A letter to my baby snuck in here.

4/21/07 Saturday
This is when the power of the blog will be illustrated in that I will use it to communicate to my wife. Hi honey, I’m doing great. Fed Carman and Skittles, giving both of them lots of pets. You know how they eat it up. Carman got his treats also so you won’t have to call and remind me.

It is strange to sleep in an empty bed. Still have to fight Carman kitty for space at the bottom cause he likes to sleep close to my feet so moving becomes a contest of wills and I’m a softy.

I spent most of my time in the garden yesterday carefully mixing some tumbleweed compost in the soil around the plants that have come up. Then I took the mulch, which is broken up tumbleweed sticks, and with equal care placed it around each plant. One of the motivations is to reduce how this soil develops a hard crust that’s gotta be tough on the plants. It will also help retain the moisture according to what I’ve read. We will see.

I plan on spending much of the day out there again, as I will do for the rest of the season. The church sent us a letter signed by thirty or forty people that says they are remembering us in prayer. These are one of the standard letters that are put on a table during the Wednesday night dinner so folks can sign them as they go through the line to get their food. It is sweet that pastor put us on the list. I have to wonder if it was regarding mom’s heart operation or what. I looked carefully but conspicuous in it’s absence was my cousin Darryl’s name. I shouldn’t read anything into that and will try not to. I will ask Darryl point blank at Sunday school if we have done anything to offend him because of their lack of any real welcome or contact despite my repeated invitations to come out and visit.


Just went out and took pictures of both cats and the Blue bonnet flowers Cherie planted out front. This one of Carman is taken at one of his favorite spots to get pets. It is on the bathroom sink where he loves to drink water from the ever dripping faucet. It’s gotten to the point that you can’t go to the bathroom without him jumping up there and begging for his pets. He’ll sit there with his butt in the air pretending to drink water as he lets you know you are to pet him with vocal meows. Yeah, he’s got us trained.

Skittles is equally vocal in his desire for attention and I took this picture a few minutes ago as he came up for what I call his “lap time”. Hard to believe he’s a “Feral” (as in wild) cat. He craves attention and makes it hard to do garden work for he will always be underfoot and as I pull weeds and stuff will come right in and place his head on my hand, rubbing against it hard. Then he wants to flop on his back and wriggle in the sand right where I’m working. That can wipe a little seedling out so I have to motivate the little rascal to get out of the way.

So Cherie, I thought you’d like to see them. Sure we miss you but don’t let yourself get down or worry. You’ve got enough on your plate up there. By the way we got a card from Aunt Judy in the mail yesterday. I didn’t open it but am sure it’s a birthday card. Because I’ll forget I want to mention that Verizon couldn’t find anything on the computer regarding that bill so said they would need your social security number to pull it up. They also asked if I am listed on the account for if not they can’t talk to me. I explained that I had one of the two phones on the account so that shouldn’t be an issue. I WILL TAKE CARE OF THIS SO DON”T FRET, let me do it and thus free up your time. Just send your social security number or tell me where I can find it.

Cause I know it’s a concern for you Cherie, I did eat yesterday. Got a burrito in Big Spring when I picked up the travel pay and fried a couple of eggs for dinner. I’ll grill the chicken today. For the rest of y’all here’s a short word of explanation. One of the results of my brain injury is a loss of feeling hungry so that coupled with the short term memory loss means I can go days and not eat without realizing it. If I could package that and sell it as a weight loss program I’d be a millionaire. So I must eat by the clock, scheduling it like I must schedule everything that needs to be done. I suppose on that note I should fix some breakfast. While I may not feel hungry I can sure hear my stomach rumbling. I’ll be back in a minute. As with everything I must do it when I think of it or it will be forgotten a few minutes later. I’m having scrambled eggs this morning honey.

By the way, Amy sent an E mail saying to keep her number handy in case of an emergency or if I just needed to talk with someone while you were gone. She’s a sweetheart and shows more care than we’ve found here yet. A little time is a much more valuable gift than money or things that feed the body, for it feeds the spirit.

On that note. I want to thank the angel who flew Cherie up to be with her mom. I thought about it and decided to not reveal who that is. I figure they didn’t do this kind act for any kind of public recognition and would probably prefer some anonymity. I do want to convey what Cherie told me “Oh Rob, if she just could have seen the look on mom’s face when I walked in”. That is a reward that beats all else. There is nothing that can match it and it is one of the greatest joys I have had with the many I have been privileged to help despite the desperate circumstances I’ve been in. Like a guy said on TV the other day “Helping others is addictive”.

That was interesting. I just came back from visiting Decker’s Farm Supply and Nursery. It’s mostly a place that sells trees. I talked with David Decker for quite a while about a little of everything. First we talked about trees as he drove me around to look at them. Of course he asked about where I lived and upon learning I had inherited Minnie Lee’s farm started talking about that and the Bradshaw’s. Seems he is well aware of how things were sold out of the house and a prolonged yard sale there as well. Stopped and looked a few times. This is a confirmation of what I have suspected but couldn’t say for sure. He said that my grand-uncle Troy was just out there buying stuff. I think it’s time for me to visit.

His greenhouses were in shambles from the winds last year and David is losing his zeal for this business. He can’t find good employees, which is a universal issue out here. David mentioned he might want to sell the place. I told him about Cathy, my sis in law, how she has a degree in agriculture and would love to get out of Toledo. This would be right up her alley and with her know how and my business expertise it could be evolved into quite an enterprise. David said that fifteen to twenty bucks an hour was the going rate out here.

We talked about what could be done with the farm and David had some good suggestions that I’ll have to look into. He said that Christmas trees could be planted and the land could remain in CRP as long as they were not harvested. When the CRP contract ends in 2011 it would be just right for harvesting them. Gotta look into that. We talked about organic farming and greenhouse operations. He had tried organic twelve years ago but there was no market for it back then. There certainly is now. We discussed the business atmosphere and general attitude found in Stanton’s administration where there is little ambition. I don’t know but just know what he said. David owns the golf course on the east side of town also. I told David that while it was hard to find workers here it’s hard to find jobs in Toledo so if he could supply places to live there’s a chance some would come here for work.

I am tired as I usually am by this time of day. Cherie, I ate at Luchie’s today. Saw it was open as I went to get the mail and said “What the heck, I’ve got a few bucks in my pocket” and spun around. The barbeque brisket is still good.

I also visited with Leroy, my well guy. Got another copy of the receipt for when he replaced the well. He also gave me a jar of his wife’s preserves. Can’t wait to try that out. I think I’ll post this and take a nap now.