Something Strange Is A Happenin' Here...

This morning we woke at 7am to get ready for meetings before Church. I peeked out the door from our bedroom to the deck. We are out in the country. No on lives to that side of us. And the deck is up one floor from the ground. We do not close the blind for this window that is the length door. It is always fun to peek out in the morning and see if we have any animals roaming our empty lot. However, this morning the peek out the glass revealed a mystery... It was still a little dark but there was the shape of something in the middle of the deck. We don't keep anything in the middle of the deck. But, nonetheless, there was really something out there. I rubbed my eyes and looked again. Yep, there was something and it was the smoker covered in it's plastic cover. I turned to Claude and asked him if he put the smoker in the center of the deck yesterday for some reason. I thought maybe he was checking it for summer usage. Claude assured me he had not moved the smoker. So I asked him, "Why is it in the middle of the deck?" He said he didn't know and he had not touched it. I told him I had not moved it either. This was feeling very weird. I know that Bailey and I peeked out on the deck Friday morning so she could see it was too cold to go out watch the trains. I know the smoker was not in the middle of the deck Friday. We had a really bad wind last night that brought a little bit of rain. It was strong enough to blow something over. But this smoker was not blown over, it was moved about 3 feet, standing upright, and it's cover still on correctly. The big grill at the far end of the deck still had it's cover on correctly. The lightweight plastic end table that sits by the grill was exactly where it should be by the wall. The plastic lawn chairs and glass top picnic table were against the wall and had not moved at all. The only thing out of place was the smoker with it's cover on just as it should be. This was really feeling very weird. Claude suggested one of us was sleepwalking and moved it. Now that is just silly. We got ready and I found my camera. I wanted pictures of where the smoker was for a record. That may seem silly too but it felt like the right thing to do. There was no water on the wood under the smoker so it appears to have been there all during the rain and wind during the night. Years ago while Claude was on a business trip I chose to read "Helter Skelter", a novel about the Manson family and their killing of Sharon Tate and others. "Helter Skelter" was the term for what they would do to frighten people and mess with their brains. They would go into their homes and move things around that would be obvious to the residents when they woke up or returned to their homes. I told Claude I was feeling like 'helter skelter'. He rolled his eyes. But this was really weird. The only other explanation we have is that we have said ever since we moved here that there was another family living in our home that we didn't ever see. When we can't find something we just blame it on this other family. Now I wonder if they might not really exist. In reality we said the same thing about our home in Maryland. When we got home from Church I immediately checked the deck. The smoker was in it's place where Claude moved it back to. I have no real explanation but I just have to say once again...this is really weird.

Our Littlest Princess...

Tickets were purchased as soon as they became available. "Disney On Ice Princess Classics" was coming to Rupp Arena in Lexington. Such a wonderful thing to take a little Princess to just as she is learning about Princess' and how wonderful they are. We got tickets for the Marx family and Grampa and Gramma so we could all watch the wonder in little ones faces as the characters glide across the ice.

Thursday evening (March 25th) we planned to meet the Marx Family at the McDonald's on Hwy. 922 just outside Lexington. Claude and I got there early to have a bit of dinner. Then we got the call from Andie they were running a little late and maybe we should meet at Rupp Arena. We determined to both aim for the Rally's Burger stand closer to the arena. Now all this arriving together was because we figured out that Hayden had an OT appointment on Friday morning. If Claude and I kept Bailey after the Princess Show then Andie didn't need to get a sitter for her on Friday morning. This also meant Master Hayden could have a morning with just him and mommy. So the Marx & the Christensen cars needed to be close to each other to get a car seat in my car and transfer Bailey's sleepover gear. Claude and I headed to our car and when Claude put the key in the ignition he got nothing, nada, zero, zip, zilch!!! What in the world was the matter. He tried again. Still no start-up action with my wonderful red car. I gave him my key to see if that made a difference. With all these computer systems and keys with little micro-chips in them, it seemed a logical thing to try. Still nothing. I called Andie back and told here we were on to the next plan. They needed to come to the McDonald's and get us because my car wouldn't start. Now our evening had been carefully timed to allow just enough time to get to Rupp Arena, have potty breaks and find out seats so there would be a minimum of time for the mini-Marx's to get restless. All this silliness was not fitting into our timing for the evening at all. I hung up with Andie. Claude tried his key again while I'm rummaging through my owners manual trying to find something that might give us a clue as to what in the world to try. Then the most wonderful thing happened. The ignition ignited!!! Yeah!!! I called Andie back and said, "Back to Plan A revised!" We would both head to Rupp Arena parking and try and find each other in the parking lot. The Marx family arrived first, called and told us about where they were. Claude made it into the parking lot and we parked right beside the Marx family. Quickly Michael went into switch the gear and put in the extra car seat mode. I opened Hayden's car door and got the most wonderful hug. He loves to hug and gives great squeezes. Then he looked me right in the eye and said, "Bailey is coming to your house for a SLEEPOVER!!" I was so happy to hear that. This would be Bailey's first time sleepover at our home without mom, dad or Hayden. But Andie had talked to them over the last 3 days and Hayden understood clearly he was going to get a day with just Mommy. He was okay with the plan. But how would Miss Bailey be? Bailey was in her blue princess dress. When we were at the McDonald's waiting 2 little girls came in at separate times in their princess costumes. What fun to see all these little ladies getting into the feel of the evening as we entered Rupp Arena. We got into the Arena and seated just at the show was beginning. The first half of the show was all about Aladdin, Beauty & the Beast, Snow White, Sleeping Beauty and Mulan. We knew all of the stories except Mulan. None of us had seen Mulan. That is the only time the kids were a bit restless. Otherwise it was just great to watch them taking all that skating, costumes and scenery in. There was a brief intermission. The second half of the show was really about Cinderella with a grand finale of all the characters dressed in white costumes styled like their regular costumes and standing on a grand staircase. Even Mickey and Minnie had on white formal attire for the finale.

After the performance we did get Bailey an Ariel doll. Hayden didn't quite find anything of his choosing and willingly agreed with Andie that he could look for something else the next day while they were out on their day together.

Then we got to the cars. We loaded Bailey in our car. She was quite happy and said, "I go to Pa and Ma's house for a sleepover!" She never fussed or anything. I rode in the backseat with her because she wanted to hold hands while we drove home. My that was tender and sweet.

We got home and Bailey woke from maybe a 10 minutes sleep during the ride. She was wide awake and hurried inside the house. Then she came running back to get me and said, "Come on Ma! Yet's go to your bedroom. That's a gate idea!!" There you have it. Bailey was sure she was sleeping in Claude and my room between us in that big old bed. Claude came into the room and Bailey was nestled comfortably between our pillows. Claude looked at me and said, "If she wants to sleep here, I'll go to the spare room." What love from a tired grampa!! I had Bailey's crib all made up in the basement where she usually sleeps. But I knew our little 'princess' had just had a quick nap and was truly excited to be at Pa and Ma's home. So I popped in a Thomas the Train DVD and she watched a couple of short shows while I made sure the monitor was set up and her PJ's were one her.

Then I suggested, with as much excitement as I could possibly generate, that we go downstairs and see if her bed was still there. She grabbed Wah-Wah and I grabbed the bag of lovies and blanket that Andie sent and we headed to the basement. Bailey bounded right into the storage where her crib is kept. She was so excited to see all the things she usually had right there for her. The blanket to read and play on was beside her crib and we sat down there and picked out two books to read. She chose which toys to sleep with. Then we tucked her and the toys in her crib, turned the music on for her and off to sleep our little princess went. AMAZING!!

I was prepared for whatever reaction we got from Bailey on this first sleepover. I had carried my body pillow into the extra bedroom and made a wall with it and the extra pillows on one side of the bed. I figured if Bailey was really fussy to begin with or during the night, she and I would curl up in that bed and sleep together. It was not needed. Bailey slept from 11pm to 7am Friday morning. I kept waking up during the night to be sure the monitor was working. Silly me. That is that 'mommy gene' kicking in.

At 7am sharp I could hear over the monitor, "Ma come get me." I quickly got up and headed to the basement. There was our little princess waiting patiently for me to come. I scooped her and the lovies that were chosen to attend her that day out of the crib. As we started across the family room to the stairs Bailey said, "Oh, I forgot something." Back she raced to the storage and looked all over. She was missing a Beany Baby horse she likes to play with when here. We added that to her attendants and up the stairs we went.

I asked her if she wanted a waffle for breakfast. She said, "I want waffles and chicken." So that was her breakfast, a waffle and a chicken tender with catsup and ranch dressing. Oh, and she really needed chocolate milk. I only had white milk but I did have chocolate syrup to make the desired beverage.

As I prepared breakfast Bailey said, "Yet's get Pa." Faster than I thought possible she was across the living room to our bedroom door. She did knock a couple of times quickly, then turned that door knob and into the bedroom she ran. Pa was not going to get to sleep in this day at all. Bailey does like those around her awake, ask Papa about that some time!

After breakfast Bailey climbed up on a chair at the breafast table. The kids like to stand on stepstools at the island and eat. So now the breakfast table was her next destination. She took the Beany Baby deer and horse with her. They needed to eat and the perfect thing for their feed was sitting on the breakfast table. She shook salt and pepper on a napkin and then held their noses right in it to eat.

We had a full morning with our little princess. Here are some of her adventures. We hung the Easter ornaments on the little Easter tree. Well, we only hung the rabbits and chick ornaments. All of the egg shaped ornaments Bailey put inside the plastic eggs in my purple Easter basket.

We found the double-12 dominos and made Aladdin and Abu out of them. Then we added the Genie. I went to grab the camera just as Bailey jumbled the dominos again.

We played with the toys in the hallway upstairs. Then the John Deere barn that sorts coins in Pa's office. Then we needed to head downstairs. That is where the real toy closet it located. Bailey searched it for a bit and we found and played golf. Then her eagle eyes caught the Nemo movie and it needed to be on Pa's big TV. I got that going and she was sure she needed chips while she watched Nemo. Bailey is a chip-o-holic. She was really happy with the Pringle's and the blanket. Pa joined us for the movie viewing. He had been upstairs trying to get the new laptop out of the box and get it working.

I used the opportunity to comb Bailey's hair and put it in pigtails. I wanted to cut some off her bangs and this got the bulk of it out of the way for that job. She let me cut her hair but some of it was on the run. I did it in my sewing room in front of the full-length mirror so she could see what I was doing. This could very well be the least kid-friendly room in my home. Bailey knew it needed to be explored. Here are a few pictures of her looking through the sewing machine. I usually have it closed when the kids come. This time I did not and Bailey found it a very interesting place to explore. She reminded me of when I was very little and my mother's mother found me looking through things in her home. Gramma Fisch asked me, "What are you doing?" With the frankness and innocence of youth I honestly told her, "I'm punderin' Gramma, I'm punderin' (plundering)!" Princess Bailey was punderin' herself. Gramma Fisch just chuckled at me and I found myself doing the same with Bailey.

Claude watched Bailey and I managed to get my shower. Then I reciprocated the favor. Bailey really likes horses now and found a new interest in the rocking horse she has almost outgrown. She rocked and talked. Then she would stroke the nose of the horse and talk to him. Then she got off and shared her chips with him.

We pulled out all the trains and Bailey found it appropriate to sit on the train table to play with them. Please note the horse, deer and Wah-Wah are observing her play with the trains. All is in order in Baileyland.

We made our way back upstairs and read books with the little reader things I have. Claude and I gathered everything and loaded the car. It was time to take Bailey home. We had a wonderful visit with her. It wasn't until just time to leave the house that she said for the first time, "I need to go to my house to see Mommy and Daddy and Hayden."

I told her we were going to get Papa and take him with us. We loaded in the car and headed to Papa's apartment. He came out and got in the car and Bailey assured us she thought Tiny should be there as well. Tiny dutifully barked from her perch on the bed by the window.

Then we drove to Frankfort to the Dairy Queen for a bit of dinner on our way to LaGrange.

We visited with the Marx family for a couple of hours. Hayden had a new projector that showed 3-D slides of the universe. He and I watched all the slides. Bailey played with Papa. She wanted him to keep his legs out in front so she could crawl under them like a bridge. At one point she got his legs the way she wanted and then she looked up and him as best she could from under his legs and said, "Do you understand Papa?" He lost it and laughed really loud.

Then Claude, Papa and I headed to the temple for the rest of the evening.

It was a wonderful outing. What a blessing to be able to do things with little ones. Sometimes as we get older we forget all is really a wonder to see and learn about. Little ones remind us of that.

A Dear Friend Passes...

Last night I received a phone call from a friend from my childhood, George Anderson. George's sister Jani and I were best friends when we were teenagers. A couple of years ago I spoke with George. We caught up a bit on our families and where we were. Then he gave me contact information for Jane. I was so happy to get this information. I called Jani and got no response. For some reason she shut herself off from George and from me when I tried to reach her. Then last night at almost 11pm our time, George called. George lives in California now. He told me Jani had been very ill. Jani was a nurse by profession. She lived in Jacksonville, Florida. She had a dear friend, Alice, who is also a member of the Church. They worked together. It turns out Jani had a previous condition for which she had been taking a steroid medication. Alice told George that steroids can mask another illness as it comes along. Jani's new illness was severe chest and back pain. They believed she had pleurisy. Her condition worsened. They had taken her off the steroids to be sure of their diagnosis. It was determined she needed to be placed on a ventilator. Jani agreed. Evidently your oxygenation level should be 95-100. When they put Jani on the ventilator they got her level to 80. Then it dropped to 60. Then it dropped 40. Yesterday morning her spirit finished it's time here on earth. Jani had given birth to a boy that George believes was named Adam. This baby died. At some point in her life Jani found a good man and married him. He had children from a previous marriage and Jani was given a great opportunity to raise the kids as her own. It was good to talk with George. He will let me know the funeral arrangements. After Claude and I headed to bed, I found myself reflecting on many years ago in Louisiana and that dear friendship during those fun and at the same time difficult teenage years. This morning I came down to my sewing/craft/computer/etc. room and started to rummage for pieces of this past friendship that I might still have. I think it would be a good thing to share some of these with Jani's kids. I found my diary. I was 17 years old when I wrote in this diary. My goodness I was a silly kid. I think 'fickle' was the word I gave to Claude as I shared a few entries. One day I was 'madly in love' with some guy. The next I couldn't stand him. Ah...the roller coaster that is teendom. I believe it is because we are really trying to be an adult and we just haven't quite gotten it right yet. What a blessing if you can learn how to be an adult in a loving home with parents that understand you need to try and then be praised for the good you do and allowed to mend and be healed from the bad you might do. Jani and I were not the same age. I was older by a year or so. Jani was almost like a tomboy and I was not in the least. I tried but, really, there was no athleticism in my make-up. So if you were to look at the two of us, you would wonder why we made such good friends. I think that we both really enjoyed life and that was the match part. And I think that we really appreciated the strengths the each had that the other did not. Then the rest we were able to sift through and uplift when needed. The Anderson family lived up the hill from the Church. It was the next block over. There was an Insurance building across the street from the Church. If you walked across the parking lot the Anderson's back yard was the next thing you entered. Our church building was getting a little small for the number of members we had. We used the Anderson's basement for a classroom on Sundays. It was also the place we had a lot of youth activities. One of Jani and my projects was to create a newspaper for our ward (congregation). We took on this task and gathered articles from the different auxilliaries. We put in announcements and quotes and all kinds of things. One of my favorite memories was printing out that newsletter. It had to be typed on carbon paper and then run through a mimeograph machine. You really can't make mistakes when typing on carbon paper. So the typing process was slow to avoid making mistakes. The mimeograph machine was in the base of the steeple of the old church building. Quite often Jani and I were up there late on a Saturday night copying and stapling the pages so we could distribute our newsletter the next day at Church. To this day and I remember that wonderful smell of mimeograph fluid. It was a much safer world then. Our parents didn't worry about us being alone up there and then walking up the hill to Jani's home after we were finished. Patient leaders let us create those ideas that came to our heads. At one point we determined our newspaper should have a title. We determined we should have a contest and let the members of the ward suggest titles. We would be the judge and jury to decide the actual name from those suggested. Well...we really didn't pick any of their suggestions. Imagine that!! We were studying the Book of Mormon in Early Morning Seminary. We really liked the sound of the word 'Rameumptom'. This was not the best name for a newsletter based on it's context in the Book of Mormon. It is the name of an elevated stand in a synagogue in Zarahemla. The people would come on their Sabbath and each in turn would climb up on the stand and say the exact same prayer about how wonderful they were and how perfect they were and how they were going to be saved. Then they would go out from their meeting and not think or practice their religion any during the week. The poor were not allowed to climb the stand and say this prayer because their clothing was coarse and they were not on a par with the wealthy. So, you see, the word 'Rameumptom' was really not the best word. But Jani and I loved the sound of it. Just like we loved the sound of Mahershalalhashbaz who was the son of Isaiah. Some words are just fun. So we named our paper the 'Rameumptom' and our leaders just shook their heads and let us keep up our newsletter with it's less than perfect name. George Anderson was a great athlete. He ran long distance in high school and was in the state championships. One of our fun outings was to load up in a car with Jani's dad, Mack Anderson, and go to watch George run. We also tagged along to basketball games. It was great fun. Jani and I also made valentines one year for each of our Early Morning Seminary class members. I had a book of poems about animals. We picked an animal for each class member and used it for their valentine. We made refreshments and everything. I remember Jani moving a gun in a closet at their home. It was loaded and when it fell it managed to fire and the bullet hit Jani's toe. Jani was a bit accident prone. Jani wrote a poem about the incident. When I went to Papa's apartment this morning to practice music for Wednesday, I shared with him Jani's passing. He said it was very ironic that he happened to be reading in some of Mimi's history and came across a poem Jani wrote about that incident. He had just been reading it yesterday. He looked it up and I typed it in an eMail and sent it to my home. I'm sure I have it somewhere but to be sure I sent it via eMail. Here is Jani's poem. I shot a bullet through the floor, but also through my foot it tore. My painful cries rang out at last, George, George, come quick, come fast. The ambulance driver, her name was? Florence? Heavens no! it was Mommy Lawrence. I've never seen so many red lights pass, and to think the car was out of gas. To the hospital like a flash, where they "doctored up" the little ash. Back at home, I told my mother. Always me, Never another. It has come to my attention that I'm not designed, to be in bed, in bed, confined. My little Nurse, comes in quite handy, You know the one, Her name is Sandi. I find she's good at soothing the head, and also for putting peanut butter on bread. I feel as useless as a mule. I'll certainly be glad to get back to school. by: Jani Somewhere in all my treasures is a book that Jani made for me about me. I'll keep searching until I find it. It was actually like a little homemade journal of my antics. Neither of us had much money so these homemade gifts were what we shared with each other. The year we studied Doctrine and Covenants and Church History, we had a big thick book for a manual. It was full of wonderful pictures. In my book many have drawings and notes made by Jani. Jani was a dear friend. I loved her like a sister. I regret that in life we lose touch with some people that sustained and cared for us as we grew up. As George and I talked he reminded me that now Jani is not in pain, she is with the little son she lost years ago, and she is with Mack and Jewell, her parents. Bet they are having a great reunion.

This has been a full week. Thursday was a particularly full day. Claude and I attended a dinner and class about living trusts a little over a week ago. We felt enough interest after the dinner to have a meeting with the investment management person and the investment attorney at their office in Lexington. That meeting was this past Thursday (March 18th). When we got to their office, the only parking was at a meter. Claude and I fished out some change and fed the meter so it had 1 hour on it. Our appointment time was for one hour. We visited with the investment man first. Really nice guy. His mannerisms remind be of George Bush the younger. Then the attorney came in to visit with us. We had been told he loved to talk and to keep on task. As the hour approached for the meter to need more change or us drive away, I asked him how diligent the meter readers were in that area. He said they were very diligent. So I excused myself to hurry and feed that meter. As I walked up to the Jeep, there was the meter reader. He was just turning away from the Jeep. I couldn't see the windshield. I said a cheery hello. He smiled and walked away. I got closer to the Jeep and saw no ticket. Yippee!!! The meter still had a few minutes on it. I scrambled inside the Jeep to where Claude tosses empty change and grabbed a handful of coins. I didn't have on my glasses so I was looking for the biggest coins first. I put a couple in and then realized they were NOT quarters. They were the coins they give us at the carwash to use on the vacuum machines. I turned to call the meter guy and ask if he could open the meter but he was long gone. There was nothing to do but let the vacuum coins stay there. I put more coins in to give us 2 more hours which should compensate for the fake coins in there. Unless of course, someone opening the meter uses the carwash by Walmart in Georgetown?!?!?! We finished our meeting and then hurried back to Sadieville for a 1pm meeting Claude had at City Hall. This meant we missed having lunch out and a grocery run. Such is life. We must be flexible. I worked on my computer until 2:30pm when I headed back into Georgetown to get the oil changed and tires rotated on my Buick. I anticipated an hour wait at least. I had just set up my work area to do my crocheting in the waiting room when the service man came in and said, "We're about through with your car. But we found, etc., etc., etc." Nothing of real consequence just those normal maintenance things we need to do for cars. I suggested he write them all on the invoice for the work I was having done and I would have Claude look at it. I love feigning ignorance when I don't have any desire to make that decision right now. A guy would probably not be able to do this at a car dealership. Makes me think of that old song, "I'm a girl and by me that's only great!!" This left me some extra time to fill. I called Papa and talked him into (this really doesn't take much talking) going to Dairy Queen with me for a Chocolate Extreme Blizzard. I introduced him to these wonderful treats and he is a addict. He doesn't take himself to Dairy Queen but if I call and say, "How about a Blizzard?" he is always ready. Papa and I had a nice visit and a great treat. Then I took him back to his apartment to help him with a computer issue and print out a family group sheet from Mimi's side of the family. Papa has been looking at Mimi's geneology and has a bee in his bonnet that we need to go to Watertown, Ohio and do some research there. I cleared March 29th to drive him up there and spend a few hours researching. Claude will stay home and have Tiny duty. (Get it Nissa?) I left Papa's and headed to the nursing home to feed Mimi dinner. We had a nice visit with the nurses trying to feed all the people at her table. Mimi ate everything. Several times she would lay her head over and I would lean in and she just rests her head on mine. Those are nice moments. Then I headed to the Church parking lot. I had a few minutes to work on my crocheting until time to go in for the Relief Society birthday event. Claude wants to have an item to donate for auction at some fund-raising dinner coming up. He asked me if I could crochet something. I pondered it and decided, since it is a political function, I would crochet a pattern I have for a heart-shaped doily that has white stars in it and blue, red, white then red borders. Really nice for a patriotic table. I've got the stars crocheted and am working on the blue borders around them. I'm at the part of tying in all those ends. There are 9 of them and that is a lot of ends. Tying in ends is my least favorite part of crocheting but it is also one of the most important. Leaving a long end to your thread and then weaving it back through the crocheted project so it can't be seen and no one can tell it is there but it is long enough to keep from coming undone if you need to wash to project is really a very important part of making something. The theme for Georgetown’s RS Birthday was “Your ‘Purse’-onal Journey”. Purses decorated the cultural hall. On the tables we were given little tablets shaped like purses. The napkins and plastic cups has purses stamped on them. Each sister was asked to bring her purse. They weighed our purses as we entered the cultural hall. Our opening hymn was sung to the melody of “Count Your Blessings” and the words were Your Purse-onal Journey. Really cute. A prayer was given. Then they launched into a session of calling out items and the sister who found that item in her purse and held it up first was given one of those little bitty chocolate bars. The sister with the most candy bars after the game got a gift bag made like a little purse. The Laurel’s were invited and one of them won and one of the adult sisters also won. Then we all ate from a salad/soup bar. After eating they gave a ‘purse’ gift bag to the sisters with the heaviest and the lightest purses. Then we had 4 speakers. Paula Wojasinski talked about our ‘Purse’-onal quest for learning. Julie Lamb talked about our ‘Purse’-onal finances. Kerry Rennick talked about our ‘Purse’onal relationship with the Savior. And Darby Z??? talked about our ‘Purse’-onal Journey in life. She used all kids of purses and bags to describe our lives and they journey we make through them. The closing was a short video about Relief Society. It incorporated Pres. Eyring’s talk at a General RS Meeting and also had clips of Sis. Beck, Sis. Allred, and Sis. Thompson’s remarks at the General RS Meeting about RS. Then we had a closing prayer. Those who wanted stayed for a caked that had a piece of cake on top that was iced and decorated to look like a small purse. It was a really fun evening and was very well attended. Yesterday (Friday) we headed into Georgetown to do the grocery run we missed on Thursday. After returning home we put the groceries away and I went to visit a friend. She had surgery on her foot (a bunyon removed). We visited for about 1 hour. I took her tulips. I told her she needed a little spring in her home while she recuperated. Then her hubby returned from his run to pick up their medicines. We visited for about another 30 minutes. It felt like I was back in my old Southern childhood. We would go to visit friends just for fun. You might sit on a porch swing and chat with lemonade and a cookie. We always kept a quick snack to share if someone popped in. It was just pleasant to sit and visit about good things with two friends. I think TV and things have replaced this a lot. Both parents working keeps evening full of things mom's may have done during the day. It just keeps life more hectic and often hard to spend time visiting like that. Then it was back home to prepare for company coming to dinner. Claude and I prepared dinner by committee. He barbequed the first time this year. It was chicken with Blueberry BBQ Sauce. Really good flavor there. Claude said this BBQ sauce would probably be really good on pork as well. I made peas & cheese salad, rolls, and potatoes. The potatoes were and old recipe I had where you hold a wooden spoon close beside the potato and then cut the potato in thin (1/4 inch or less) slices. The wooden spoon keeps you from cutting all the way through the potato. Then you kind of fan out the potato, brush it with melted butter, sprinkle salt and herbs of your choosing on top, and then bake until done. Just before serving, you sprinkle the top of the potatoes with shredded cheddar cheese and parmesan cheese. It was a great meal that we finished off with a strawberry cheesecake ice-cream cake from Dairy Queen. We had a great time visiting with our friends. It was just a very pleasant evening. Today Claude and I are both home. It is a catch-up day with lots of little things needing to be finished off. Like catching up on my blog. It's been a good week.

Family Home Evening Funny...

While Claude and I were in Savannah a week ago I was standing front of The Lady & Sons Restaurant waiting to get a seating time. Claude was finding a parking spot for the car. I decided to use part of that time to call home and see if we had any messages on the answering machine at home. Sure enough, I had one from Pres. Beaman, the Branch President in the Lexington 1st Branch (a congregation in the Church). This branch is made up of young single adults from the two stakes (groups of congregations) in the Lexington area. Pres. Beaman's request was for me to teach a Family Home Evening lesson to these young people. I couldn't make out the last 4 digits of his phone number on the message so I called his home and left a voice message there stating where we were and to call my cell phone but I would be happy to teach a Family Home Evening lesson. Later in the afternoon I heard from Phyllis, Pres. Beaman's wife. She gave me the number and I called Pres. Beaman. He asked that I teach about Basic Welfare Principles and said he had a link to the Church website he would eMail me to let me see what they were wanting to cover. We set the date for Monday, March 15th at 7pm. I checked out the link and found a list of 20 principles. I had 30 minutes for the lesson and struggled to find an interactive way to get all 20 principles covered in 30 minutes. I clicked each principle and noted there was a definition and then a quote to support that definition. I copied and pasted all 20 of these into a word document. At the beginning of my work I typed some of the foundational aims and definitions of the Church's welfare program. Then I set about my period of pondering how in the world to handle this in 30 minutes. Monday morning, I had my plan in place and paired the 20 principles into 10 groups of 2 similar principles. I went through my aims and definitions of the Church welfare program and determined to use them as a preface to set the tone of what we would do. Then I set out to print the 10 sets of 2 similar prinicples each on it's own paper with the plan to staple a blank piece of paper to each 2 principles. The idea being to group the young adults attending into 10 groups. Each group would get two similar principles, their definitions and their quotes and a blank piece of paper. They would have time to read, circle key words, and then report back to the group for 2 minutes what they learned and felt important to share with the group about their two principles. I figured I had 30 minutes. I would use 5 to get started, set the basis for Church welfare, divide them into groups and give them their assignments. They would have 5 minutes to read their papers and make their notes. Then each group would have 2 minutes to present the key points about their 2 principles. I might make a quick comment between to support what they said. Then I would close by reviewing the aims and this great quote about the program really aiming to strengthen each of us as individuals. I knew this would run over a bit but not much. I sat at my computer to copy and paste from my earlier session. Then, love my computer's heart (they are almost human to us you know!), it went blank. It has been doing this since Christmas time. It just gets tired and shuts down. Then it automatically comes back up and I can eventually use it again. So I went about doing things in my sewing/craft/computer/etc. room while I waited for it to come back up. This time it was trying to come back on but the monitor just said 'No Signal'. The light on the tower is lit so I know it is trying to do something. The box on top of the tower that tells me the DSL is working and that Claude has access to the Internet on his wireless laptop upstairs is on but one of the 4 lights that should be on does not come on. I hurry upstairs (Claude is getting ready to go to Frankfort to meet with Damon Thayer, our state Senator) to be sure I won't wreck anything for Claude if I just shut the whole thing off at the power strip and start again. Claude said it wouldn't hurt a thing. I asked him if I could still use Word on his laptop if I needed to retype stuff for the Family Home Evening. He said Word would work but I couldn't get out to the Internet unless things were working downstairs. Back downstairs I go and shut the power strip off. Wait, Wait, Wait!! Try to be patient. Turn back on the power strip. The light on the tower shows it is trying to work but the monitor still says 'No Signal'. I turn off the monitor. Wait, Wait, Wait!! Turn back on the monitor. Still says 'No Signal'. I turn off the power switch. Wait, Wait, Wait!! Turn back on the power strip. Light on the tower is on. Monitor still say 'No Signal'. I go up and tell Claude I'll be using his computer. I had all the information I needed printed from my first round of copying and pasting. It will take a bit of time but I can retype and then print the 10 sets of 2 to hand out. Claude suggests I just turn off the computer and let it really cool down. I take his suggestion and shut down the power strip. Then just walk away from my computer and upstairs to use Claude's laptop. The keyboard on a laptop just feels sooooooo different for my PC. I'm searching for the end, control, insert, delete, back, forward, etc. buttons. I typed one of the 10 sheets I would need and printed two copies, one for me and one for the young adults. Then I did the 2nd sheet and printed two copies. I still had 8 more sheets to go. This was going to be slow even thought I type very quickly, it is just slower on the laptop that I'm not used to. After the first two pages, I headed back downstairs and turned on my power strip and walked away. Back upstairs and I typed the 3rd of the 10 pages. Printed my 2 copies. Then I cautiously walked back downstairs with a prayer in my heart my computer would work. This would be soooo much faster if I could just copy and paste. Amazingly, my computer was up and running. I ran back upstairs and grabbed my stacks of paper and notes and printed copies, etc. Then back to copy and paste before my computer decided it might be tired again!!! The funny thing about all this process is that I never got really upset. I had time to think about what I was doing and realize I felt really good about the way this lesson was laid out, the potential for some sharing with everyone, and a better understanding of what I really might want to say or add. It gave me time to confirm in my heart and mind I was on the right track and this hassle was really a part of my preparation time. I got everything put together, pencils, magnets for things on the board, a poster made of all the 20 principles and the groups of 2 they were now in. Then Claude called. The plan was that he would finish in Frankfort and come back to Sadieville to get me, then we would head into Lexington for dinner, then do an errand at Michael's, then be on time to the stake center for the Family Home Evening. Claude was calling to tell me that Damon Thayer was trying to get Claude on the floor of the Senate to introduce him as the new Mayor of Sadieville. Time for a new plan... I suggested to Claude that I stay at the house until 5:30pm. If he wasn't there or hadn't been able to call by then, I would head into Lexington myself giving me enough time for Michael's and then to get to the Family Home Evening. If Claude could join me fine, if not, that was okay too. The 2nd plan was that if Claude got finished soon enough, I would meet him at Papa's apartment where we would leave one car in Papa's driveway and head into Lexington together in the other car. The 2nd plan is the one that actually happened. We made it to an exit close to the stake center that has an Arby's at it. We were able to have dinner and still get to Michael's for our errand before going to the stake center. The lesson went very well. We had enough for 2 people in each group and one group had 3 people. I set the stage and then handed out the assignment pages. Two girls on the side were working together. I noticed that one of them was on her cell phone. She had longer hair so I wasn't quite sure and I watched for a bit during their 5 minutes of prep time. Sure enough, she had a cell phone to her ear. Before I thought I blurted out, "Are you trying to 'phone a friend'?" She looked up surprised. Then she realized what I was asking and she laughed and said, "Yes, I'm trying to phone a friend. I'm going to read this to them and see what they think are the key words." We all got a good chuckle out of it. After the meeting I learned her sister was having some kind of surgery and she was probably checking on her. I spoke to her as we were leaving and we had a hug and laughed at the silliness of 'phoning a friend'. It was great fun to be with the young single adults. They have so much enthusiasm and energy. They also have a lot more knowledge than I think I did at that age, and I was raising kids at that age. It's been sooooo long ago, who knows, but I do feel like they have a great understanding of things. Next fall they are going to have Claude teach a 'time management' class.

Good Memories...

Papa is diligently going through all of his music (tons & tons & tons of it) and trying to record what he has on lists so it is all catalogued and can be easily found. He found a cassette tape of his mother's voice. He and his brothers were asking her questions and she was answering. Papa was so excited to find this tape. It was good for him to hear his mother and to find this treasured bit of family history. He was going to sit and write out by hand what was said on the tape. I assured Papa I could take it and play it on my tape player and type it into the computer faster than he could do that. I just asked him to give me time to get it done. He was grateful for the help. I took the tape home with me. Saturday, I put the tape in my tape player and did a first run through of both sides. The first side has mostly Uncle Harold's voice. I can hear Uncle Salty a bit. And I even heard Aunt Margaret's voice one time. Gramma Duck's (Papa's mother) voice is very difficult to understand. Her speech is really slurred. It was a treat to hear these loved uncles, aunt and my Gramma's voices. I'll go back here and explain why we called Papa's mother Gramma Duck. The home Gramma and Grampa Duck lived in was out in the country. Grampa Duck built a porch on the back of the house. The porch was on posts since the back of the house went down a hill. The porch was on the posts but it was not attached to the house. Over the years it was becoming unstable. Grampa Duck took the porch off and was in process of getting ready to built a stronger porch attached to the house. Gramma Duck went out the back door and forgot there was no porch there. She fell down about a story and broke her hip. After she healed she waddled like a duck. Hence, the nickname 'Gramma Duck'. I really only remember her walking with a crutch most of my childhood and then a walker. Now back to my original story... After typing some of the dialogue from the first side of the tape, I flipped the tape over and listened and tried to get as many words typed as I could of the second side. Papa did a lot of talking on this side. He evidently came to see his mother with lots of geneology research and needed to piece together some key bits of information to get the research to be valid. So a lot of this side is Papa explaining what he has learned in his research. He asks Gramma Duck to think about these names and places and times as she rests in her bed and see if any of it comes back to her. Then the last half of the second side is Gramma Duck and my mother talking. What an emotional experience that was. Part of it was the things they talked about but mostly it was just hearing my mother's voice again. I visit my mom regularly in the nursing home. She occasionally tries to say something. Mostly it is jibberish and often now she is talking to the air in front of her and not directly to me. The tape had mom's voice as I remember it, her laughter, her response to feelings Gramma Duck may have had at an incident she recalled. It was just a beautiful, tender, tear filled bit of time. I felt grateful for the opportunity to hear her voice again. I now understood how nice it must have been for Papa to hear his mother's voice again. Now, Papa found a box of reel-to-reel tapes and he pulled out his 'antique' reel-to-reel tape player to listen to these tapes. His player would not work. He took it apart and couldn't find what the problem was to fix it. He really wanted to get these reel-to-reel tapes onto another media to preserve them. He was going to buy another reel-to-reel player if he could find one on the Internet. I'm far to practical for that. I suggested I see if anyone I knew might have a reel-to-reel player we could borrow for him to complete this project. He agreed. I sent out an eMail to the people in my ward and my counselors. Laura Carter, my counselor, responded that her hubby, Howard, had an old reel-to-reel player/recorder in storage. He was willing to find it and see if it worked. Bless Howard's wonderful heart, he did get it out, got it working, and went through his own box of reel-to-reel tapes. Sunday, Howard brought me the reel-to-reel player/recorder to the Frankfort Ward Conference I was attending. He showed me how to work it. Then I shared with him my experience with Papa's cassette tape and hearing my mother's voice again. He said that when he and Laura went through their reel-to-reel tapes they found lots of things with their kids voices. Then they found a tape of their wedding!!! Can you imagine? And on that tape was Laura's father's voice. He only said a few words, but they are pretty sure it is the only recording of his voice. That meant that as I was having my own tender moment with my mom's voice, my dear friend was also experiencing that same set of feelings with her father's voice. What an outpouring of family feeling and love. I'll keep working on this cassette tape. We want all our family to have this wonderful bit of history. And I'm going to be sure Papa changes this cassette tape into a CD so my sisters can hear their mother's voice again. What a great treasure!!

Saturday, March 6, 2010 - Tybee Island, Georgia

Today we were staying in the Tybee Island area. We had 3 sites we wanted to visit. The Tybee Island Lighthouse, Ft. Screven across the street from the lighthouse and Ft. Pulaski. We slept in just a bit this day, did not have breakfast and headed for the lighthouse first. Tybee Island is really about the 3rd island outside of Savannah. They are located right beside each other and connected by bridges. Tybee is a Euchee Indian word that means salt. It is believed the native Americans would come to Tybee Island to process sea water for salt. Highway 80 is the main road onto and through to the end of Tybee Island. This island reminded us somewhat of Ocean City, Maryland. However, it is not nearly as commercialized. The hotel we stayed in was the largest and has 205 guest rooms. There is a tiny downtown area that is a long block long. It has shops and restaurants. But there are other restaurants and cafes spread over the island. There is a big YMCA with a nice park in about the center of the island. Every parking space has a meter in front of it. Between the hours of 8am - 8pm each day these meters are monitored. There was only one fast food restaurant on the island, an Arby's. Even it had no parking spaces, only ones with meters. So if you go to this island, take a bunch of quarters. Our hotel parking lot did not have meters. The funds from these meters are used to provide and care for the amenities on the island. It is a very clean place to visit. We headed for Tybee Island Lighthouse first. There is a parking lot by the lighthouse that does not charge for parking. There is a small fee for touring the lighthouse and your visit to Ft. Screven is included in this cost. We paid our entrance fee, got the brochure and then headed for the lighthouse. There are 178 steps to the top of the lighthouse. This is the latest of many versions of this lighthouse. The 1st two versions were built closer to the water and were destroyed in storms. The 3rd version was built more on the spot of the current lighthouse. General Lee was concerned the Union Army would use the lighthouse against the Confederacy so he burned the wooden stairs on the inside. Eventually that lighthouse burned down and the current structure was built. It is painted with black at the bottom, white in the middle and black at the top. There is some significance in this painting. My thought is that a ship at sea could see the colors painted on the lighthouse and know for sure where they were landing. Claude and I climbed all the stairs to the top. The lighthouse has landings as you climb so you can climb a set of steps and there will be a landing inside the lighthouse with a window. I think we counted the bottom, 5 landings and the top. When we got to the top and I walked around the catwalk and took pictures every few steps. It was a wonderful way to see the island and the ocean and the Savannah River. Below is a picture of the Tybee Lighthouse and the lighthouse keepers home.

The picture on the left is a view out of one of the windows on one of the top landings. The picture on the right is a view of the Savannah River from the catwalk around the top of the lighthouse.

Eventually they changed to an electric light bulb inside of the glass to make the light. The picture on the right is of the light portion of the lighthouse taken from the catwalk just under the light. The picture on the right is of the first lightbulb. Claude put his hand on the left of the case so you can see how big this light bulb was. The way the glass around it is formed makes the light from this one bulb shine brighter and farther.

Claude and I felt that climbing down the lighthouse was harder than climbing up. You're looking down and really aware of what a fall might do to you. Makes those knees a little wobbly.

At the bottom there are some museum pieces about the history of the lighthouse. Then you head outside to the support buildings that were a part of the lighthouse. These buildings are all being restored and opened to the public. At one point the lighthousekeeper had to have two assistants to be able to keep the lighthouse functional. After electricity was installed in the lighthouse, this many people were not needed. Today there are 3 homes at the base of the Tybee Lighthouse. One for the lighthouse keeper (this is furnished and you can walk through it), and one for the 1st assistant (this has the video about Tybee Lighthouse history) and one for the 2nd assistant (this is the office for the staff there now). The summer kitchen building has been restored. The fuel storage building is also restored and I believe that was the visitor center where we purchased our tickets. They are working on another building that will serve as a gathering place to begin your tours in the future.

Claude and I went to the home with the video next. When we left this home we were going to tour the lighthouse keepers home. A man came out of the office and held out his hand. A crow immediately landed on his hand and began to eat. The man told us the crow was named 'Edgar Allen Crow'. He is fed Friskies Ocean Blend dogfood daily. He is quite tame. In fact, this dogfood has several colored pieces. Edgar Allen Crow has 2 favorite colors and those he picks out and eats. The remaining colors he leaves for the other crows. The man came to me and gave me some of the dog food. Then he instructed me to hold my hand higher than my head. I did that and Edgar Allen Crow flew over to the new hand with his favorite colors of food. Claude was given food and this picture is of him feeding Edgar Allen Crow. This was an unexpected and quite fun experience. Claude asked the man what kind of food he was using. After he told Claude, I just looked at Claude and said, "We are NOT feeding those crows in our backyard." End of discussion.

Then we walked through the lighthouse keepers home. The last lighthouse keeper's family donated the furniture they used in the house. This gives you a really good feel of life on the island as a lighthouse keeper. They were very remote from the rest of humanity. They had to be self-sustaining. A lot of their food was from the see and streams. The house is really nice. We entered from the back porch into the kitchen, at the end of that hall was the bathroom. There was a claw-foot bathtub. Claude and another man walking through the house commented on how tiny that tub was. The next room was the master bedroom it opened into the hall from the front door to the stairway. We walked across this hall into the living room. There was a door there which I'm sure would have taken us back to the hall and the kitchen. But the door was closed and not to be opened. We went back up the the stairs to the boys bedroom and the girls bedrooms. Our next stop was across the street to Ft. Screven. This fort is a series of batteries around the end of the island. The battery is used today for a museum about Ft. Screven and Tybee Island. It also houses the Masonic Lodge for Tybee Island.

The museum has a periscope from World War II. In the museum we learned that pirates were a part of Tybee Island's history. There is a very old deep sea diving suit. One of the cubicles has a video about Tybee Island history. You can walk through this underground portion of the Fort and then climb to the top. From the top we had another good view of the ocean, the rest of the fort, and there is even a little cafe that was closed for the season between the fort and the ocean. The picture on the right below is a marker to measure a hurricane storm surge elevvation. The boards on this measure the hurricane as a level 1 at the bottom to level 5 at the top board.

After the Tybee Lighthouse and Ft. Screven we headed back onto Tybee Island to the little downtown district. We walked the long block and found a pizza place for lunch. They made a really good pizza. The people sitting behind us were from Canada. The lady at the table next to us was from Paris.

Now it was off to Ft. Pulaski. The fort sits at the mouth of the Savannah on Cockspur Island. It was part of an extensive chain of coastal forts built to protect the United States from foreign invasion. It survives as one of the nation's best preserved fortifications. On April 10-11, 1862, Union forces of Tybee Island bombarded the fort for 30 hours using rifled cannon and forced the surrender of the Conferate garrison. After this battle, it became evident that these types of forts were no longer an effective means of defense with the newer weapons. Claude and I found it amazing that all these forts were built along the Atlantic Ocean and not long after they were finished, they were not effective. Imagine all the man hours and dollars to build them and then they are not of value. Claude told me a quote by Patton, "Fixed fortifications are a monument to man's stupidity."

Claude loves history. This was a fun place to visit for him from that perspective. I immediately fell in love with all the angles and way the light played on things. It was going to be a fun place to take pictures. We walked around the visitors center to the walkway to the fort. There was a traingular piece of land that is a part of the fort and is called the demilune. This piece and the fort itself are all surrounded by a moat. The moat is 6 - 8 feet deep. The park ranger told me they have found alligators in the moat, one was 10 feet long. The picture on the left is the demilune viewed from the visitor's center and the moat around it. This is really mounds of dirt built up over storage sheds for dry powder. You can walk through the underground halls and see the storage sheds. The path from the visitor's center goes down the side of the demilune to a bridge across the moat. We crossed the bridge and walked the path from that bridge, through the lower portion of the demilune to the drawbridge for the fort. The picture on the right is the moat around the actual fort taken from the drawbridge to the main fort entrance.

The fort's main (really only) entrance opens up to a covered walkway along that side of the fort. The supply store, officer quarters, infirmery, a cistern for fresh water, enlisted men's quarters are all located on this wall where the drawbridge entrance is located. At either end of this wall were magazines to store dry powder. Below are the enlisted men's quarters on the left and the officer quarters on the right.

We walked the covered walk to the northwest bastion. In the basement level of this corner was a powder magazine (see below). In the ground level corner was a room full of placements for cannon. There are openings in the brick wall to point the cannon through. On the wooden floor was an arc-shaped metal runner used to move the cannon to another direction. There were several openings for other cannon and grooves in the wooden floor for their metal runners. I took some pictures of the opening in the wall for the cannon. It was interesting to see what they could see. Claude, who pays much more attention to the history of these places, learned that after they built this fort one of the drawbacks of it was these openings didn't allow enough ability for cannon to really move to another target. They were too small for that. This really limited their ability to defend themselves.

The remainder of the almost semi-circle that makes up the other walls of the fort is really a series of chambers. They have arched openings to the outside and arched ceilings above each section. The pictures below show a single section from the outside and the way they looked from the inside if you looked down the row of segments. The arched outer opening had a wooden set of doors to close it off.

These were made with lots of thought. The picture on the left shows the wall where the cannon would have been. If you look closely at the top you will see a vent for the smoke from the cannon to escape. At the bottom of there was an opening for water to drain into the moat around the fort. The picture on the right is from the southwest bastion. It was left open and not refurbished so that you can see what the basement structures would have been like to support all the weight of the building above and how it was segmented into rooms.

A portion of this semi-circular set of segmented chambers was used for the jail and had bar doors and bars over the openings where cannons could have been placed. The hoist in the picture below was used to lift those heavy cannons to move them.

A musket demonstration was scheduled in the afternoon. A man dressed in a Union soldiers uniform came out to the middle of the yard in the interior of the fort and fired the musket to get our attention. That worked very well. Then we all gathered under a huge pecan tree in the yard of the fort. He explained to us about the musket and then passed around the musket ball. This one was actually shaped like a bullet. He wore a leather container on his belt and it contained 40 paper bags (or rounds) of powder with a bullet in the bottom of the paper bag. One the front of his belt was another leather container with little round balls used to spark the ammunition. A soldier would have been expected to fire 3 rounds every minute. Imagine that, only 3 rounds in a minute. So different today. A soldier would have taken the small narrow paper bag from one pouch on his belt. He would have torn the bag open with his teeth. If the wind were blowing, it would have been a problem by blowing the powder before it entered the gun barrel. The soldier would have carefully poured the powder into the barrel followed by the ball. Then he would have wadded the paper bag and put it into the barrel of the gun. Next a rod under the barrel of the gun would have been pulled out and used to tap the powder, ball and paper into the barrel of the gun. Then the soldier would open the 2nd pouch on his belt and removed a little round ball. This went into the trigger on the gun. Then the soldier raised the gun, aimed and released the trigger. The trigger hit the little ball causing a spark that ignites the powder, ball and paper and the shot is made. It is quite loud.

After the musket demonstration we headed to the top level of the fort. There were wonderful views up here. We started at the southwest bastion end. I ran into a young boy that was decidedly handicapped. He was having a great time wondering the fort with his father. He struck up a conversation with me. After a bit he told me, "You need to take a picture of me." I assured him that was a great idea. He had a stuffed elephant. I asked him to be sure his elephant was in the picture. He gave me his best smile and I took this picture. He was such a sweetie and a really uplifting addition to my day.

There were some great views from the top of the fort. Below are a few of my favorite photos. The top left is the moat from the southwest bastion along the demilune to the visitor's center. The top right is the Cockspur Island Lighthouse. The lower picture is just a view of the brick wall along the top with a plant growing out of it. In the distance is the Atlantic Ocean.

From the top I took this picture showing a slanted wooden wall on the inside of the fort. This is just a sample of the wall that was built around the entire interior perimeter of this fort when the Confederacy had control of the fort.

On top of the fort were rows of placements for cannons. Some were concrete bases with the metal strip to move the cannon on. Some were grassy with the metal strip to move the cannon around on.

Our touring was now complete. We left Ft. Pulaski and headed back to Tybee Island. On the way back to the hotel we stopped at the visitor center so I could get a picture of this turtle. Over the island were turtles painted or decorated. I'm a turtle loving kind of gal. This one is particularly cute. He is dressed like a tourist. The other turtle picture is a turtle eating ice cream. It was by the little place we bought dinner. The directional signs along the highway were also sea turtles. Way cute!!

It was time for a good night's rest. We were driving all the way home on Sunday. That meant an early wakeup to get on the road early. When I woke up Sunday morning the sun was coming up on the Atlantic Ocean. It was a beautiful view to end our trip on Tybee Island with.

We really enjoyed this quick trip. We filled it with new sights, sounds and tastes. We would go back to Savannah in a heart beat. There is so much more there to see and experience. But we really had a great time experiencing this beautiful part of our country.