The funeral, the farm, crazy schedules, Chase

The funeral yesterday was pleasant and unremarkable. It was officiated by a female pastor of a local church who was so afraid of offending that she spoke in vague platitudes and veiled religious comments; nothing of substance. Nothing of Christ – whom the woman obviously knew personally from the testimony of her heirs. Her prayers were so short, so aloof and so unfamiliar with God that I left wondering if she knew him.


I am glad I attended the event. The woman who works for me was very glad to see me there. I sat with her friend and another employee of mine through the service and learned the family and extended family’s names and associations to the deceased. That made it a little more personal. It reminded me that we all leave a heritage, whether good or evil, we all leave a heritage. Hers seemed to be a good one. The Lord knows.

I put one of Victoria’s pictures of our overflowing pond on my computer as a desktop background. I am starting to wonder if that was a good idea. All the time I am working on my computer it is peeking around the open program, reminding me of where I would much rather be. I do not think it is a bad thing, but it may end up being distracting. Fortunately, the background is easily changed – the heart is not so quick.

Mama and I will be headed that way in only a couple of weeks. This time I have scheduled vacation for a week. The only caveat is that my brother Steve and his wife, Diane, will be visiting my mom and dad during that week so I should take the time – two days – and drive down to see all of them. I really do not want to give up two days on the farm but it is a rare opportunity. The added benefit is that we could stop by Discount Trees in Brenham and get several pecan trees on our way back to the farm – if any are available.

It will be especially difficult to get away if the mobile home is delivered during the week I have off. We did get approved, by the way. No surprise there. Mama and I go on Monday to sign the papers and arrange for delivery. If we are able to get the septic system done quickly, we should be able to move Grandma, Grandpa and Victoria by the middle of April. The end of the month would be very doable. That would thrill all of them and it wouldn’t upset me either.

One of the problems I am having is maintaining the proper focus on all of the very large projects I have going – at work, at home and at the farm. Graduations, weddings, planting, setting up a home at the farm, construction projects, equipment purchases, vacations and travel planning all tend to mount the pressure. Although I think of myself as a fiscal conservative, it has not reflected in my financial dealings of late. We will get through all this and probably continue to run from one series of crisis to another. Such is life when there are multiple families involved. The fact that I have not gone completely broke amazes me…only by His Grace.

Mama told me Chase was none too pleased about being gone a majority of the month of June. He is anxious to get back to work so his checking account balance does not go to zero. I admire the drive to earn money, but it may be sidetracked by the family plans, from which he is too young to escape. We will be in Florida during the latter half on the month of June and I plan on being in Bowie for the first week of July. That puts us back in Amarillo the second week of July. With college starting soon after he is already feeling the heat.

College is something we still need to spend quite a bit of time talking about.