Memorial Day and Summer Break

Is it Memorial Day already? Has summer vacation really begun? Weren’t we on spring break just a few weeks ago? Where has the time gone? Yes, summer break is here. It started Friday. Jenna got up that morning and said, “This is the best day of the whole year!”

THE LAST DAYS OF SCHOOL. The last days of school for the kids have been filled with all sorts of activities. Everyone enjoyed Field Day over the first half of the week. The fifth grade also took a field trip to Mammoth Cave. Now the report cards have been mailed home and we’ve got a new daily routine until August 10.

Around spring break I wrote that the renovations at East Robertson Elementary had progressed to the point that the boys’ classes had moved to new classrooms. The work out there is far from complete and will continue through the summer. My job took me out there Friday to pack up computer equipment that needed to be moved out of the way of the construction work. While there I took a few moments to walk the hall of the oldest part of the building as this will be demolished this summer.

The original part of East Robertson was built to be a high school for Cross Plains and Orlinda in 1949. This part of the building has held classes continuously for 60 years. The first addition was built in 1974 making it a K-12 school. That was my third grade year. The current East Robertson High School was built around 1990 with the middle school wing added a few years later making my old high school a K-5 school now.

Friday gave me a perfect chance to walk through the old building as practically all the furniture had been removed. It was amazing how I could remember which teacher taught in each room and how they had their rooms decorated and arranged when I was a student there. Well, maybe it’s not so amazing -- there are only 12 classrooms in that section. But it was nice to walk through and remember one last time. Even after 20 years as an elementary school the old weight room still has a hint of that musty, sweaty smell and Mrs. Thomas’ science classroom still carries the odor of chemicals. One powerful memory came when I turned the corner to go to the gym (the only part of the building that will not be torn down) and remembered how I felt when we lined up there before our graduation ceremony started (and helped me put away my sentimentality).

For those of you who also attended East Robertson let me pull you back to the present for a bit. Another nice thing about walking through the empty building was that I could easily see its true condition. Six decades of service have taken its toll on the structure. Student abuse aside, the floors are sagging in places and in other places you have an added bounce in your step as you walk. The furnace is also about shot (and had to be repaired twice this year). It is time to tear this down and move on.

MEMORIAL DAY. We spent today at home enjoying the peace so many have fought for. We have also been going through stuff that needed to be organized. This evening we grilled out at Pauline’s. Mom and Aunt Mar came over too.

I guess you could say we celebrated Memorial Day on Saturday. The kids and I got up early that morning and drove to the National Cemetery in Madison where we joined hundreds of other Cub and Boy Scouts in placing flags on some 35,000 graves there, which we did in about 90 minutes. They had a really nice opening ceremony before we were dismissed to plant the flags.

Later that day Vicki and Jenna were in the van together. Vicki, with Memorial Day on her mind, had just finished singing The Star-Spangled Banner. A few moments later Jenna spoke up, “I thought it was ‘home of the rare.’” Jenna has heard our national anthem at least weekly the whole time she has been a student at East Robertson, and all this time she’s thought we were the land of the free and the home of the rare.

MUSIC VIDEO STAR. In our cleaning out some things Vicki ran across an article we clipped out of the the Robertson County Times about a year ago. The article related a story as told by Alice Keith. Lynn and Alice live in the house where my father (and Lynn’s mother, Aunt Helen) grew up. Back in the late 1980s a scout for a video production company knocked on the door and asked if they could use the house for a music video. The Keiths agreed and even got to be in the video, taking the day off work and school to do so.

The video is for Don’t Toss Us Away by Patty Loveless and can be found on YouTube. Their house is first seen about a minute into the song and shows “family” moving furniture in the front door. The wedding scenes were shot at a church in Adams, and the hardware store scenes were shot in Cross Plains. It was interesting to see the video, though I had to brace myself for the twangy country music. Much more of that and I might be fighting the urge to grow a mullet.

A BAD INFLUENCE. Our family enjoys watching America’s Funniest Home Videos. I guess it satisfies that sadistic streak in us that enjoys seeing other people fall, get hit, or do some stupid things on camera. This show has ignited the practical joker in Ben.

Yesterday the boys and I beat Vicki and Jenna home from church. When we got here Ben was dying to put a rubber band around the spray nozzle on the kitchen sink because he knew Vicki would go there to wash her hands. (Hint: electrical tape works better than a rubber band.) She reacted pretty quickly, but not before getting wet which please Ben to no end.

I got Ben back for Vicki that night. I short sheeted his bed (as well as Jenna and Nate)

FALSE ADVERTISING AND OTHER SAYINGS. Nate does not like his new tennis shoes and wants us to take them back to the store. He says, “Sneakers shouldn’t squeak!”

On the subject of funny things said, one day recently Nate told Vicki to turn off the radio in the van because it, “interferes with his imagination.”

Yesterday Ben looked at the brush after I brushed his hair for church. Seeing some of his hair on the brush he asked if he was molting.

Joe

Stories of Life: Medieval and Modern

We haven’t gotten as much rain this week, and things have begun to dry out a bit. We were finally able to mow the yards by Tuesday. Pauline’s yard looks like a hay field. We had a little more rain move through this weekend. I don’t want to complain. The memory of the drought two summers ago is still fresh on my mind.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM. Mom celebrated her birthday on Tuesday. She said a lot of people called her which really made her day. We all went out to Cracker Barrel to eat that evening and then came back to their house for dessert. We had two pies: chocolate and strawberry.

CONGRATULATIONS. While we’re celebrating milestones I want to congratulate my cousin, Sarah Yergler. She graduated Saturday from Baylor University with a degree in Education. Way to go Sarah!

WAR STORIES. Friday I was invited to speak about Dad’s service in World War II to the 5th grade at East Robertson Elementary. In retrospect I think I need to trim my presentation a bit. We started at 1:00 and I was shocked when the question and answer time was over and it was 2:30. Either the subject was really interesting or they are a good bunch of kids because they sat there well and asked a lot of questions at the end.

The 5th grade teachers and I had worked this out at the beginning of the school year so this has been on my mind since then. This has helped me work toward a goal I have wanted to accomplish. I have always wanted to somehow record what I’ve learned about Dad’s service in the war, basically all the things I wanted to know when I was growing up but never had anyone to ask. For the last few months I have been working on this on my web site. I’ve gotten a lot of information online now, but it is far from complete and parts of it need a second pass of proofreading. You can find it at www.cygnuschronicles.com.

LOCK-IN. If all the boys at church can have a camp out the girls can have a lock-in. This happened Friday night. I think there were about 40 girls and moms there, including Vicki and Jenna. The boys and I wound up being their pizza delivery service (this comes with being married to the Children’s Minister), and when we made our delivery we walked in to a sea of pink (and a chorus of, “Ewww, boys!”). It was enough to make your knees buckle.

While we were there I got a really good laugh from Sherree Totten. Sherree is a mother of two boys, but a mother of three girls insisted she come to the lock-in to help out. Being the only woman in her home I think Sherree was having a bit of culture shock with all the girly stuff. She pulled me aside and said, “One little girl just said, ‘Hey Mrs. Sheree, look at my make-up!’ and held up this big make-up kit.” Then Sherree’s eyes got really big and she added, “This six year old has more make-up than I do!” I just smiled and said, “Better you than me.”

From the report I heard yesterday it sounded like all the girls had a great time. They kicked the evening off with a manicure/pedicure session which helped prepare them for their fashion show. They also enjoyed a “Do You Know Your Mother/Daughter?” game (a take on The Newlywed Game), a scrapbooking time, and a late night movie. In the morning they had a devotion and were out the door by 8:15.

Saturday afternoon, when Vicki was waking up from her nap, Jenna and I joined her on the bed. After they filled me in on the previous evening something was said to make me start play kissing on Vicki. She, in turn, played at screaming in alarm calling for Jenna to rescue her. Jenna simply said, “If you’re going to have a husband you need to be prepared for things like that.”

WHOOPEE CUSHION. So the kids are all over at Pauline’s house for a little while on Saturday. Jenna is laying on the couch watching TV when Nate jumps on her. As is sometimes the case for anyone, this made Jenna pass a little gas. Of course, Nate jumped on her again hoping for more! When Jenna told me and Vicki about the incident all we could say is, “If you’re going to have a brother....”

HUZZAH! That’s how you cheer at a jousting tournament. Yesterday after church we drove down to the Tennessee Renaissance Festival in Triune. This event is in its 24th year and is open every weekend in May. The focus in on life as it was roughly when Elizabeth I was Queen of England. While there we walked around and looked in a lot of the shops (the boys bought two wooden swords), and took in a juggling/knife throwing show as well as listening to two pirates sing some sailing songs. And then there was the jousting which was pretty exciting even if neither knight unhorsed the other.

As memorable as the excursion was I think the thing that will always stick out in my mind happened about 20 minutes after we left the house. That’s when we heard Jenna say, “Nate, don’t pick your nose. You’re playing with my iPod!”

Joe

Monsoon Season

Well, I’ve gone two weeks now without being able to mow. We’ve had a lot of rain. Most people have been able to cut their grass between showers, but the ground in our yard as well as Pauline’s is so saturated that the water doesn’t have a chance to drain away. I dread cutting it when the yard does dry out as the grass will be thick enough to double my mowing time. Of course, I really can’t complain like my neighbors who farm for a living. They can’t get into their fields to plant their corn and the time to set tobacco is fast approaching. It’s also time to pick strawberries, but who wants to do that with lightning flashing across the sky?

BOY MAGNETS. Let’s just call mud puddles for what they are. There is nothing more inviting to a boy than a good mud puddle to splash in. The kids had spent Friday night with Pauline. Yesterday morning it was raining hard so Vicki went over the get the kids.

When Vicki drove up Ben and Nate standing in a puddle next to Pauline’s driveway. Ben was soaked from head to toe and wearing the biggest grin on his face. She couldn’t see his feet as they were completely under water. Vicki didn’t really think a lot about this until Ben raised a foot out of the water to take a step to meet her. There on his feet were his new tennis shoes. Things didn’t only got worse when Vicki discovered Nate was wearing his good tennis shoes as well.

You know, I remember being in situations like that. There’s really nothing you can say to appease an irate mother. It didn’t help when hours later the boys broke her favorite stained glass lamp.

This morning the kids and I got home from church before Vicki (we usually drive separately). When Vicki got home she was greeted with the sound of the shower running and the boys’ voices coming from the bathroom. She looked at me and I simply said, “You don’t want to know.” After a little debate with herself she decided she did want to know.

When we got out of the truck the boys ran toward the house. Jenna and I followed behind at a slower pace. As we walked past the smoke house we were met by Ben whose lower legs were covered in mud. It turns out that he and Nate decided to take a lap around the swing set on their way to the back door. Ben slipped in the mud and down he went. It was fortunate he was wearing shorts, but he did have his nice church sandals on. At least Nate kept his footing.

A HEAPING HELPING OF STRAWBERRIES. I know the rain is not helping Kenny’s strawberry sales, but he is getting some of his crop in. We have enjoyed several quarts already. Since today was Mother’s Day we ate lunch with Mom and Aunt Mar over at Pauline’s. The dessert was strawberry shortcake. This prompted Mom to recount one of her favorite stories.

Mom has always enjoyed food. Of course, her grandmother, Lizzie Hancock, has a special place in her memory as an exceptional cook. Mom can hardly talk about “Grandmother Hancock” without mentioning her cakes and other confections. With Mom’s sweet tooth there probably wasn’t a day that she didn’t look in her grandmother’s pie safe to see what was there.

The story Mom recalled today was the time her grandmother served strawberry shortcake (the pastry kind). Mom was in high school at the time. This particular meal her grandmother decided not to enforce any limitations and said, “Today you can have as much as you want.” These were the words Mom had longed to hear all her life, and she wound up eating 14, yes fourteen, servings of strawberry shortcake that day and never got sick. I get the impression from listening to her that she could have eaten more. She says the family was cheering her on and keeping count of how much she ate. I don’t think she’s ever eaten that much dessert since, but that moment of indulgence has been a fond memory for her all this time.

CLOVER BOWL. Last year Jenna’s team didn’t do well in the school-wide 4-H Clover Bowl contest. This year they won the competition for the 5th grade and advanced to the county contest which was held Thursday night.

The Clover Bowl is a trivia game where teams of four students compete by answering questions in the categories of agriculture; 4-H information; Tennessee history, geography, and civics; and Family and Consumer Sciences.

Jenna’s team performed rather respectably Thursday night advancing to the semi-finals in a tournament with nine schools represented.

MIDDLE SCHOOL ORIENTATION. When this school year began in August I made the comment here that this would be the only year all three kids would be in elementary school together. Now summer break is only a couple of weeks away. Last Monday the fifth grade were bussed over to East Robertson High School for a tour and a bit of orientation. That night the parents were invited to come for an open house and more orientation. It is so hard to believe that in three, all too short months Jenna will be in middle school. I don’t want to hold her back. It’s time for her to start a new chapter in life. She’s old enough to move forward. But trying to make the most of the time before it slips by is like trying to carry sand in a sieve.

Joe

Rain and Shade

We’ve been enjoying pleasant weather, even if it has been wet. The trees have been growing their leaves for several weeks now, but last weekend was the first time we really noticed our yard having shade again.

QUITE THE COOK. Last week Jenna participated in the 4-H muffin contest. The muffins, of course, had to be made from scratch so Vicki told her to call Pauline for a recipe. Then Vicki had to stop her before she made her call because she was going to write the recipe down on a small, sticky note. That in itself left us plenty of room for teasing her. She found a larger piece of paper and Grandma dictated her Apple-Whole Wheat Muffin recipe.

The next day when Jenna was about to start cooking Vicki went over the recipe with her to make sure she had everything she needed. Vicki was reading Pauline’s original copy of the recipe she had obtained and Jenna was reading her own phone call copy. After reading over everything Jenna was confused and said, “We still need baking powder.” This, at least, is what Vicki thought Jenna said and held up the box of baking powder.

“No, baking powder!” exclaimed Jenna.

It was only after looking at Jenna’s recipe that she realized Jenna had misunderstood her grandmother on the phone and had written “bacon powder.” After a good laugh at Jenna’s expense, Vicki explained the misunderstanding. Jenna laughed too and said she had wondered why she had never heard of “bacon powder” before. By the way, she still lays all the blame for the confusion on her Grandma’s poor diction! 

Well, the muffins won first place in the contest. Jenna was thrilled. And as far as I’m concerned her chocolate oatmeal cookies (aka. cow patty cookies) get a blue ribbon as well.

CHASING CARS. Now we’ve all heard of dogs that chase cars. In the Peanuts comic strip, Snoopy even took the bus downtown to chase cars. But who ever heard of ducks that chase a bus?

I’ve mentioned before that the kids ride Alice Keith’s bus. Alice’s bus route takes her by her house. They have some ducks that live in the pond next to their house and those ducks are so used to seeing Alice’s bus parked by their pond, and to Alice’s bus schedule, that they will wait beside the road and wait for her to drive by. This is especially exciting for the ducks as Alice stops to pick up her grandson who lives across the road from her house. Jenna had told me about this, but I saw it the other day when I took the kids to school and happened to get behind Alice. They were two happy ducks waddling beside the road as fast as they could until the bus picked up too much speed for them.

CAMPING. Last weekend we had a father/son camp out at church. Well, we actually camped out at Buzz Graves’ farm (a neighbor). We had about 20 people come and had a blast. Buzz has quite a setup behind his house with sand volleyball, horseshoes, a corn hole game, and plenty of room for boys to simply run and be boys. Jeff Garst had gotten an old crane cable and suspended it between two trees for a zip line which was the hit of the evening. We also had a blowgun battle with small marshmallows for ammo. (Hint: inhale BEFORE putting the blowgun to your mouth.)

I think the boys had a lot of fun. We fed them supper (hot dogs and trimmings) and s’mores and let them play until midnight. The next morning we were up a little after sunrise (it’s amazing how loud one tent zipper can be) and had pancakes before breaking camp. It was a lot of fun.

FATHER’S DAY CAME EARLY. Vicki was working at the computer the other day when Nate came in and grabbed a piece of paper out of the printer, sat on the floor with his pencil, and got to work. Jenna happened to pass through the room a moment later and Nate asked her how to spell a word. She told him, and then offered to help him. He accepted and dictated a short note. A bit later he handed me the paper with the thoughts that had been on his mind. It reads:

Dear Dad,

You are the best dad in the whole wide world. I still love you. You’re the best dad who has ever taken care of me.

Love, Nate

That made my day!

Joe