Bernarda had called the night before to make the accommodations and arrangements. I had checked the long range weather forecast and it called for rain all week in Medellin. We were going to a place called ECO PARQUE EL GAITERO ,in Santa Fe de Antioquia. About fifty miles from downtown Medellin. In my visits to Colombia this was going to be my first opportunity to get out of town, and see some countryside.
We took a taxi from the condo to the metro Poblado terminal, there we met the bus that would take us to the park. The bus was the large van type that was very similar to the bus we rode in at the Methodist mission in Costa Rica. Ten passengers plus the driver, who looked to be in his early twentys,pulled out and started our journey , it was sprinkling rain. We wound out of the city and at last we were driving through the mountainous countryside.Approxamately twenty miles out we came to a tunnel. I have been through many tunnels in the US but never one three and a half miles long. They could hold a 5k race in the tunnel and the runners would never see the light of day. We stopped at a small restaurant fuel stop in the town of Saint Jeronimo called the Bomba Texaco. We had some hot chocolate and some very tasty made on site rolls Called almojabana pandequesos
.Everyone loaded back up in the bus ,It was still sprinkling off and on, we resumed our journey. Roughly twenty more miles and we turned of the paved road onto a gravel narrow road that would take us around and down the mountain to our destination. Some beautiful sites but with the rain on the windows of the bus it did not make for good picture taking. As soon as we pulled into the parking lot the rain stopped and the sun came out ;beautiful. We headed for the restaurant and had a cup of coffee, then walked down to the lake and picked up a couple cane poles and some bait .We walked to a spot that looked good and tried our luck. These poles had a couple pegs that the line wound around and If you were an expert like Bernarda you could make that cane pole act very similar to a fly rod and cast with it.Bernarda said just one moment, and walked back to the pavilion coming back with a bucket for the fish we were going to catch---optimist. We fished for awhile watching others reel in fish after fish but for us it was looking like we were only to be fish feeders and not fish catchers. After awhile we picked up our gear and headed to one of the other lakes as this one had become extremely crowded. We walked back the growing lake where the smaller ones were protected and no fishing was allowed, A worker was manually removing algae that was floating on the lake as we walked by. Approaching the next lake we saw an area that looked like it would suit us fine .No other people close and a nice shade tree. We soon found out why no-one else has captured our spot as the journey traversing around to it, was very slippery and treacherous. We soon claimed our spot and began fishing .I had my bait stolen a couple of times and then I had one, It looked like what we call a brim. Soon Bernarda had a fish on her line and It was a small mouth bass. I caught another ,then Bernarda caught a really nice Talapia.We fished for a while longer but it had warmed up and I think the fish that we were fishing for all went to the bottom in the middle of the lake. We were visited by five long eared Brahma crossed cows that were curious to see what we were doing but as I talked to them and approached they scattered and wanted no part in us. We took our fish to the fishing pavilion and they gutted them and weighed them and we paid 9100 pesos for our fish.(about $4.00)
It was time for lunch so we headed to the restaurant and had some very good chicken and rice with salad and beans. With a citrus mango drink. After we ate Bernarda checked on a guided horseback tour of part of the park and we had a half hour to kill so we walked and watched people, always an entertaining thing to do.
It was time for our horse back tour so we walked on over to the stables. I was reminded of my cousin Allen who lived on my home farm (where I was raised).Allen had several Arabian horses all beautiful and some more spirited than others. The first time Allen talked me into riding ,he had a young gelding named Riaad An Arabic name not sure of the spelling. Allen Saddled him up and then told me that he would ride him across the dike and back to get him calmed down a bit then I could ride him. As soon as Allen cleared the saddle Riaad took off like he was chasing the wind. They galloped to the other side of the dike ,Allen turned him and they blistered back across the dike, and up the hill skidding to a stop as Allen jumped off and said ok Your turn. Allen and I grew up together and he knew that I was one half fool hardy and the other half crazy, So of course he knew that I would hop right on. With Riaads eyes doing a little dance going around in circles, I hoisted my leg almost halfway over the saddle when he took off at a full gallop. My legs never did get in the stirrups so I just wrapped them around his neck and held on. We soon were at the other end of the dike, Riaad whirled around and without missing hardly a beat we were once again at a full gallop across the dike, up the hill ,past Allen, as I was pulling back on the reins yelling whoa---whoa across the yard ,across the driveway and under the clothes; line. Needless to say we both did not fit .
With those thoughts in my head we walked to the stables. The wrangler brought a horse around for Bernarda and held the horse while Bernarda effortlessly sprang into the saddle. He then brought My horse around and I eyed it suspiciously. He held it I threw my leg over the saddle no problem, We eased out of the stables and started down the trail It was plain that my horse liked to be in the lead so I just gave it rein and let it pick its own way through the rocks and down the trail . I came to the conclusion that the horse knew where to go so I let it. As it turned out we had a wonderful ride ,lots of fun and many pictures. We got back to the stables and Bernarda got off her horse and jokingly said ouch
Ouch lol.
We walked from the stables to the main area and headed for the changing rooms to put on swimming suits. After a nice leisurely time in the pool it was time for us to get our things together and load up in the bus.
I did get some pictures coming back out as we climbed and rewound around the mountain but the road was so rough it was tough to get clear ones. When we got to the main road A Young guy came up to the bus, obviously knowing the driver, he asked for the driver to pick up two ladies in Saint Jeronimo and the driver said ok. We headed back and when we arrived in Saint Jeronimo. We pulled off the side of the road and called. He then received directions and we drove through the little town passing many people carrying small crosses. We drove through town stopped and asked directions once ---turned around --sat outside a house and honked the horn. We started back into town ,the phone rang and the driver turned the bus around again drove back to where we had turned around--and there were the ladies now waiting alongside the road. We picked them up the started back into town but only got to the edge when all traffic was stopped. The priest carrying a long staff, with all his parishioners and a small band were parading through the main street of town from the Church to ?. It began sprinkling rain as we crept along behind the precession , they turned and once again we were on our way. A short stop at the Bomba Texaco and the rain started falling heavily. It was dark now and the rain and darkness made visibility poor. We came around a corner and just in time the driver hit the brakes and we then moved slowly through mud and rocks from a mudslide. We traveled along where once the water was actually running across the road ,and a couple places where rocks the size of a large grapefruit were strewn across the highway. Once we arrived at the tunnel and went thru the weather improved and the rain slowed. We arrived in the outskirts of Medellin when a large bus the size of a Greyhound bus pulled into the road in front of us and forced us to stop. I had been extremely proud of our driver up to this point.
Our driver decided that he would make known to the driver of the large bus his displeasure so at the first opportunity he sped in front of the bus and then hit his brakes. Apparently the driver of the large bus not to be outdone then when we were beside started moving over until our driver had to hit his brakes to avoid hitting the bus or the inside curb. We were now on a four lane road ,Our driver sped around the bus --got in front and then at the next light waited until it turned green and just sat there. We then drove on the large bus turned off and the excitement was over. Like something out of an action movie--ha--only in Colombia. We were dropped of at metro terminal then took the metro to Poblado terminal, caught a cab to the apartment, Put the fish in the freezer, turned on the TV, and Chilled.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Saturday, August 21, 2010
An Imagination is a terrible thing to waste
When I was growing up on the farm, I had two sisters .Linda and Luan.Since Sisters did not always see the true greatness in their brothers Ideas most of the time, I was left to my own amusement quite a bit.
We had a large dairy barn, built by my Uncle Estile Baker and his brother who together owned Baker lumber company. In this barn I found adventure mystery and constant strife as I fought off Indian attacks in the hay mow, while hiding from roving bands of outlaws, As it seems they were always just on the other side of the wall, Looking for a hideout after their latest bank job.
The hay in the haymow, when strategically stacked and moved around formed tunnels that I hid in as I fought the Nazis on my hit and run missions with the Farm country underground.
Off to the west of the barn just past the open field of Brome grass lay a small wooded area, just crammed full of Rabbits squirrels, and Sioux who would chaise me as I ran down the cow paths to safety. If you went out of the woods to the double ponds, there was a culvert that ran clear under the dyke, under the gravel road to a ravine, this culvert was my escape tunnel, from the concentration camp as long as I kept quiet and made sure I was unseen. Luck have it there happened to be a mulberry tree right there along the escape route to provide sustenance for someone like myself who had been let to starve in the camp. The ravine led to other woods which if you followed the cattle trails down, and down and down you ended up at Jenkins creek, And you know there were river pirates, that came right off the Mississippi up bear creak to Jenkins creek, and that is where they hid the treasure. In addition, along the waters edge some of the rocks and gravel looked suspiciously like gold and silver, probably what was left of the Army Payroll taken by the James gang, and then given to the local people to help them through the hard times after the war?
Along the creek was a rock wall that in the winter would form huge Icesicles some 30 ft tall, My Dad would caution us to not get too close as if one broke off it would crush you. However ---If you looked real close you could see hidden passageways behind the ice that led to countless hidden rooms and hideouts for all the notorious gangsters that were coming down from Chicago.
We had one Farm actually between the river and the levee; we called the river farm, on the river farm an old cabin stood, undoubtedly one of the hideouts for Jesse and Frank James. When the corn was high in the summer, no one would ever find them. Bear creek made a horseshoe right there at the cabin, and along the banks was a cherry tree, knowing how The James family loved Cherry pie, it only made sense they would hide out here.
Fifty years pass, The Barn was sold to a company in Louisiana that dismantled it, moved it down close to the red river and re constructed it using it as an upscale antique store. The Cabin was burned down years ago, they never really found out who set it on fire, Speculation was vagrants building a campfire on the wood floor and just burning the whole place to the ground. But in the back of my mind---Someone was covering up, and did away with the evidence LOL
We had a large dairy barn, built by my Uncle Estile Baker and his brother who together owned Baker lumber company. In this barn I found adventure mystery and constant strife as I fought off Indian attacks in the hay mow, while hiding from roving bands of outlaws, As it seems they were always just on the other side of the wall, Looking for a hideout after their latest bank job.
The hay in the haymow, when strategically stacked and moved around formed tunnels that I hid in as I fought the Nazis on my hit and run missions with the Farm country underground.
Off to the west of the barn just past the open field of Brome grass lay a small wooded area, just crammed full of Rabbits squirrels, and Sioux who would chaise me as I ran down the cow paths to safety. If you went out of the woods to the double ponds, there was a culvert that ran clear under the dyke, under the gravel road to a ravine, this culvert was my escape tunnel, from the concentration camp as long as I kept quiet and made sure I was unseen. Luck have it there happened to be a mulberry tree right there along the escape route to provide sustenance for someone like myself who had been let to starve in the camp. The ravine led to other woods which if you followed the cattle trails down, and down and down you ended up at Jenkins creek, And you know there were river pirates, that came right off the Mississippi up bear creak to Jenkins creek, and that is where they hid the treasure. In addition, along the waters edge some of the rocks and gravel looked suspiciously like gold and silver, probably what was left of the Army Payroll taken by the James gang, and then given to the local people to help them through the hard times after the war?
Along the creek was a rock wall that in the winter would form huge Icesicles some 30 ft tall, My Dad would caution us to not get too close as if one broke off it would crush you. However ---If you looked real close you could see hidden passageways behind the ice that led to countless hidden rooms and hideouts for all the notorious gangsters that were coming down from Chicago.
We had one Farm actually between the river and the levee; we called the river farm, on the river farm an old cabin stood, undoubtedly one of the hideouts for Jesse and Frank James. When the corn was high in the summer, no one would ever find them. Bear creek made a horseshoe right there at the cabin, and along the banks was a cherry tree, knowing how The James family loved Cherry pie, it only made sense they would hide out here.
Fifty years pass, The Barn was sold to a company in Louisiana that dismantled it, moved it down close to the red river and re constructed it using it as an upscale antique store. The Cabin was burned down years ago, they never really found out who set it on fire, Speculation was vagrants building a campfire on the wood floor and just burning the whole place to the ground. But in the back of my mind---Someone was covering up, and did away with the evidence LOL
Tracy’s 120MPH Beauty Scar
My mother and father in law enjoyed coming out to our farm with friends and camping around our man made two and a half acre lake. Karen and her Mom had made supper, Fresh green beans cooked over the campfire in a big ole pot held over the fire by a tri pod This particular summer evening as we all lazed around after supper, The girls were all playing down at the campsite and Their uncle Rickie was hitting stone with an old axe handle into the lake. The Dogs Buffy and Sissy were both watching and trying to run and fetch the rocks only to stop at the edge of the lake as they were batted in. I was up at the house carrying something or other down the hill to the campsite, When I saw the turn of events unfold as though in slow motion.
I saw Uncle Rickie throw a rock into the air,---at the same time Tracy, my three year old ran up to him from behind. I yelled out but it was too late as the axe handle swung with terrific force into my little girls face. I ran down the hill and swooped Tracy into my arms, and ran with her up to the house. She was bleeding badly, and Karen applied pressure with some clean towels, It was determined that we would make an emergency run to the Hospital. My Dad had just bought a new Buick 225, and instead of trading his old 225 in, he had given it to us. I helped Karen who was holding Tracy in her lap, into the back seat ,and I fired the Buick up and backed around ,and headed down the driveway throwing gravel all the way out to the main road. The hospital was approximately Thirty miles away and we made it in fifteen minutes. I had always been notorious as a teenager for my fast cars and fast driving, what I can say is that night, all the fast driving experience paid off. When we pulled into the hospital they were waiting as my Mother in Law had called ahead, so they met us with stretchers just like on Mash. Of coarse, I would not leave Karen or my little girl’s side, and It tore my heart apart when the doctor was stitching her face up and she kept crying out for her Daddy.
Her Mom passed away when she was eight; it was a real journey as all three girls grew up to be fine young women. Therefore, even though it has been very difficult at times, I have always tried to be there for her and her sisters during the roughest times.
Today Tracy is the Mom of Three Boys who definitely had their share of cuts, bruises and broken bones. I am still involved somewhat in each of the three girls lives, Sometimes not as much as I would have hoped, and sometimes a little too close for comfort ,As life goes on. Ironically Tracy now works for an orthopedic surgeon, scheduling surgeries for her boss. I hope that so Dads do not have to make 120+ MPH runs to the emergency room.
I saw Uncle Rickie throw a rock into the air,---at the same time Tracy, my three year old ran up to him from behind. I yelled out but it was too late as the axe handle swung with terrific force into my little girls face. I ran down the hill and swooped Tracy into my arms, and ran with her up to the house. She was bleeding badly, and Karen applied pressure with some clean towels, It was determined that we would make an emergency run to the Hospital. My Dad had just bought a new Buick 225, and instead of trading his old 225 in, he had given it to us. I helped Karen who was holding Tracy in her lap, into the back seat ,and I fired the Buick up and backed around ,and headed down the driveway throwing gravel all the way out to the main road. The hospital was approximately Thirty miles away and we made it in fifteen minutes. I had always been notorious as a teenager for my fast cars and fast driving, what I can say is that night, all the fast driving experience paid off. When we pulled into the hospital they were waiting as my Mother in Law had called ahead, so they met us with stretchers just like on Mash. Of coarse, I would not leave Karen or my little girl’s side, and It tore my heart apart when the doctor was stitching her face up and she kept crying out for her Daddy.
Her Mom passed away when she was eight; it was a real journey as all three girls grew up to be fine young women. Therefore, even though it has been very difficult at times, I have always tried to be there for her and her sisters during the roughest times.
Today Tracy is the Mom of Three Boys who definitely had their share of cuts, bruises and broken bones. I am still involved somewhat in each of the three girls lives, Sometimes not as much as I would have hoped, and sometimes a little too close for comfort ,As life goes on. Ironically Tracy now works for an orthopedic surgeon, scheduling surgeries for her boss. I hope that so Dads do not have to make 120+ MPH runs to the emergency room.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
To Not Forgive
To Not Forgive“Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die.” (Anne Lamott) This little quote from our pastor, Wes Olds, at Grace Church in Cape Coral Florida, would make a huge impact on my life.I had been the unwilling partner in a divorce, (after nineteen years of marriage), that was all of six months old. By listening to my little voice inside, probably put there in part, by my parents, and completed by my Baptist upbringing, I knew that I needed some spiritual guidance. I also needed to surround myself with people, other than the "good time Charlies", and the party girls you see out there at the dance halls and bars on Sat nights. The old Tammy Wynette perfect woman vision of, "Stand By Your Man", and Charlie Pride's, “Kiss an Angel Good Morning and Love Her Like the Devil When You Get Back Home”, was all the roadmap I needed to show me exactly what I wanted and needed.....music is poetry you know.I had been using a dating site called Tagged, after exhausting Myspace and the local Meetup groups....searching for that potential “Angel” that would qualify for me to even want to "kiss them in the morning", much less the rest of the song.I had pretty much refined my search to the exact size, shape, and proximity, as well as the age of this “Angel”.......little did I know all this careful, scientific, "exacta mongo" planning, was a total waste of time!Out of no-where, it seems, I get a message from a girl in, of all places.....Arkansas! I had placed the quote I had heard Pastor Wes say, “Not forgiving is like drinking rat poison and then waiting for the rat to die”, as the theme for my profile on Tagged. Who would have thought--(or thunk it, as they say in Arkansas lingo), that a very lonely, pretty, intelligent, and sweet girl born, in Texas and living in Van Buren Arkansas, would read it and think that I "must be", a kind, compassionate, caring, and sensitive person.....just because of that quote on my Tagged profile!Welllllll I’m not saying I am, or was, or even ever wanted to be any, or all of those things, but....it sure did make for an interesting concept!As I looked at her profile to determine if I wanted to respond to her "Blaintly Foreward" behavior (like responding back to me).....several issues immediately came to my attention and ringing the "gong bell"....*Number one---- the proximity to Southwest Florida...not in the model I had in mind.*Number two-----she was within two months of the same age as me, again, not in the model.*Number three-----her hair was short and spiky.....WHOA, definitely NOT in the model!However, as I talked to her on the phone, I knew I could listen to "that voice" forever.The more we talked, the more we found more and more parallels that we shared. One funny thing.....we both are pretty conservative and when we were talking one day, I said, "Well it sure looks like in religion and politics we are parallel", she misunderstood and said in a shocked voice, “so does that mean you are really voting for Obama then?” I had to explain to her that "parallel" means agreeing....going the same direction....maybe that is when I fell in love with her?!It seems pretty fitting that the preacher who quoted the phrase that brought us together, Pastor Wes, was the one who married us. We have been through a lot of "ups and downs" with the transition of our marraige and making a new life together....the packing and moving....then the unpacking and setting up house.....families.....grandkids.....the process of learning and adjusting to each other's ways.....but it's all been worth it. And now I have a new quote......one which I heard in Costa Rica while I was on a mission trip....a "Tico Pastor" (a Costa Rican), at a little Methodist church, quoted Martin Luther.....he said,"I have held many things in my hands, and I have lost them all; but whatever I have placed in God's hands, that I still possess. The older I get, the more I am finding these words to be so very true.
Tuesday, May 26, 2009
The Dentist Office
When I was fourteen years old I volunteered to ride along with my Mom one evening, to go to the High school and pick up my older sister from GAA volleyball practice. At first this really doesn’t sound like it has anything to do with the dentist, but hang on the story really takes a turn.
We picked up my sister and one of her friends who lived in Ursa, Illinois. It was drizzling rain, and the windshield wipers of our 1961 Olds eighty eight, seemed to be tapping out a beat, and the radio was on WLS, A.M. in Chicago.....we were not aware of the life changing events that were just about to take place.
On our way home we watched the oncoming headlights approaching in the drizzling rain. In an instantaneous moment we saw the approaching headlights suddenly go from straight ahead, to shooting straight up in the air, almost as if the vehicle was doing a wheelie. Then suddenly a car shot out from behind the seemingly “star seeking” headlights, and came directly into our path.
There was a tremendous crash….I heard my Mom cry out in pain….I was hurled forward into the dashboard and then the windshield.....silence.....then groans…..I struggled to adjust and tried to focus on where I was and what had just happened......we had been involved in a terrible four car accident!
I checked on Mom to see if she was alright.......her leg was badly hurt.....my sisters were okay. I struggled to crawl out the window so I could flag down an oncoming car. I then ran back behind our car where I saw a pickup truck......the one who's headlights had shot up into the air just before our crash. To my horror I saw that it was embedded in the front end of a Corvair that contained three girls from our high school. I was to later find out that only one of the girls would survive. One of the girls that died was my sister Linda's best friend. The other was a cheerleader at our school......she and I always flirted with each other.....their necks were broken.
I had flagged down the first car that came upon the scene and blurted out the obvious (that there had been an accident)....it was unknown to me at the time, but I was completely covered with blood, having a broken arm, and my four upper front teeth knocked completely out, and my bottom jaw was broken, and one tooth was sticking out through a hole in my chin. I then ran back from the Corvair and pickup, to our car so I could check on my Mom again.
One of our neighbors recognized our car and called my Dad at home.....he beat the ambulance there.......I was confided in later, when I asked my Dad how fast he was driving his Buick Electra (since he got there so quick).....he said that he wasn’t really sure how fast he was driving, that he hadn’t even looked......he only knew that he was driving the car as fast as it would go.....and that was pretty fast!!
We were taken to Blessing hospital by ambulance, where it was found My Mom had a crushed kneecap. My Older sister Linda had a broken nose, and I of course, was missing my upper four front teeth, and my lower four teeth were laying flat in my mouth, because of my broken jaw. They didn't realize until the next morning, when my arm started swelling and hurting so bad, that I also had a broken arm.
That morning will always stand out in my memory for many reasons......that was the day President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.....I can still remember the nurses crying when his assassination was announced on the radio. Soooooo, I'll always remember where I was on the day President Kennedy was assassinated.
That was just the beginning of many, many Dentist appointments for me. One dentist I was very thankful for was Dr. Quad, in Quincy, Ill. I was told, many years later, that Dr. Quad had done an outstanding job on my teeth. He made a mold and a partial plate for my missing upper teeth. Of course this all took a long time, because we had to wait for swelling to go down. It was a long time after Christmas before I got my partial plate.
I remember flirting with girls at basketball games and not having any front teeth.....of course I also remember I didn´t have much luck with the girls either! Later, when I played football at Heidelberg college, I would wear my mouthpiece upside down, revealing a large gap where my teeth used to be......I called it my air scoop. My teammates started calling me "Happy Tooth", because as I was always smiling.....toothless or not!
The dentist did root canals on my four bottom teeth, and he inserted silver pins. He told me at that time, that later in life, these four teeth would eventually turn black......and quite a few years ago, they did.
Through the years I’ve had a varity of dentist….even a couple who were a little strange….like the dentist in New Knoxville, Ohio. He would have me all stretched out in the chair, half upside down, and put his knee on my chest, then he would holler, “steady as she goes”! Some time after my appointment with him, I found out that he later underwent some highly supervised clinical counciling……I may have been one of his patients which pushed him over the edge…..I don’t know…..hummm?
Jackie had been doing her research and found Costa Rica doctors to be very educated, and many interned at Baylor...which for Jackie spells “Texas”, which then of course spells, “the best”! Well, anyway the credentials were there, and the price was about one third of what It would cost in Florida…..Hey, Costa Rica, here we come!
So here I am in Escazu, Costa Rica….at the dentist office…. in the waiting room….waiting…….just waiting for Jackie to get her two root canals. I’ve already had five extractions and one root canal, and Im still smiling ---go figure. I’ll leave Costa Rica with my upper and lower teeth replaced permanently---FINANLLY---AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!!!
We picked up my sister and one of her friends who lived in Ursa, Illinois. It was drizzling rain, and the windshield wipers of our 1961 Olds eighty eight, seemed to be tapping out a beat, and the radio was on WLS, A.M. in Chicago.....we were not aware of the life changing events that were just about to take place.
On our way home we watched the oncoming headlights approaching in the drizzling rain. In an instantaneous moment we saw the approaching headlights suddenly go from straight ahead, to shooting straight up in the air, almost as if the vehicle was doing a wheelie. Then suddenly a car shot out from behind the seemingly “star seeking” headlights, and came directly into our path.
There was a tremendous crash….I heard my Mom cry out in pain….I was hurled forward into the dashboard and then the windshield.....silence.....then groans…..I struggled to adjust and tried to focus on where I was and what had just happened......we had been involved in a terrible four car accident!
I checked on Mom to see if she was alright.......her leg was badly hurt.....my sisters were okay. I struggled to crawl out the window so I could flag down an oncoming car. I then ran back behind our car where I saw a pickup truck......the one who's headlights had shot up into the air just before our crash. To my horror I saw that it was embedded in the front end of a Corvair that contained three girls from our high school. I was to later find out that only one of the girls would survive. One of the girls that died was my sister Linda's best friend. The other was a cheerleader at our school......she and I always flirted with each other.....their necks were broken.
I had flagged down the first car that came upon the scene and blurted out the obvious (that there had been an accident)....it was unknown to me at the time, but I was completely covered with blood, having a broken arm, and my four upper front teeth knocked completely out, and my bottom jaw was broken, and one tooth was sticking out through a hole in my chin. I then ran back from the Corvair and pickup, to our car so I could check on my Mom again.
One of our neighbors recognized our car and called my Dad at home.....he beat the ambulance there.......I was confided in later, when I asked my Dad how fast he was driving his Buick Electra (since he got there so quick).....he said that he wasn’t really sure how fast he was driving, that he hadn’t even looked......he only knew that he was driving the car as fast as it would go.....and that was pretty fast!!
We were taken to Blessing hospital by ambulance, where it was found My Mom had a crushed kneecap. My Older sister Linda had a broken nose, and I of course, was missing my upper four front teeth, and my lower four teeth were laying flat in my mouth, because of my broken jaw. They didn't realize until the next morning, when my arm started swelling and hurting so bad, that I also had a broken arm.
That morning will always stand out in my memory for many reasons......that was the day President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas.....I can still remember the nurses crying when his assassination was announced on the radio. Soooooo, I'll always remember where I was on the day President Kennedy was assassinated.
That was just the beginning of many, many Dentist appointments for me. One dentist I was very thankful for was Dr. Quad, in Quincy, Ill. I was told, many years later, that Dr. Quad had done an outstanding job on my teeth. He made a mold and a partial plate for my missing upper teeth. Of course this all took a long time, because we had to wait for swelling to go down. It was a long time after Christmas before I got my partial plate.
I remember flirting with girls at basketball games and not having any front teeth.....of course I also remember I didn´t have much luck with the girls either! Later, when I played football at Heidelberg college, I would wear my mouthpiece upside down, revealing a large gap where my teeth used to be......I called it my air scoop. My teammates started calling me "Happy Tooth", because as I was always smiling.....toothless or not!
The dentist did root canals on my four bottom teeth, and he inserted silver pins. He told me at that time, that later in life, these four teeth would eventually turn black......and quite a few years ago, they did.
Through the years I’ve had a varity of dentist….even a couple who were a little strange….like the dentist in New Knoxville, Ohio. He would have me all stretched out in the chair, half upside down, and put his knee on my chest, then he would holler, “steady as she goes”! Some time after my appointment with him, I found out that he later underwent some highly supervised clinical counciling……I may have been one of his patients which pushed him over the edge…..I don’t know…..hummm?
Jackie had been doing her research and found Costa Rica doctors to be very educated, and many interned at Baylor...which for Jackie spells “Texas”, which then of course spells, “the best”! Well, anyway the credentials were there, and the price was about one third of what It would cost in Florida…..Hey, Costa Rica, here we come!
So here I am in Escazu, Costa Rica….at the dentist office…. in the waiting room….waiting…….just waiting for Jackie to get her two root canals. I’ve already had five extractions and one root canal, and Im still smiling ---go figure. I’ll leave Costa Rica with my upper and lower teeth replaced permanently---FINANLLY---AFTER ALL THESE YEARS!!!
Monday, September 29, 2008
Cowboy Real Estate The Bailout and the Peach Tree
Back in 1998 -2004 My wife and I owned a Dairy farm in Missouri
Our milk house was a three on a side /side open gate type parlor, and I milked the cows on one side and my wife the other , That is when she wasn’t line dancing to the country music we always had playing on the radio. We had developed quite a system to save energy, electrical and our own, as any fresh cows (that is a cow who had as recently as the last three days had given birth to a baby calf)that still had colostrium(milk that contains natural antibodys,for the baby calf) would be milked last after all the others. In doing it this way we could just pull the pipe that the milk ran through in to the milk tank from the milkers, out of the tank and into a bucket that we would use then as calves milk. Then when finished we would flush the lines, and wash them as usual at the end of milking.
I always kept the new mommas in a corner stall of the big barn which was about fifteen yards from the milkhouse,but on the opposite end from the holding area.
Dairy cows like to be milked. For one it takes the pressure away from a swollen udder and makes them feel good, and as an added bonus we would give them grain in the milk house as they were being milked so that always insured they would be lined up at the door ready and anxious to come in.
This particular night we had finished milking and all that was left was Katie. She was a cow that had just given birth to a beautiful registered Jersey heifer calf two days ago. The rule is you keep the new milk separate from your regular milk for the first three days so we had Katie and her calf in the main barn and I went out to bring her around and down the fenced alley into the holding pen and then into the milk house.
This particular night It was pitch black out side, and as I opened the gate Katie instead of going straight and down the alley like she had the last five milkings ,turned left, through an opening between the gate and the alleyway and headed out into an open field.
Keeping in mind the fact that I played college football, and also the fact that I was in excellent shape from carrying buckets of grain into the milk house every morning and night for the last couple years. I took off after Katie to head her off and had two steps at a full sprint when I ran flat out into a 20”around Peach tree. On that pitch black night I saw stars. Well Katie after seeing she had gone the wrong way just turned around by herself and headed down the alley into the holding pen, and through the back door into a stall and when I stumbled into the milk house she was munching ground corn and my wife was milking her and looked at me standing there with blood running down my face, and said “What in the world happened to you?”
With this bailout I’m wondering if maybe running out into the darkness, might not be the prudent thing to do, that it could be the market will see it’s going the wrong way and turn around by itself. Even though it seems like the thing that needs to be done at the moment, I certainly wouldn’t advise running without knowing for sure what’s in front of you. It could be a Peach tree.
Our milk house was a three on a side /side open gate type parlor, and I milked the cows on one side and my wife the other , That is when she wasn’t line dancing to the country music we always had playing on the radio. We had developed quite a system to save energy, electrical and our own, as any fresh cows (that is a cow who had as recently as the last three days had given birth to a baby calf)that still had colostrium(milk that contains natural antibodys,for the baby calf) would be milked last after all the others. In doing it this way we could just pull the pipe that the milk ran through in to the milk tank from the milkers, out of the tank and into a bucket that we would use then as calves milk. Then when finished we would flush the lines, and wash them as usual at the end of milking.
I always kept the new mommas in a corner stall of the big barn which was about fifteen yards from the milkhouse,but on the opposite end from the holding area.
Dairy cows like to be milked. For one it takes the pressure away from a swollen udder and makes them feel good, and as an added bonus we would give them grain in the milk house as they were being milked so that always insured they would be lined up at the door ready and anxious to come in.
This particular night we had finished milking and all that was left was Katie. She was a cow that had just given birth to a beautiful registered Jersey heifer calf two days ago. The rule is you keep the new milk separate from your regular milk for the first three days so we had Katie and her calf in the main barn and I went out to bring her around and down the fenced alley into the holding pen and then into the milk house.
This particular night It was pitch black out side, and as I opened the gate Katie instead of going straight and down the alley like she had the last five milkings ,turned left, through an opening between the gate and the alleyway and headed out into an open field.
Keeping in mind the fact that I played college football, and also the fact that I was in excellent shape from carrying buckets of grain into the milk house every morning and night for the last couple years. I took off after Katie to head her off and had two steps at a full sprint when I ran flat out into a 20”around Peach tree. On that pitch black night I saw stars. Well Katie after seeing she had gone the wrong way just turned around by herself and headed down the alley into the holding pen, and through the back door into a stall and when I stumbled into the milk house she was munching ground corn and my wife was milking her and looked at me standing there with blood running down my face, and said “What in the world happened to you?”
With this bailout I’m wondering if maybe running out into the darkness, might not be the prudent thing to do, that it could be the market will see it’s going the wrong way and turn around by itself. Even though it seems like the thing that needs to be done at the moment, I certainly wouldn’t advise running without knowing for sure what’s in front of you. It could be a Peach tree.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Cowboy Real Estate the Squeeze Chute
When working cattle one of my jobs was usually running the squeeze chute. You pen the cattle first then usually(If the pens were built right, )You worked the cattle counter clock wise around in to smaller and smaller pens until you are at an alley way leading to bright sunlight for the cow ---but really they have to get through the squeeze chute first. The reason they see all this light like at the end of a tunnel is that you have the squeeze chute gate open for them to look through. Once they have their horns through you have to slam the gate shut quick or they will bust right on through. You can’t be day dreaming if you are running the chute. If a cow would bust through the chute it doesn’t get worked --as to say we wouldn’t be able to give it the preventative medicines and fly control we give them for their own good and health. So actually even though the cow doesn’t understand --Getting caught up in the chute is a good thing for the cow.
I was watching the commercial expired list right before the forth of July and saw a ten thousand sq. ft. warehouse listed for 1.1mil had expired. A lady in my office had told me that she had a buyer for exactly that so I sent the owners of record a letter.
The July fourth weekend came around and I went up to Rainbow River and floated the river with my kids and just kicked back. Bright and early on Monday morning I drove over to the warehouse to walk around it and see where in the world it sat. That is to say where it sat in relation to the world outside .Just something I do on land Was Taught that years ago .
I saw a sign on the front door saying where the prior occupants had moved and low and behold it was the same name as the owning company, so I headed on over to their new location to see what I could find out.
I walked into the showroom counter sales area and stood patiently in line and when the person behind the counter asked me if he could help me, I responded that yes I was going to be easy ,Who do I need to talk to concerning your old warehouse, I am in Commercial Real Estate. He told me the asst manager would be the one who could help me, and walked me over to an office door. The asst manager was on the phone so I stood outside the door and waited for him to hang up. I introduced myself and told him why I was there and asked him for a contact name and phone number at the main office of the decision maker. He gladly obliged and commented that It was over priced and that the owner of the building they were in presently had made an offer considerably less than the listing price. I thanked him gave him my card and asked him to pass it along to anyone he cared about that might need some real Estate help, and headed home.
When I got home I called the number and got a recording, so I left my number and said I would be calling again before the day was through. I called again later in the afternoon and got a lady who was not sure if the property had been relisted but promised to find out and call me back.
The next morning I called and left a message .Later in the morning a gentleman from that company called me and said “I know we have spoken before and I thought you were sending a listing proposal to me” I not thinking said Oh no I don’t believe we have spoken before but I would be glad to send you a listing proposal. He then told me that they were listing it with one of my competitors(MY Guess the company that apparently was day dreaming). I thanked him and then said By the way what price are you listing it at? He told me and it was 325thousand less than what it was listed at before I thanked him and hung up.Immediately redialing and getting the receptionist “What is your fax number?” I wrote up a listing agreement, at the price it was lowered to and faxed it off. I guess you could say I slammed shut the chute.-------I am showing it Monday morning at 10:00.---
I was watching the commercial expired list right before the forth of July and saw a ten thousand sq. ft. warehouse listed for 1.1mil had expired. A lady in my office had told me that she had a buyer for exactly that so I sent the owners of record a letter.
The July fourth weekend came around and I went up to Rainbow River and floated the river with my kids and just kicked back. Bright and early on Monday morning I drove over to the warehouse to walk around it and see where in the world it sat. That is to say where it sat in relation to the world outside .Just something I do on land Was Taught that years ago .
I saw a sign on the front door saying where the prior occupants had moved and low and behold it was the same name as the owning company, so I headed on over to their new location to see what I could find out.
I walked into the showroom counter sales area and stood patiently in line and when the person behind the counter asked me if he could help me, I responded that yes I was going to be easy ,Who do I need to talk to concerning your old warehouse, I am in Commercial Real Estate. He told me the asst manager would be the one who could help me, and walked me over to an office door. The asst manager was on the phone so I stood outside the door and waited for him to hang up. I introduced myself and told him why I was there and asked him for a contact name and phone number at the main office of the decision maker. He gladly obliged and commented that It was over priced and that the owner of the building they were in presently had made an offer considerably less than the listing price. I thanked him gave him my card and asked him to pass it along to anyone he cared about that might need some real Estate help, and headed home.
When I got home I called the number and got a recording, so I left my number and said I would be calling again before the day was through. I called again later in the afternoon and got a lady who was not sure if the property had been relisted but promised to find out and call me back.
The next morning I called and left a message .Later in the morning a gentleman from that company called me and said “I know we have spoken before and I thought you were sending a listing proposal to me” I not thinking said Oh no I don’t believe we have spoken before but I would be glad to send you a listing proposal. He then told me that they were listing it with one of my competitors(MY Guess the company that apparently was day dreaming). I thanked him and then said By the way what price are you listing it at? He told me and it was 325thousand less than what it was listed at before I thanked him and hung up.Immediately redialing and getting the receptionist “What is your fax number?” I wrote up a listing agreement, at the price it was lowered to and faxed it off. I guess you could say I slammed shut the chute.-------I am showing it Monday morning at 10:00.---
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
