I just want to tell you about the Pecan Tree.

We are on the final two weeks here! Click here to donate to the AIDS Walk!

At my sister Donna's house in her back yard is a very tall Pecan tree.  Every year the squirrels slither in and pick all the Pecans and hide them all over the North end of town.  If you look very closely at that last picture you can see one of the little fellows looking back at you.  They do not like to have their pictures taken so they sort of hid.

I made this picture extra large so you can see that beady little eye in the upper left hand corner, kind of .  Do you know these things spit at you?  Well, for the record, they do.  And they also chatter away and Lord only

knows what they are saying.

 Now this is a Pecan that is not ready.  I understand that had I picked this a few days earlier the inside would have been liquid.  That is very weird.  And do you see those brown fingers I got for my effort?  You may be interested to know that I still have those brown fingers and will no doubt die with them.  That is the thanks I get.

Now comes the weird part.  Karen had noticed the leaves seem to fall suddenly and completely.  Upon investigation, she was told that the tree is "self grooming".  That means that it will loose all it's leaf clusters when it decides the time is right.  And what do you think finally happened?  The tree, Karen and the video camera all had the same "aha moment".   It was a very still day; not a breeze stirring.  Karen glanced out the back window and noticed a few leaf clusters on the ground.  Then a couple fell and a light clicked on in her memory bank.  She ran for the video camera which by some sort of miracle in itself was charged and ready.  She took three video's and when she was done, so was the tree.  Bare as bare could be.  She showed me the video's and I asked for copies to be emailed to me.  But there you go.  I know how to upload to Youtube and download to my computer, but I do not know how to tell someone else how to do it.  So sad.
So this is all I wanted to tell you about the Pecan tree, the tree with a mind of it's own.  Someday we will have the video's on this computer and when we do then I can figure out how to get them on the blog for you.  It seems like most of my life is spent "figuring things out"  and not always coming to a good end on them.  But what is life if not a learning experience?
As Paul Harvey, or some one would say.  "Good Day."

Who is paying who off in this deal?

Time to donate is running out!!

Now you all know I just went to Kansas and you know good and well that I had lunch with my favorite Republican.  That happens every time I cross that state line, so this is no surprise to any one.  Now, I know this picture may look just a little bit suspicious to some, but there is a good explanation for this.  See Joe agreed to sponsor me on the AIDS Walk in the Garden so when I met him he pulled out the money.  I thought there should be a picture to commemorate the big event so I handed the camera to someone at  our table.  When this picture came up it looked a lot like there was a payoff being made and it was from me to him.  So, I decided we should go public with this one right away and not wait for the New York Times to dig it out of the archives and then paint me as the other woman or some such nonsense.

See, I found out a lot of things on this trip.  I found that Joe has "aspirations".  Now what exactly does that mean?  I do not know, but it sounds like he is aspiring to be something higher than the position he now holds.  Representative or Senator to the big house in Washington, D.C.?  Governor?  President?  Who knows.  Pretty sure of one thing, and that is what ever he decides to do he is going to do it well.  We were discussing a bit of political positions and I find him to be just enough Liberal that I can like him and he still maintains his Republican beliefs.  And he is working on some sort of Energy & Utilities Committee.  We discussed the wind energy that is in place at Spearville, Kansas.  I clocked the wind farm and found it to be 6 miles long.  Joe says there are 100 of the turbines there and when I asked him how many homes that would power he said about 30.  I was astounded as I thought they were more powerful than that.  He did say they have a lot of work to do to make them more effiecient.

But that is not the worst of what I learned that Friday.  It seems that I am supposed to address him as Honorable Joe Seiwert.  Now rest assured, this is one of the most honorable men I have ever come across and I have come across a lot of men in my time.  He does not even cuss!  It is just that I never thought of Joe in this context.  He won his election with 72% of the vote so I am not alone in this.  Just how do I seperate Joe the friend from Joe the politician?

State legislators

The Honorable Joe Seiwert Address goes here

See, I copied it from the place I looked it up.   So now this throws a whole new slant on this friendship.  See, I thought he was just a farmer down in Pretty Prairie.  But,  now that I know I am supposed to call him Honorable it rather scares me.  See, he is my friend.  Now, I am having to rethink the whole thing.  Not only is he Honorable, he is  aspiring.  And what if this Honorable little fellow were to wind up Governor or something like that?  Now, you people know how much class I have.  If you don't then let me tell you....Uh, not a drop. I do have acquaintances in high places, but this is a friend.  I have never seen this man in anything but jeans and a Harley tee shirt, with straw stuck in his hair.  Look at him up there!  He just looks like a ornery little boy there.  Who would know he may one day be President of this great country.  And a very fine President he will be! 
Oh, the twists and turns life hands us. 

Time to go home, I guess.

Well, look here, I got lonely for you people.  I am on day number 5 and have been having a pretty good time, as good times go, but this morning I heard a goose honk.  Now mind you my bed is in the basement and the house is in a residential area and there are no geese around for many miles.  So methinks it is purely psychological.  I have talked to the boy child only once since I have been here and that was when he called me to tell me he thought someone had broken into the house and stolen the fried chicken he had left in the refrigerator.  Should he call the police?  I told him not to for the simple reason that I have a coded lock and only a few people have the combination.  Well they actually have there own set of numbers.  So when I get home I will just change the code.  I would let him do it, but I might not be able to get in when I get home.
I have known for sometime that some one is creeping around my house, but no one seemed to be alarmed until the chicken disappeared, so go figure.
So Saturday, I worked in the kitchen at  Skaets all day.  That was fun and it brought back a lot of old memories.  Also brought a back ache on and a memory of why I do not want to get back into the resturant business.  That is one of the jobs that shall remain in my past when I was a lot younger.  I seen Vi, Evie, Kay, the house where I used live which is now a vacant lot, the Red Carpet resturant, cousin Sandy and Daryle, but not Stephen.  Do not know when I will see him.  Seems he was out rather late Saturday night and coming home he made a left hand turn into a telephone pole while catching a quick nap.  Luckily the only damage was to his car and thumb. Seems that little thing is now shattered and would like to be put back together.  Oh, the tricks life plays on us!
Now, this evening I am going to sister Dorothy's house and making Green Chile and Burritoes.  Michele is buying what I need, so all I have to do is cook it.  Oh, I have to buy the chiles because they have no idea about that sort of thing.  She got me 2 cans of coffee cause there was a really good sale on it here last week.  Donna and Karen do not eat spicy stuff so they are not dining with us tonight.  Mary is in Wichita and we were going over today, but her son is planning on spending the day with her so I will catch her next time.  I may see if Donna wants to run over to Nickerson this morning and complete my old home week.  Oh, and I have to visit my dad and brother out at Peace Creek.  Mom is just west of town and I will run out there pretty soon.
I looked up the numbers of a couple old boyfriends, but did not write them down.  That one would be really old and the other probably does not even have a guitar any more.  Water under the bridge.  I have been gone from this town for over 30 years and after that much time, people tend to forget.  Well, some of us do anyway.  Apparently , I am not one who forgets easily!  It is kind of sad to drive around town and see all the houses that need painting and upkeep.  Hutch is getting so run down that city council just passed a resolution that the houses that are in bad need of paint and upkeep must be brought up to code or torn down.  City will condemn them if no action is taken.  Sounds like a gestapo action to me, but who am I to say.
I just took a quick peek at AOL to see how many emails I have and I should have not done that.  That is a task I do not even want to undertake when I get home.  But, tomorrow I will.  I plan on leaving here early and stopping in Lakin on my way through for lunch.  So, if you contacted me, I will answer you tomorrow evening.  Wednesday I will get up and go have breakfast with Kay and then be right back in the grind I left.  Sometimes I think I want to move back here.  All my family is here.  My roots are here, but my friends and my heart are in Colorado.  So what to do remains the dilemma.   So until I come to a cross roads, the Ford throws a rod, or God quits giving me choices I guess I will continue to run back and forth and have the best of both worlds.  This way everyone on this end is tickled when "Lou is in town!"  Momma always said that Familiarity breeds contempt and I think there is probably a lot to be said for that statement!

No, it don't take much, does it?

Time is running out for me to meet my goal for this year!! Help Me!

Some times it is not what some one says, but rather what they do not say.  Or maybe what someone does not say is expounded by what some one else did say.  It throws me into a quandary and keeps me awake at night.  First the boy and girl brought home KFC.  And while we were eating they announced that they would be moving to Idaho this winter.  I knew they were moving, but not quite that far.  Thought it was just across town.  Course the fact that the life I planned for him with Sprinkles and all is sort of fodder for the grist mill with this announcement.  But I can live with that.
I put my last years AIDS Walk shoes up for auction on eBay.  I put a link to the chat room and it stayed up about 10 minutes before some one reported me and it was pulled.  What a jerk.  We are not supposed to do business in the chat rooms, but I hardly thought the link to an auction that is 100% charity on eBay, through an eBay forum was "doing business."   I think the word AIDS had more to do with that then anything, but I am sure someone will set me straight. (Hi, Steven).  But that is alright because I had my opening bid before I even posted to the chat room. ;)
So with these two little set backs under my belt, I settled in to enjoy the little soft rain we were getting.  And I was sort of thinking some one special might email me and tell to have a safe trip.  But that did not happen.  Maybe he was just so busy he could not spare two minutes to shoot out an email.  Or maybe he forgot.  Or maybe he just doesn't care.  The point here is this (and you  knew there would be one!)......
I have gotten soft in my old age.  I have actually come to think that how other people interact with me actually matters.  A few years ago I would have blown this incident off and not given it a second thought.  But here I am this morning feeling sorry for myself, or depressed or something.  Something I sure do not like to feel.  And I am reflecting back on things I have done to other people and never given a thought to how they felt.  Selfish Lou.  I guess this is what we call  "man's inhumanity to man." 
And how many times have I neglected to send a card, make a call, tap out an email or made contact in some way with a person who could have used that one little human contact at just that moment? How many times have I forgotten to just smile at a stranger for no reason?  How many times have I not walked those extra two steps to give a hug to some one I know needs one?  But I am very quick to point out to someone else how they neglected me.  Look, you hurt me.  You made me cry.  Poor me.  The world is spinning out of control and all I care about is me!
Maybe I do need a vacation.  I am sure I need some time to reflect on life in general. I will have 8 hours alone with myself in the car going and another 8 hours coming back.  That is a total of 16 hours to think about things.  My brain may explode.  But I am nothing if not organized.  I have a very pretty notebook and I fully intend to make lots of notes and hopefully I will be in a better frame of mind when I arrive at my destination.  I talked to Vi yesterday and she will meet me there.  So that is good.  Step daughter just called and told me to drive safely.  And an email from a friend telling me to have a good time.  So I guess there are people out there who care after all.  I guess I do win now and then, just makes me sad that I can not win them all!
See you in about a week unless I feel a driving need to tell you something.

Well, I am going to have a vacation whether I want to or not!

Don't miss your chance to donate to the AIDS Walk. Click here!

Well, the wiccan and I were all good to go right up to the time she figured out that raising a toddler for her son was a crook in the road, so to speak.  Seems the hubby works and the lady who takes the baby to day care would be leaving town with me.  What to do!  What to do!  Oh, I know!  I spent years doing it!  Stay home and do it yourself.  There, that solves that little problem.  It does not, however, solve the one about the family and friends waiting on the other end for us.  This entails 3 sisters, my girl cousin, my favorite Republican, my boy cousins, my friend from Missouri, Karen, Evie, the guy at McDonald's who's name I forgot, not to mention my daughters and their families in Lakin that I stop and see on my way down.  Oh, yeah, and the gas stations that rely on me for income!  Now, be very sure that they are all going to miss Lyn and I am a poor substitute, man's gotta do what a man's gotta do.
So, I will be making the trek by my tiny little self!  Just me and Charlie Pride, Porter Wagoner, Emmy Lou and a few others.  Oh, and a big jug of ice water and something to munch on.  And I have to stop in Las Animas to buy lottery tickets.  See, this is my last shot at freedom before the kids move to their new digs.  I have that flock of geese out back that has to be tended to and the neighbors that I counted on for all those years done moved to Rapid City, South Dakota.  While I am on good terms with the new neighbors we have not reached the "Hey, go get goose bit while I am gone." stage.  And while I have friends in town who would sacrifice a limb for me, I do not want to be obligated.  Know what I mean?
I have always envied the people who can plan a vacation and then do it.  You know the ones who say, " Oh, we are off to Cancun for the week.  No, we do not have 2 dogs, a cat and 13 geese to worry about while we are gone.  We are footloose and fancy free!"  Nor do they have a store on eBay or luncheons for clients or guild meetings or winter sales coming up that need soap and lotions to be made.  Now I do not want you to think for one moment that I am complaining, cause I am not.  I have worked hard making my little corner of the world as busy as I can because my momma raised me to believe that "Busy hands are happy hands."  And that is usually true as I meet myself coming or going.
"But", and that is a big word.  That and "If".  But sometimes I set and take stock.  I do many things and I am not sure that I do any of them real well.  I might be better served if I just stopped doing a few of them.  Like the spinning wheel.  Well, I actually have 2 of those.  Neither of which I have used in months.  I could sell those.  When I do then I will need to sell the wool I have stored up to spin.  I have two floor looms, a four shaft and an 8 shaft.  I can not weave on two at the same time.  But which one should I sell?  Then there is the long arm machine quilter.  I make money with that, but not very often.  More often than with the 6 needle professional embroidery machine that has it's own room.  Soap and lotion is a definite keeper cause I can not buy anything this good on the open market.  That brings us to the gluten free pantry that I maintain so I can bake for a few of my friends.  Then there are the 2 rooms and one trailer for the eBay stuff.  This is ludicrous!
So here is the deal.  I am going to make this a working vacation.  I am going to take a notebook and make me a giant list.  I will list everything I do and what equipment it entails and when I come back I am going to have a plan for my life.  I am pretty sure the blog and ebay will stay.  Right now that is all I am sure of.  So, I am going to be gone for a while.  Maybe I will borrow my sisters computer and do a blog while I am gone, but in case I do not, just remember that I am out there somewhere working through something in my befuddled little mind and if you are so inclined, you could say a little prayer or novena or some thing!  Lord only knows, I need all the help I can get, because it seems in the back of my little mind, I recall doing a blog  just like this the last time I went on vacation!
Oh and then there is that poison ivy that I manage to get into every time I go down there.  Last time I was not allowed out of the house and I assume this time will be the same deal.  I do not want any more of that stuff!
Peace, Bro!

They are winging their way to Hong Kong!

First..click here to donate to my account for the AIDS Walk!

Today I had a small victory and I want to share it with you!  See that package  up above?  That contains 4 vinyl records and I built that box with my own two hands.  Why?  Because anything over 4 pounds going to Hong Kong requires Priority Shipping; under 4 is First Class which is much cheaper.  Now I am getting quite proficient at doing the online International shipping, but this one had me stymied.  Until, along came Matt!

This is Matt Phelps and he is my buddy at the Mesa Pharmacy. I had packed this order very carefully the night before thinking my maximum weight was 5 pounds. I could not buy first class postage online because that is just the way it is, and besides that the address was too long. See, here we just say John Doe, 54 elm,nowhere, no state 12345.  In Hong Kong the addresses are 4 blocks long.  So when I got to the post office I found that it was a pound over and would cost me $49.98.  No way.  So Matt unpacked the whole thing and weighed the box, my packing materials, the records and pronounced it a mess.  He looked for a box, but still it was overweight.  So I brought it home and constructed a box that was lighter, smaller, but still sturdy.  The corners of the albums I protected with bent card board  and lined with foam sheets.  Back I went and Matt met me at the door.  To the scale and voila!  A miracle.  3 pounds and 14 ounces!  First class and money saved.

  

Here is my receipt for $32.87, exactly what I had charged Mr. Cheng!  I will not figure the profit on this little transaction at an hourly wage, because the packing, running back and forth and the stress of the whole thing could not be measured.  Below you see the change I received from two $20 bills. You also will see the front of Mesa Pharmacy.  

So, today I salute Matt Phelps who works at Mesa Pharmacy out here in Blende.  25th Lane and Highway 50.  If you get a chance to pop out and see him, be sure to tell him Lou put in a good word for him.  He is one of the good guys and they are getting so few and far between that it is kind of sad!  So I gotta say thanks to Matt and tell you girls out there that he is still single!  But watch him go!

If it was fun last year, it will probably be fun this year!

To donate for my team and I online go here!
I have had a few people show interest in walking with me at the AIDS Walk in the Garden.  The boy cousins may make it up for that.  Sure hope so.  But a couple people at church are entertaining ideas of tagging along with me.  And it seems the first thing they want to know is "Is it fun?"  Well, I have to say it sure is, for me anyway.
First I get to raise money for a cause that is very dear to my heart.  I also get to tell people what AIDS is and why it is important that I raise money for this particular cause.  All the money we raise in Pueblo, stays in Pueblo. Not Colorado Springs.   We were given a choice of what to use our money for, no strings attached.  Linda, John and I immediately decided we could use it to pay some ones light bill, or co pays, or any number of things like that, but there is a fund for that.  So we decided to be very selfish!  We wanted to have fun!
Now, selfish is not really what I am about, but you know that!  The second Tuesday of every month, I fix us all a lunch.  Sometimes there are only about 15 of us, but a cookout in the park will bring out 40 or more.  I fund the food myself which leaves us more money for other things.  After the lunch we all load up and go some where fun.  Miniature golf, the zoo, museum, bowling and last month we dined and Soup or Salad (paid for out of our funds) and then off to the movie.  See, education does not always have to take place in a formal setting.  For some of our clients this is the only outlet they have.  Before we lucked into this money, I would just do a social luncheon.  That was good, but it was rather sterile if you know what I mean.  We hold this in a conference room and then set and visit.  Getting the picture?  Plastic tables, steel chairs, microwave and paper plates.  Acceptable, but not near as much fun as a picnic at the Nature Center.  I work hard for my money and enjoy feeding people, but I can not afford the little extras that this money buys.

And, if you have never walked in the Garden of the Gods, in Colorado Springs, you do not know what you are missing.  The walk is October 8 and registration begins at 8:00.  When that is over Richard will do a little pep talk up there on his stage and we will all cheer and then we are fired up to go.  I love that walk.  I feel so close to God up there among those boulders.  How any one place could hold so much grandeur amazes me.  And the only man made parts are the walk ways.  All the scenery and the beautiful blue sky are just the way God threw them down all those many years ago. 
If you are just wanting a walk, come join me, but remember I am very competitive and it will be my goal this year to start dead last and finish in the top 10.  Oh, wait!  I did that last year!  Maybe this year I will start first and finish last.  NOT!
So, if you are thinking about donating to a worthy cause this year, look my way.  I know we are a small corner of the world, but this small corner sure needs a bright spot occasionally and that is what this money does.  We won't change the world and we are not trying to.  We are just a bunch of people trying to make the best of a bad situation and bring a smile to lives where there is not a lot to smile about.  And you know what?  It helps.  It builds self esteem so one of our clients has gone back to school to get her degree dispite a mountain of adversity.  Several come just to see their friends.  Sometimes by making people take the first step, they begin a journey to a way better place.

Please think about donating to me and my little band of forgotten people.  And know how very grateful me and my little corner of the world will be.  God Bless!

to donate to us online go here!