We’ve had a beautiful run of weather this past week, but they tell me cold is coming. Wayne Powell gave me a bunch of pecans to fatten me up so that I wouldn’t get sick again. I tried to tell him I was already fattened up, but I guess that didn’t compute since I have spent the last two weeks down and out. It really has been nice dog walking weather. I can hear some of you country folks laughing at me and shaking your head in confusion as I write. This dog needs lost of exercise to keep him out of trouble. That means we go for an hour long walk every day. So I’m glad it has been decent. Still, I wouldn’t mind if it rained really hard, and I had to go for a long walk. I have a rain coat, and the rain is really needed. I noticed today that little green shoots are coming up in the woods. Each clearing has one inch grass shoots growing. I haven’t seen grass growing anywhere else. Bill Bryant put out a bunch of winter grass seed a month or so ago and I can still see it sitting on top of the ground. It’s not even attempting to grow. The cow business is not in good shape these days.

Speaking of cow business; George and Donna Hill have lost three of their mama cows in the last few weeks. They are raising three orphan calves. According to the vet in Brownwood the cows were lacking minerals after calving and this caused the deaths. Donna says she is getting tired of bottle feeding babies! They are trying to make sure they don’t lose anymore. When you look at the costs of losing a cow, the loss is extremely devastating to their economy. That goes for any other rancher raising animals.

We’ll be seeing Mr. Ashworth around more often. He has officially retired from the Mesquite Police Force and is down here permanently. His daughter Gracie was trying to recruit him as a sub when I had to be out the other day. I told her to give him a little a break before she put him to work. I think he has already joined the fire department here in town. I am sure he will be a great asset to our little town.

Many of us received a letter urging us to support our local post office. It asked us to buy stamps here and post our letters in the area so that everything would go through our office. The purpose of that is to increase our mail flow and keep our office working. I’ve received conflicting reports about that post office meeting that took place in the middle of the week and in the middle of the day when everyone else was working. I don’t know whether it was the person who spoke for the post office or the people who were listening, but some of it didn’t sound too good. One person said the hours were going to be split and if they couldn’t find someone to work two hours in the morning and two in the after noon then the post office would have to be closed. Someone else said that they understood it was going to be a four hour office. I guess we’ll just have to wait and be surprised. After all, we all know it has nothing to do with service.

I had a great time at Howard Payne Friday. It was my monthly science workshop. There are seventeen teachers from different local schools attending. Our goal is to be better math and science teachers. We had great fun with static electricity balloons and dominos. We covered a little kinetic energy along with its friends, potential and stored energy. I think my kids will enjoy the experiments. I know I truly enjoy working with the other teachers. One of our members, Debbie Haygood, was voted teacher of the year. I can tell you from past experience she is one terrific teacher. She is sweet and kind but she makes me feel totally inadequate. I hope to be as good as she is some day.

Jessica Argote Phillips was safely delivered of a beautiful baby boy. I asked Santiago how big the baby was when I saw him Thursday. He said he didn’t know how many pounds it was, but it was one big baby. I still haven’t heard, but the number ten keeps floating around in reference to this little fellow.

Louis Hyman is off to see her nephew James Ketchum. James was involved in a very unfortunate accident. The family was called in to pay their last respects. Richard Lines is in the hospital in Brownwood. For anyone wanting to visit, he is in room 511. I think he is getting a little restless and would love to have some company. Please keep the family of Allen Supak in your prayers. Allan went on to be with the Lord. The last I heard, Jason Lenz was doing better. He has had a slow painful recovery and has many more months remaining before he is considered well.

There are many more on the prayer list for our community. Paul Gibson, Charlie Capps, Sonny Capps, George Rogers, Loveta Fay Lewis, Lucille Draper, the Australian branch of the Draper family, Debbie Phelan’s uncle, Vicki Overstreet’s parents and many more. We also have a number of shut-ins that I hope someone is remembering to visit.

I’d like to offer another special prayer request. My daughter-in-law in Germany just received a call from her brother in Houston. Brandon called to say his wife’s spleen had ruptured without cause. They were struggling to save her life, but they were unable to save the life of their 8 month old baby girl Leah. They have yet to tell the mom that she has lost her beautiful baby girl. I think one of the hardest things I had to contend with when I was far away from home, was the utter helplessness you feel when some one is seriously ill, and you can’t get home. The entire family is grieving, and my beautiful daughter in the Lord Heather, feels so helpless and sad for her only brother and his family. This is another service family that needs our prayers.

Please pray for our precious troops around the world. In these times of uncertainty and divided politics, they still continue to pay the price of our freedom. They and their families are true American heroes.

I guess I’ll have to take Glen out for a walk and let him calm me down before I hit the sack. Have a great week everyone. Remember, Kids Church is every Monday and the ladies quilting and Bible study is welcome to all ladies in the area. Meetings are at 4:15p.m. each Wednesday. May God bless America and please send us some rain.