The Civil War Dictator

I sent a cell phone picture of this baby to one of our sons with no words, and he immediately sent back, "Now THAT's a siege mortar."  How did he know what that was?  It's a guy-thing I guess... The next picture kind of puts it's size in perspective.  John is over 6' tall...

Yes, The Dictator is a siege mortar used at the 9 1/2 month siege of Petersburg by the Union army commanded by Ulysses S. Grant.  This puppy weighed in at 17,000 pounds (that's 8 1/2 tons!) and is actually a seacoast mortar. She used 20 pounds of gunpowder to throw a 218-pound, 13" cannonball almost 2 1/2 miles.  (Who was that man that picked up the 218 pound cannonball and slipped it down the throat of The Dictator !?! )  Mercy me!

A soldier in the 35th Massachusetts described a mortar attack: "In the daytime the burst of smoke from the Confederate mortars could be seen; a black speck would dart into the sky, and hang a moment, increasing in size, rolling over and over lazily, and the revolving fuze would begin to whisper audibly, as it darted towards us, at first, softly, 'I'm a-coming, I'm a-coming'; then louder and more angrily, 'I'm coming! I'm coming!;' and, at last, with an explosion to crack the drum of the ear, 'I'm HERE!' "
(Excerpt  from "The Last Citadel: Petersburg, Virginia, June 1864-April 1865", by Noah A. Trudeau)

Notice that that's a Union soldier talking about a Confederate mortar - and their's were nowhere near as big as The Dictator.  Perhaps this was the first Bunker Buster bomb?


Other types of fortifications were:

Actually, I think this was the opening of a tunnel dug by Pennsylvania coal miner / soldiers from Union lines under the Confederate lines 400 feet away.  8,000 pounds of explosives were packed in and detonated.  Union troops were told to charge AROUND the crater created and seize the Confederates ending the then month old seige.  278 Rebels were killed by the explosion, but the Union soldiers charged INTO the crater rather than around it and for the Rebels it was like shooting fish in a barrel.  Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men...  When all was said and done, almost 3,800 Union soldiers were killed, wounded or captured and only 1,500 Confederates.  And the seige went on.

The seige museum exhibits are really cool and deserve a bit of your time if you're ever in the neighborhood.  Museum's aren't the boring places they used to be when I was a kid!  No, really. Historians are doin' themselves proud.

Walton's Mountain, Monticello, Poplar Forest, and Madison's Home

Sometimes it amazes me how much we accomplish in a single day.

We were on our way to Monticello, and what pops up but the home of Earl Hamner, the author of "Walton's Mountain" that the TV series, "The Walton's," was based on.  There's a little museum there and his childhood two-story home.  It's only six miles off the main road so, what the heck, we'll take a little side trip.  What I found most interesting on the way was how many place names were used in the TV series.  Wow!  That stuff Hamner wrote about was for real (mostly.)

Then on to Monticello.  Well, almost.  How about another side trip to Thomas Jefferson's retreat, Poplar Forest?  It's only 90 miles from Monticello, but given it was the 1700's that was a pretty fur piece.  I'm sure he wanted a place where he could get out of the public eye.  It must have worked then - and now.  I read a LOT of history-related stuff, and I can't say as I ever heard of Poplar Forest.  Just like Monticello, it's an architectural masterpiece.

NOW can we go to Monticello?  I've only been trying to get there since we arrived in Virginia!

Monticello is (of course) gorgeous architecturally and very innovative.  Cool things before you even get in the house are the weather vane on the roof that is connected to a compass in the ceiling of the port o'coche.  That's so you don't have to walk fifty feet out into the yard to see which direction the vane is pointing.  (By the time you do that, who needs a weather vane to tell which direction the wind is coming from - just check your hair!)  And a huge wall clock above the front door that is a mirror image of the one in the entry hall.  There's a good story about that clock, but I can't remember all the details now... you'll have to visit on your own to find them out!

The entry hall is decorated with things he acquired over the years - like maps made by Lewis and Clark on animal skins.  Stuff like that can't be kept by presidents nowadays, so I think that's pretty special.  (That and, again, I love historic relics. I'm gettin' pretty close to bein' one myself you know!)

Jefferson never got up on the wrong side of the bed because his bed was in a niche connecting his office with his bedroom.  The side he got out of depended on what he had on his mind.

Monticello was located on the top of a small mountain, and in fact, Jefferson had to have that top shaved off so he could build there.  Being on top of the mountain gave him a 360 degree view.  So as to not block that view, he had all of what would have been necessary outbuildings built into the hillside at right angles to the house and out of sight.  Hmmm.  I guess you could say he built the first mini-mall because all of these were along hallways, and you could get to them from the basement of the house without going out into the weather: the laundry, the ice house, horse stalls, etc. That included the kitchen, and he had the food and wine brought up on dumb waiters so he and his guests could dine in private.  He learned that trick from the Cafe Mechanic (say it with an accent) in France!

There were walls of books, but these were acquired AFTER he donated 7,000 volumes to Washington City (now known as Washington, D.C.) after the British burned the White House in the War of 1812.  (That's when Dolly Madison saved the original Declaration of Independence and George Washington's portrait  from burning.) That's a lot of books - but I think the Adams' have him beat. (Go back to one of my earlier posts about Connecticut.)

I was also sort of surprised to discover that he surrounded himself for the last ten or fifteen years with all of his grandchildren.  They loved him and loved to crawl over, under, and around him.  Given the amount of knowledge he had to share with them, I think I'm kinda jealous of those grandchildren!

There is a huge amount of things to see at Monticello.  I highly recommend it - but plan on a whole day just to hit the high spots, two days if you want to do it right.

You leave Monticello by a different drive than when you arrived.  That's when we discovered that James Madison's home, Ashland, was just a very few miles away.  The Jefferson's and the Madison's were good family friends.  We knew we wouldn't have time to tour Madison's place, but we did do a drive through.  It's not nearly as magnificent as Monticello - but I would have loved to have gone through it, too.

Southern Belles, Pig Iron, and a Cherokee Chief

(Where do I come up with these titles?!?)

Travelers, if you simply go from city to city, to the hospital and back home, you've put yourself into a box.  Ever heard the term, "You've got to get out more!"  Well, that's you.  You are missing life - past and present!

I've lived in Texas 99% of my long life, so I guess you could say I was a Southerner.  But Virginia must be the most "Southern" place I've ever been.  Everywhere we go the men are gentlemen and the ladies seem to have never heard of the feminist movement.  (Yea-a-a-a!)  It's a very gentle society.  These ladies would be very much at home in the frilly finery of a by-gone era.

We moseyed up to Lynchburg to see what we could see, and we liked what we saw.  It had it's Civil War battle as most places in Virginia did, but even so, it sure is a pretty town.  Beautiful old architecture, graceful and yet solid enough to withstand a century of time.

The Lynchburg Museum had some nifty stuff and nifty information.  I found out how "pig iron" got it's name: when iron became molten at the foundry, poured into a channel known as a sow, then into molds of sand, the cooled bars looked like a litter of baby pigs feeding off the sow.  (Talk about trivia!!  Somone should make a game show called, "How terms got their names.")

Virginia, of course, is tobacco country, and I discovered chewin' tobacco used to come in "twists."  Folks would braid and then twist tobacco leaves together before curing them.

A twist was about 8" long.  When it was cured, men would bite off a chunk.  (Eewww.)  Later on, folks began chopping the tobacco into really fine pieces and that's when they began to smoke it.  On our way home we passed one of the many, many, MANY old two-story log buildings.  This one had a door open, and we could see racks of tobacco leaves hung up to dry.  It is so easy here to have my imagination carry me back to the 1700 - 1800's...

We also had the opportunity to tour a home known as "Point of Honor."  Some say the location got it's name from the way gentlemen used to settle issues involving their honor: duelling with swords or pistols.  This location was outside the city limits and so duelling was not illegal here.

The land was previously home to the Monacan Indians.  The Quakers are responsible for the first white settlement around here.  The home, Point of Honor, that we toured was completed in 1815 by Dr. George Cabell, Sr., and ultimately became home to some pretty impressive people.  Dr. Cabell was friends with the Patrick Henry ("Give me liberty, or give me death") and corresponded frequently with Thomas Jefferson.  The home is one of the most handsome old homes I've seen - and, trust me, I've seen a bunch of 'em.

Lest you get the idea Virginia women are shrinking violets, one of the residents was Elizabeth Langhorne Lewis who led the fight for women's suffrage (wanting the right for women to vote - black men already had that right.)  Being strong-willed does by no means prevent one from behaving like a lady.

Other residents of Point of Honor were a judge on the state of Virginia Court of Appeals from 1846-1865, a U.S. senator, a founding member of the Daughters of the American Revolution, the original "Gibson Girl, the first woman elected to the British Parliament, and the wife of the president of the Virginia and Tennessee Railroad who just happened to be the daughter of a Cherokee Chief.  Their son was Oklahoma's first U.S. senator.  Not a bad resume for a pile of bricks on a hill, huh?  Heritage must count for something...  I still think it's a beautiful home!

1935 Ford Panel Truck - The Restoration

On a Sunday evening before services, our Virginia church, Mount Hermon Baptist, had a car show.  The main attraction was a 1935 Ford panel truck that had been restored.

The Service consisted of the owners of the panel truck telling the story of it's restoration and how it relates to how God uses Jesus and the Holy Spirit to restore us to His righteousness.  How we might look right on the outside, but on the inside there's rust under the paint.  Before we can remove the rust we have to admit it's there.

Romans 3:23  For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God
John 3:3  Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God
Luke 13.3b  Jesus said "Except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish

Once the owners realized how much had to be fixed in the life of that truck, they moaned and groaned and agonized over whether it was really worth all the effort.  It took a lot of faith to believe something could be made of the rusted out hulk.  Larry and Glenda CHOSE to believe that the transformation could take place.

Interestingly, it takes a lot less work to restore a man's life than it took to restore that panel truck - and God's restoration lasts an eternity!

I John 1:9  If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
John 3:16  For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

How can you be saved?  It is so very simple - Faith!

Acts 16:31  Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved.

Like the panel says, Jesus Christ delivers!

II Corinthians 5:17  Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature:  old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

All you have to do is realize you are a sinner, believe in Christ, turn from your sins (repent), ask Him to forgive your sins - past, present, and yes, future - and you become a new man in Christ.

There were a lot more restored vehicles that came the Mount Hermon car show,

but none would shine like Jesus' delivery truck!

Huron Indian Myth

In Gene Borio's "The History of Tobacco Part I," he relates the following:

Huron Indian myth has it that in ancient times, when the land was barren and the people were starving, the Great Spirit sent forth a woman to save humanity. As she traveled over the world, everywhere her right hand touched the soil, there grew potatoes. And everywhere her left hand touched the soil, there grew corn. And when the world was rich and fertile, she sat down and rested. When she arose, there grew tobacco . . .


EEEEW!  If that's not enough to make one stop chewing or smoking tobacco, I don't know what would!!

 James Leavey in "A History of Tobacco" states the same legend, but goes on to say:


How and when it (tobacco) was first discovered is unknown. Perhaps a native, cooking food on a leaf over a fire noticed that it gave off a particularly appealing aroma, and took his or her first sniff. Then threw the food away and settled down to a serious smoke.

Neither John nor I ever smoked and truthfully are glad of it.  We have enough habits we need to resist without adding that one to the pile.  But being in a lil' ol' Virginia farmhouse in the middle of tobacco fields makes it easier to imagine Colonial times in America.  Tobacco in indigenous to the Americas.  That makes it interesting.  And it doesn't hurt that the plants are really pretty.  Some folks even use them as ornamentals in their flowerbeds.

 
Now a days, what with the "sin tax" on tobacco products, people are beginning to rebel as the moonshiners did after Prohibition was passed.  They are beginning to grow their own patches of tobacco.  The problem there is, they suggest that one dries the tobacco leaves for a year or two before smoking them.  What smoker has THAT kind of patience?

Here on the farm, they are beginning to harvest the tobacco crop.  I say "beginning" because apparently the way you do it is one yellowing leaf at a time from the bottom of the plant up.  The workers walk down each row pulling off the leaves and stacking them up, then the farmer pulls a trailer up and the leaves are stacked on.  This goes on each day, and only the yellowing leaves are picked.  Next day, more yellow leaves show and more picking goes on.  The plants are really pretty and not a bug bite to be seen anywhere.  (Obviously they spray insecticide - which is ANOTHER reason not to smoke tobacco.)  Pretty soon the stalks are stripped clean of leaves and the barns are full.

Then the leaves are hung up to dry.  These log out-buildings that are certainly a century old are all over the countryside.  But mostly the leaves are now put in a drying room heated by propane heaters.  I know this because there is such a metal room here by the farmhouse that has been filled with racks of leaves.

Once the tobacco is cured, unless you want lots of additives for flavoring and shelf-life, all that is left to do is slicing the leaf into very thin strips, twist it for chewing, wrap it in cigarette paper for smoking, or roll the leaf up for a cigar.

Surrender at Appomattox Courthouse

Surprise!  The Appomattox Courthouse is not the Appomattox Courthouse Robert E. Lee surrendered the Confederacy at!  (I know.  One is not supposed to end a sentence with a preposition, but this is a BLOG, not a grammar textbook or a college English course.)  It was at the OLD Appomattox Courthouse a few miles away.  And even THAT is not accurate. 

This is the new courthouse

Apparently, Lee invited Union General Ulysses S. Grant to meet him at the (then) Courthouse to accept Lee's surrender, but Grant refused because "gentlemen" didn't meet in public places to do business.  Lee, in effect, was saying Grant was not a gentleman.  Tacky, tacky.  Grant suggested the McLean house across the way, and so it was here that the surrender was accepted.

The McLean Home

There's a museum at the old courthouse which is worth a look.  Afterward, across the yard, there is a man who poses as a doctor from the Civil War period.  He's pretty interesting.  If you ask him a question the answer will be as though it was 1865.  If he asks you a question, he's expecting the same period answer.  He is not a jovial man; quite the opposite.  Ultimately, I figured out that he was "holding his temper" because his two sons were Confederates and just came home after a couple of years' fighting.  They were skin and bones with rags for clothes.  The doctor was angry at the Union army for hounding the soldiers almost to death.  I've always heard that an army fights on it's stomach, meaning that if you can't feed 'em they won't fight - they might even desert!  Well, Grant's seige of Petersburg and then chasing the Rebels relentlessly prevented Lee from feeding his army.  The race to Appomattox was all about the Rebel supply train.  Once Grant captured that, well, Lee didn't have much of a choice.  Literally, war is no picnic!

The Virginia Trapper

Good morning!

We had a visitor last night - a mouse ate part of one of my apples and left some tiny poop behind.

 (Surely you don't want to see the tiny poopy pellets!?!)

Now, to friend or not to friend? that is the question.  I wouldn't mind a bit of company, but what if it decides to bring friends and family?  Better to not friend.  Who knew Granpa would move to Virginia and become a trapper!

We are off on another quest to find history - in the rain.  That's okay; Granpa and I can have fun wet or dry!

We tripped over the Staunton River Battlefield.  Seems there was a bridge Jefferson Davis had to flee over when Grant took Richmond, and this was a battle to save the bridge - at least until Davis got over.  (Then he established Danville as the capital of the Confederacy.)  It's pretty cool, lots of interpretive signs, breastworks, boardwalks and low-fenced paths.  Fencing is good considering all the beautiful, shiny, healthy lookin' poison ivy!

 

Then on to Richmond.  Tripped over Tredegar Iron Works.  Never heard of it before, but apparently they got the contract to supply 75% +/- of the Confederate munitions IF war broke out.  Secession was voted against one week, but Fort Sumter was shelled the next week, so secession was voted for. (Shades of John Kerry!) Richmond-ites found out the results of the vote because the Stars 'n Stripes came down and the Stars 'n Bars appeared over the Tredegar Iron Works.

In video we discovered the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia was only 100 miles from the Union capital of Washington, D.C.  The Union thought they'd waltz on down the highway, whup up on the Rebels, and the war would be over.  Not so fast there, Yanks.  When a man fights for his way of life he doesn't give up so easily.  And so the war went on for four vicious years.

We moseyed through the Tredegar Museum/National Park, the Richmond Civil War Museum, checked out the Virginia capital building (designed by Thomas Jefferson), and snapped a shot of a bronzed (literally) George Washington on horseback and (of all people) Edgar Allen Poe.

 (What's POE doing here?!)  

Now what.  It's only 2:30.  Okey-dokey, let's check the maps for something more or less on the way back to Danville.  Mm-hmm. Petersburg was under seige by Grant for nine months.  Must be somethin' to look at there, and it's on the way home.  So off we go into the wild blue yonder not havin' a clue what we're lookin' for. 

Ah-ha! The Petersburg Battlefield.  Looking.  Looking.  Looking.  Can't find it, but how about this?  It looks interesting.  Appomattox Manor near City Point, Virginia at the confluence of the James River (Tredegar was on the James) and the Appomattox River.  Seems this is where Grant stayed while he held Petersburg under seige for six months.

The Manor was Union headquarters; Grant stayed in this cabin in order to have a bit of privacy.

A bunch of stuff happened here besides Grant.  A Confederate spy put a timed explosion on one of the munitions ships there and blew up 80,000 pounds of explosives.  Beau coups of troops were stationed there rotating out on the seige of Richmond.  Lincoln was there for three weeks in April, 1865 just before the Confederate surrender at Appomattox Courthouse.  (He stayed on a paddlewheeler, so I guess it was the first Presidential yacht :-)

Besides the Civil War history, how about some Revolutionary War history.  The Appomattox Manor and land was owned by the Eppes family.  They came in 1635 (that's right: sixteen-thirty-five!) and the land remained in the Eppes family until the 1970's.  Who-hoo!  almost 350 years.  Can you imagine, no house payment for 320 years. :-) The Manor was also shelled by the British during the American Revolution.  Now THAT'S history.

Well, it looks like everyone is closing up shop as it's after 5, so we'll head home and 'spect to be there by 8:30 or 9:00.  And that's our trip through history for today.

Google's New Blogger Look

Since the beginning of time, well, since the beginning of personal computers anyway, I've said "DON'T MESS WITH THE SOFTWARE!"  You can do whatever you want with the hardware, but I've just figured out all the in's and out's of this silly program; don't go "improving" it now.  Well, Google has gone and done it anyway.  I don't have much choice but to explore and understand and learn - or learn and understand.  Which comes first? the chicken or the egg.

Okay.  Click here.  Go there.  Try this.  oops.  Untry that.  Oh, look.  They've even made it mobile compatible.  That looks good.  Yup.  I'll make that permanent.

I survey all the visual options: Classic, Flipcard, Magazine, Mosaic, Sidebar, Snapshot, Timeslide.  FINALLY I decide I like "Magazine" the best.  I think Google must have also upgraded their ability to show graphics because my photos look GREAT.  So, now to save "Magazine."  Aargh.  It won't save.  Time for a cup of tea and a chocolate bar. (See previous post.)

Well, actually I ate some of my homemade brownies with chocolate fudge topping and a side of ice cream. The fudge I made yesterday didn't set up so I had to do something with it and pecan brownies sounded like a solution.  You know what they say about chocolate: A moment on the lips, forever on the hips.  Gives a whole new slant on being a hip-pie.  One of our past pastors gave a sermon once titled, "It's The Heart, Stupid."  I'm glad people love me for what's in my heart 'cause my looks sure have "grown" over the years.

Back to Google.  Deep breath.  Log into the blog.  Well, looky there.  It did save.  Ah ha!  those visual options?  Those are for YOU to decide how YOU want to view our blog!

I run through them again.  Yup.  I like "Magazine" the best.  One of my daughters-in-law likes "Timeslide."  And, here's a bonus:  John is spending more time flipping through the blog.  (Gosh.  I hope he doesn't find something in there he doesn't like.  He might take away my keyboard.)

Oh, and you're joining the blog as a Friend is easier, too.  Try it.  Don't forget to set your Options.  I've made the blog so that whatever comments you send come to me first, and then I decide whether to publish them to the world or not.  Feel free to communicate with us - and if you don't want it to go public, ask.

So that's the new blog format.  Whaddya think?

Texas While We Were Gone

Just before we left for Kauai (over a year ago), my brother was contemplating moving back home to Texas.  He has a travel trailer, so we offered to let him come stay on our land in the trailer while he did some house hunting.  Well, you know the saying:  Let no good deed go unpunished...  Between the offer and our getting the assignment in Hawaii, he began moving things to Texas.  Then we flew the coop.

Murphy's Law kicked in and if something could go wrong for my brother, it did.  First his medical problems from Viet Nam and "old" age kicked in along about Abilene, Texas and he had a wreck.  His truck and travel trailer were seriously wounded, and he ended up in the hospital.  Our son/land manager went to the rescue, sorted things out for him in Abilene and stayed with him until his daughter and grandson got there to take over.

Well, this left my brother in transition with no travel trailer to live in.  No problem.  They could stay in our home until they found a place to buy.  It took several more trips back and forth to Nevada gathering up their belongings and wrapping up business there.  They only had to live in our home for a few months before buying and settling into their own.  It was good to have him back in Texas (even though I'm in Kauai!)

Then, of course, all major holidays are spent at "Granma n Granpa's," so our Dallas and Houston sons and their families were staying in our home off and on over the course of the year.  And remember those teenage grandsons that got to go to Kauai?  They got permission from their dads to sleep over in our home on the weekends.  They do their own cooking and cleaning and Dad/Uncle was always popping in from his home at the other end of our land, so it wasn't like they were on their own...

All of this to say, my home was "out of place" when we got back.  Now, I'm not obsessive/compulsive, but I am an organizer.  I began locating things - especially in the kitchen - that weren't where I normally put them and put them where they "belong."  There were groceries to be bought.  Laundry to be done.  My land and animals to feast my eyes on.  A front porch to be sat on in our rocking chairs.  Showers to be taken in a not-Menehune shower! (See "The Menehune" post from September 6.)  And working with our traveler companies to find another assignment.

Believe it or not, within a week we were being sent to Virginia. But that's okay.  My home was set to rights, cleaned, fluffed, and buffed.  I could leave with a peaceful heart.  And so we did.  Off to Danville, Virginia - wherever that is.

Back to Home, Sweet Home!

Has it really been a year!?!  Amazing.  Unbelievable.  We just lived it, and we still can't believe it.

Our son, Jamie, and his family met us at DFW to give us back our car.  We had thought to leave it with them for four weeks, and they've had to babysit it for over a year.  Family is so good to us!

Now for the two hour drive HOME to East Texas.  And, yes, that picture of the log home at the top of the blog is our HOME!  We had a log home builder do the structure, but we (the whole family) did all of the finish-out.  For those of you on a mobile device, here's that picture again.

Texas has had record extreme heat this year and is in a severe drought.  We've reminisced about life before central air conditioning - or even window-unit air conditioning!  We both remembered high school in Texas un-airconditioned.  It was so hot your forearm would sweat and stick to the notebook paper.  Final exams in May with not a single breeze coming through the windows was certainly no picnic.  There was no air conditioning in cars either - which is why our parents chose to leave on a trip at 10 o'clock at night instead of driving across Texas in the heat of the day!   Bedtime.  Oh, the misery of trying to go to sleep in the heat.  I wonder how many of us remember to add the blessing of air conditioning to our daily prayers?  Now, with everywhere you go air conditioned, it could be deadly to do without it.  Our bodies are no longer accustomed to the heat.

With those memories in mind we located the house at the top of the hill and next to our forest in order to get a breeze from the shade of those blessed trees.  (Our neighbor laughs at us when we call it "the forest."  He says it's a stand of trees.)  We also added a few windows to the basic house plan - from nine to nineteen and two sets of atrium doors next to "the forest" -  and placed the windows and doors so that, if the electricity or a/c went out, we would be able to get a cross-breeze by opening doors and windows. 

Extreme heat couldn't harm our homecoming.  The grandkids had painted a HUGE sign saying, "Welcome Home," and everyone was there to greet us.  I felt like kissing the people and hugging the trees.  This time our dog, Junior, forgave us for leaving him behind and was immediately happy to see us.  The nine cats always hide when there are multitudes of people around so it was a day or two before we were able to love on them.  Our care-taker-son's dogs even seemed happy to have us home.  Their new goats were there to say hello, too.  The horses and Mordacai, the donkey, were sort of ho-hum about it all.  And have you ever tried to hug a chicken?  Yeah.  First you have to catch one.

But we are HOME!

We have no idea if we'll be here for two days, two weeks, or two months before there is another assignment.  John likens it to Boris and Doris in that movie, "True Lies."  The phone rings and off we go on another adventure.  But for now, we're home.  I shall feast my eyes on hearth and home and family.  Thank you, Lord!

Leavin' For Texas :-(

What to do with whale-watching beach chairs, tabletop propane gas grill, pedestal fans, tabletop fans, left over staples like flour and sugar, frozen foods, potatoes, onions, etc., the sleeping bags and air mattresses the grandkids used, a couple of small folding tables, printer paper that's too cheap and too heavy to take home, just dozens and DOZENS and dozens of things...

In a year's time we did manage to accumulate a lot of things that one might take for granted in daily life.  Before each purchase we weighed the pros and cons.  With the first contract we most often said, "Nah.  We can live without that."  But after the third contract extension we just went ahead and acquired what we felt we needed/wanted.  Now it's time for the executive decisions that can really wear a person out.  This has always been the toughest part of moving.

We ultimately decided to give most everything to our pastor's family.  He has four teenagers, and I'm certain between them all they can find a use for everything.  They are from Georgia and even have some of the same taste for foods that us Texans have!  It actually took them two trips to get everything home.  John and I have never known a pastor AND his family to put so very, very much love into a congregation and community as the Metcalf's have.  We are honored to be able to share this with them.  They are God's good people.

Randy loaned us a portable convection oven; we need to be sure that gets cleaned and back to him. (Remember, our apartment didn't come with an oven.)  Paul and Joann loaned us a CD player and some dishes; need to know they got them back.

I don't think I've said enough about our landlords, A.C. and Donna.  They have done everything imaginable to make our stay comfortable and stress free.  Donna owns AirVentures, a sightseeing airplane company with offices on Oahu and Kauai.  They even gave John and I a free flight for our 25th wedding anniversary and arranged a luau for us to attend!  

Momma always said, leave a place cleaner and better than when you got there and you'll always be invited back.  We'd love to come back to Kauai, so we're polishing things to a fare thee well!

Of course we already turned in our second car to Island Cars.  Now we need to coordinate getting the other car back.  We'll check all of our luggage about 6 p.m., grab a meal and last walk on the beach, then meet John T. at Island Cars for a ride back to the airport.  Several of our church friends come to see us off - we had more seeing us off in Kauai than we had seeing us off in Texas to come to Kauai!  Kauaiians are so respectful, considerate, thoughtful, kind.  We will definitely miss these people...  Aloha - until we meet again.

Mahalo!

Packing Up The Boogie Boards To Go Home

We did buy each of the grandkids their boogie board of choice, not knowing what we'd do with them when they left the island.  In the back of my mind I was determined to get them home - just completely unsure of how to accomplish that.  The morning of their flight I left the kids in the apartment packing and went to the airport looking for answers.  I got out, opened the hatch of the car, and began trying to explain the problem to a baggage person.  "If I wrap them in Saran Wrap and duct tape..."

The baggage guy was so sweet.  He smiled a little, said, "Just a minute," and stepped over to his kiosk.  He came back with the biggest "baggie" I had ever laid eyes on.  He said, "Try this."

We slipped all FOUR boogie boards into the bag.  He said, "I believe that will work!"

We made one final trip to one of everyone's favorite beaches.  (Without telling the parents EVERYthing we know about the place...)

(Yes, these all apply to Ke'e Beach...)

And delivered four happily exhausted kids to the airport for their flight back to the mainland.  Aloha!

A good time was had by all (to put it mildly!)

A Second Tsunami ??

Sometimes in the evening the grandkids want to go for a quick dip in the ocean, so we take them down to Kalapaki.  It's about five minutes from the apartment and they can boogie board, "skim," try surfing, or just play in the narrow channel where the river comes into the ocean.  (That's where they found the prawn.)

John wanted to stay home, so I loaded up and drove down (literally) to Kalapaki.  Everything was going normally.  Then I noticed a couple of tug boats trying to get a ship out of the harbor, past the breaker, and into open ocean.  THEN I noticed the tug boat going out of sight between the swells and waves.  Wow.

I was getting a really eerie feeling.

I started studying the waves and realized they didn't seem quite right.  They seemed, well, wider.  Not left-to-right, but front-to-back.  They were also taller than when we had first pulled up to the beach.  Be still my heart!  The grandkids were oblivious to anything but the joy they felt from being in the ocean.  (I still can't get over how they marveled over their good fortune to have parents and grandparents willing to stretch all pocketbooks and good sense to let them fly - by themselves - thousands of miles from home ...)

I finally managed to get the attention of all the grandkids and get them ashore.  The waves were beginning to subside, the tugs were coming back to harbor, things seemed to be settling down.  Regardless, I hustled the kids into the car and retreated to higher ground.  They were mildly miffed because they hadn't sensed anything wrong.

The next day I listened intently to news accounts, and sure enough, there had been an earthquake in Australia? New Zealand? and the tsunami wasn't expected to reach the Islands, but along about the time that we went to the beach the night before...

So, I think it's fair to say, John and I experienced two tsunamis while on Kauai - and the grandkids can say they were literally "in" one.

God is good, all the time.  And it's especially good to know that all of these grandkids have accepted Christ as God's only Son, who sacrificed Himself for the sins of man, rose again after the third day, appeared to hundreds of people, and ascended into heaven to prepare a place for every believer in Him to go to.

If you have an iPhone...

Well, I've just had another pretty interesting conversation with AT&T about my iPhone eating up data when nobody's looking!  Now they're telling me that whenever I open an app, IT NEVER CLOSES unless I manually click the "home" button (that's the one at the center bottom of the phone face) push it twice, touch and hold any one of the apps that appear until they all jiggle and a red circle shows on each app icon, then touch the red circle.  Then, and only then, does the app close.  Leaving them open is what allows them to send and receive data when you're not lookin' - even when the phone is turned off.  You have to close each app individually.

When you push the home button twice, whatever apps appear across the bottom row are the ones that are open.  Scroll by swishing right to left to show additional apps that are open.  The supervisor at AT&T that I spoke with said she does this every night.

This is crazy.  I have no choice but to follow instructions and hope that this stops the huge amounts of data from being received/transmitted unbeknowst to me.

If you have an iPhone and try this, let me know how many apps you unknowingly had open and running for who knows how long.  Please, I'd love to hear back from you!

Reviewing My Stats

Well, now, isn't that amazing?  The most often read post is the one titled, "Time to Confess."  What does that say about our society.  Based on the subject I blog about, based on the comments I make, what on earth did they did they think I would confess???  Salacious secrets about our sex life?!  Give me a break! 

Jeeez!

The stats also show that most of you log on via Internet Explorer, a few by Mozilla, a few by Safari and mobile Safari, and a couple by Chrome.  You folks using IE might want to go back and read the one about "A Cup of Tea and a Chocolate Bar."  Since I went to Mozilla Firefox I just FLY through the internet experience.  Sadly, since my switch, I'm hearing from in-laws of all kinds saying they've been using Mozilla for years.  (Like I said, how come no one ever tells ME?  Why am I always the last to know?)

Most of you guys are from the United States, but I have had two log-in from Germany and now one from Russia.  There have only been a couple of people comment on any of the blog postings, even since I published, "Hello-o-o, Is There Anybody Out There?"

Let's see, 75% of you use Windows, a tiny number use Mac, a couple have checked in using an iPad, more from an iPhone than an Android.

There are hundreds of you, by the way, which makes me feel pretty good.  Is it my interesting, vivacious chatter? or the pictures?

How all of this started is because I send out GSRs to our kids and grandkids.  GSRs.  That stands for Granparent Status Reports.  (Hey, maybe that's why so many people check out the "Time to Confess" post:  You think GSR stands for Gun Shot Residue and that I'll confess to a killing!  Silly.  I have an attack of conscience when I kill a spider.  John and I hunt a lot - with cameras (in case you couldn't tell by all the photos!)

Ah, well.  I shall keep blogging along - just in case the kids are watching.  Ta-ta, for now!

What a Traveler Should Pack and Other Tips

If you're flying to your new location there's not a lot you can take other than clothing and maybe a stash of over-the-counter medicines so that you don't have to find a 24-hour pharmacy in a strange town in the middle of the night.  If you take a computer of some type, you might want to take a printer, too.  I bought a pilot's / carry-on piece of luggage, wrapped the printer in a new, fluffy bath towel to protect against bumps and jiggling, and filled in the gaps with computer peripherals like the back-up drive, program CD's, extension cord, and spare ink cartridges.  I do carry it on rather than check the bag, but one time we were asked to check it at boarding time.  I was really glad I had packed it so good!

An iPhone is a tremendously handy investment.  You can get text messages, take photos, receive and send emails, send things to a wireless printer, and, best of all, you can get GPS map directions right on the phone.  Check with your accountant to see if the cost could be tax deductible, too.  Sometimes you might want to take pictures of problems with your accommodations as soon as you arrive so you have proof you didn't cause the damage during your 4-9-16 weeks of staying there.  We have also used it to take photos of time sheets and send them by text message or email. You might want to download the "Pandora" app for free and listen to your favorite music!  If your car has a cassette player you can even buy a cassette that plugs into your iPhone (or MP3 player) and plays over the car speakers.  Check Wal-Mart for the cassette adapter - $5)

If you're driving to your new location, however, there's a bunch of stuff that makes life a bit easier for you:

An inverter that plugs into the car's power outlet/cigarette lighter.  You can recharge anything that has a power cord by plugging it into the inverter.  Some inverters even have USB ports that you can plug into for power.  Wow.  There are a LOT of things you can get now that run off the car's battery - from coffee mugs to small refrigerators!


Once you get to your new "home" your contract could be anywhere from two weeks to, well, a year.  I pretty much pack it all in totes and load things in the car based on the length of the contract.

A good surge protector and a supply of extension cords that accept a 3-prong plug. 
A small folding table of some kind to use as a bedside table, a chair-side table, a computer or printer table -- anywhere you need extra work surface or work space. 
A tote with basic kitchen spices, some kind of ant-proof containers for a few cups of flour, sugar, corn meal, tea bags, coffee. 
A small (or large) coffeemaker.  Neither John nor I drink coffee, but he likes iced tea, and I like a cup of hot tea.  We use the coffee maker to brew the tea. 
A pitcher to mix juice, etc. in. 
A quality knife sharpener.  (In fully furnished places they may supply knives, but they usually aren't worth a hoot.)

We take a sleeping bag, spread it over the top of everything inside the van so as not to tempt anyone to break in and steal things, and then we use it as an extra blanket in the room.

Our own bed pillows.  We're used to them and won't get a crick in our necks having to use someone else's.  A good night's sleep is one of the imperatives of life.  Bad sleep equals bad attitude.

For $100+ we have discovered gel-infused memory foam mattress toppers.  They are amazing! And if you're a bit squeamish about sleeping in someone else's bed, this makes it almost like you're taking your own bed with you.  This is seriously good stuff - weighs about 25 pounds! It will only take up about as much room as a good sleeping bag if you put some effort into rolling it up.

You might want to also throw in a wind-up flashlight and radio.  These are things that we rarely use, so we never know whether batteries are good or not.  The wind-up kind will get you through emergencies.

A tote for office supplies is nice, too.  Printer paper, photo paper, pens, pencils, Sharpies, scissors, binder clips, paper clips, stapler, staple puller, post-it notes, scissors, Wite-out, scotch tape, masking tape, duct tape, manila folders, spare USB flash drives, an assortment of envelopes, postage stamps.  It's only about $40 worth of stuff if you went out and bought it all new.  Most of it you probably already have on hand at home.  The problem is, when you need it, you need it - and that may be 11:00 at night.

Speaking of postage stamps...  We have discovered that USPS usually has "Forever" stamps specific to the region you are in.  Ask at the post office.  For instance, in Virginia we bought postage representing the Civil War.  It's just a fun family thing we do.  Maybe the grandkids will ace a history test some day because of us!

Also, and very importantly, give some thought to your new mailing address.  It can be a real pain if you're not 100% certain about it.  One place gave us our address, but mail was being returned to the sender.  Come to find out, the address didn't have a mailbox!  The house number was right, but no mailbox. (Just quietly keep repeating, "Nothing in life is simple...")

The Grandkids Are Here !!

Okay.  We're ready for those grandkids!  Each has their own snorkel, mask, swim bag, beach towel and bamboo mat.  Their beds are made and ready for them to arrive at 9 o'clock Friday night after almost 12 hours at airports.  I still don't believe it's really happening!

We begin sight-seeing the very next morning, the two oldest boys in the Honda with Granpa and the two youngest kids with me.  

We go from the ocean to the mountain top.

We went to the caves and waterfalls and beaches, swimming and boogie boarding, snorkeling, to the fireworks show at the Pacific Missile Range on the 4th of July, friends from church took them spear fishing and hiking  and surfing...We did it all - and then some.  They helped out for two weeks at Lihue Baptist Vacation Bible School.  Our oldest grandson was baptized with the small children that accepted Christ during VBS.  It was undoubtedly the most amazing, most marvelous time of their (and our) lives.

Thank you, Lord, for the blessings you have given us.  When we were forced into this traveler's lifestyle we didn't quite understand.  As always, Your plan is perfect and Your timing is perfect.  We see Your hand at work, and that these blessings come from You.  Thank you, also, for giving us such wonderful companies to work for.

Without a Doubt, The Best Part of Being a Traveler

I believe I have talked about a whole bunch of Traveler blessings.  This one has GOT to be the very best of ALL!

As you know, our contract (see how I almost always say "our"?  John and I are a team and best friends!) our contract in Kauai has been extended a half-dozen times.  Now we find we will be here through the summer.  Guess what?  Our teenage grandkids are out of school for the summer!  The three boys play football. (They DO live in Texas...)  Two of them won't start summer strength training until almost the beginning of the next season, and the third can let his slip for a few weeks.  Our teenage granddaughter just has to clear it with all the parents.

For the cost of round-trip air fare, all four of these grandkids (that we have not seen in a year!) are coming to spend SIX WEEKS in Hawaii with us!  If I sound excited I absolutely, positively am!

Okay.  Where will they sleep in this (basically) 1-room apartment?  Well, for $20 we can get a sleeping bag and air mattress (x4), for $2 each we can get travel pillows.  Every night while they shower off the ocean and beach we will lay out their beds; every morning we will stack up the mattresses or lean them against the wall.
There is very little room to walk, but basically that problem is solved.

Now, 4 + 2 is 6 and our rent car only has five seat belts.  I call Island Cars and explain the situation; do they have something with six seat belts?  Well, no, but what they will do is let us have TWO cars for the price of ONE for the time the kids are here!  I TOLD you they were the best!  Waa-hoo!  That will also allow us to go to, or stay at, the beach, and John can join us when he gets off at the hospital.  (A bonus we hadn't anticipated is that it would give the kids a break from each other and let Granpa have some alone time with the boys and me with the girl.)  Island Car personnel said, when we took the extra car back, that they had seen us caravaning all over the island.  That made me feel kind of good, sort of like I feel when I think of God watching over us every day.

I promised the kids that I would take them to a different beach every day for forty days.  I believe they kind of said to themselves, "Yeah, right."  But, surprise! they came anyway.  And an even greater surprise to them, that's exactly what we did.

Now how many people have the wherewithall or even the opportunity to bring four teenagers to Hawaii for SIX weeks?  Much less AFTER having had the opportunity to do some advance exploring.  Think about it... John and I have been in Kauai for almost a year, all expenses paid PLUS a paycheck.  Now we can share that phenominal blessing with these precious grandkids!

I worked out a plan for each one to be King (or Queen) for a day.  The monarch would get to choose where we went that day, choose what TV shows we would watch, and choose a movie to rent from Red Box if we decided to do that.  BUT that person also had to do the dishes after each meal since there was no dishwasher.  (Using paper plates and plastic cups didn't leave much in the way of dishes, so they didn't complain much.)

Ladies were always first in the shower, but after that, the reigning monarch would be next.  Granpa was always last so he could check the bathroom out for any mess left behind.  Granpa is 6'4; no one wants to make Granpa unhappy...

I told the parents to only pack what would fit in a backpack so the kids wouldn't have to worry about their luggage.  I dont believe any of them had ever flown before, but certainly never that far!  Every adult involved demanded the boys look out for Rylee (which they always do anyway), then keep an eye on each other, then worry about the backpacks.  There was a short layover in Los Angeles - turns out so short they had to run to the next gate and the flight attendants were shouting to them to hurry up!

They arrived at about 9 o'clock at night Kauai time, we met them with hugs and kisses and leis and the adventure began!

Life and Death Swim

Well, it's winter in Kauai now.  The temperature range is only slightly lower: low 80's to the low 70's.  The water temperature is cooler, but not so cold as to keep me out of the water.  The surf on the north shore is much, much higher which is why a lot of surfers come to Hawaii in the winter time.  However, higher surf usually means proportionately stronger rip currents.

I have decided to go back to Anini to try and find my seahorse.  The uniqueness of snorkeling has worn off on John, so I decide to go by myself.  The water is hardly 18" deep where I saw the seahorse, so surely I'll be perfectly safe.  That was my first mistake.

There are a few other folks on the beach at the far end of Anini.  I park right on the beach, grab my gear, and walk to the water's edge.  The water is murky because of all of the wave action on the sandy bottom.  I study the water, and it seems to clear up a bit farther out.  I slip in the water and begin swimming out, and  I figure when it is clear I'll begin swimming parrallel to the shore.

Soon I raise my head and look back toward shore.  Wow!  I must be a lot stronger swimmer than when I first got to Kauai.  I'm pretty far out.  I immediately begin to swim directly back to shore.  After a couple of minutes of strong strokes I raise my head again and - I'm not a bit closer to shore.  Hmmm.  The current from the river flowing down from the mountain must be carrying me.

I know to swim across a current rather than against it if I want to go back, so I change course and swim as hard as I can.  Still no good.  Folks, I'm not a panic personality - it takes entirely too much effort to panic.  I prefer to think my way through troubles, usually with the help of a cup of tea and chocolate bar.  (I guess I can check those off my list of "helps.")

I assess myself.  Nope, not panicy. Not winded. Still lots of strength. I could kick harder.  Uh.  Let's see.  Sharks tend to attack people in murky water. Sharks are attracted to splashing.  I'm thinkin' drowning may be an option here.

I swim a bit, I yell a bit.  I swim a bit, I yell a bit.  Remember I said I wasn't winded?  That's because I have a set of lungs that won't quit. 

Finally I see some action on the beach.  One man is wading out toward me.  About 50' from shore he is still only thigh deep, but he's still 25' from me.  He has grabbed the life saving belt with really long straps from the beach life-pole.  Now he's standing on the edge of the lava shelf just looking at me.  Hello-o-o-o.  I need help here.

I see another guy swimming toward me from another direction and folks gathering on the beach.  The first man is swimming toward me now.  It only takes a minute to get to me with the life belt.  I grab hold and we both begin swimming as hard as we can, all the while I'm saying thank you and I'm sorry and thank you and I'm sorry...  The second man gets to me, and we're all three swimming hard.

I hear a siren.  Someone has called for professional rescue.  Oh, my.  I just hate making a scene. 

We get to the lava shelf and the men who came to my rescue help me stand up.  One is overjoyed at my rescue and the other seems a bit peeved.  By the time we get to shore the paramedics are there ready to resuscitate this ol' white-haired lady who got herself into deep water.  Fact is, I'm fine.  Nope, don't need any oxygen.  If you want to take my blood-pressure you can, but it's fine.  (Yup, it is - even after the swim!)  Nope, don't need to sit down.  I AM sorry for causing such a ruckus.  I tell them that I yelled for help before I was completely exhausted and chose not to panic. (Yes, I believe panic is a choice, not a right, and certainly not a solution.) The paramedics assure me I did (almost) everything right.

My second rescuer and his wife smother me with joy and happiness. They dominate me, and when I look around the first guy has packed up and left.  My second rescuer turns out to be a Dr. House.  (No, not the television actor Dr. House.)  His wife tells me she was across the road in the back of their vacation house and heard someone yelling for help.  (I TOLD you I had a good set of lungs!)  They are thrilled at my rescue and we have continued to send text messages to each other occassionally.  Maybe someday we will meet again - under happier circumstances I do hope.

Well, I guess I'm stickin' to the shore for awhile.  Kind of Captain's orders.  (Men don't dare say, "My little sugar plum, I love you too much to want you to go snorkeling again..."  Oh, no.  It's simply, "It ain't happenin' !"  My hero (sigh!)

Somehow, as I reflect on this event, I think mostly about the two rescuers: one was peeved and one was overjoyed at my returning alive.  The Bible story of the prodigal son comes to mind.  The father is overjoyed at the prodigal son coming home.  He was lost, but now is found.  The brother is peeved.  He stayed at home and tended to business, but no one threw him a party, no one killed the fatted calf for him.

All I can say is, I AM sorry to have caused all the trouble, but I am SO glad to be alive and well.  Please rejoyce with me.  I'm much wiser now, and I won't ever do it again.  Please share my joy.

The Japanese Tsunami

I'm sure you all know about the 9.0 earthquake in Japan and the resulting tsunami and nuclear disaster.  We were on Kauai at the time.  It was a bit of a challenge dealing with the what-if's of the tsunami warning for Kauai.  There was a lot of lead time for us even though the wave was moving toward us at something like 500 miles an hour.

To get down to Nawiliwili Harbor from our apartment you have to drive down about a 40' hill.  We're thinking we're probably totally safe.  The islanders were very busy, however, getting to their boats to either take them out of the water, take them to safer anchorage, get them out to deep water, or to make them as secure as they could at the dock.  The shoreline residents and resorts were challenged to get themselves, their guests and their property safely situated; the Red Cross was busy organizing for sheltering if needed.

The tsunami reached Kauai during the night.  Some damage did occur on Kauai and elsewhere, but certainly not nearly to the magnitude of what took place in Japan.  Quite a few of the islanders are Japanese or of Japanese descent and so, emotionally, Kauai was closely tied to this event.  One of our island church members is a missionary to Japan and we were certainly in prayer for his safety and the opportunites he might have to share Hope.

It was a huge tragedy for Japan - and continues to wreak havoc there to lives and property.