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This morning's sunrise

1/19/10 Tuesday
I haven’t been keeping up with this journal and there is so much that has happened. Calvin and his friend, Louie, stopped and at our urging spent the night here on their way to Arizona. We wanted to make sure they got some sleep. They didn’t get out of here till late morning because we fixed a tire and did some other stuff. I think it was about 1:00 when my phone rang. I had a hard time understanding what he said but I could make out the “Sheriff of Reeve’s county” part. That got my attention. Seems that Calvin got pulled over in Pecos on the lame excuse that he was following too close behind the vehicle that had just slammed on the brakes when they saw the police car. There was a small amount of marijuana found so the sheriff pulled his gun and screamed at them to “Hit the dirt”. Anyway, Calvin claimed the weed and was arrested and they impounded the van. Louie was stuck in Pecos with only a few clothes they let him take out of the van. Right after the sheriff called I got a frantic call from Suzie, who had received a call from Calvin in jail. She was crying and hysterical and I did my best to reassure her. I jumped into my truck, drove to Midland where I picked up Cherie’s truck. Mine only has two gears (first and 3rd) that work on the automatic transmission so I didn’t want to take it for the 110 mile drive to Pecos. I also grabbed a checkbook and some cash in case I could bail him out.

That wasn’t going to happen, the JP wouldn’t be in till the following morning. I found Louie in Pecos and he told me about what happened. I think they got pulled over because of having out of state license plates. Come to find out that deputy has quite a reputation in the area, not necessarily a good one. I went into the jail to get details and an understanding of what we were looking at. Texas is one of the few states that has not decriminalized marijuana possession and it was a class B misdemeanor. I found out when court was and took Louie back home with me.

The next morning I got Louie up at 5:30 and we hit the road at 6:00 to get there by 8:00. We got there a little before and the doors were locked so we sat and waited. At 8:00 the doors were unlocked so we went in. No one seemed to know when court would be or who would be presiding at first. Seems that the regular judge is on vacation in Brazil and the JP was at the high school for a truancy program. They called him up and learned he’d be there shortly. In the meantime I met the sheriff and others, who were generally real friendly and helpful. The sheriff made sure we had coffee, showing us where it was as he inquired as to why we were there. The JP comes out and says “Are you Bob? Why don’t you come in here”. It was the same room where we got coffee and walking in I see Calvin in an orange jail jump suit. It was good that we saw this one as he was pretty down to earth and practical about the whole situation. It had been explained to him that they had been traveling to rescue the kid in Arizona so he understood there was no serious criminal activity going on here and was sympathetic to Calvin’s plight. He talked to me a bit to get a better understanding who I was and how I got involved. I explained that Suzie was the daughter of my former secretary, who had been killed by a heroin addict, and that when that happened they pretty much became family to me. Because I am a Texas resident and own land he was able to release Calvin under my responsibility so we didn’t even have to post bail. It’s good because the regular judge wouldn’t be back for a month or something so Calvin would have had a high bond that we couldn’t pay and stuck in jail.

Meantime Devon, the kid in Arizona, managed to get a ticket and on a bus to Midland. So he’s on the way here instead of Calvin having to proceed there and get him.





So it worked out. They were going to stay a few days and work off the over six hundred dollars we’ve spent so far but I cut them loose early and called it even. Calvin needs to get home and take care of his family and the rest just needed to go home. They did help me build these stands, or whatever they are called, to use for stacking wood and items off the ground and then to move a lot of wood away from the house.





The morning I went to Pecos for court was the same morning we were scheduled to meet with the state agency people about getting the farm business going. This was a vital meeting and my chance to meet with the folks involved, but people come first, especially friends. Cherie went to the meeting without me and we are glad she did. It was a great meeting and Cherie came out of it relieved, inspired, and enthusiastic. One of the first things they told her was that it was important that they change the original paperwork on me. It erroneously stated that I was looking for a job and was unemployed. They understand, perhaps from looking at the blog in addition to what our new caseworker told them, that I indeed have a job and work fulltime. The job is building this farm with what I have. What an exoneration that was, especially after hearing of someone saying that I need to “Get a real Job”. The insinuations of laziness and of me being a mooch bothered Cherie greatly and don’t make me feel great either. It’s the kind of judgment that, once it’s in place, colors how they interpret every action I take. Plus there is an apparent lack of faith in my ability to accomplish anything that is evident there as well. This just spurs me to work harder to make this farm happen. I will be someone, I will achieve.

That being said I need to get out to work. It’s already nearing the end of January and there is lots to do to prepare for planting. I sure could have used the help from all three of that crew from Toledo but that’s how it is. Now it’s back to just me doing the best I can. It’s always a decision, to choose which of many tasks I’ll do. I’m continuing to clear out stuff from around the house and stack it on the racks.