6234 Fairdale

Green Van and I took a journey into the Southlands to gather supplies for home base today. Being Sunday it was prettty easy driving and I didn't get lost. I did take a slight detour by our old place on Fairdale. That whole area is a bit gloomy and rundown with lots of FOR LEASE signs around. The only places that seemed to be still doing good were the Unitarian Church and Pappas Restaurant.
I got to thinking about the time I went back after they tore down the house and ripped up the trees. There was still stuff around and I got out and just walked the area where the house used to be. The actual ground where the house stood seemed so small. In fact it just didn't seem real. When we first moved in, we all kept getting lost in that 5,000 square foot house. That day the actual space didn't seem enough for a  decent doll house.  I walked all around, counting my steps, trying to connect. It just never computed. Then I got to thinking of all that happened in that house during the 8 years we lived there. Maybe that's what made it seem so big. After tearing it all down and carting it all away, it just seemed so empty, quiet and abandoned.. That was then. Now there are 13 high end condos where our 6234 Fairdale house once stood. I'll have to pull out my pictures!

Be a friend....

I visited a friend this week. It's been a while since I had seen him but because he had had a lot of hardship in his life, I have so often prayed for him and his family. I always end up crying when I visit him. This time I just happened to have my 21 year old som with me. Both Dan and I cried once again. Sometimes I feel like a lousy missionary. I should have  had some wonderful speech prepared. You see....

5 years ago, Dan's 21 year old daughter was killed by a drunk driver. I felt like I experienced a lot of the pain with them  at the time but one never really knows until you walk in their shoes.
I don't have a lot more to say on this post except- please don't drink and drive and don't let others do it either if it is in your power to do so. Life is too precious.

Oh my!

I had quite a tough day with having lots to do around the "Ranch" so to speak while dealing with a stomach  bug that kept me running, All I really wanted to do that day was get lost somewhere in God's creation and enjoy the skies, trees, smells and sounds . It was one of those rare perfect autumn days in Houston. Well, that evening I thought I had things all wrapped up with work and had visions of stretching out in my bed under my cozy covers and sleeping. I dove into my bed, relaxed totally and was down to stretching out my toes when Teresa popped her head into the room and told me she had prepared a great pasta. All I had to do was poke my head into the dining room and check it out.
It is a promise I made to myself long ago to always appreciate a child's work of art so I bounced up out of bed with great pains to make the move seem effortless and enthusiastic. I found myself in the midst of a surprise party just outside of my bedroom door. I thought my burthday was all over a few days earlier!
 So, does that mean I have to be 60, instead of just 59?
My very favorite friends just happened to be there in my living room and didn't even seem to mind that I was disheveled and funny looking. Amber and Teri not only had pasta ready but all the fixings. Yummm.
Jeannie had sent along a wonderful custom made cake to compete with Teri's special lemon merangue pie.
I always love stories and it was a special gift to hear of Johnny and Ruth's camper travels in the Middle East. What pioneers and exciting times. Those were definately crazy and fun days  but what joys to just follow God step by step and mile by mile. I found myself thinking," You really did that!"

 God is so good to give us not only our daily needs but all the trimmings.
Thanks to some very sweet friends for making my 59th (not 60th) birthday special.

Just a few pictures

Dolph finally got his wings!

for Perla....it's just a bit.

Being born and raised in Northern California, I have to say that I always have had a love for anything to do with water. That is amazing as water almost got the best of me in the flood of '55. My mom was so terrified to make a escape without my dad. He was  busy sandbagging the levee with the rest of the men, trying to save te city.  Somehow she did manage to get us in the car and  out of the flood waters at the last minute. Seeing the raging flood waters and the  aftermath will stick with me forever but I still love water.
I loved spending my summers rockhopping down the streams at Castle Crags high up in the Sierras. As long as I was on a stream, I wasn't lost and it seemed I could go for hours. I'd ride my horse along the Feather River and marvel at the amazing currents and the river life and wonder how ocean ships ever managed to get that far inland in the Gold Rush era. Now I love salmon but then I only saw them in a compasssionate light. I would spend hours searching them out and lifting the heavy orange fish out of the pools they'd become trapped in and throwing them back into the river. They'd finished spawning and at the end of their life but I only had "rescue"on my mind.
 I loved the wildness of the Northern Pacific coast  and the seals and sea lions and the trees that clung to the rocks, leaning almost totally sideways from the ocean winds.  I discovered a very old small house on a cliff once.It stood alone in a sea of tall grasses and flowers and totally engulfed in pink climbing roses. I just had to find a way in and explore the few rooms. Someone had tried to keep the cold out by gluing old newspapers to the walls so I spent a lot of time reading old news articles, peeling off layers, trying to get some idea of the people that lived in the area. I couln't imagine why they had lived on the cliff in a field with no pathway.
 I loved swimming in Shasta lake and pondering the depths of Crater lake, imaging what monsters lurked in that bottomless lake. I didn't even dare put my toe in Crater lake. My mom was an explorer so we ended up seeking out old ghost towns in the Sierras. I always had spooky thoughts.I loved the  hidden SPA that had once been a playground of the rich in the Roaring 20's. The abandoned  vast tiled pools intrigued me and I could only imagine what they must have looked like with movie stars and European Royalty lounging in the hot pools with mineral packs and plush bathrobes. I imagined I could still hear the laughter of flirting couples. We could scarcely find the roads to the once famous spots but the thought of getting lost was a great part of the fun.
My mom loved visiting the fish hatcheries. The long pools were teeming with all kinds of fish in all stages of growth. I had nightmares of falling off the narrow paths and becoming part of the food chain.
Back home, I was hard to keep indoors. I just had to be outside doing something. I almost always had some tool in my hand, scrounging around for any wood and nails I could find. I always had something in mind that I wanted to build. This was my dad's fault. He was a builder and I was his shadow as much as I could be. I stole the  tomato farmer's  crates to build condos for my baby chickens. Somehow my sister and I  made a bridge across the drainage ditch and any tree that had a few big branches, had a perch or the beginnings of a crude tree house. My dad took to hiding his hammers and nails and I have faint memories of a few spankings for messing up his wood piles and carting off stuff.
As I grew older and developed an interest in my dad's desk, I would unroll the house plans I found in his desk and study them. Somehow, I  had  illusions of  upgrading my building skills! I really can't build much. I just always had dreams .
I also loved the Yuba River and the feel of the stones beneath my feet and swimming inthe cool waters. Of course I always had my eye out for the glint of gold and tried my hand at panning often enough. It was actually quite fun for about 5 minutes at a time. I even tried to construct a sluice.
Well Perla, you asked me to put a few memories on my Blog for my birthday. How's that for now? We are a colorful family. Life is such! I was thinking of when I was in labor with Teri and walking unerneath the ampitheater in Pozzuoli. I sat down on something and it turned out to be part of an old elevator they used to lift things up for the games. I wanted to know the people that had sat there before me and what they experienced. I love history and sometimes I feel I could just burst. I can't stand the thought of how many people throughout history that I have missed knowing...at least for now. I am praying I will someday be able to meet everyone and catch up on their lives! That will take a while! Meanwhile, lets all take advantage of the present and love who and what the Lord puts in our pathway today!
Oh, and yes, Perla I will write a bit more on another day.