Happy Anniversary To My Sweetheart

On December 27, 2008 Beverly and I will be married 33 years! I tease her and tell her it's been the happiest 15 years of my life!! That is not true at all, of course. Each year has been different in its own way and the years have gone amazingly fast. It seems like yesterday that we were young newlyweds starting out in Eastland in a $100.00 a month frame house behind the fire station. I remember well the night the siren went off and a startled, sleepy Beverly jumped up from sleep asking "Mama, what is it?" I'm thinking "I'm not your Mama!" During the next three years there our first baby, Jennifer, was born and the rent went up $25.00.

Every since then, we have lived here in H-town, raised 3 children and grown older and wiser. The past 33 years are filled with so many memories and we often talk about those Alan Jackson "remember when" days. We have been fortunate in so many ways. We haven't grown wealthy by any means, but we are wealthy in terms of our family, our children, grandchildren and friends. God continues to bless us richly and we give him credit for all of the wonderful blessings we enjoy. Our children are all happily married now and are where we were those many years ago. I pray that they will have the same happiness we have experienced.

Beverly, you are the love of my life. You are my best friend, my confidant, my counselor, and a wonderful wife and mother to our children. I hope we can look forward to many more years together doing things like jeeping in Colorado and enjoying each other's company. Remember, I love you the most and always will!

Our Little Man Turns Five

It's hard to believe that it has already been five years since our grandson Taylor first came into our lives! But, this past week, Taylor turned five years old! Next year he will be in school and everyone knows how fast times goes once they start to school. As parents we all know how much we love our children, but like people say, there is something very special about grandchildren. He has filled our lives with so much enjoyment and love and is a constant source of laughter, awe and amazement. He loves his PawPaw and BeBe and we have spent a lot of hours together. We know that someday as he gets older he will find other things more exciting than being here with us, but we are hoping he will remember these days and look back on them with good memories. It has been a busy week with birthday celebrations at pre-school, with family and a birthday party with his friends on Saturday. Now we look forward to the next six birthdays in our immediate family from now until New Year's Day. Wow! Hope everyone has a Happy Thanksgiving.

Here are a few favorite pictures of Taylor. We had to include one of Presley as she tried on Taylors boots and hat!

Songs About Life

What little I know about blogging, at least the format portion of the blog, I learned from Ashley and from trial and error, mostly error! One of my favorite things about this blog is the ability to download songs that really touch you from time to time. Music has a way of expressing your own thoughts when you can't express them yourself. I admire good song writers and one thing they all seem to have in common is plenty of life experiences. I think you need that in order to really tell a good story. Experience is the best teacher and from their experiences their songs are born. So here lately, when I have a little time, which doesn't happen often, I like to look for those songs that fit how I may be feeling. So, when you hear some of our blog music, you can get an idea of what's on our minds. Just some rambling thoughts from someone with some life experiences of his own. I think I'll go get my guitar and write a song!

The Lawn Ranger and His Field of Dreams

It seems to me that all I have done this summer is mow! With the recent rains, which we are very thankful for, the grass has really been growing. Not only do I take care of our yard, but I also have a lot of mowing and shredding to do at the orchard. Also, last year, the local Park Board needed someone with some knowledge of athletic fields to help them establish four new fields at the new park. Someone probably said, "Get Danny. He's retired and he knows about growing grass." So, I have been the official Forest Gump of the park for the past couple of years. I'm on a mower so much that when my children send birthday or Father's Day cards, the cards all have something to do with mowing. Jordan sent me a card about the Lawn Ranger, and that is about the truth.
The fields, 2 baseball fields, 1 softball field and 1 football/soccer field are all seeded in a hybrid bermudagrass called Princess 77. It has really grown well and we are in our second year of play on them. We are lucky to have this facility in our community.


The Lawn Ranger and his horse John Deere!

A view of some of the fields. In the background are two old bridges that once crossed the Leon River and are being "recycled" at the park and will become a part of the walking-biking trail.

What A Difference A Day Makes

Like many of you, we have been suffering through the summer with hot temperatures and no rain. But, thanks to God and Edouard, all of that changed yesterday. God does answer prayers, sometimes in a big way. During the night on August 6, sometime around 2:00 a.m. the rain started and when it was all finished we had received almost 6 inches here at the house. It was a lot of rain, but even more came at the orchard. We got around 9 inches there! There was an advertisement in this weeks Hamilton paper that simply said "Pray For Rain" and it worked. We are very thankful for this blessing. We hope that if you were not in the rain path this time, that you will receive what you need soon.


This isn't a very good picture, but the water was almost over the bridge on the little creek behind our house.


By the end of the day, the water was down, but flowing swiftly.


The Leon River overflow was up over this 5 wire fence.


The Leon River crested yesterday. Muddy, but still beautiful!


This reminded me of Colorado, but it is a little low water crossing near the house.


Today, everything looks peaceful and quiet.

The Jersey Boys Come To Dallas

Beverly has always liked music. Her taste varies from country to gospel to the music of the 50's and 60's. Of course her all time favorite was Elvis and I have to admit, I like his sound, too. She, in her younger days, was a collector of 45's and has a collection of over 300. For any younger readers, 45's came along before the use of tape and certainly before CD's. I say all of that to lead up to our recent trip to Dallas to see the hit Broadway musical Jersey Boys, the story of Frankie Valli and the Four Seasons. It has been playing in New York since 2005 to full houses and just started on a national tour and the first stop was in Dallas at the Fair Park Music Hall. So, I surprised Beverly for her birthday and got tickets.

The show was awesome! These guys can sing--maybe better than Frankie himself! It was a great show and we really enjoyed hearing all of the songs as they told the story of this group of four blue-collar boys from the rough area of New Jersey. It is authentic, down to the language which can be a little much at times, but overall the show was very much worth seeing. It has been a dream of ours to see this show and we didn't even have to go to New York to see it. If you get a chance, and like this kind of music, check out their website at http://jerseyboysinfo.com/Broadway/ and listen to some of their music.

Presley Nicole Long At 4 Months

Hard to believe that Presley is already 4 months old! Jennifer and Beverly took her for her 4 month checkup in Waco yesterday. She is doing great, right on target for all of those little things that they start doing about this time. She weighed in at a hefty 11 pounds, 7.4 ounces. The pediatrician, Dr. Orr, said she is going to be one of those that we will all envy because she will be able to eat all she wants and not gain much. I wish I had that problem!!

She changes every day it seems. She is really holding her head up, laughs, coos, puts her hands in her mouth and holds things. Before long, she will be walking---oh, no! What can we say, she is precious!

Surprise Visit From Denver

Jeremy and his wife Annie blessed us with a visit recently. They have lived in Denver for about a year now, so you would think we wouldn't get to see them that often. But, it's crazy, that during the last year we have probably got to spend more time with them than when they were living in Houston. First, we helped move them last July, when it was 100 degrees there, I might add; then they were here for Jordan's wedding in August; then Beverly and I visited them in September when we went jeeping in Ouray, then we saw them at Christmas, so we have been fortunate to see them as often as we have. Beverly, Jennifer, Taylor, Presley and I picked them up at the airport in Austin. We were driving into the airport just as their plane landed and we sat and watched them taxi to the terminal!

Beverly, Jennifer and Presley met them as they arrived. This was their first time to meet Miss Presley! Her first time to be in an airport, too! Note the Colorado luggage. Back packs are the norm there, especially for camping and hiking folks like Jeremy and Annie!

On our way out of Austin we stopped for a relaxing dinner at Pappadeaux's. We caught up on all the latest family news and ate some good seafood.





We left Austin only to get stuck in a huge traffic backup and finally got home about 12:30 a.m. We spent the next few days with family and even attended a family reunion in Abilene where we got to see Jordan and Ashley and all of the work they have been doing on their new home and yard. Later in the week we took Jeremy and Annie back to The Hollows on Lake Travis where Annie's family was vacationing. We enjoyed a nice lunch and a good visit with Annie's parents, three sisters and little niece. They are now back in Denver where he is an architect. He is working for a firm that is designing an addition to the airport in San Jose, California.

I'm Just a Nut Case

We had a great meal for the Field Day, fried catfish and all the trimmings. Beverly needs a hat like this woman's to wear in the orchard.

This is part of the organic orchard management treatment. Compost and mulch are being used to improve the soil structure around the trees.

Taylor likes to "help" his PawPaw in the orchard. We are thankful for this irrigation well that allows us to supply needed water, especially this summer.

We have a micro-mister under each tree to deliver irrigation water and any other nutrients that can be applied in the water. Late in the day, driving close to these can give you a cooling shower.

Sometimes the rows of trees can be confusing. You can end up going the wrong way at times!
This is where it all begins. Hopefully this cluster of pecans will make it through the summer and into the harvester this fall!!

When you have been so long in updating your blog, sometimes there are too many choices on what to post. Such it is with us. So, in the interest of time, I've decided to update you on one of the more recent and continuing stories, that of our venture into the pecan business. As you may or may not know, we have leased an irrigated pecan orchard this year and we have been busy with it taking care of the spraying, mowing, irrigating and most recently hosting an Organic Pecan Management Field Day.

Our orchard contains both an organically grown section and a conventionally grown section. The organic part has been been under research by the USDA since 2002 so this field day highlighted the result of the various treatments over the years. We had over 125 people attend and I saw people from Colorado, Arkansas, Missouri and other locations. We had a catered fish fry that was delicious and we had plenty for everyone there and a few flies and fire ants as well.

I leased this orchard from Sonny, a former Extension client of mine. I worked occasionally for Sonny after I retired from being a County Agent and as it became apparent that his health was not going to allow him to do this much longer, he asked me if I was interested in leasing an orchard. I was, but then suddenly Sonny's health took a turn for the worse and he passed away in March. So, now instead of being able to learn from the master, I am having to learn a few things by trial and error. Thankfully I had 30 years of experience in advising people about growing pecans, but it is different when they are your own. I hope Sonny is looking down and liking what he sees.

The orchard is a beautiful place to work and visit. There is something very peaceful about rows of trees with lush green canopies, especially when the irrigation is on and you drive by the trees and get a cold shower of fresh well water. Beverly and I like to go late in the day and drive the Gator through the orchard and check the crop. This year we have a light to moderate crop on most varieties but we are excited about the prospect of the harvest. If any readers want some quality pecans this fall, leave a comment and we will save you some. After all, who doesn't like a pecan pie?

So, when people say, "You're nuts", they're right!

Our Little Aggie

Today, April 21 is an important day to all Aggies. Today is known as Aggie Muster, a date set aside each year for Aggies to meet together, no matter where they are, to honor those Aggies that have passed away during the last year. The first muster was June 26, 1883 and later it evolved into a celebration of Texas Independence on San Jacinto Day, April 26. "Muster is the most solemn and sacred of all Aggie traditions, but it is a time of joy and happy remembrance. Those who have gone before us are those whose lives have touched ours. May we do the same for those who come after us. May we expect no less of our selves." Dr. E. Dean Gage '68.

Two of our children, Jennifer, class of '99, and Jeremy, class of '02, graduated from A&M. (Jordan, like his dad, chose to go to Tarleton, a part of the A&M System, as well) Jennifer was the true Aggie, loved every minute and every tradition (still has every Aggie T-shirt she got while there, and there are a lot of them) and has been active in Muster here. Tonight she was in charge of the local Muster ceremony. Therefore, we got to keep little Miss Presley! Taylor and his dad had T-ball practice. Jennifer brought Presley over dressed in her Aggie attire, and she looked really cute. Jennifer is set on her children being Aggies, too. Time will tell. There are lots of good schools out there but since I worked for the A&M system for 30 years and we have spent lots of money at the school, we hope they want to be Aggies, too. Gig 'em!

The Lizard Man

Spring is officially here. I found my first tree lizard the other day while mowing and he was a big one! We have always had an abundance of these old "rusty" tree lizards in the many post oak trees that surround our house. Our youngest, Jordan, seemed to get along well with these creatures and caught his share of them during his growing up days. He took great delight in frightening his mother with them which usually led to a knot on his head or a bruised spot on his arm where she pinched the fire out of him! Beverly never did have a sense of humor when it came to a lizard, a mouse or a rat. She was more inclined to take a BB gun and shoot them off the side of the tree, and she became a pretty good shot with practice. Now, however, it is our grandson's turn. Taylor isn't like Jordan in his complete love for lizards and insects, but I did convince him that this lizard was still just too cold to move very fast. I told him I wanted a picture of him with it to show Uncle Jordan and at first he was not really sure, but finally he agreed. His facial expressions tell it all. I'll have to share with Taylor and you the story of how we came to find a grown iguana in our yard one day and how he came to live with us, made his escape for six weeks before he was recaptured. Finding a two and a half foot iguana lurking in your flower bed can be quite disconcerting. It did, however, explain some of the unusual noises we heard on the roof during that time.

Someone Is Beginning To Get Spoiled!

Funny how the arrival of a new baby changes everything. Since Presley's arrival last week, we all have had to change our normal routines, a lot!! There is plenty to do, not only for Mom and baby, but for grandparents, Dad and big brother. It changes all of our lives, but in such a positive way. Presley is doing great. Jennifer took her for her one week checkup on Tuesday and she weighed 6 lbs. 10.8 oz, up from her birth weight of 6 lbs. 3 oz. Quite a little pig! Mom says she eats all the time. The Dr. was well pleased with her weight and color.






She really isn't spoiled. In fact, she hardly ever gets any attention from any of us. Can't you tell?

Presley's First Day At Home

Today was Presley's first full day at home. She seems to be adjusting to the hectic pace of life in Hamilton. Today her great-grand parents from Stephenville came for a visit, along with several friends from church. So, we used their visits as an excuse to stay at Jennifer's and basically not get much done. Hey, it doesn't take much of a reason to sit and enjoy your new grand daughter!

Presley Is Here!!!

While it seems like it has been a long wait in one way, and just a few short days in another way, Presley Nicole Long has finally arrived, all safe and sound!! She came into this world on Tuesday, February 26 (which is also her great uncle Lester's birthday), at 2:40 p.m. weighing 6 pounds 3 ounces and 20.5 inches long. She is a beautiful baby, all grand parents think that of course, but in her case it is true. We suggested that Jennifer and Toby name her Precious, because she truly is. She is so, so tiny. As Jennifer's friend Gina said, "She is like holding a feather!" She has long fingers and I think she will be a guitar and piano player! Beverly and I think that she looks just like Jennifer when she was born. She has lots of hair, blonde around her face and long and darker in the back. Jennifer was at the hospital at 5:00 a.m on Tuesday, Presley was born that afternoon and tonight they are home, a little over 24 hours after being born. Not like the old days. Jennifer said there is no rest in the hospital when you are tending to the baby yourself, so you might as well be in the comforts of your own home.

Beverly and I are so thankful for her safe arrival and we appreciate everyone's thoughts and prayers for all of us. It is very true that God is so good.