The Muse is Loose

Ministers are always evaluating Sundays. How many? How much? How received? How can we improve? How come I am still doing this?

Evaluating Sunday at Taft yesterday was easy. It was GOOD! There were some folks there we made first contact with at Bible School. There were EIGHT kids who went to Children's Church at the close of the song service. There were SIXTY SIX present for worship. That was a high since I have been back at Taft. All of this better prepares the church for the coming of a permanent pastor. That person, they understand, is NOT me.

So we continue to pack and anticipate heading West Wednesday morning at 7:00 A.M.. Robert Edwards made it back from his mission to Connecticut. Dolores came to the food planning meeting this week. Bob and Jimmy are getting geared up and loaded. I won't be surprised if they have a U-Haul hooked behind their car. A last word tomorrow and then no more blogging from me for awhile.

Our "home" for the next two days will be Interstate 10. We will join it in San Antonio. If we keep going West it will take us through Los Angeles to Santa Monica, California. If we continue from Santa Monica it will be a dip in the Pacific Ocean.

If in San Antonio we should happen to turn East and keep going we would pass through Houston, Baton Rouge, and finally, Jacksonville, Florida! That is near the Atlantic Ocean. This Interstate goes from coast to coast, and not the most direct route. I think we will all remember to turn West in San Antonio.

To all our friends who think we have lost it to be making such a trip in August, and with our various and sundry ailments, you are right. We have lost it! We are hoping to find it again in the dry air of Arizona. Our first night may be Fort Stockton, but could be Ozona or Sonora, Texas. Second night we are scheduled for Las Cruces, New Mexico. The third evening will, hopefully, have us at the Cave Creek Ranch where we have had reservations for months. There is no TV, newspaper, or even phone service. Cochise survived without those luxuries, why can't we? We do have some serious games we play with gusto. It is like the gunfight at the OK corral (not terribly far from there). To the survivor goes the bragging rights.

Since there will be no blogs coming from the mountains I asked you to join me again, Lord willing, somewhere around August 17. Until then, vaya con dios mi amigos!

Two thousand four hundred eighty-five miles later we are home! It is early Monday afternoon. The computer didn't recognize me at first, so didn't want to speak. I finally convinced him/her it was really the Loose Muse.

I am not reporting on birds today. I still need to do some tallying of what we saw. It wasn't great in numbers but in other ways was quite exciting.

The Lord watched over we six older persons and kept us safe and reasonably healthy. I have a cut on my arm from a cantina altercation in Juarez. (Don't you expect to hear stuff like that? It was a sharp screen door corner at the Box's cabin in Portal. I did it twice! It LOOKS like something from a knife fight.) I also had a confrontation with a very angry rattlesnake who did NOT want to pose for pictures. He wanted to hurt someone and I was closest to him. He did not get me. Something much smaller did! I have at least 150 Red Bug bites. (Chiggers to you common folk). I would gladly take on the rattler and rid myself of these guys. Ann has some also, but they aren't biting her! Life just isn't fair. I handled the altitude very well. Thank the Lord for that. Ann was able to do more walking and climbing than she had done. I think it was good for her.

Passed through Tombstone yesterday morning. Too early for the gunfight show. We got gas at a station near Boot Hill. They charge to visit Boot Hill. It used to only cost a lead slug. I am not dying to see that place.

We saw no wrecks happen but two that had just happened. One was a small RV being pulled by a red truck. It was in tiny pieces. The other was a jeep that left a mountain road at a very bad place. Killed two and injured two others.

The biggest rip-off in gasoline? There were two. One was Rodeo, New Mexico, where we paid more than $3.00 a gallon for gasoline. It was understandable because of their location and there being no other gasoline pumps within fifty miles. The other place where we bought $3.00 gasoline was Fort Stockton, Texas. They have no excuse. I don't know why the locals tolerate that kind of rip-off. The rest of our trip was forty-fifty cents a gallon less.

It was a very good trip. The wonderful traveling companions made it so. The weather was cooler by far than what we found in Rockport today! Nights in the sixties and most days in the high eighties or low nineties. Enough for now. I have a good tale or two.

No, not that one! The Copper Queen in Bisbee, Arizona! She died in 1975 but the grave is still open for tourists to peer into. One can go deep into her frame some fifteen hundred feet below the surface. There are more than 2,500 miles of tunnels. The Copper Queen, as she is called, was one of the greatest copper camps ever. She operated for one hundred years. Eight BILLION pounds of copper came from her. Two million eight hundred thousand ounces of gold was found. She produced 77,162,986 ounces of silver. There were tons of lead and zinc. It was one of the greatest treasures of copper ever found. It came at a time when copper was beginning to be needed for electricity.Phelps Dodge Company eventually became the sole owner. Bisbee became a "melting pot" of European immigrants as they came to work the mines. At one time the population had mushroomed to 35,000. Today it is around 10,000. Many of the quaint old homes survive. Two massive holes are right downtown to gaze into. Folks built on the sides of the mountain. I counted 100 steps leading up to one house!

We spent two nights in Bisbee while we birded the surrounding area. Our favorite breakfast was eaten there. Bisbee has a touch of San Francisco...in several ways. I would not want to live there but seeing the place was an experience. You can read more by going to Copper Queen or Bisbee, Arizona on the net. O, the breakfast place....Bisbee Breakfast Club. I am holding a coffee cup from there as I type.

Portal, Arizona was our home for six days. Actually we were a mile out of town at the Cave Creek Ranch. Portal has three businesses. One is the Portal Store. They have a small grocery supply. They also have a cafe and places to stay. Down the road on the right is an empty building where an old hand- operated gasoline pump still stands. I believe it was Shell. Just past that is Portal Post Office. 85632. That is one of the places where the people meet. Next to the Post Office is the Myrtle Kraft Portal Library. It is located in the old school building. That is where the action is! This library is named to honor a woman of the Kraft Cheese Company who made Portal a home.When she retired from active leadership in 1995 the community honored her by renaming the library. They have most everything; books, DVD's, audio books, magazines and newspapers. They have talking books and large print. They have a summer library program for kids. They have FAX and WiFi. They have public computers.

In an area where there is NO cell phone activity a library like this is invaluable. I sat outside for awhile one day and watched the stream of traffic from the countryside come to the library. It made me wonder if we "city" folks fully appreciate our libraries. I imagine not. The computer in the Myrtle Kraft Portal Library put us in contact with the outside world for a little while. It is a neat place.

I've been needing to list these for you who might care about such things. I am only listing the ones we saw that are not available around Rockport.

Ferruginous Hawk-(the largest of hawks)
Scaled Quail
Gambel's Quail
Greater Roadrunner (we have some here but not very many)
Black Swift
Broad-billed Hummingbird
White-eared Hummingbird (A new bird for me. Absolutely stunning!)
Violet-crowned Hummingbird (This is a beauty!)
Blue-throated Hummingbird
Magnificent Hummingbird (The king of hummers. You can hear him coming!)
Lucifer Hummingbird
Black-chinned Hummingbird (These are fairly common in Rockport)
Anna's Hummingbird
Broad-tailed Hummingbird
Rufous Hummingbird (They are here but not in big numbers)
Acorn Woodpecker (The clown! They are friendly and funny)
Gila Woodpecker
Olive-sided Flycatcher
Western Wood Peewee
Western Flycatcher
Say's Phoebe
Cassin's Kingbird
Western Kingbird
Violet-green Swallow
Gray-breasted Jay (I think these are also Mexican jays.They are quiet)
Raven
Bridled Titmouse
White-breasted Nuthatch
Brown Creeper (Ann saw this bird high in the mountains where I couldn't go)
Cactus Wren
Bewick's Wren
Western Bluebird
American Robin
Bendire's Thrasher
Curve-billed Thrasher
Phainopepla (Solid black but with a tuft like a cardinal)
Virginia's Warbler
Lucy's Warbler
Black-throated Gray Warbler
American Redstart
Yellow-breasted Chat
Olive Warbler
Western Tanager
Pyrrhuloxia
Black-headed Grosbeak
Blue Grosbeak
Lazuli Bunting
Varied Bunting
Green-tailed Towhee
Abert's Towee
Black-throated Sparrow
Dark-eyed Junco
Western Meadowlark (Ours are mostly eastern meadowlarks)
Hooded Oriole
Pine Grosbeak

We saw NO owls and this is owl country. They weren't there except for great-horned. We saw few warblers as they were not yet migrating. We saw few hawks as the same was true. One morning while I was watching a feeder a coati-mundi came out of the brush to eat some of the feed. It is a long-tailed raccoon-looking critter. I had never seen one. I saw a big brown horned-toad, my first since living in Fort Worth years ago! Javelina were about. Robert walked up on a rattling rattler at a roadside park. He was close! I told you about the one I took pics of on a back road. We saw no illegals that we knew of, but many many Border Patrol vehicles.We did not see Cochise or Geronimo but felt their presence, as this was their home territory. One could easily imagine them looking down from the gigantic boulders perched above us. Bear and Mountain Lion live there. We did visit Paradise. You want to get away? Go to Paradise! Southwest only flies over. No stores. A few mountain homes. Rugged and beautiful place.

This closes out my reportings on Arizona for now.

After our Arizona trip I thought some reflections were appropriate. Here are some I have.

1. It is a blessing to have Christian friends - we all laughed together and tried to win in the games we played, but no one got mad or threw things. It was natural for us to reach for hands at the table and ask God's blessing, be it in a cabin or cafe.

2. People are the same everywhere - lots of them good and a few not so good. However, we must remember wherever we are that being "good" or a "good person" is not enough. Jesus didn't even want to be called "good". "There is only One who is good". Was His comment.

3. This world is incredibly diverse and complicated. The High Desert is alive with all kinds of life. An insect is under each rock. Plants with tiny blooms we have never seen can suddenly appear with a shower or rain. Birds somehow know how to maneuver through the mountains and desert to destinations far away. Their GPS's are incredibly tiny and extremely accurate.

4. We tower over all His creation as the ultimate. God breathed into us and gave us living souls. That separated us from the wiliest animal on earth. We are all really important to God and He has a plan for those who will follow Him.

5. The Native Americans were totally misunderstood and horribly mistreated.

6. A sea breeze is a blessing as long as it is contained.

7. Interstate TEN at eighty MPH (Legal) is still pretty boring.

8. Never ride in a trailer on the highway or anywhere else. They come apart like a match box when they flip at sixty-five. We saw that.

9. Where two or three are gathered together you can have church. Six is really a big crowd.

This time of year we Gulf Coast residents check the tropics daily to see what depression might be threatening to become a tropical storm or hurricane. They are quiet right now. One depression is weakening. No storms? No so!

First of all, dangerous, oppressive, heat is bearing down on Texas and other places. While some are burning flood waters are churning. Folks are having record floods and rain. It is happening, not out in the gulf, but in our own backyards.

Do you remember the oil leaks in your life you were most concerned about? They were not in the Gulf and BP created. They were under your vehicle. An oil leak usually spelled trouble and lots of money to repair an engine. I remember carrying spare quarts of oil in the back of my old car for the engine and transmission. I knew the inevitable was coming.

A picture of our travel in life? I think so. As we get older the machine starts to develop problems. We hope to stave them off as best we can with pills and diet and exercise. Some of that will work for awhile, but we know the truth....there will be a major breakdown and the towing truck will put that old crate away.

What do we do? Order a NEW ONE before it happens. Pick out all the options. Make a down payment, then set back and enjoy each day this old vehicle decides to start and putter out in life.

It's an early Monday morning so I am not capable of anything very inspiring or normal. So this is what I have in mind: The world's all-time largest omelet. First of all, we need a pan: Let's just take the top off of one of those huge refinery tanks. Get some diesel burners to heat this pan. Now we need cooking oil. There is plenty available along the shores of Mississippi and Louisiana. It will be perfect for this project. Get a couples of tons of salt and dump in the oil. Stir the oil and salt with an air-boat motor suspended by a crane over the pot. (Got the picture)

Now it is time for the eggs. Where in the world will we get enough eggs? No problem! Send refrigerated trucks to Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms in Iowa. They will gladly donate the eggs. You see they just recalled more than FIVE HUNDRED MILLION eggs because of possible salmonella poisonings experienced by several hundred persons. Dump those half billion eggs in that fresh oil and stoke the fire! There you have it! A Guiness record omelet never to be broken!

We go from the biggest oil spill in history to the biggest egg recall. We are doing nothing half-way in this country right now. If that didn't make you hungry for a good omelet this morning, nothing will. I am heading for HEB right now. We are OUT of eggs.

It began innocently enough in the middle of the day yesterday. A little message appeared giving warning that we had been invaded. It wouldn't go away. Soon other red-colored little imps joined it, gleefully dancing all over the screen shouting computer profanities. I made a brave move. I called Ann. She can sometimes bring computer back to normalcy. It was no use. It had been invaded by the devils of megabyte land. They were loving it.It was frightening to me.

An earlier formula given us by Dwight the computer guru was some help. It seemed, however, to anger the machine that we were seeking to cleanse it. Finally, in desperation, we called the Houston Holy Man. With incantations and patience the machine was brought under control late last evening. I was afraid to touch it this morning. Ann bravely gave it a try. At this moment all seems to be under control.

It is amazing how something completely under control can quickly become uncontrollable. It can happen with a vehicle, boat, fire, appetite, or temper. It seems all the imps of hell move in to destroy. .

Watch that innocent-looking little piece of equipment on your desk. It will turn on you like a wild bear. Ours did yesterday. ("Settle down, imp!")

For aspiring pilots there comes a day when you solo. You get in and take off , fly, and land, with no instructor by your side. Soloing has to be a bit nerve-testing. I have only soloed once. I was a college student at Ouachita. A friend told me he had a plane rented for a half-hour. Would I like to go up with him> I had never been in a plane of any kind so I told him "sure". I met him at the local airport in Arkadelphia, Arkansas. They had a little Piper Cub-type plane already out on the runway.
We went to the plane and strapped ourselves in. After warming the engines he taxied to the end of the runway and took off. It was fun! We circled around the area and even over the campus. Thirty minutes can go by quickly and they were expensive minutes, so we prepared to land. I casually asked Jim how long he had been flying. He casually informed me this was his first time without an instructor! I was on his solo flight! That meant he had never landed an airplane on his own, but we were getting ready for that to happen. Fright took over. I couldn't believe I had volunteered to go on Jim's solo flight. After bouncing real good he got the plane on the runway and I deplaned, shaky but in one piece.

It is a good idea to check with any pilot who offers you a ride to see if he has ever done this before.

It is August 26 and Ann's birthday. This is number seventy-five and counting. She is already out of bed and getting ready to travel. We plan to go to Midlothian and see family. Lee hopes to come over. Jeanne Warren and Charlie are coming. Monna Miller. That is the kind of birthday Ann enjoys. I am not looking forward to the 300 mile drive but will endure it.

Plans are to be back late Saturday so I can meet my responsibility at Taft on Sunday. We are on the road again. "Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday, Dear Ann. Happy birthday to you! (And many more)"

Out of New Hartford, N.Y. comes a story saying police reported a woman had a sneezing fit that caused her to drive off the road and plow into some trees and a fence. It happened to Mary Jane Amelio, a sixty-two year old woman. She was taken to the hospital in fair condition with injuries to her head, back, neck, and leg. To add insult to injury the police ticketed the poor woman for failure to keep right.

Apparently the men in blue have never dealt with allergies. They give little warning. The nose begins to burn a bit then it strikes. Food and spray can go everywhere. The eyes close involuntarily. One sneeze follows another. I had TEN in a row on one occasion this week-end. I was not driving at the time, but could have been. This is something fairly new for me in the world of allergies.

Were I there in New Hartford I would go with Mary Jane to help her contest that ticket, that is, when she gets out of the hospital. This can be a rather serious problem, certainly nothing to sneeze at.

Here is the bizarre story of the week: A woman known for hoarding was found dead this week crushed beneath her collected junk that was so impassable even police dogs could not penetrate it. She had been missing four months! Her husband found her under a floor to ceiling pile of collected trash,clothing,knickknacks and other junk.

Strong odors hindered the search that was attempted several times! They lived in a desert-front cul-de-sac near the Las Vegas strip. Her husband Bill had no idea she was there in the same house. They had been searching the desert for her when she could not be found in the house. Have you EVER heard of something more weird? She was a hoarder. The worst kind. Billie Jean was a pack-rat. It was like her accumulated junk finally turned on her and cried out "enough!!". I also wonder about Bill. How could he stand that aroma?

Sneezers and hoarders face special dangers.

Friday evening Laura Duprie and I attended the first game of the season in Midlothian. This school has just been moved up to FIVE- A. They played Grapevine, a two-time state champion, in earlier years. Midlothian lost 30-27 in overtime.

We were fed in the VIP boxes high above this beautiful stadium. It was coach's families night. They were playing on their new artificial turf. Thursday evening Dempsey's freshman team was the first to play on it. A huge screen is on one end of the field with a giant scoreboard. More than 5,000 people were there.

Saturday evening at the University of Texas stadium in Austin, Lake Travis, and Westlake, squared off in a season opener. Lake Travis hasn't lost in three years. Their quarterback from last year is now the UT starter. Ann has a great- nephew, Turney Maurer, who is starting wingback for the team. They came from behind and beat Westlake. There were 30,000 at the game!

Dallas's billion dollar home for the Cowboys apparently needs a few players who can play the game like they are hungry and want to win. They have been talking about Super Bowl sixteen games too soon.

It will be interesting to watch and see what unfolds or folds up.

It isn't really snow, of course, but looks a bit like it melting along the roadways in areas near gins and cotton fields. It is cotton. At places there are solid stacks of the white stuff along the roadways. It is a sign that the last of our summer crops are clearing the fields. First is the grain followed by cotton. By Labor Day most of the cotton is either in stacks covered with colored tarps or it is sitting in rows near a gin. I haven't heard the results but think the crops were good this year. None too soon after two disasterous years in a row.

Windfarms are kicking in, with their giant blades slowing turning and supplying current to some far away places. As I drive toward Taft the towers get in alignment and make it appear that two windmills are tangled with each other. Others stand aloof and alone, it appears. This is all a strange new portrait on what used to be level fields of blackland soil.

Some chose to leave their farms as it always had been, refusing the generous offers of leasing land and building roads in some of the best soil in the country. I salute those who did not go for the extra dollars so generously offered. Time will tell who made the wisest decisions. I do know this, the countryside view is forever changed.

Taft has had as their slogan, "The Friendliest Cotton Pickin' Town In Texas". I know that fitted when we made our home there in the sixties, and again in the eighties and nineties. I am not so sure today. I do know there are some wonderful folks living there. I am still the interim pastor at First Baptist. I hope soon they will find a man to lead them to the next phase of their life as a church.In the meantime I am blessed to be a part of Taft a little each week.