Merry Christmas With Perfect Penmanship From Ancient Auntie Arlene

In the mail today were a couple large packages and a couple Christmas cards, including the one above from my dear Aunt Arlene, who signs off her cards "With Love, Ancient Auntie Arlene."

I made the composite image of the Ancient Auntie Arlene Christmas card which you see above for illustrative purposes. The front part of the card is what you see on the left. On top of that is the inside of the card. And on top of that is an amusing postcard Aunt Arlene included showing "A Texan's Map of the United States."

Now the reason I felt compelled to photo document this Christmas card is the issue of cursive handwriting.

Auntie Arlene refers to herself as Ancient.

When she is only 92.

I am a few years younger than Auntie Arlene and I can not read my own handwriting. Even if I make an effort I still can not write in a reliably legible way.

Not only does Aunt Arlene write cursively with perfectly formed letters, the letters all form perfectly straight lines of words, with nary a word crossed out for correction purposes.

I know if I manage to reach the age of 92 I will not be able to write in the legible way my Aunt Arlene writes, because I am unable to do so now, years prior to reaching 92...

Happy Birthday To You Linda Lou

What you are looking at above is Linda Lou on the left. Me on the right. From our high school senior annual. Linda Lou is one of the few with whom I went through almost all my school years, grade school, high school, Sunday school and the first two years of college.

I have not seen Linda Lou in person since October of 2018, when she flew to Arizona to spend a few days having fun in the Phoenix zone. 

What follows are a few photos from Linda Lou's 2018 visit to Arizona. I don't think Linda Lou has seen these before.

Oh. I forgot to mention. Today is Linda Lou's birthday.

HAPPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA LOU!

That would be Linda Lou looking at you, sitting at the dinner table in the house we had rented in Sun Lakes, that being the town my mom lived in at the time.

Whilst Linda Lou was in Arizona the most adventurous adventures we had were driving to the summit of South Mountain, and to Tortilla Flats. Both locations reached via treacherous twisting turning roads with steep drop offs, which Linda Lou found unsettling at times.

 Above Linda Lou is pointing the way up South Mountain. Or at a saguaro cactus. I can't be sure.

Walking away from the saguaro cactus to continue the ride to the top of South Mountain.

Now at the summit of South Mountain, Linda Lou made friends with a random dog who was also site seeing.

I talked to Linda Lou last night. Her happy birthday plans for today include going to a restaurant in La Conner which apparently makes excellent clam chowder, and fish and chips. 

I can not remember when last I had excellent clam chowder. Maybe when I am in Washington next August we can go to La Conner for some clam chowder...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LINDA LOU!!!

On This December Day Remembering Cousin Scott & Aunt Alice

 FNJ, that being my Favorite Nephew Jason, emailed the two above photos this morning. On the left that is my Cousin Scott, from a few decades ago. On the right that is Cousin Scott sitting next to my Favorite Aunt Arlene.

Aunt Arlene is my dad's sister, currently, if I am remembering correctly, 92 years old. 

Cousin Scott was a reporter for the Seattle Times. Mostly reporting sports type news, I think. I don't actually recollect ever reading an article by Cousin Scott in the Seattle Times.

But this morning the aforementioned FNJ also emailed an article by Cousin Scott from the Seattle Times, published December 19, 2007. I'll copy that article below, but first Google's goofy look back at my memories from this day...

Usually I know what maybe half of these memories are. This time I may remember more than half, but I don't know why I'd find them especially memorable. In the upper left that is Aunt Alice with Santa Claus. I have no idea where the Christmas tree is from. Certainly not my above. The lower left is my bike's handlebars looking at the Polar Express trams which carry people to view the Fantasy of Light, launching from a MSU parking lot. And the lower right, well, that is Aunt Alice again, in her Naughty Nun costume.

And now that article by Cousin Scott. It is totally not sports related...

Seattle Times: December 19, 2007

The excesses of holiday giving

By Scott Barry

I almost scared the holiday spirit right out of my mom one year.

I did something, it became public and she was horrified. Ho ho ho. I was probably 6 or 7, walking the streets of downtown Lynden during the holidays, window-shopping. A reporter and photographer for the Lynden Tribune were asking kids like me what we wanted for Christmas.

“A train,” I told them as the photographer took my picture. Next thing I know, the paper comes out and there’s my picture and words telling the world that all I’ve ever really wanted, the one and only most special and to-be-treasured present of all time, would be … a train. Just a train, Santa. A little one that runs around in circles on its little track. Please?

I think Mom screamed when she saw that in the paper, because it was either too close to Christmas or too far from payday to get one for me.

Fast-forward to today and questions I have every year at this time related to what I and many other parents do for our kids at Christmas. Too much. We do too much.

Why? In my case, is it that vision of Christmas trains past that still haunts me? Is this my personal version of “A Christmas Carol?”

I know I do too much for my 13-year-old daughter. Gift cards, clothes, music, techie toys and more.

“Dad,” she’ll say, “I really need a new cellphone, fa la la la la.” Or, “Dad, the greatest gift you could give me,” she begins softly, sincerely, and I’m thinking, ‘Aw, she wants us to spend more time together digging for fossils or walking a beach looking for treasures,’ but then she continues, “would be to let me spend more time with my friends on weekends, or 5-10-20 gift cards.”

Oh.

Don’t get me wrong; she’s not about excess and me me me. She enjoys spending time over the holidays at senior centers and doing other things that involve only her time and presence and the warm, fuzzy feeling that comes as a result of giving of yourself with no expectation of anything in return.

She has a healthy view of giving vs. receiving. She knows she’ll never get more than a few things on her list. And I firmly believe she’ll turn out just fine regardless of what presents she might receive.

No, she’s not the problem. I am.

Is there a Giftoholics Anonymous? A 12-gift program? A support group for parents like me? And I’ll bet I’m not alone.

Help me, Santa; save me from myself.

And if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, I’m still waiting for that train.

These Shoes Are Made For Walking & Walking They Are Gonna Do While Mourning Cousin Scott

As you see via the above photo documentation the outer world today at my location is heated to a shorts wearing temperature. That would be the left side of the aforementioned shorts at the bottom of the photo documentation, with the shadow of the shorts filling up the middle of the scene.

My shoes were walking me in Lucy Park again. Arrived about a half hour before noon. 

As I was consuming lunch I got a sad text message telling me Cousin Scott had passed away. Scott had a stroke about a year ago and has been trying to recover ever since. A few months after Scott had a stroke his first grandchild, a boy, was born on Maui, with the mother being Olivia, Scott's only child.

Olivia recent brought the baby to the mainland to meet his grandpa.

It was via a rather poignant Facebook post by Olivia that it was learned Cousin Scott's long battle was over.

Olivia included several photos with her Facebook post. Below is a screen cap showing some of those photos of Scott and Olivia over the years...

Whole Lotta Lucy Park Walking With Bad Taco Bueno Memories

After a morning of dealing with the relative insanity, along with oodles of annoying Nutty whining, I found myself in Lucy Park about an hour before noon. The temperature at the Lucy Park time of the day was in the 60s, with no wind.

T-shirt temperature, so off came the sweatshirt.

Lucy Park has miles of trails, part of which is the Circle Trail which trails all around Wichita Falls. There are multiple other trails in Lucy Park, so one can take a variety of routes to get in a few miles of fast walking. 

Today I opted for what I call the Whole Lotta Loop. I call this loop thusly because way back during the lockdown period of the quarantine, when we were encouraged to help local restaurants stay afloat by buying takeout, I went through the Taco Bueno drive thru and got what they call a Whole Lotta Box. 

I then drove that Whole Lotta Box to Lucy Park to enjoy the worst Mexican food, ever, whilst sitting at the covered sheltered you see above, overlooking the Wichita River.

Someday I am hoping the painful memory of that Whole Lotta Box will fade and I can be at this location without thinking of stale tortilla chips, runny salsa, coagulated refried beans, blah burritos, and flavorless tacos...

A Very Merry Christmas Card From Granny McNutty

The above e-card showed up in my email this morning after I returned from a brisk walk in Lucy Park.

I do not recollect getting a Christmas card previously in e-card mode.

I have not seen Granny McNutty in person in decades.

If this Christmas photo is a recently taken one, I must say Granny McNutty has barely aged a day since I last saw her.

I am currently scheduled to see the current version of Granny McNutty in person next summer...

Back To Lucy Park With Fallen Trees

On this second Saturday of the 2021 version of December it was back to Lucy Park for a chilly commune with nature.

A cold front blew in yesterday, extremely hard, blowing leaves like projectiles, creating a dust storm, along with sparking wildfires, one of which caused the evacuation of part of the town of Electra, a few miles west of Wichita Falls.

By this morning almost dead calm prevailed, with a temperature a few degrees above freezing.

Soon upon arrival at Lucy Park wind damage was obvious, as witnessed by the above photo documentation of a blown over tree.

The trees look so odd without their leaves, like that fellow you see above, basically all trunk with maybe two limbs.

Lucy Park has such a large variety of trees. Only a few of which I know their brand. For instance, I can tell a pecan tree is such, due to the nuts on the ground and all the nuts harvesting the nuts. I can tell an oak tree via both the acorn nuts and the shape of the leaves. 

Methinks it would be a mighty fine addition to Lucy Park to put identifying signage by the various trees. This would be quite educational.

I do not know if there will by any nature communing tomorrow. If past history is any indicator, there likely will be some nature communing...

Wichita Falls Riverside Cemetery Walk After COVID Booster

Around 11 this fine Friday's morning I had successfully been injected with a COVID booster shot. Even though I was dressed for a doctor's visit, not in my regular outdoor exercise garb, I decided, since I was in the neighborhood I would head toward Lucy Park for some nature communing in long pants.

But, before one gets to Lucy Park one comes to Riverside Cemetery. The biggest graveyard in Wichita Falls. Riverside Cemetery is on a bluff above the Wichita River and adjacent to Lucy Park. It is from Riverside Cemetery that the manmade Wichita Falls flows. We will get to that further along.

But, first let's take a walk around this huge cemetery. There are multiple historical markers in this cemetery, the first being that which you see above, near the Riverside Cemetery entry. This historical marker explains the historical nature of this cemetery and the many local notables buried here.

As you can see there is a wide variety of final resting places, including many of the above ground crypt sort.

The above historical marker for Felix L. Lindsey is an interesting one. Born in Kentucky to a mulatto mother and full blooded Creek father, Felix was sent to live with a white family named Meeks when he was seven. In 1882 Felix joined the army and became a Buffalo Soldier. His unit was involved in the pursuit and capture of Geronimo. In those Apache battles Felix suffered several wounds, which eventually ended his army career at Fort Sill, Oklahoma, a few miles north of Wichita Falls. So, Felix moved to Wichita Falls, got married, had nine children. Felix began a couple business, earning the respect of his customers. 

This historical marker ends poignantly with "Felix Lindsey is a testament fo the passion and perseverance of African Americans after the Civil War to prosper and earn respect during a turbulent time in Texas and our nation."

No details, other than the photograph, were seen in the above what must be a recent burial.

A historical marker about Joseph Kemp. One of Wichita Falls' founding fathers. You see the Kemp name all over town.

A couple of the above ground crypts, above and below.

Do people have a key to the door in these crypts and come and visit?

 I tried to get a photo showing how large Riverside Cemetery is. The above is the best I came up with.

And here I am looking through the chain link fence which separates Riverside Cemetery from Wichita Falls. If you look close you can see the top of the falls at the center left of the photo.

It was rather an enjoyable walk today meandering around Riverside Cemetery. I only walked a few of the roads. I suspect the grand total is many miles of road to walk in this cemetery.

Warm Endorphin Collecting In Lucy Park With Suspension Exposure

With the outer world back being at a shorts and t-shirt temperature level, as in the 80s, it was back to my current go to place for endorphins gained via aerobic stimulation.

Going to my current go to place for endorphins would indicate that the above photo was taken in Lucy Park.

With the leaves mostly gone from bushes and trees, as one walks the Circle Trail you get views of the Lucy Park Suspension Bridge over the Wichita River that one does not see when the foliage is in full cover up mode.

Which is what you are looking at in the above photo.

Tomorrow is scheduled to be another warm day, but I don't know if I will see Lucy Park. Tomorrow I am scheduled to get a COVID booster shot.

Jason & Spencer Jack's Snowy Visit To Our Only Lynden Aunt

Yesterday, that being the day known as Wednesday, my Favorite Nephew Jason, also known as FNJ, sent my phone two photos. The first, that being the one above, is a classic look at Washington's one and only town which is Dutch themed, namely Lynden. 

The majority of my relatives used to live in Lynden and the area surrounding Lynden. A short distance east of town one comes to Slotemaker Road and the Slotemaker Farm. The Dutch name Slotemaker translates into English as Jones.

When I saw the above photo I could not quite make out who it was looking at the camera. So, I zoomed in and cropped out the camera looker.

As you can see, it was Spencer Jack standing in front of Lynden's most famous windmill. It has been quite a few years since I roamed the main street of Lynden. If I remember right the windmill is one of the access points to a sort of underground mall type thing in Lynden's downtown. I think I remember playing miniature golf in that underground mall. And roller skating and maybe bowling. The memory is hazy.

In the text that came in with the photos Jason did not mention that he and Spencer made a visit to Spencer Jack's great grandpa and gteat grandma. If you look closely you can see where Spencer got his middle name.

Jason did mention that being up in Whatcom County, and Lynden, they were experiencing the first lowland snow of the year.

That and they paid a visit to one of our few relatives still living in Lynden. That being my favorite 79 year old aunt. Jason said they had a nice visit. I have always had fun teasing that particular aunt. She usually took the teasing good naturedly. 

Jason said during the visit they discussed various relative's medical diagnoses. Along with discussing one of the relatives in relative need of a psychiatric exam. And possible behavior modifying medication such as Prozac or Zoloft or maybe Wellbutrin...