Holiday travel

As you are aware, Mama and I spent the Thanksgiving holiday in Bowie, mostly. On Friday we went to Denton to do some Christmas shopping and the crowds seemed pretty light. We did not go out for the all night shopping spree that Cori did but chose to get started about 7 a.m. After our time there we left for Chappell Hill to see my mom and dad.


I missed a turn on the way and it cost us about another hour on the trip but we got there and had a very good visit. After breakfast I pulled the truck around to Dad’s little garage/shop and got stuck so badly that we had to call AAA to pull the truck out. It had started raining early in the morning and the black clay at their house was as slick as grease. I had little chance of getting where I was aiming even if the ground had been firm under the snotty surface layer. When I did get out I backed into the fence of the neighbor across the street and later knocked over some landscape timbers lining the narrow entrance at Sarah and Fabian’s house. I returned a very dirty truck to Grandpa.

Getting stuck just gave us more time to visit. Dad and I sat on the front porch swing talking and watching it rain while we waited for the wrecker. As we left he gave me a very old copy of the Bible – dated 1816. He told me that of all his children I seemed the most interested in the things of the Lord. I considered it a great compliment. After church last night – in Amarillo – I loaned the Bible to our pastor to look through. He was thrilled.

While Victoria and Chase were on the way for Thanksgiving day with us I called to check on their progress and to see about what time they would be there. We were burning scrap limber and tree limbs to help clean up the property and I knew Chase would be interested in participating. Chase answered my call and informed that Victoria had been pulled over and was in the process of getting a ticket for going 63 in a 45 mph zone. I had warned the kids that the highway patrol and local police would be out in force through the weekend. It is, after all, their Black Friday too. As it turned out, the officer’s ticket writer/printer device had malfunctioned and she got off with a warning. Praise the Lord! She was VERY careful after that.

Chase however, was not so lucky. When they got back to Amarillo Thanksgiving night, he was on his way to some store or another and turned right on a red light into the path of another vehicle and damaged their vehicle in the ensuing accident. The occupants were quite expressive of their displeasure and used a few words Chase had not heard before to convince him how upset they were. He did get a ticket and our insurance will go up dramatically – again.

Back to the farm on the night before Thanksgiving: When Chase and Victoria did arrive at the farm we got the fire going again and sat around it and talked for some time. As the fire died down we could hear the coyotes inching their way closer to us as they yipped and yelped calling from one pack to another. It was freaking Grandma out and it was all Mama could do to contain Rosie, who was in full attack mode. Chase described it as “intense”.

We all made it home safely and I delivered the windows I had gotten from Mom and Dad; which I loaded while the truck was stuck in the mud. It was a long and difficult week and will remain so for Grandpa as the pups remain in quarantine and the surviving guineas recover from their separate attacks.

It was a mixed bag of memories for all of us.