Sunday afternoon

• Don is snoozing as the Cowboys play
• I am sitting on the porch blogging
• Cows are grazing nearby along the creek
• Goats and sheep are napping on the road just outside the yard fence
• Cats are stretched out on the picnic tables
• Alice is snoring on the couch beside Don
• Birdie is swinging and singing in the breeze from his bungie on the porch
• The wild birds are checking out the feeders I just filled while a squirrel chatters from the tree wondering if I will see him raid the feeders.
• The creek is trickling and gurgling over the rocks making such soothing sounds.
• Ever so often acorns or pecans bomb the tin roof with quite a loud thump
• The wash hanging on the line is flapping in the breeze.
• A strong gust of wind sends a flurry of oak leaves on the tin roof which sounds much like a rain shower.
• The windchimes are playing a sweet melody in this nice breeze.
• How grateful I am, God, for precious, refreshing times such as this. Who could ask for more?
  
  
  

The Creek

Even as a child I was enthralled with creeks. I loved wading and playing in the cold rushing creeks of Colorado when we vacationed there. I used to beg my parents to take me to “The Scenic Loop” in San Antonio. Honestly, I am not sure where that was or what--but in my memory it was a rugged, hilly, rocky area with a nice creek flowing through it--a park of some sort for hiking and picnicking. But for me, it was the most exciting place they could take me. I could just explore it for hours daydreaming of Indians hiding behind trees, to buried treasure hiding in undiscovered caves.

I used to daydream about having a creek like that running through my backyard. I would even go home and try to make one by digging a little ditch and laying the water hose in it. I could just picture what fun it would be to watch frogs, tadpoles and minnows go by and just how wonderful it would be to have a creek of my very own.

Then God led us to this ranch and there was my creek--just like the one in my mind. My dream come true. On one side of the road coming into our ranch is the bigger, wider part of the creek but it is the other side, where it is only a couple of feet wide that is the answer to my heart’s desire. It is just what I wanted as a child and each time I see it I am so overcome with gratitude and thankfulness to God for loving me so much as to bless me with such an insignificant desire of my heart. It is a constant reminder to me of how much God loves us and yearns to bless us and bestow gifts to us--that he does care about all the little things that are meaningful to us. I love you, Lord, and I thank you again.

Desires of my heart

God is just so very awesome in how he blesses us over and over. Just like Tammie said in her blog, he grants us the desires of our heart even when we are not cognizant that we have those desires. In looking back over my life I have seen how he has given me the things that delighted my soul and spirit even as a child.

Growing up in San Antonio, I spent much time with my parents visiting their friends. Some of the friends we visited with often were those that my mama grew up with in the Rio Grande valley who had also migrated to the San Antonio area. As a child I was taught to refer to older close family friends as “aunt ___, uncle___”. One of my favorite places to visit was Aunt Rossie’s and Uncle Frank’s farm in the hills outside San Antonio. It was an old rock house way out in the country and they had goats and chickens which I thought were just wonderful. I just remember the smell of the old house, the jingle of the bells around the goats necks, the dusty roads, the creaky windmill, and Aunt Rossie’s teapot collection. It was just one of those places that stayed on in my memory. It delighted me to go there.

There was another place we visited only a couple of times--somewhere near Blanco, I think. I just remember the rough, rugged hills, a big flagstone patio that overlooked the countryside, goats and goat bells, just the peace and beauty of the place. I guess in my heart I stored that memory of that beautiful rugged scene and the sounds of it.

All this to say I believe God blessed me with this ranch which fulfills all those childhood delights stored in my heart. HE knew my love for the country, animals and nature, the rugged beauty of the hill country. Thank you, thank you, God, for giving me the desires of my heart and leading me this wonderful, serene ranch.

Missin' those Wilde boys

It has been a long time since I last blogged. Lots has happened. There is a new boy in my life--a perfect, sweet, beautiful baby boy named Grant. He completely stole my heart (as each of my grandkids did when they entered this world). It was so wonderful getting to spend a week holding that sweet baby and hunting for doodle bugs, butterflies, and acorns with Mason--I sure do miss them now that I am back at the ranch. I have not yet posted any pictures of Grant as knew Jenny would take care of that but I am sure I might find one or two to include later..... But did want to post the one of Mason who succeeded in catching a butterfly with his hands.

My heart is proud, yet aching over Adam's decision to join the Army. Proud that he has the courage to make his own decisions and follow his dream. But in my selfishness I just don't want him putting himself in danger and in the midst of a nasty war. But I trust God is directing his steps and will be right there with him each and every moment and that is what will carry us through the years ahead. I will support Adam's decision in every way I can and hopefully find ways to be an encouragement to him while he is away from home. Let's all just be faithful to cover him and all our U.S. soldiers over there in prayer.

On the coast with Red Cross

We are back at the ranch again after a 5 day Red Cross assignment. We were sent to feed folks who had damage and power outage from Hurricane Umberto. Left the ranch early Friday morning, went home and dropped off pets and picked up our Red Cross gear and headed to Austin to pick up the ERV(Emergency Response Vehicle) then by noon we were on the road to Beaumont. Discovered our front tire had a bubble in it as we were driving through rush hour traffic in Houston. Took 5 stops to finally find a tire but PepBoys was terrific and got us up and going again quickly.

Upon calling staffing to explain our lateness I was told plans had changed and to go to Amerisuites near Houston airport for that night and go to Beaumont the next day. Room was super nice and we got a great nights sleep and headed out early the next morning. Things were a bit chaotic at HQ in Beaumont--Don was asked to go to Port Arthur and pick up a box truck and I was told to go get our ERV inspected. See, the ERV's--there are hundreds of them--belong to National and are just stationed at various chapters across the country so on each job they carefully inspect them and maintain them.

During the time Don was away I was given 4 different assignments for our ERV by 4 different people which each involved getting the ERV loaded with different items or keeping it empty. I was so frustrated I just drove the ERV to the end of the parking lot and sat in it until Don returned and then we went inside and insisted on knowing who our direct supervisor was--who we were to REALLY take orders from--that we were really frustrated. We were finally informed who our "boss" was and he asked us to go to Houston chapter as their ERV that was serving the Bolivar penninsula had broken down. I was NOT happy about going back to Houston but managed to keep my mouth shut.While I went to staffing to get our hotel assignment in Orange switched to Galveston, Don was waiting in the ERV out front. During that time, yet another person came up to him and told him he was to take the ERV someplace else. This was crazy! Don explained we had our assignment and were on our way. Houston was struggling as well--unsure as to who was in charge of this operation--them or national? No one was communicating well with each other and too many people were taking charge and making decisions without talking it over with others. We sat in on several conference calls and finally it seemed we had a service delivery plan so Don and I were assigned to the kitchen at Crystal Beach on the Bolivar penninsula and would serve the High Island area so we headed to Galveston. I was much happier about this--just wanted out of Houston! Had a nice dinner on the strand, then crashed at our motel. We had done lots of driving in the last two days!

We took the ferry across the bay to Bolivar pennisula--that was a beautiful way to start each day--I loved it! There were several other ERV crews staying at our motel that we enjoyed working with. Kitchen was manned by Baptist Disaster Relief and they were so much fun and just so nice to work with and put out some great food. The people we served on High Island were very gracious and friendly and so glad to see us. We served lunch and supper each day. Power was still out on most of the island and there must have been about 50 utility trucks and crews working all along the highway stringing new wire and replacing poles. It was slow travel time as only one lane was open at a time. I expected High Island to be ritzy and expensive homes but it was not at all--just lots of simple beach type homes--a pretty tight community that really looked out for each other. It was great to have so many people get extra meals to carry to shut-ins and the elderly. We enjoyed our work. Days were long--left at 7:30 and home between 9 and 10.( On Sunday night the line for the ferry was really long--we thought we had an hour wait or so and then the sherriff came roaring up with his lights flashing and told us to follow him and he led us to the head of the line--Wow! was that so great--we felt really special...) Had no time to see much of Galveston. On Monday the power was all restored and we ran out of food so it was good time to shut down after our supper meal. We got home last night.

I am so happy to be back at the ranch. Don is ready to work on Bob and get him up and running again. Animals are glad to be back out here too. Now, we are just waiting for Jenny to call us she is on the way to deliver.

Alisa

I just have to tell you about my very good friend, Alisa. We became acquainted many years ago in a church Sunday school class and continued building our friendship in a Women’s Bible study. She was my neighbor, too, living just a few blocks from me. We discovered we had many things in common--loved garage sales, had both been foster parents, both made lots of stupid mistakes in our lives that God helped us through, both loved the Lord and studying the Bible, both love the outdoors and animals, and we both love to read and own tons of books.
Alisa has been such a blessing to Don and I as she house sits for us when we are away from home. We never have to worry about a thing with her there. Our animals are loved (spoiled, is more like it) and well taken care of, the plants are watered and talked to, the mail is gone through and we are alerted to anything out of the ordinary and she even takes care of paying bills for us when we are gone for a long time. It just gives us such a sense of peace having her there which frees us to concentrate on whatever Red Cross assignment we are on. She has gone the extra mile for us so many times--I mean, one time she was caught in the barn between the mean attacking rooster on one side and a huge snake on the other exit. She did ask for combat pay on that one…….She was the one who discovered most of the murdered bodies of our poultry last winter when we were under attack by skunks, possums, and coons and had to dispose of their bodies. She suffered through Cracker’s last year of life when she was incontinent and there were many puddles to clean up. She put up with two dogs that could not hear or see very well and were pretty neurotic and needy---and a cat that was always up to mischief. She was there for us on the ranch through Sadie’s(our horse) last hours. What can I say but that she is a blessing to us(and our critters) and we are so deeply grateful.
Alisa is always looking for ways to help others either with free labor to aid them in doing a task or finding items at garage sales that would bless someone else. She is always thinking of someone else to include in a lunch or a garage sale outing. When someone is in need she doesn’t think twice about gathering together what funds or items she has to meet that need. She loves to share her books with others and encouraged some women to get together and form a book club. Her heart is always open to responding to someone in need of encouragement or help. She is truly an inspiration to me--a Godly woman whose desire it is that others know the love and freedom that can come from knowing Jesus. Jesus’ love just shines from her. I think of the hymn WHAT A FRIEND I HAVE IN JESUS and know that yes, I do have Jesus as my friend and because of our shared love for Him, I have a dear friend in Alisa.

Such a pretty day

It is so great to have the sun back and cool weather, too. A beautiful day at the ranch. We were headed out to look at some hay to buy when Don decided to try to start his Bobcat and it would not start. Bob needs a new part (something simple, but I can't remember what). Don is very gloomy without Bob. So he mowed the backyard--(a nice way to work off frustration) and I sure appreciated him doing it as I did it last time and it is a tough job. I tackled my hated job of defrosting the 60 year old refrigerator in the shed. What a gem she is, still doing a great job of cooling my Lone Star beer!

Oops! Had an interuption there--call from Red Cross putting us on standby to go to Texas/LA for flooding from Tropical Storm Humberto. That just means we might be called out but not yet. He must have strenghthened quickly as last night it was just a small depression they were watching and now seems like it could be a pretty big flood event as it is slow moving. This has sure been a summer for Texas flood disasters.

Praise God, Bob is healed! Don just came in to tell me the Bobcat mechanic called him back and told him a trick or two to try and it worked--there was water in something or other and Don poured it out and Bob started right up. I have a very happy man, now. He is already off on Bob to clear some roads for the hunters. The grass is so darn high (what a wonderful problem to have) we can't find our roads.
We walked our three miles yesterday to mailboxes (well, almost....there were a few bulls roaming loose between the last cattle guard and mailboxes so we decided to turn around there as we really had no desire to deal with strange bulls. Was a good walk and nice to be doing it in cooler weather for a change.
That sums up my day so far--gotta go get clothes off the line--then think I will go admire the creek and count the sheep and goats. I just love fall weather and being at the ranch.

What can I say........

Just to forewarn you---I am at the ranch and it is a rainy, misty, day--the kind of day you sit inside and reflect on things and have time to write. So the following blogs might not be too entertaining or funny but are just some more ramblings from my mind. What can I say, you hafta write when the thoughts are flowing….

Cards and Notes

Let me begin with a disclaimer here---this posting is NOT meant to produce guilt or to chastise anyone, it is truly just me writing out my feelings and thoughts. I think it is important to do this because, well, we just can’t know how someone feels about things if they don’t voice it.


The older I get the more important cards and notes are to me. I can remember when I was younger (and broke) how silly I thought it was to spend so much on greeting cards. I mean, they ARE so ridiculously expensive, and I would think how the person would read it and toss it in the trash can--what a waste! I mean, a phone call would do just as good, right? But now that I am older and the kids are grown and away from home, all those thoughts have changed. And I can remember my mother exclaiming in a hurtful tone one time how I didn’t even send her a card on her birthday. I felt so awful…..I just didn’t think it was all that meaningful to her---until she said that and then later after her death when I discovered she had saved every single card I ever sent her as well as all the notes and cards from her grandkids.

I cherish every card and note I get--especially the home-made, hand written ones. I guess, I just need that concrete item to look at over and over again to remind me that I am loved and still important in other’s lives. My Bible is overflowing with notes and cards I have stuck in there to keep safe and with something that is always with me--I have notes scribbled on church bulletins from the kids when they were little, all sorts of messages. They are just all so precious to me. I want the phone calls on the special days but I need cards and notes, too. I love going to that mailbox around my birthday and Mother’s Day with gleeful anticipation of what awaits me there. A note of remembrance and love is the best gift ever!

Because of how strongly I feel about written correspondence I have tried to get in the habit of sending notes to friends and loved ones for no special reason but to let them know I care and they are important to me or they blessed me in some way or another--just words of encouragement. It is just such a special way to lift others up. We all need that---and it lifts up the sender as well. And don’t get me started on thank you notes. I used to put up such a fuss as a child when my mother would sit me down and force me to write thank yous for all my gifts. I hated it as a kid, dreaded it, thought it was so stupid. And I forced the same regimen on my children who had the same reactions. But now, I am ever so grateful for this training and have reaped the results of my training tactics when I now receive beautiful, tear-inducing thank you notes from my children. Those are the best! It is important to take time to thank people--in writing--for not only gifts they have sent you, but for anything special they have done for you or helped you with. Everyone needs to feel appreciated. No one likes to be ignored or taken for granted. It only takes such a few minutes of our time to lift someone up and make them feel worthwhile and good. So that is it.

All this to say that I LOVE getting cards and notes--they REALLY matter to me, therefore they probably do for everyone else reading this. I mean, if we all look so forward to reading blogs, how can we not look more forward to receiving a hand-written personal message from someone dear to us. No email or e-card can take the place of one that arrives to your real live home mailbox!

Flowers and Autumn colors

I love flowers! They just bring a smile to my face and delight to my soul. I love gorgeous fields of flowers and just single flowers. They are all just so unique and pretty--each with personalities of their own. Pansies are my very favorites, I think. But I really like sunflowers, morning glories, marigolds, roses, and on and on. When I see pretty flowers I just have to stop and take a picture of them. I keep a file of just flower pictures on my computer that I can go to when I just need cheering up.

My daughter, Beki, really surprised me on my birthday by having a cute square vase of all kinds of flowers delivered to me. She had called to see if I was going to be home on my birthday as something was coming for me----what fear that sent to my heart--as this is the daughter who once gave me a baby pig for Mother’s Day and on another birthday along with Amber gave me Birdie, my parakeet. So I had no idea what would greet me at the door and was very pleasantly relieved and delighted to find a bouquet of flowers--just the perfect size.
My grandson, Blaine, also presented me with flowers from his family--really pretty, tall ones, that I don’t know the name of but they last and last. And Jenny gave me a pen bouquet of pretty flowers--sunflowers and others--silk flowers attached to a pen so they look so pretty sitting by my phone. Now I will know who took the pen from the phone desk………

My favorite colors are the oranges, browns, yellows and reds of autumn. I just love them all mixed together. It was so wonderful to get married in the fall and be able to easily use those colors for our wedding and then to honey moon in New England with the lavish colorful landscapes all around us. I am already itching to go on a fall road trip to states that really have the autumn colors glowing everywhere. After reading my Country magazine I think I would love to go through Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania in the fall. Never been to those states much and the pictures in Country were glorious.

My sweet mother in law sent me a beautiful table runner, placemats, and towels all in fall colors and décor. I just love it and it looks so great on our long pine table--and Beki’s flowers and the Lichtenstein’s flowers just really top it off. So the picture above is showing off some of my delights.

Another Rainy Day

We are at the ranch and it is dark and rainy--not exactly a good day to bring in hay. But I do appreciate the cooler weather and can spend the day doing all sorts of indoor tasks. When I arrived yesterday the rain gauge was overflowing which means we had over 6 inches of rain since we left here less than a month ago. Never have I seen the grass so tall and green--it is just so beautiful. What a different summer this has been for us Texans who are used to August and September being blistering hot and dry. I sure do wonder what winter will be like.
My oldest grandson, Adam, is contemplating joining the Army reserves. That sure brings fear to a grandmother's heart. My first reaction was to tell him NO, NO, NO. I just do not want him in harm's way. But then I think how self-centered of me to want other people to send their loved ones to fight for our freedoms while mine are safe and protected at home. So I just pray for God to direct his steps and lead him down the path He wants him to go down. Another declaration of Thy will, not my will. But sometimes that is so hard to pray.....

Bummed

Ok--so I am really bummed here that no one has commented on my blog's new look. I mean, little ole computer illiterate me finally figured out how to do all this fancy stuff and was so proud of myself and nobody even noticed or commented. Woe is me. I worked so hard to get the picture shows right and I was so thrilled with the results so does nobody like it??? Has anyone even noticed??? I had already enlisted Amber's help with all this then the night before I was going to try to get together with her I sat down and just decided I could learn to do this and I stayed up late and did it and even if nobody else cares, I am very pleased with the results. So there. Now, I will go find a worm..........
I really am ok........just had to get all that off my chest. I think I am just missing having blogs to read. Tania, are you ever coming back??????/ And Gina, are you still alive? And Kara, has your new vacuum sucked you up along with the cat hair??? And Tammie, did you go after Jess' crush and now you are incarcerated? I got to see Amber (alias, Rainbow girl) and her hair looks great--no visible rainbows that I saw. She looked really pretty and showed me the awesome gift she made herself for her mom's and Jess's 10th anniversary. So many talented people in our family!!
We were at church from 9 til 6 today. Big changes goin on that I am real excited about. Our church life has been rather stagnant--no growth or outreach. We had a guest speaker train us in care ministries--ways to really reach out to those around us. About 70 people stayed for this training in team ministries. I am so excited to see how it will go.
We are headed to ranch tomorrow for a week or so to tend to projects down there. I will write more then--my head hurts now and words just won't come. So blog some, people, I miss you.

Jenny, how were the brownies????

Family

My Critters

My Super Grandkids

My Birthday

I had a great birthday! Most wonderful gifts were a beautiful, sweet card from my hubby and phone calls from all of my kids. It just feels so good to be remembered and get those calls. Don and I went shopping for a new couch for the living room (to replace my $10 one that has served us well for 8 years now). We found one we both liked and will probably order it soon. I am on the lookout for a comfy overstuffed big chair with ottoman that would go with a brown couch now so let me know if you see something like that---used would be nice. After our shopping we headed to the Bluebonnet for Mama's pot roast and a big piece of birthday pie. It was a yummy meal. That sums up my nice quiet happy birthday.
Had a great time over Labor Day with Micah and family. I was especially touched that the kids wanted to stay and spend the night so they did and we had great fun. They put on puppet shows which I video taped---that brought back to mind the many "shows" we taped put on by Amber, Adam, Beki, and Gina. And then I got a chance to play Clue with Elizabeth (WHO ALWAYS WINS) but this time somehow I managed to win. Anyway, it was a fun two days with the Lichs inspite of the rain that kept us inside.
That is just all of the excitement I have to report presently. Gina called and seems to be extremely happy with everything to do with college this year--even her classes and teachers. I told her she needed to get busy updating her blog.
And, uh, Jenny, we all know you are busy teaching and writing lesson plans ahead, and being kicked and punched by "no-name", but, uh, you have left us all hanging here waiting for the next installment of your romance novel. Please, maybe just a little update to pacify all of us......
And to Rainbow girl---yes, I will call you soon for help with my blog embellishment.
That's all folks. Thank you again for all my birthday calls and cards and gifts. I love you all!

Cat Resurrectiion

Don has a beloved cat, Pete, that he brought home from the ranch last year. It is a brother to our crazy cat, Lucy, that he became very attached to last fall when we were staying at the ranch. Pete loves to sleep on Don’s tummy when Don is in his recliner.

Well, yesterday I arrived home from the grocery store to find Don very sad and distraught as he told me he had found Pete dead under a tree in the front yard and had to bury him. He was just miserable. Before we left for San Antonio, our big old tomcat, Big Sir, had attacked Pete in a fit of jealousy, and Don was thinking maybe he had killed Pete since we had not seen Pete since we got back home on Wednesday. But Alisa had just talked to me on the phone Tuesday night and said Pete was reclining on her chest as we talked and he looked just fine. So I called Alisa to tell her of Pete’s demise and she was sad, too.

A couple of hours later, Don was out back grilling some chicken when he hollered out to me, “Julie, come look, Pete’s alive!”. Well, you can only imagine the scenes going through my mind…….Pete clawing his way out of his grave; had Don been snoozing and only dreamed he buried Pete?…..what was going on here? I rushed outside to observe Pete calmly eating from the cat food table healthy as can be.

So it turns out Don had buried a different cat that resembled Pete. You see, we have three cats that look very similar--one very wild one, one that thinks he is a guinea or duck and lives in the barnyard with them, and Pete. It turns out it was the wild one that was dead. We were both elated to have Pete back.

I phoned Alisa and exclaimed, “Alisa, Pete’s alive!” to which there was a very long silence as I am sure her mind was playing all the same scenarios as mine did.

Just another crazy day at the Barlow’s.

Tex Robertson and Hondo Crouch

I have been blessed to have known several well-loved Texas characters. One of them was Tex Robertson who was the owner/manager/mentor of Camp Longhorn. He died this week at the age of 98. I heard Cactus Pryor on the radio talking about the time when Tex was swim coach at UT and took a few of his students to Inks Lake and pointed across the lake to some beautiful land and stated that is where he wanted to build his camp. He told them he wanted them to go with him to look it over. They headed back to the car but he stopped them and said, oh no, we are going to swim across. It was the middle of January. But swim it they did and campers (including me) have been swimming that mile ever since.

Tex, his wife, and their five children were a dear part of my life those four years I attended Camp Longhorn. Tex had been an olympic swimmer in 1932 and built an olympic size pool where all of us were coached in swimming by him. He always had a smile on his face and treated you like his own kid. He was a daily vibrant part of camp. He loved kids and he loved his hill country camp and that beautiful Inks Lake that surrounded it. How many lives he must have touched over 50 years or more of running Camp Longhorn. I am blessed to have been one of those lives.

Another quaint Texas character I got to know at camp was Hondo Crouch--you might know him as the founder of Luckenbach, Texas. Hondo was a "character" in every sense of the word. A man who loved life, Texas, kids, and just havin a good time. He was a coach in the boys camp but also the horseback instructor for the girl's camp. He made it exciting. On our trail rides he could make you feel like Indians were hiding ready to attack from the next big granite mound. He would place arrowheads where we could "discover" them and tell us wild Texas tales like the time Sam Bass hid in Longhorn caverns. He would dress up in different crazy costumes and wander around camp just to thrill us and make us laugh. He was a man who loved life and people. As it turned out, I had another connection to Hondo. His sister, Mary, who lived in Corpus, was a very close friend of my mothers. Several times we were invited to their family place near Hunt on the Guadalupe river for the weekend. Hondo would be there keeping everybody laughing with his stories and antics as we swam and played in that clear beautiful river

\I am just honored and grateful that I had the pleasure of knowing two such colorful Texans.

Memory Lane: Camp Longhorn

When I was eleven my parents sent me to Camp Longhorn in Burnet county for a month. It was the best money they ever spent on me. I loved this beautiful camp tucked in the Texas hills on the banks of Inks Lake. I continued to go there for the next four summers. I lived with 11 other campers and two counselors in a screened cabin with metal bunk beds. The latrine (called the “library”) was a short walk away. There was no air conditioning--so on hot summer days we would put a water sprinkler on the metal roof of our cabin to help cool it down during rest time. We had eight activities a day: swimming was twice a day, then the rest you could choose from: crafts, riflery, archery, horseback riding, canoeing, sailing, skiing, and lots of other things. They taught us all about each aspect of the activity--you didn’t just get in and do it. Like for horseback riding--first we had to learn all the parts of a horse, the parts of the saddle and bridle and how to put them on correctly, and only then could we get on the horse and be taught to ride. It was just an excellent learning experience for me in skills as well as living and getting along with others. After all, I was an only child so learning to live side by side with others for a month was a challenge. But I loved it and I thrived.

The food was awesome--and boy could we eat. After all those activities I am sure anything would have tasted good. Camp is where I learned to drink iced tea without sugar--it took too long for the sugar to get passed to me and I was too thirsty so I just learned to enjoy it unsweetened and still do to this day. We always sang either the doxology or the Johnny Appleseed prayer (Oh, the Lord is good to me, and so I thank the Lord, for giving me the things I need, the sun and the trees and the appleseed, oh the Lord is good to me.”) before we ate. After lunch was mail call (great excitement here) and a rest time in our cabins. Then we had a snack and were off to afternoon activities, then supper, then campfire where we had a skit and sang songs.

Friday nights were movie nights where we gathered at an outside amphitheatre and were shown a current movie and had popcorn and cokes along with the Boys Camp(I saw the original PARENT TRAP with Haley Mills here at camp and each time I see a re-run of it I am reminded of this time). Then Saturday night was dance night where we got together with the boys camp for a dance. Sunday night was my favorite as we would get our flashlights and walk up to Church mountain--a big hill with a cross on top and bleacher seats around it. We would sing all the way up there, then sing hymns while there, and sing more camp songs all the way back down in the dark with our flashlights shining the way. It was just a time that really touched my heart.

When the month was up I was in tears--tears of gladness to see my parents again and tears of sadness to leave this place I loved so much and the new friends I had made. I always went through a lonely depression when I got home--a homesickness for camp. I was happy to be back home and with my family but I yearned for those wild, rugged hills.

Camp Longhorn remains a cherished memory of my heart. Who would have dreamed that I would now be living in Burnet county near that beloved place among the hills and dales. God knew how much that place meant to me and brought me back to it and I am so very thankful. YOU are awesome, Lord.

Back from San Antonio

Don and I just spent a week in San Antonio helping some of the flood victims from the rains of Tropical Storm Erin. We were excited about maybe getting sent to the mid-west for all the flooding and tornadoes going on there--but where do we get sent……San Antonio. We were a bit disappointed but, oh well…..we have always prayed for God to send us where he wants us to go, to who he wants us to help, ---not our will but His. This assignment was for Family Service, not driving the ERV. Family service is the function of Red Cross that meets with victims of a disaster and helps them financially with food, shelter, and clothing. Sometimes we can do things like pay security deposit and first months rent to get them into a new place to live if theirs was destroyed.

It turned out to be a great assignment. It was a small operation working out of the San Antonio Red Cross chapter. The job managers were a husband wife team that we worked with in Hurricane Ivan in ‘04 in Pensacola whom we greatly admired. They were so thrilled to see us. You see, national had only sent them 4 Red Cross people who happened to have been in San Antonio already staging for Hurricane Dean. These 4 had NO experience at all in the family service function (which is lots of paperwork and computer work). Don and I are both Family Service supervisors with lots of experience so we were very much needed. The next day some other trained workers arrived and we got an amazing amount of work done. The untrained workers had done the best they could put in the tough spot they were in but the paperwork was quite a mess. But we all worked well together , got the job done, and had fun in the process.

What happens after a week or so into the disaster is that people start talking and neighbors or family members find out that they got money from Red Cross and they didn’t (even though they had no storm damage) and our phones start ringing off the wall with people demanding we give them what their neighbors got. We even had to call the police on one woman who came to the chapter demanding money. It gets crazy. That is when you know it is time to shut down and leave town. Red Cross offers EMERGENCY ASSISTANCE--food, shelter, clothing (one set to wear, one to wash) to get you through the first week of the disaster. We are not an insurance agency there to replace all they lost. But people just don’t get this. It is a very fine line between helping people and keeping them from taking control of their own disaster recovery

For us this assignment was really helpful as we had been trained on how to use their new computer program for entering cases but had never gotten a chance to use it. We did lots of computer work and now feel very proficient with the program. It was just so great to have so much mentoring by our managers, Joanne and Don, who by the way are 78 and 79 years old. I just think it is so awesome that there are so many older people out there volunteering. There is so much we can learn from them. They were a fun couple and we sure enjoyed our time with them.. It was just a great assignment--great opportunity to hone our skills, make new friends and renew old friendships---and we got to have supper and a nice visit with Josh and Kara, too.