What a great week of beautiful weather we had over Spring Break!

My grandgirls and I spent some sweet time together. Danielle is 12 and Sarah is 9, it won’t be too long before they won’t want to spend time out in the country with Granny. I missed having the San Antonio kids because their break was the week before mine.

The girls helped me till the garden and plant some seeds. It was tough work, but they were extremely proud of their work. I told them with the economy the way it is; they may have to come and pick food for their table as well as mine! I hope I am being silly when I say that! We trotted them back to Dallas tired, but happy.

Last week was a good week for catching up on some of the burning we haven’t been able to do much of lately. The ground was damp and the wind wasn’t blowing 30mph.

I noticed several controlled burn areas. I think one of them turned out to be a slightly bigger burn area than originally planned. Maxine said traffic on her road was a little heavy for a while!

We burned some stumps here, but we still have too many years of brambles to safely burn large areas. We’ll get there one of these days.

The wind is back up today and that means we’ll be drying out again. I guess we better start begging for more rain. I hear some crops won’t make as it is.

Everyone seems to be a little stressed these days. There is so much negative news out of Washington these days. Those of us who keep bank accounts and IRA's are feeling just a little frustrated by all this spending for foolish things. No one has offered to bail me out of anything, much less give me a big bonus for failing. All of our lawmakers need to sit up and take notice of the fact “we the people” are getting fed up with the free money give away!

It’s not just the Dems who are spending, although they do seem to be having a social programs green banquet. The Republicans need to smarten up and tighten their own purse strings. Another campaign promise that is happening is the drilling issue. Texas has employed tens of thousands of people in the oil and gas industry. Drilling would have increased those jobs tenfold, but no; we are going to make solar panels and windmills! I wonder why wind generators are considered prettier than little short oil and gas pumps? I don’t find them very pretty when they are lined up row upon row on the horizon. To each his own I guess. Still, I’m wondering if those things work why is California still having rolling brown outs? Perhaps they want everyone else to clutter up their landscapes with generators while they keep theirs pristine. I’m resenting the fact that they think they are taking the high road when in fact Texans are going to have to bail them out of their “green” mess!

Forget politics; time is too short to mess with those crazies! I guess we’ll vote new folks into office and try again.

Speaking of trying again; I’m getting comments from both sides of the school issue which tells me I’m not making myself clear. I know things have gone wrong in the past. I know people have done wrong where the school is concerned, but I’m not taking sides on that. I refuse to weigh in on who’s right and who’s wrong.

My concern is the school and this town. We, as a community, have a decision to make. Are we going to take steps to make sure our kids attend school here in the future, or are we going to bicker about who’s to blame? I don’t want to point fingers. I haven’t been around long enough to call anyone a liar or a cheat. Even if I had been, I wouldn’t use this column to call people names; that would be wrong. My goal is to focus on the bottom line.

If you have something to say, put your name on the agenda for the next board meeting, and talk with your elected board members. I know most of them and they seem to be some pretty decent folks. I’m betting your input would be appreciated, especially if it is presented in a concerned citizen manner. No one responds well to confrontation or accusations. Let’s get together as a community and see what can be done. We can do anything if we stand together. That’s the American way!

I’m finally back on my feet, so hopefully I will be able to attend some of our meetings this month. I didn’t expect that hospital trip to keep me down for so long.

Rob Brockman is back at work. Al and Billie Behrens are glad since he’s painting their house. I can’t wait to see the finished product!

Back at work brings to mind all those folks on the prayer list. I expect if we combined the lists from the 3 churches here in town, the list would cover close to 100 people. I hope and pray everyone is feeling better soon.

We were saddened to hear of Ginger Jackson’s passing. Details are still being worked out for her services.

We have a half dozen people undergoing cancer treatments and Junior Evans was not feeling well on Sunday. The kids love to see him coming!

Karalee Fike’s sister was in a serious accident on the 13th. They had to pry her out of her car with the “jaws of life”. She will be in a halo for some time. There is no date given as to when she will be released from the hospital, but she is doing better. Our prayers are with everyone as they seek the Lord’s assistance with healing.

I don’t remember if I told everyone that Alan and Donna Taylor found out their baby is a little girl. Donna is doing well and Alan is taking great care of his bride.

I would love to write every name that is on the prayer list. Every last one of them is precious to our community, but it would take a large amount of space, and I don’t know exactly what is wrong with each one. All I can do is pray. The Bible says if I will sit and be still the Lord will come and sit with me. In the silence I can hear that still small voice that provides all the answers I will ever need.

By the way, is there a way to tell when pears are ripe? They always seem so hard! The only thing I do know is I am going to have a large number of these pears. It would be nice to know when to eat them. Mind you, those silly coons get most of them before I can get them off the tree!

I hope everyone has a blessed week. Please pray for our President, our government and our most glorious troops. Special blessings on their families are needed also. I can say from personal experience that the waiting is horrendous! Thanks everyone for being so supportive.

Mrs. Gossett is looking for more box tops. A notice will be going out about the parents meeting for next year’s kinder class. This will be in late April, so please start hunting out all those records you will need. Mrs. Harris suggested you call the office and let the office know your child will be attending school next year. Have a great week.