Our trip, the storm

Mama and I traveled with the seniors from the church Friday and Saturday. We went to Sweetwater, TX to the WASP museum. That was something new for both of us. I had never heard of the Women Air Service Pilots. They were a group started in mid-1942 to shuttle planes between based as needed by the Army Air Forces. Since most available men were drafted into fighting service there was a shortage of pilots to get planes from one base to another. The idea to use women in that role came from two pilots named Jacqueline Cochran and Nancy Love. Over one thousand women served in the program, all of whom had their pilots license prior to the time of service. I had no idea women had pilot’s licenses in those days. Thirty-eight of those women who served lost their lives in the service. The sad part of the story is that they had no benefits, no recognition and no notoriety. It was not until 1977 that they were given veteran status. When women were recently given roles as pilots in the Air Force the commander of the first graduates of the program were touted as the “first women to pilot military aircraft”, several of the WASP pilots spoke up rather loudly. Their records had to be recovered from storage, where they had been buried shortly after the war was over, before they were officially recognized for what they had done so many years ago. It was a very educational museum.

At the other end of the spectrum, we visited Fort Concho in San Angelo, TX. It was established in 1867 and served as a forward post for the US Army to protect settlers and trade routes through far west Texas. The fort is very well preserved and has been carefully restored. It was a hike for Mama and some of the other women but we all enjoyed it. There was a bit of a guided tour but it dealt with the armory more than anything else, so the men on the trip were the only ones who listened to a very detailed description of the armaments, the difficulty in relocating those artillery pieces and what the effective range of each piece was in battle. I enjoyed it but it was not a highlight for the women. It gave us an insight to the challenges the men faced in the late 1800’s. The hospital was not a restoration but rather a reconstruction based on hospitals at other forts in Texas. It was very interesting to see how primitive, yet imaginative some of the beds, bathrooms and operating facilities were made. For that time, it was cutting edge. Technology has changed. How we apply that technology to patient care has not changed all that much.

Mama and I visited a jewelry store and a clock repair store while the others went to a large general store. We talked to the owner in the clock shop and got to find out about how to identify the clocks we inherited from my Dad. That way we can research them for insurance purposes, plus have an idea about their origin and age. At the jewelry store we looked specifically at the pearls that are obtained from the muscles that grow in that part of the Concho River. The pearls are purple in color and can be quite beautiful and very expensive. Far more than what Mama and I could afford at this time. There was one necklace setting that was called a “blister pearl”. It was a mother of pearl piece from the shell that had several tiny pearls starting to form on it. I was impressed but if it was not known what you were looking at, it was not very attractive. It was however a $1000 plus setting.

Rain and hail passed through the area last night. We escaped the brutality that the storm wrecked on some nearby areas but we got about a half inch of rain because of it. As Mama and I sat at church last night knowing the storm was very intense we could not help but wonder what was happening at the farm. We knew all the animals had shelter available. I was more concerned about the garden and the fruit trees – all of which are at critical stages of growth and setting fruit.

All was well. Praise the Lord.