Sowing

Since moving to Texas I have decided to get a green thumb. Now mind you that my thumb has always been brown and a tendency to lean to the black. I kill plants. I killed a cactus. I took the advice of some columnist and only watered it when it rained in the desert of Arizona. Yet it still died. I used to say that it was amazing that my kid and my dog have lived this long. Cam said that it was because he learned how to feed himself.

Last year I tried my hand at planting some herbs, peppers (jalapenos, green bell and red bell) and tomatoes. The herbs did great. All except for the dill...it did not take. The Jalapenos went crazy. They did not stop coming. I had crop after crop after crop. I made stuffed jalapenos, hot sauce and a lot of salsa. However my green and red peppers were a bust and the tomatoes did OK and I started to have a really good bunch until the worms got to them.

So this year I decided to try again. Today I started my seeds. They make these really great thing called jiffy puffs. You add water and the grow to about 1 1/2 - 2 inches. They are filled with peat and you put 2 -3 seeds inside and cover it up. Then put the lid on it and it makes its own little green house. You add water when it needs it. And then wait for the seeds to start growing.

Since today is the first full day of spring I thought it would be a good day to plant. So I did. And in a few weeks there will be little signs of life. And it will be beautiful. And I will do my best this year not to kill them. I will try very hard to help them grow and flourish.

It is the greatest feeling though when you do all the work and get the rewards of the fruit of your labor (or in this case veggies and herbs). It gives me a sense of accomplishment. I love growing my plants. I love sharing them with everyone.

So I sowed the seeds today and I await to reap the rewards.

Losses

Sometimes life in unfair. No one ever told you that it would be. It sucks. It stinks. But it is true, it is not fair at all.

We go through our lives. Meet people. Become friends. Some even become like family. And then a someone dies.

It is never easy when someone passes away. Friend, family or a family member of a friend. It is never easy.

My son has a friend, Alfredo, who's grandpa passed away the other night. Richard was a nice person. He was raising his grandson because both of his parents are currently serving time. Alfredo was doing well here. He was doing good in school. Participated in sports. Loved to fish. And just hang out with his friends. He was always welcome here and I always knew where Cam was when he went out with Alfredo. Richard did a great job with Alfredo.

But his passing hurts more than just the loss of him. It is also the loss of a life Alfredo has come to know. Alfredo will probably no longer live here in Hemphill. He will probably go live with relatives in Corpus Christi. where he will be exposed to Gangs, drugs and drive by shooting. Where when he did live there when he was younger he was afraid all the time that he would be shot.

Alfredo is a great kid. I want him to come live with us but that is not up to me to decide. It is up to his relatives. I always told him that he is our adopted son. He is polite and friendly when he is over. He always wants to help out and always eats what I make and loves it.

Camryn will lose his friend because he will have to move away. Alfredo is his best friend. Cam cried when he found out that Richard died. They would talk M.A.S.H. and other old programs that they both likes. They talked football and fishing. Richard like Camryn to hang out there because I think he thought Cam would keep Alfredo out of trouble. Little did he know how much trouble they really went looking for. Or maybe he did know and just looked the other way. Cam mourns the loss of his friends Grandpa because his friend mourns the loss.

So the loss of Richard affects more than just a few people. It affects everybody that knew him and his family.

It sucks.
It stinks.
It is not fair.

Boats

So we took the plunge, so to speak. We finally got a boat. We plopped down a few grand (with the help of my mother in law - Thank you Annette) on a used boat. A 24 ft part barge. A pontoon.

My brother in law, Seth, says that boat stands for Bring Out Another Thousand. Well it is so true.

We took it out for a test ride after we bought it...It was about 40 degrees out and the wind cut right through you. Cold to the bone. But we needed to see what it was like. We launched it, headed towards the Main lake, turned right, took it down aways, turned left, and heard crunch...crunch...crunch. Turned it the other way, got it straight, turned again and nothing. We could not turn any more.

Here we are, Shawn, Cam, Alfredo, Mathew, and myself stuck on the lake. Not even close to the shore. We tried to get another person out on the lake fishing to help us but he never even heard us. Shawn managed to get us slightly turned towards the shore. We could go backward and forward, and that was it. He managed to get us close enough to shore where I could jump out and get to shore and get help.

Ice cold lake (hey just because I live in Texas does not mean the water is a balmy 70 degrees all year...it was freezing) and almost up to my knees I waded to the sandy beach. Went to Rick and Peg's house for help. Rick got his boat out of storage and came to our rescue. He towed us back to the dock and helped us get the boat turned around to get it on the trailer.

We got it out and took it straight to Carlson's boat shop. He looked it over and told us it would be about 300-400 to fix the steering however the Transom was rotten. The transom is what holds the motor up. So we got it over to Price's welding. He looked at it and said it would be about 400 to fix it...OK so we are at 800 now.

However, we also need to replace the captains seat...another 200....ding ding ding...$1000!

So there ya go...Seth was right.

But it will be worth it. Weekends on the lake, with family and friends. Swimming, fishing, grilling (yes I am putting a grill on it), and so much more. Come on summer!