled them out of the ground and then on to the next chore.  

In the fall of 2010 we bought a bunch of native wildflower seeds to spread all over our flower beds and along the drive.  This year we were rewarded with this nice show of poppies.  There are lots of other flowers popping up along the drive...many of which we cannot identify.  So I'm thinking that if the rains continue we will have color everywhere hopefully long into the summer.

And of course I couldn't forget the bluebonnets.  They are spectacular this year.  This is just right outside the backyard fence.  And the perfume from this batch is so heavy on some days it will give you a headache.                                                                                                                                  

Happy Anniversary

Fifty nine years ago today, my parents were married in an Air Force Base Chapel in Big Spring, Texas.  Both from New England they didn't have any family present to witness their union.  Not that the families were adverse to the union, it was just that it was such a long way for the family to travel.  They had a couple of witnesses and a small reception and then my father had to go to work. 

They have endured a lot during their union.  Long separations, dangerous duty, foreign assignments and lately health issues.  But through it all they have remained together and they have that deep abiding love that only comes with years of experience.

When my mother was in ICU this past Christmas and we thought that we were going to lose her, I saw my father shed a few tears.  In my 57 years on this earth I have never seen him do that. 

My mother is the strongest woman I know and she had endured a lot in being married to my father.  The best way that I can illustrate this is to tell you this story. 

In 1962 we were stationed at James Conelly A.F. Base in Waco, TX.  My father got orders for Okinawa, now known as Okinawa, Japan.  The fly in the oinment was that he would travel there first and we would follow a few months later.
There were 4 of us kids.  My older brother was 8, I was 7, Chris was 6 and Chickie was just 2 years old.
My father left sometime that summer and we were to follow during the Christmas Break.  This was the first and only time that we were to travel in the middle of the school year.  All the years following we moved during the summer. 
So here was my mother, all alone with 4 small children, traveling to an island in the middle of the Pacific Ocean and right before Christmas. 
We left Waco, headed for Dallas to catch our plane that would take us to San Francisco and then to Okinawa, but with 4 small children and suitcases etc....we ended up late and missed our plane.  According to my mother, we spent the next 2 days in the Dallas Airport waiting for our plane to take us to San Francisco.  We slept in chairs and ate what was available in the terminal.  And there wasn't much because this was 1962 and flying was still kind of a novelty.  
Finally we boarded our plane that was to take us to San Francisco and off we went.
When we landed in San Francisco we had a couple of hours until our next plane took us to Hawaii for refueling, Wake Island for another refueling and then to Okinawa.  But during those couple of hours fog rolled in and we weren't able to fly out of San Francisco.  So the powers that be boarded us all on a bus and we went to Oakland where we were finally able to board the plane that took us to Okinawa and our new home. 
I hear women these days complain all the time about having 2 children and how complicated it can be.  My mother took 4 small children by herself half way round the world and never missed a beat.  That is one tough lady. 

So Happy 59th Anniversary to my parents whom I love madly and may others be inspired by your commitment to one another.