Well I can truthfully say that September was one jam packed month with non stop activities, but what a beautiful way to end the month! For two days I listened to the soft patter of rain on the roof and felt the cool autumn breezes through my open windows. We had about 2.5 inches of rain, and next to none of it ran around to the tank, but the land is happy wet! Now the sun is out and I’m sure I hear the grasses singing. The sun is ringed by the clouds that have blessed us the last few days, but it just makes the sky look that much bluer.

I have to admit all that wonderful rain made the football game a little tougher for the fans and the homecoming court. The ladies of the court took shelter under the concession stand overhang so that they could keep those fancy dresses dry. I’m not going to even bother telling you about the game. One of the San Antonio Feast players summed it up for me by saying its fun playing in the rain. My boys used to love playing in the mud, so I know that is true for the rest of them! The Feast Patriots joined us at the church for the 5th Quarter. There were quite a few more to feed than we had expected but the food was plentiful and delicious. Which leads me to this confession, The Stage Coach apparently stays open for folks who want to eat after the game. Since I never pass when it is open at night, I erroneously stated that there was nowhere to eat in town. Once again I am wrong. The Stage Coach provided several dishes to help feed our guests. We are blessed to have that restaurant back open again. I for one would not have had a dish to share for the teacher’s luncheon last week.

Mind you I wasn’t the only one. Marsha provided at least three of the luncheon dishes for teachers like me, who forgot what day of the week it was! Sorry Marsha, I’m glad you stay open late Friday night for our football fans.

When I finally arrived at the church Friday night I was stunned to see all the cars. We estimate that we fed between 225 and 250 people Friday. We were a little short on desserts, but we had plenty of brisket and beans. The San Antonio folks stayed and visited for quite some time. They were really nice players and parents, and thanked us profusely for the food and the work that put this event together. Thank you everyone who helped to feed and clean up after the game. It was close to 11:00 p.m. when I flopped onto the couch.

Friday was one busy day. The kids and I left for the Renewable Energy Fair in Fredericksburg around 8:05 a.m. We arrived about 9:45 a.m. to find the Marketplatz in the early set up stage. The security guard told us there was nothing planned for that day! The kids were bummed to say the least. I told them not to panic, we would go to plan B for the day. It turned out that wasn’t necessary. The Parks and Wildlife Ranger from Government Canyon State Natural Area was there all set up to give a talk to school kids. Apparently the threat of oncoming rain had caused local schools to cancel their plans. We had a great time with her. I never knew there was an urban natural area in San Antonio. We had not quite finished with her when I noticed the solar panel lady set out her stuff. I know God was looking after us, because that was the one big thing I wanted to have my students complete. I don’t know how it would have worked out if there were more schools there. We had her exclusive attention except for two home school kids. All of my students were able to make a solar powered car and play one of the wildlife games with the ranger. We looked at some hydropower, had our lunch and headed for home. We managed to make it in time to attend the down town pep rally. I love that particular pep rally. It was raining in San Saba, but sunny in Richland Springs. That was soon to change. We no sooner got the kids ready to head for the busses, and the rain came pouring down. In a matter of seconds we had wet kids, but again, no one seemed to be upset by being wet! The 5th graders and I had a quick rest before we manned the concession stand for the evening. I didn’t want to work on homecoming night, but no other class volunteered, and my kids really wanted to work. In retrospect, I should have stood my no ground, but like some crazy person I agreed. I kept losing kids to the evenings activities, we had dozens of people taking shelter under the roof and it was an evening filled with mayhem. The kids were still pretty good, but when the last horn sounded I lost most of them to the 5th quarter events. I have to say thank you to Troy and Brad Shannon for cooking the burgers again. Let me tell you those two guys do a super job on the barbecue. They even toast the buns. I think toasted buns absolutely make the burger. Apparently so did everyone else, since we ran out of burgers. We also ran out of fries, fried mushrooms, nachos and barely made it with the Dr Peppers. I still feel bad about sending Mondo his family away with no food, but there just wasn’t anything left to cook. I really didn’t expect to feed so many people, since the One Act Play group had the Mexican dinner fund raiser right before the game. As usual I was wrong.

The Coyote Pride article will tell you all about the homecoming activities, but we were very proud to have Robert Lewis and Lola Fay Mask, crowned Coming Home King and Queen. Ashlyn Grady was this year’s Homecoming Queen. Despite the weather everyone had a wonderful time. Praise God for the rain.

October’s activities are ramping up. We have the open house night for parents, the book fair and benchmark tests this week. On Saturday we have the Brockman wedding, and then that evening will be the Volunteer Firefighters fundraiser. I am looking forward to some good catfish! I hope everyone can attend and support our VFD. I believe I heard that our new resident Mr. Ashworth has been accepted as a new member. Mr. Ashworth is retiring from the Mesquite Police Department and intends to lend his strong arm to our community families. His wife Sherri is my team teacher in 4

We have some prayer needs in the community. Donna Taylor’s mom is having blood pressure trouble. George Hill went for back surgery, but we have not heard from him to see how he is doing. Ginger’s sister Nerita is recovering from aortic valve replacement and apparently wants to be her own therapist. At least she is well enough to try. Junior Moreno was mentioned this morning as needing prayer. Thurman Saxon’s brother-in-law passed away. He had undergone one surgery and was scheduled to have another one, but his body was just not able to stand the strain. He will be missed by his family, but they know he is in a better place. Ottis Richmon had a grapefruit sized tumor removed and the doctors are saying all the cancer is gone. Praise the Lord! There are many more on our list that need our prayers. We have several families who have lost loved ones in the past couple of weeks. Their grief and loss is still fresh and raw and they need our prayers and sympathy.

Many area churches have banded together from now until election time, to pray for our country and the upcoming elections. We definitely need prayer.

Please pray for our precious troops and their families. We have stranded them far from home with no clear cut enemy and no strong defense. We cannot abandon them as we abandoned our embassy in Libya. May God continue to bless America, may America turn back to God. Have a great week everyone.