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Pumpkin Attack Photos

As promised in my last entry, here are some photos of my wife's pumpkin burns. (Click through to Flickr to read the notes on each photo.)








(Copyright © 2009 by Wil C. Fry. All rights reserved.)

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Back in the Saddle

Okay, folks. I'm back and blogging.

Thursday morning, Nov. 12, my wife and I left Killeen at about 7:25 a.m., after I installed valve-stem extenders on the Buick so we could check air pressure on the front tires. They were low, so we dropped 50 cents to pump them back up.

She was supposed to drive the first half, but we forgot, so I was in the driver's seat for the first shift. Then we decided to switch drivers at the state line, but forgot again, so I ended up driving the entire six hours. We stopped several times so I could smoke — as I continue to cut back and try to quit, I've decided not to smoke in the car anymore, especially if my wife is in there (practice for when she's pregnant and when we have kids).

We ate lunch at the (new) McDonald's in Sulphur at about 12:15 p.m. and pressed on, arriving at my parents' house at 1:30 or so.

Driving through Seminole was an eye-opening experience after three months in Killeen. There were already a couple of changes — the old funeral home has been torn down to reveal the brand new one behind it, and a new building has gone up at the Maud Y. The Taco Bell is almost finished.

But overall, the town looked like crap, especially driving in from the south. The first thing you see is the old rusted Tennessee Joe's storage building, with junk piled up around it and tall weeds everywhere. Buildings are missing bricks, and more tin shacks are clearly visible between Main Street and the main highway. Most of the buildings along our route looked as if they hadn't been cared for in decades, though they're clearly in constant use.

My wife reminded me that she always saw it that way, and I was the one who'd been wearing blinders because I lived there so long. Coming back, my blinders were off. It was plain depressing to know some people own property there and don't do anything about its appearance. (Not everyone, you understand... but it's the few bad apples that spoil the whole bunch. Kudos to those who are taking care of things.)

Anyway, we were overjoyed to see my parents again.

At 3 p.m., my Dad and I left to go pick up my brother at the airport. Without knowing of our trip, he'd planned his own, for the same day. We got to the airport just in time to see his plane land, and only had to wait five minutes or so for him to disembark. We got back to Seminole at 5:20 p.m. or so.

My sister Heather came over with her two boys and her husband Jason, and we ate sweetly different meatballs for supper (one of my two favorite meals).

On Friday, my wife and I drove with Zane to The Seminole Producer offices to see my old co-workers. They all seemed to be doing well. All expressed concern for my wife's well-being after the recent massacre at her place of employment. (It was Producer staff who'd notified *me* of the shooting in the first place.)

In the afternoon, Zane and I took a walk with my Dad down into the canyons. Later, thousands of birds flew through the property, landing just next to the house all at once. It was an interesting experience to see that many in one place at a time.

Then we visited Granny Fry, who lives next door. I walked over (more than a mile) with my Dad, Zane, and two nephews, while my wife rode over with Heather. Jason came later. We talked for a while, mostly about Granny's recovery from a recent knee replacement and Jason's recovery from knee and back surgery.

That evening, we played some board games and then went to bed late. (I had trouble getting to sleep because the dog barked at every leaf that moved, but the next two nights I had no problems.)

On Saturday, Zane and I watched a little of the Tennessee-Ole Miss football game with our nephews, and then played a football game outside (Zane and Josh against Mark and I) while my wife took pictures and acted as referee. We tied 42-42, but Zane and Josh won in overtime, 49-42. (I'm still sore from that game.)

About 3:30 or so, we drove down to Bowlegs to visit Meemaw Crews, taking three vehicles. My wife and I took the nephews in our Buick, Zane and Dad went in the newly operational '69 Volkswagen, and Mom took the pickup. After a nice visit with Meemaw, including a short walk around the property, we left.

Zane took the pickup to Ada to visit friends, I took Mom home in the Buick, while my wife and the nephews rode back home in the Bug (my wife had never ridden in the '69 Beetle before).

That evening, we had homemade soup and cornbread for supper and played more games. My aunt Dob (Norma Christian) came over for a visit, and we played Phase 10. My wife won, her first time in that game, but only because I made two mistakes in discarding near the end. Oops. My family still thinks I did that on purpose.

Sunday morning, my wife and I did a little laundry while my parents went to church, then we had soup and cornbread again for lunch, as the temperature began to drop outside.

After Zane woke up from a late night, we took a few pictures and then it was time to head back to Texas.

My wife and I left at about 1:10 p.m., driving south through Seminole and west through Maud and St. Louis, taking our now-regular route via SH 59 to SH 177 to Sulphur, then to Davis, and I-35. It was misting and raining most of the way, and really started pouring in Dallas. But south of Dallas, the skies cleared quickly, and we had dry roads all the way from mid-Dallas to home.

My wife drove from Seminole to Hillsboro, and I took it the rest of the way, arriving home at 7:15 p.m.

After unpacking, we ate a Mama Rosa's pizza for supper, went grocery shopping late, and then watched "Fanboys" on DVD (Interestingly enough, while we were out of town, Netflix had received all three of our "missing" movies on the same day, and sent out two more.)

I've only put a few pictures up on Flickr so far; the others will be coming over the next few days. Here's the first several:






(All photos Copyright © 2009 by Wil C. Fry. All rights reserved.)

Stay tuned to My Flickr photostream for more images, and this blog for more on our lives.

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Disappointed

Until about noon today, we thought my wife would get to see President Barack Obama in person. But it turned out to be too good to be true.

Because she was on staff at the emergency room at Ft. Hood on the day of the massacre, both of us were more affected than many Americans by this tragedy. When she was told the President would be at Ft. Hood on Tuesday to speak to the base, she was also told that she and her coworkers would be attending the memorial service.

There was a snafu. Only 15 tickets were issued to the emergency room staff, well short of what was needed. She had worn her nice suit, and taken care to look even more stunning than usual. I had made sure her camera's batteries were charged and that the settings would be ready for some nice pictures.

She found out at work that she would not be attending the ceremony. I was at home and watched the whole thing on TV, thinking she was there. As it turned out, she was watching it on TV as well.

So yes, we were a little disappointed. It's not every day you have a chance to see any president, much less one that's currently in office, so the prospect was a little exciting (regardless of a person's politics).

Nonetheless, I thought the president's remarks were well-written and well-delivered. In the past, many of these events escaped my attention, either because my work prevented me from viewing them, or because I've been without TV for long stretches of my life. It was nice to get to sit through the entire ceremony.