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Carol's Corner It was wonderful to hear that we had reports of from three inches to 6 inches of rain here from Tuesday through Thursday morning. The Lord really blessed us with such abundant moisture with no serious storms and with mild temperatures. Xavier went Friday for a weekend with Grandma Lourdes in San Angelo. His Uncle Alex Nino and Aunt Miriam and their boys picked him up on Friday and Grandma brought him home on Sunday evening. According to him they didn’t do much, but he had a wonderful time playing with his uncles, his cousins, and his little sister, Abby. On Saturday, being childless for the weekend, I went furniture shopping in San Angelo with my cousins, Kyle and Nina Brookshier of Van Horn and soon to be from Ballinger. They have purchased a very large home there and are attempting to fill it with furniture. After they picked out about ½ a houseful of beautiful items, we came back to Turnrow Bar and Grill in Rowena for some pretty awesome steak before ending up at their new home. I was given the royal tour and fell instantly in love with the house and pool. On Sunday after Church, the group from Voss Baptist Church all had lunch at Grazin Patch in Valera. Due to the abundance of rain, I had telephone issues on Thursday and Friday and also major/minor septic tank issues starting on Thursday. The telephone line was repaired on Friday, but the septic tank will not be evaluated and hopefully fixed until midweek. Ahhh.. Country living at its best. H.M. and Maureen Duncan went to the Fifth Sunday Singing in Talpa on Sunday night. Carroll Hinds sang a special, "I Surrender All" and Dave Ellison and Maureen sang a duet, "What A Friend We Have In Jesus". After the singing, everyone enjoyed a delicious supper of Chili and Soup that was served with many "finger foods" and a table of luscious desserts . There was lots of good fellowship at the singing and the supper. This from Rosa Baker: Well, the boys dug holes all over the place, but only a foot to 18 inches deep before hitting "Talpa Rock". If we plant new pecan trees, we're going to have to get some heavier equipment than what we have or forget it...I'll plant some shallow rooted shrubs in the holes that's dug... James has been nursing a sore mouth this week. He's having to get all his teeth pulled. He's doing better than I did during the ordeal of "no theeth". Good thing he heals fast. We "dog sat" with "Jake" this week-end while Gunner and Lisa went to Midland. They celebrated both their birthdays, their grandson Marc's birthday, their daughter-in-law's birthday and their anniversary, all happening this week-end. The rain was wonderful, but the winter grass has really grown. Guess we had better uncover the lawn tractor and start mowing.....Spring seems to be near, but we'd better not put away our coats for a while, I'd bet. Also, on Wednesday Lisa and Rosa went to Veribest and visited with Dana Priddy. Had a nice lunch of spaghetti with meat sauce, salad and garlic-cheese bread. Dana was working with a new sewing machine and needed a few pointers from "Grandma" Rosa. We enjoyed the day spent with her..... and now, Talpa Bob's contribution about local nonsense.... Hello to All, Last Monday I traveled back to Odessa to the Toe Whittlin' Doc for a check up. The weather was clear this trip.. a bit windy as you will recall. The fences on both sides of the road were clad with paper that had blown from somewhere...and stuck on the barbwire. It would take weeks for a crew to travel from Midland to nearly Garden City and pick off the paper. I was wondering where in the world would so much paper be loose? No idea. Some trash dump? Maybe, if they did not burn it due to the high wind. It is not a pretty sight and so far no city or county or state road maintenance crew wants to claim responsibility to clean it up. We are talking about a good 75 miles of fence on both sides of the road trashed up. Made it to Midland and met up with an old Pecos guy for coffee. It is good to stay in touch with friends from long ago, been knowing Drew since the mid 1950's. The doc appt went okay, come back in a month. Had lunch with my sister and brother in law. She makes up a pretty good pot of stew. Otherwise, I would have been at Taco Bell. She gave me a big mouth thermos of it to bring home with me. Get home and my dinner is ready! My cat Tobi got into something rolling around and got something on her that caused an allergic reaction. The poor cat is about to scratch her head off. So, I have been going to Brownwood to the vet and to the pharmacy a couple of times trying to get something to stop the itching. The cuts where she scratched it raw are pretty much well now but she still wants to scratch. Right now I am putting on cortisone cream. It needs to stop soon or I will have a naked cat. The vet suggested that I give her a bath and use antibacterial soap. Okay...I tried to...she did not like the idea and pretty soon I was on the loosing end. I nearly got her rinsed off before she out scratched me and made a get away. Drying her off didn't go well either. So, I do what I can. The first call to the vet, the aide said for me to give her some liquid children's benadryl. I didn't have any on hand...call Carol, she has about 30 cats and a youngster that may use it...no, but she was standing in Wal-Mart at the time and was maybe 6 steps away from picking me up a bottle.. and Carol was kind enough to pick it up for me and bring it by the house. I gave Tobi a small dose.. that didn't go too well, she started spitting and salivating...did not give her any more. So, I have a good size bottle of children's benadryl if anyone needs any. If anyone owns some elbow high leather gloves and would like to come hold Tobi while I try to shampoo her, please let me know. Walking through the house lately I have been hearing a "chirp"...only those who wear hearing aids will appreciate this...it is the same "chirp" that your hearing aids make when the battery is going bad. So, I changed the batteries and went about my business....kept hearing the "chirp"...what tha? are the new batteries bad? Then I heard it at a time when I was not wearing the aids. So now what? Are my ears going to go away too? It was my cat, Angel, that tipped me off as to what the problem was....she was looking straight up at the smoke detector...a real "ah ha" moment...so, the next trip in I went by Wal-Mart and picked up a package of six "9 V batteries"...right...I have 5 smoke alarms and the one extra will run down by the next time I need one. If anyone needs just one 9V battery I will make you a good price...just come by and I will give it to you. That is about all the news there is in the quite little corner of Coleman County. Talpa Bob BTW (by the way) Bob.. Last count I only had about six outside cats left. It only appears to be 30. I inherited Vena Bob’s cats when she moved to Coleman and also another neighbor’s when she moved. They were hungry and I gave them food and shelter. Such loyalty. They never leave when you feed them. Oh, well.
Carol's Corner
NEWS FROM LAST WEEK: Xavier and I went to Brownwood on Friday January 13th after Xavier got out of school at 9:30 because of the stock show. We shopped the mall then had lunch at Underwood’s Barbeque. After lunch we went across the street and shopped Wal Mart before going home. On Saturday we drove to Abilene for a couple of days. We took in two movies, “Alvin and the Chipmunks-Chipwrecked” and “We Bought a Zoo”. I recommend both. They were very good and although the second one has tear-jerking moments, it is a good lesson in moving on after loss. We shopped at Target, Kohl’s, TJ Maxx and all the stores in the Mall as well as eating out in not very “adult-friendly” places--Burger King, Chick-fil-A, and Chucky Cheese. Next trip we go for what I like, yeah-right. Sunday morning we ate a leisurely breakfast at I-Hop with Tommy and Lou Ellen Gates who live in Buffalo Gap. We got home right before dark on Sunday. Xavier, who rarely takes even a nap, was asleep before 5:30 p.m. and slept for 16 hours straight. I guess I wore him out this weekend. Due to the stock show and sale this weekend, Xavier was also out of school on Monday and had early dismissal pm Tuesday. Now it’s back to school and homework. Sorry to hear about the fire at the High Rise. Hope everyone is okay and that repairs and restoration will be completed in a timely fashion so everyone can get all settled back into their homes. Very thankful for no injuries. Also I read on Facebook how great our first responders did, as well as all the volunteers helping the residents. In response to a request from a very good friend of mine, the following news item: On Saturday, January 28th, a Birthday “Card Shower” will be held in the Coffee Room at 403 Rio Concho Drive in San Angelo to honor Louise Sparks Radle, a former Coleman County resident. Louise will be celebrating her 80th birthday and she wants to invite all her friends to join her. The party will be held from 2 to 4 p.m. on January 28. If you are unable to attend, please send Louise a card with a note to: Louise Sparks Radle, 403 Rio Concho Dr. #3322, San Angelo, TX 76903. HM and Maureen Duncan had a surprise when HM's daughter, Glenda Zepeda, called saying she had the weekend off and would drive up from Castroville to spend Friday and Saturday with them. They went to The Owl for breakfast on Saturday morning and Maureen recommends the "Owl's Mess" with the biscuits and gravy. They went to Coleman after Church on Sunday where they had lunch and visited with Lorna Clevenger. Before coming home, they stopped in to see Jim and Julie Wall at Mozelle. HM lamented the fact "people just don't visit, like they used to". Translated, "the Duncans don't visit", but we thoroughly enjoy it when we do. And this from Talpa Bob: Hello to All, It as an interesting week to say the least. For the past several weeks I have had an uneasy feeling about my left big toe. It was worked on a year ago last December by a Toe Whittler Doc in Odessa. Without getting gross, I decided to make a quick trip to San Angelo to the Drive in Doc. He agreed that it looked bad and infected. He gave me an antibiotic to get started on and I came home and on a whim, call my Odessa doc at home...how bad can ya get? He is a great person and insisted that I come in Monday morning, and, can I be there by 10:30am? You betcha. My sister, who lives in Odessa, told me that the forecast had been changed to just rain. So, I left out about 6:30am and it was raining here, all the way to Robert Lee and beyond...about Garden City it turned to sleet and snow...oh great...just slowed it down... I had plenty of time as I left early....some people think that they can drive 70 mph on a slick road...tain't so...there was a guy in a little PT Cruiser whiz past me and pretty soon he executed a maneuver described by that great baseball announcer Dizzy Dean as, "he slud into third"....sideways...buried that little Cruiser up the windshield wipers .... He was already outside prancing around and talking on his cell phone when I got to him.. I slowed down and was going to see if he needed any help, but he turned his back to me so I went on. (About 7 or 8 hours later on my way back the car was still there but the guy was gone.) Got to Midland and it ...(borrow another quote)..."come a young blizzard". The road to Odessa was mostly in one lane and everyone tried to stay in the tracks of the 18 wheelers. Those that tried to pass and cross over the ruts and mounds of ice got to park out in the medium for the rest of the day...some upside down. There was no East bound traffic on I-20....later I saw that a big rig got over sideways and blocked both lanes. It was cleared by that afternoon when I started back. I arrive at my Toe Doc about 10:25....how is that for timing. He looked at it and performed a bit of minor surgery to remove an ingrown nail that had grown down and curled up...about the size of a pinto bean. I will be okay and it is healing up just fine...go back on the 23rd to give the doc one last look at it...hope he got it all this time. And no, I won't be going if the forecast is rain or snow... The trip back was mostly uneventful, slick roads and ice and snow to about Garden City and then just rain. We got about 1 1/2" according to my highly accurate rain gauge. On Sunday afternoon we enjoyed a balmy 68° so you know that I had to do a load of wash. Did you also notice the wind came up? It was a good 25 mph and gusting up.... 1I tried to put a sheet on the line and had two clothes pins on one side when the wind caught it...took off like a parachute...nearly lifted me off the ground...and sailed off...it was nearly in Brown County before I caught up with it...well, it seem that way. I just gave it up and took everything back in side...the sheets were nearly dry anyway. And that is about all I witnessed this week in our quiet little corner of Coleman County. Talpa Bob NEWS FOR THIS WEEK: I am missing a 400 pound black calf. It went missing Thursday morning from a pen on Hwy 67 inside Talpa and hasn’t been seen (by us) since. If any of you happen to notice you are feeding an extra mouth, please call me (325)365-3149 and I’ll arrange to get him removed from your property. He was purposely separated from the rest of the herd on Tuesday when they were taken to Coleman. We think he went in search of his mother and will be located with other cows close to Talpa. I took Xavier to Coleman on Saturday to attend a birthday party for Monica Ceniceros. I want to thank Talpa Bob for walking my black kitten home on Thursday. The kitten had wandered all the way to the Post Office on Wednesday and after spending the night there he was identified when Connie called me. Thank you for the care and milk ya’ll gave to him, and for calling and letting me know where he’d wandered off to. He is presently visiting the Pioneer Hilton (aka Pioneer Vet Clinic) in Winters where he’s receiving treatment for a respiratory issue and an abscess on his back. HM and Maureen Duncan attended the O.H. Ivie Baptist Association Meeting on Tuesday, January 17 at Fellowship Baptist Church. H.M went to the executive board meeting and Maureen attended the W.M.U. business meeting. Supper consisted of soup, cornbread and desserts. Afterwards, they heard Mark Hewitt speak about the Love and Care Ministries in Abilene. Maureen reports the Good News Club is up and running again, having been in "Time Out" since before Christmas. From Rosa Baker: I don't have any news this week...We spent a quiet week at home except for the usual run to Ballinger for supplies and to eat at Beefmaster’s on Friday evening. I love their catfish... Chuck Baker came out Saturday and Sunday afternoon to help Charles and Gunner and Landon Hines dig some holes for the new pecan trees, but after hitting our famous "Talpa Rock" they have to get a different auger with more teeth. MAYBE we can get through enough rock to plant the trees...
Caro's Corner To all parents of Good News Clubbers, we were sorry to have to cancel the club on Monday. Just felt it was too iffy what the weather was going to do. Next week, there will be no school on Monday so here’s another long vacation for us. Big plans for the 23rd!
Carol's Corner
The days from Christmas up to New Years were pretty much a rerun. Cold and
windy.
Carol's Corner I apologize for not getting last week’s news in, but here it is with all the
now-late Christmas greetings. And this from Talpa Bob: ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ♪ A Cartridge In a Bare Tree♫ This week’s News: Xavier and I had a great Christmas. We hosted the Shon Jones family (Shon,
Melissa, Taryn and Shon Jr.) on Friday evening for our family “Christmas Tree”.
We had pizza and snacks then opened packages. The three Jones kids had such a
great time together. And From Talpa Bob: Talpa Bob
Carol's Corner On Monday I took what I thought was the last female outside cat to the vet in Winters for “contraceptive” surgery and due to her having respiratory issues, I had to leave her for a couple of nights. On Tuesday I had an appointment in San Angelo and took advantage of the absence of Xavier to do some last minute Christmas shopping. On Friday I went to Panther Creek to help with games and the Christmas party for the Third, Fourth and Fifth graders. I really had a great time and enjoyed a corn dog with Xavier at lunch. Sunday, Xavier and I enjoyed a lovely Christmas lunch with other members of the Voss Baptist Church. Turkey, dressing and all the appropriate dishes were delicious and the fellowship with our Church family was also very nice. Monday I took Xavier to San Angelo where he had two appointments. We shopped and had lunch before coming home. It rained softly some, but mostly torrentially on us from home all the way into San Angelo. Xavier’s comment about the sky was, “ Wow..all I can see is gray.” At times it was raining so hard that my windshield wipers had a difficult time keeping up. Nerve wracking to say the least. HM and Maureen Duncan were in Ballinger on Saturday where they met some of their family, Dan and Cathy Davidson of Snyder and Jamie Baird of Ballinger for lunch at Alejandra’s. After lunch, the family came back to Talpa to extend their visit. They enjoyed lunch with the Voss Baptist Church family on Sunday at the Community Center. From Rosa Baker: We've been making candy and other goodies for Christmas and watching it drizzle. No complaints, though....I just stop and think how dry it was when I was trying to keep my tomato plants alive last summer. Charles and I left Saturday morning and went to Midland to visit the grandkids and great grandkids there. They won't get to come here for Christmas, so we had an early one with them. Our grandson, Levi, cooked brisket, jalapeno venison sausage, grilled vegies; etc. which was delicious and enjoyed by all. We had a good visit with all the kids and headed home after lunch Sunday. It showered on us all the way home.... and it's still raining. We wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Great New Year..... And this from Talpa Bob: Hello to All, This last week has been mostly just bone chilling cold. There is not much to do except try and move about and stay warm. If I sit down, my feet will just freeze off. At night now, I have two cats snuggled up to get warm...and they don't give off much heat so my big feet just stay cold. And they pull covers. On Thursday Dec 15th, it was my birthday. I turned 39 years old. If that was good enough for Jack Benny, it is good enough for me. To celebrate, I drove to San Angelo. I had a crack in my front window of the pickup and it started out to be just about 4" high, located to the far right on the passenger's side. One morning I got in and cranked the motor...didn't put it in gear or have time to turn on the heat or anything, I sat and watched in amazement as it split across most of the window to just under the inspection sticker. I have a warranty from a place that said that the crack "was repaired forever" and was guaranteed "for as long as you own the truck." That was last April.. a team that was working the gas pump area at Sam's did the work... Okay, so I call the number and talked to the lady...she had me take some pictures and email them to her. She finally called back and said that I had an appointment in San Angelo at a place that would replace my windshield and they would pay for it (the first two or three days this lady was insistent that she could get a glass repair man to drive out to Talpa and replace it out here). I told her, “He ain't coming out this far“ ...in the end she had to agree. No one is going to drive a 110 mile round trip, tie up two men and a truck for nearly all day for this one job. And now, back to the story...I got there a little early, 8:30am for a 9:00am appointment...I was thinking "first in, first out" ....that only works for accountants doing an inventory...but they did have a guy that could take me over to Gold's Gym where I was to meet up with my son, Kelly. Then Kelly took me to Chili's for my birthday lunch and it was better than anything that I had fixed anytime recently. We went to his house until it was time to go get the boys from school...I am a bit behind in keeping up with them. The “to be” 17 year old (Dec26) is nearly as tall as either his dad or me. The 14 year old (Dec 29) is not as tall, but nearly more muscular than his dad or me. Good to see everyone...got back to Talpa by 4:30 pm. Those boys do not suffer as I did having a birthday so close to Christmas. "here is your birthday and Christmas present"...their mother makes sure that each gets a birthday party and cake and the whole 9 yards and doesn't feel cheated out of a birthday party. Then I did make a run by Sam's to load up for a few days... During Friday afternoon it did get sunny and the temps up to 55° so...yup, had to try and dry some laundry outside. It worked pretty good except there is a point where I have trouble telling the difference between cold and wet. Brought it all back in and hung the socks over the side of the laundry basket for a day...that is one excuse for not matching and putting everything in a drawer. Then I worked on getting my Christmas decoration (singular) put up. I have attached a pic of it in hopes that it gets published. I can't let Darr put up that moose with no competition, now can I? and now about my tree... So, look it over. What do you expect a redneck in Talpa to have for a Christmas decoration? ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ♪ A Cartridge In a Bare Tree♫ There ya go. Merry Christmas from this quiet little corner of Coleman County. Talpa Bob
Carol's Corner All this moisture is a real Blessing, but I sort of wish
the temperature was just a tad bit warmer. When the sun comes out again and the
weather warms up, hopefully we’ll get some “green” for our livestock to eat. Tuesday James and I went back to Abilene, did some more shopping....getting ready to make Christmas goodies.. Saturday and Sunday were so cold and dreary I finished up my inside Christmas decorations and started on my candy making. I'm late getting the lights up outside, if the weather
keeps being cold and damp, I may not get them up...I'm not complaining, though,
we need all the moisture we can get....
Carol's Corner
11/24/2011 News for week of 11/02/11: CHRISTMAS FOR MEXICO From Talpa Bob: Talpa Bob As a lifetime resident, I think there are very few if any "old-timers" left
around here who would know, but hopefully if there are any reading this, they
will have an explanation and let Talpa Bob know. As I understand it, his home
has been there since Talpa was a “switch” station for the railroad. Maybe some
of the shoes had been there that long, too. News for last week (11/09/11 edition): This week from Talpa Bob:
Carol's Corner
Carol's Corner
Carol's Corner And this from Bob Dunn: Hello to All, This past week was just me sitting and waiting. I called 3 or 4 different construction/carpenter type people to please come give me an estimate on fixing the ceiling in my bathroom....you remember the one that caved in on me. Well, not much luck so far. The claims adjuster also has not made it out. There is one gentleman who did call me back and told me that he was really swamped with work, but that if no one will come out, give him a call back on this Wednesday and that he would make it a point to come out. Told me that this was pretty common now...after such a long hot summer, the caulk stuff will heat up and dry up and pull away from the flashing or nails. Okay. I guess I wait and for a change hope it doesn't rain...until I get the roof fixed.Monday I went to San Angelo to the dentist. This is usually a painful ordeal, even to just get my teeth cleaned and checked. However, this time the young dental hygienists was virtually painless. And she had such tiny little hands that my mouth didn't feel like it was stretched open wide enough to drive a Buick in. Nothing to report in addition to getting them cleaned. I hope that we all try to remember to take care of our teeth...my mother and grandmother suffered for years with their "China Clippers".... I do hope that everyone is enjoying the nice cool days that we are having now. Someone asked if I was going to try a "winter garden"...no, the water situation is still too serious to depend on rain to grow a garden. I think that we should all try to do our best to conserve all the water that we can. By just watching and planning, I have cut my usage (for me and two cats) from 3,000-4,000 gallons a month to 1,000 or less gallons per month and expect it to be less now that it is cooler. And that is what is going on in this quite little corner of Coleman County. Talpa Bob
Carol's Corner, Formerly "Talpa Talk"
Carol's Corner Talpa Talk 9-21-11 Dear reader, some of this is news from last week, I got busy helping HM defrost the freezer and missed the deadline. I never knew there were so many people in Talpa and the outlying area until we met to hear from the U S Postal as to our prospects of keeping mail delivery coming out here. The consensus is…we don’t really know what will happen but stick around and it will probably be obvious by year’s end. The meeting was very informative, the moderator knew his business and gave us locals the opportunity to ask questions and comment. Listening is what I do best, well, don’t ask HM if that is entirely true, at home and church, I will speak up. Some of you Talpa residents and rural residents might want to include some news in this column from time to time. Holler and it’s as good as done. We didn’t hear from Talpa Bob this week though there was a comment on his comment. His neighbor, Rick says he hadn’t covered up his garden from the heat, in fact, he didn’t have a garden, it was a puppy he was shielding from the burning sun. I was actually thinking of protecting a trumpet vine that I wanted to transplant. I could foresee it just wilting and then dying, so I made HM save a shade that came from the porch. After this conversation with Rick, I will try and be patient and wait until cooler weather to transplant. Waiting is not what I do best either. Here’s news that will bear repeating, my niece, Stacy Stephenson will be at the Voss Church on Sunday, October 9, 11:00AM. She and Rex will be there with their fine family. She says, “It will be a celebration of what the Lord is doing half way around the world. I just had the awesome privilege of being a small part of His Gospel work. My friend, Kathy Tulloch will be sharing with me that morning . She will also bring her flute and play a couple of songs. She and her husband Ed were missionaries to Malaysia for 20 years and they have gone on the Philippines Mission Trip the last 2 years.. He cannot make it that morning unfortunately.” Lunch will be served afterwards, bring a dish. Xavier Jones spent Saturday night with his grandmother, Lourdes Santa Ana in San Angelo. That was last week. This week, Carol and Xavier Jones attended the Ballinger Homecoming football game on Friday evening with Carla Campbell. On Saturday, Xavier's team, the Little Bluecats, played Hamlin in Coleman. Unfortunately they didn't win, but they have another game this Saturday at 2 p.m. at Hufford Field in Coleman against Merkel. Thanks to the Coleman schools for allowing the teams to play there, where the fans have a place to sit and the boys and girls have a real field to play on. We heard from Bob Dunn this week, “Hello to All, A week or so ago there was nothing much happening here worth talking about. Last week I got it into my head to put up a clothes line. Why not? We have about 360 days of sunshine out here and the rest may be cloudy but not raining, right? Okay...I scavenged up a couple of pieces of 2" pipe about 9' long each. Then my neighbor Rick contributed a 6' piece of pipe, cut it in half and welded it to make a "T". Could not have done this without his help. Now then, I gotta plant these things at least 3' deep so they don't get wonky or lean over. The first 6 " to 8" was the brown loam....not too hard at all to dig through. Then guess what? Yup, caliche. Hard as cement...I was on my knees for 3 hours on each hole whamming away with a crowbar. But each hole was 3' deep. That very nearly wasted me. But to borrow that quote again from Chief Iron Eyes, "Endeavor to persevere" . Took me 3 bags of quick Crete to fill in around the posts. Let it sit and cure for a couple of days and then took some clothes line I got at Tractor Supply, 50' rolls for $4.99...and some 1/8" u-bolts and tightened the line up and clamped it off. I inaugurated the line Sunday afternoon. Figured the sheets would take 10 to 15 minutes....but they were dry to the touch by the time I got the socks and tee shirts hung up...but I left everything out a half hour to air out...the sheets were so clean and crisp they would nearly break you nose sniffing them. My friend, Connie, had presented me with a couple of cantaloupe the past week or so. What I did was scrape the seeds out and let them dry for a day, them put them in ziplock bags and put them in the freezer. Next April I intend to plant them. Another friend that lives in the Canyon Lake area sent me a couple of giant cloves of garlic to plant. You can't just go buy garlic from the grocery store and plant them. I may also go over to Santa Anna and visit that fellow that is supposed to be the Texas authority on planting garlic and onions. So, I am sure hoping that next spring is wet and a lot cooler than this past one. Mo wanted me to tell my recipe for making "Sticker Jelly"...from the apples on the prickly pears. This year was so dry that they didn't make any apples of any size worth harvesting. At least in my neighborhood. But maybe next time I will slip in my recipe anyway. And that is about all the news in this quiet little corner of Coleman County. Talpa Bob I found this on Facebook, no author, no copyright. It’s for us. “I have been to a lot of places, but I've never been in Cahoots. Apparently, you can't go alone. You have to be in Cahoots with someone. I've also never been in Cognito either. I hear no one recognizes you there. I have, however, been in Sane. They don't have an airport. You have to be driven there by someone. I have made several trips thanks to my family and friends. I would like to go to Conclusions, but you have to jump and I'm not into physical activity.”
Talpa Talk 9-21-11 Talpa Talk I know you would like to read a Hymn written for our September 11th Anniversary by Rev. Greg Asimakoupoulos God Remains Our Source of Courage God remains our source of courage when we’re traumatized by terror. When we’re haunted by the headlines and the violence everywhere. Hear God whisper in the silence, "Don’t despair, I’m in control. Hurting hearts and broken cities will at last one day be whole." God recalls that tragic Tuesday when twin towers disappeared, when three thousand people perished and our hearts were numbed by fear. Yet God whispers ten years later, "Justice will in time be done. I will stand with those who need me ’till my Kingdom fully comes." God invites us to be trusting when we find that faith is hard. When we’re fearful for our safety and our nerves are frayed or jarred. Still God whispers in the silence, "Even when your faith is weak, I will keep your feet from stumbling when your way is dark and bleak." We all stepped out of our own busy-ness to think about and listen to the media that spoke to the Tenth Anniversary of 9-11. Now, “busy” has taken over again and we held the first Good News Club on Monday after school at Panther Creek School with a fine turnout. Don’t worry, parents of Pre-K and K, your child’s invitations should be in the back packs this week. On Saturday, I attended a luncheon given by North Coleman Baptist Women. The purpose of the luncheon and program was to familiarize the women with the Mary Hill Davis Texas Missionary Offering. It was named for her, with good reason. She fervently supported missions work both in promoting and giving. We learned so much from the program and then it was topped off with a delicious lunch. Afterwards, I drove over to Santa Anna to attend Ex-Mozelle Ladies get-together. It seems there’s lots of us in the area and if you’re one and want to get in on it, go to their Facebook Page and also mark your calendar for a December Christmas party. More on that as the time nears. I made a day of it by leaving Santa Anna for Coleman and the Little Bluecats football game. My eyes were mostly to watch our neighbor Xavier play even though I got on the wrong side of the field (somebody there had a gazebo and let me get under it.) I discovered I was on the Hawley side but too late, I didn’t want to use my last burst of energy to walk around to the other side. Now we have a summary of the game from his mom, Carol Jones. “Xavier Jones continues with football practice and school (homework) as well as starting Wednesday Kids' Church in Valera (6 p.m. if others are interested), and now Good News Club (Mondays 3:30-5 p.m. after school at Panther Creek). Carol stays busy on the road getting him these places and home. The Little Bluecats lost to Hawley Saturday. Xavier is #80 Wide Receiver and loving his first experience with competitive football. The next game is in Anson this Saturday at 2 p.m. The next home game will be on the 24th against Hamlin at 2 p.m. Try to go out and support these little guys who work so hard. Be sure to take a drink and a lawn chair with you and find a shade tree to park it under. Xavier attended a birthday party for Jonathan Salazar Sunday at the home of Cameron and Ora Lewis. Happy Birthday, Jonathan! Our neighbor Bob Dunn prefaces his remarks with: Not much news out here at all. Watched the rain clouds form up into a huge thunderhead in the East, then melt and blow around only to form back up West of here. Mother Nature just messin' with our heads. We did have some cooler weather ...for about a week...and now back to the 101° highs...maybe...they usually miss that by 2 or 3 degrees and by that I don't mean cooler. Most all of the yard is dead now. Only a little patch about 4' X 4' out by the birdbath...I splash out some water cleaning out the birdbath. That and I have a little 2' tall cherry tree out by the pet cemetery that I haul water out to keep it alive. That water is from the condensate dripping from the A/C . I promised the little guys that I would have them a grass lawn ..and there is one by the cherry tree...about one square foot, but it is green. Maybe next spring. I did sow grass seed this spring, but none of it ever came up...Also several packages of wildflower seeds...nothing. I dragged that hose out there and watered until I saw that I was just wasting water. It was just too hot in the day time, too early in the year. That is why I didn't have a garden this year. My neighbor, Darr, gave up on his garden. I miss-identified his okra plants as dwarf tomato plants with no tomatoes. His green onion patch was doing pretty good, but you can only eat so many pounds of green onions a day. His yellow squash just didn't make. The neighbor on the other side, Rick, made a cover of some kind over his garden...trying to keep the heat off of it. Didn't work. I made me a cover of sorts to keep the direct sun off of that cherry tree in the afternoons and it worked pretty good. some of the leaves look wilted and curled up a bit, but it is still in the game. In the yard of the little Red House next door, I kept Ms Billie's rose bushes alive and one 6" tall oak tree. They are all still alive and the rose bushes make roses now and then. I cut the "dead heads" off and they are still going. And that is about all the news there is in this quiet little corner of Coleman County Talpa Bob This is news coming up in Coleman County. Stacy Stephenson will come to the Voss Baptist Church on October 9 with a friend, I'm assuming her partner when she went to the Phillippines last Spring. They will give us a report on their Missions trip in the morning church service. Here's an invitation for you to come and hear their story. If you're not a regular, let us know as we're planning a meal following the service, and we want to include enough for you to join us. Stacy and her friend are from College Hills Baptist in San Angelo. Stacy is also the wife of my nephew Rex Stephenson and they have four real fine children, (Aunt Maureen's opinion, check them out and see if I'm not right.) Talpa Talk 9-7-11 Our Labor Day weekend included family coming by for a visit and especially since Nancy and Brody Burleson were here from Idaho. Family included Dan and Cathy Davidson from Snyder, Daniel Davidson who studies at Tech in Lubbock ( and works in the office at United), Ricky Joe and Theresa Agnew and boys Junior and Ricky of Talpa, Jamie Baird of Ballinger, Mitzi Jones of San Angelo, Rex and Stacy Stephenson, Joshua (JV football star for Central) Taylor, Nathan and Reagan of San Angelo. That was a house full for the ranchette and we enjoyed them all so much. Junior had an unfortunate contact with a prickly pear bush. Theresa took him home to de-sticker him and afterwards, he wanted to come back to play some more with his cousins. Alas, it was going home time for them all so he will have to wait for a return visit. HM and I attended Sunday morning Bible School and Church at Paint Rock’s Baptist Church. Some of our Voss members wanted to witness the baptism of a friend so we all went there. Bob Dunn has a sequel to his Pecos Saddle story, so all you antique saddle buffs, you will read with great interest. Howdy to All Believe it or not, I am still working on that Pecos Saddle and other related matters. People responded with claims that they owned up to three saddles made by the "Swede", also hand tooled belts (with the name on the back) and hat bands and several holsters custom made for cap pistols. The belt cost that guy $5 and he got a good talking to by his dad for such extravagance. The holsters for the cap pistols were 50¢. Several people told of the Swede having time for the kids that visited his shop. Then some one contested the "Swede's" name. Said it was Harold "Swede" Strong. So, who was Swede Larsen? Do we have a mystery of the "Second Swede". Not for long. I yield to a certain Debra Thomas, Director of the West of the Pecos Museum. The Museum is located just across from the old railroad terminal in the old Orient Hotel. Said that she has a good collection of the Swede's saddles, his order book and other things, like hand made spurs with the famous "flying S" engraved on them. Also pictures and other items identified as made by Harold "Swede" Strong. Doesn't sound too Swedish,but what do I know? The West of The Pecos Museum is well worth the trip and time to visit. There was also an inquiry about Darr's hat and wanted to know if that was also found in a dumpster. Darr got rather indignant and said no, that he bought it at a reputable boot shop several years (decades) ago. Darr's wife of some 40 + years (the patience of Mother Teresa and a huge sense of humor) told his brother to stop dumpster diving and to not be bringing any more stuff over for Darr to junk up the place with. He can keep the saddle, outside. Someone mentioned that he looked like an old retired gunfighter. No, he never retired. If anyone really wants to get into a gunfight, just come on over and he will probably accommodate them. But be careful, he is good, remember the skunk in the tin shed incident? He is a good man to have covering your back out here. Another Pecos Saddle owner mentioned that the Swede engraved the date he made it in under the saddle skirt, on the backside. When ever this saddle gets dismantled to that point we may get a definite made on "mm dd yy" . And that is about all my news out in this quiet little corner of Coleman County. Talpa Bob Cameron, Ora and Austin Lewis went to Early and took the grandkids, Jonathan, Ciana and Orlando out to Ci Ci’s for pizza and then shopping to celebrate Jonathan’s birthday. We wish Jonathan a Happy Birthday and I know he enjoyed that pizza as well as the new stuff he got on the shopping trip. Carol and Xavier Jones went to San Angelo Tuesday for Xavier's doctor appointment. Tuesday evening, the Little Bluecats' football team scrimmaged against a team from Brownwood. Xavier spent the weekend with Michael Lowry and got to attend the Panther Creek High School football game in Richland Springs. Carol attended and played the piano for the First Baptist Church in Paint Rock on Sunday. The time for Good News Club is getting close. Next week, in fact. We’ll be meeting on Monday September 12, after school to 5:00. If any clubbers have a Good News shirt that has become too small, we could use them. It would help us in ordering new ones. I tried to check the validity of the following email I received by spending nearly an hour on Truth or Fiction.com. Nothing surfaced to deny it. If you know any different, I’m sure our readers would like to know. This is little-known story from the Pentagon on 09/11/2001: “During a visit with a fellow chaplain, who happened to be assigned to the Pentagon, I had a chance to hear a first-hand account of an incident that happened right after Flight 77 hit the Pentagon. The chaplain told me what happened at a daycare center near where the impact occurred. This daycare had many children, including infants who were in heavy cribs. The daycare supervisor, looking at all the children they needed to evacuate, was in a panic over what they could do. There were many children, mostly toddlers, as well as the infants that would need to be taken out with the cribs. There was no time to try to bundle them into carriers and strollers. Just then a young Marine came running into the center and asked what they needed. After hearing what the center director was trying to do, he ran back out into the hallway and disappeared. The director thought, 'Well, here we are on our own.' About 2 minutes later, that Marine returned with 40 other Marines in tow. Each of them grabbed a crib with a child, and the rest started gathering up toddlers. The director and her staff then helped them take all the children out of the center and down toward the park near the Potomac and the Pentagon. Once they got about 3/4 of a mile outside the building, the Marines stopped in the park, and then did a fabulous thing - they formed a circle with the cribs, which were quite sturdy and heavy, like the covered wagons in the Old West. Inside this circle of cribs, they put the toddlers, to keep them from wandering off. Outside this circle were the 40 Marines, forming a perimeter around the children and waiting for instructions. There they remained until the parents could be notified and come get their children. The chaplain then said, "I don't think any of us saw nor heard of this on any of the news stories of the day. It was an incredible story of our men there. There wasn't a dry eye in the room. The thought of those Marines and what they did and how fast they reacted; could we expect any less from them? It was one of the most touching stories from the Pentagon. Semper Fi" I’ll close with this statement on the Marines by Ronald Reagan. “ "Most of us wonder if our lives made any difference. Marines don't have that problem."
Talpa Talk 8-31-11
Talpa Talk 8-24-11 Talpa Talk 8-17-11
Talpa Talk 8-10-11 By Maureen Duncan We don’t often write about world news, still I know all of Talpa and our readers join me in grieving the loss of the lives in the Chinook helicopter in Afghanistan. Our hearts go out to the families of those who were killed. Talpa Bob writes, “Hello to All, If it were not for the continued heat and no rain I guess that we would not have anything to talk about. Saturday morning I did go into Ballinger for the Pray for Rain meeting on the courthouse lawn. There was a good sized crowd that attended. There were perhaps 4 or 5 local ministers in attendance and each offered a prayer for rain. I did notice that only one minister brought his umbrella. I do not own one. Or a rain gauge. However, I did bring my shovel just in case some one got stuck. There were several members of the church that I attend at the meeting and I told them that if the bridge was not washed out that I would see them on Sunday morning. I guess that I should have been creek specific and that might have helped. The next step is to go on the internet and find out what I can about rain dances....couldn't hurt. And that is about all the news there is in this quiet little corner of Coleman County. Talpa Bob Bob, I’m thinking that the ministers without umbrellas wouldn’t have minded getting wet. I know I wouldn’t. When we get rain, I will not attribute it to rain dancing, though I would like to see Bob performing one. HM and I went to San Angelo on Tuesday and while there, went to the Farmer’s Marker. We got a couple of Israel melons and some Japanese dates. I wanted the dates for the nephews but I haven’t heard if they enjoyed them. (they are shaped like dates and taste like apples) The car smelled great coming home with the fruit. Carol and Xavier Jones went to San Angelo Saturday to see the new Smurf movie and eat out. Carol left Xavier with her eldest son, Shon Jones and family. They all flew to Playa del Carmen in Mexico for the week. Carol returned to Talpa to spend a quiet week. We were sorry to hear of the death of Victor Hoelscher this week. His Talpa family include a son, Galen and Leslie Hoelscher and their daughter Emily. Grandson Stephen attends ASU in San Angelo. Theresa Agnew and the boys, Junior and Ricky Pas took their sister, Haley Quinones home to Grand Prairie this weekend. While there they attended a birthday party for Jason Ferguson that included all the family, oh my what a crowd! Happy Birthday, Jason! Here’s another story from Talpa Bob and I didn’t get it in last week. This one is dedicated to Bob’s sister Janet and we will designate her as “Reader of the Week”. Bob Dunn writes, “ This past week I drove from Talpa to Odessa/Midland. The only thing "green" that I saw during the entire trip was the road signs..."Bronte 15 miles" "Robert Lee 33 miles" and so on. Just as I was approaching Midland, going by Sprayberry, Tx which is 10 miles out of Midland...and is smaller than Talpa...I gave a call to a fellow Pecos Ex named Drew. We met at the IHOP just off the Old Lemasa Road for a cup of coffee. Drew's father was my high school football coach. I had met Drew before when I was in High School, but he was just a little guy then. We enjoyed catching up on 50+ years of what each of us had been doing. Then on to Odessa and I was told that the night before they received a 1/4" rain...but there were no mud puddles or standing water anywhere...and you sure could not tell from the grass, which is the same color as ours...yellow. Went by to visit my old brother, Ben, who is recovering from a hip replacement. He did his yard over several years ago and the front is large gravel and cactus and the back yard is concrete. No mowing and no watering...His wife, Old Martha, had several hanging baskets under the back patio but upon inspection, they were found out to be plastic. There was also a large, life size glass chicken to scratch in the 2 x 4 flower bed which also had plastic plants. Folks, he may be onto something out there. Went on to my sister Janet's house and visited with her, my bro in law Jim and my nephew Jeff. About 3 weeks ago Jeff had some stomach surgery. He went to show me his scars and it looked like he had been shot in the stomach 5 times. That was it...just little bullet hole size things....this arthroscopic surgery sure takes out the bragging rights of comparing surgery scars with those from back when the surgeon made a cut that he could be proud of. Then I made my way home...not much traffic and not much wildlife out...there were two buzzards holding onto a rabbit waiting for a 18 wheeler coming by to throw it under the wheels to have some road kill to eat on. Happy to be home in my quiet little corner of Coleman County.”
Talpa Talk 7-28-11 Talpa Talk 7-20-11 The past week was spent anticipating company, enjoying company and feeling sad for company’s leaving. The company? HM’s daughter and 3 kiddos from Nashville who now think we stay indoors all the time. It was too hot to go to the zoo in Abilene or see the old village of Buffalo Gap. The youngest cooled off under the sprinkler which HM placed in the shade of 2 pecan trees that also benefited from the water. They did go swimming in Brady’s new pool at Richards Park and declared it the finest, but no amount of sun screen could stay the burns to their light skins. Now they wouldn’t have traveled all that far to swim but Vivian met her friend from Fredericksburg who brought her 3 children so they had lunch and then cooled off in the pool. HM’s daughter Rhonda came over one day from San Saba and stayed for supper. Talpa is now on the list for conserving water so today our water from the laundry goes on the yard beginning with another pecan tree. My niece Sandra Steward came from Grand Prairie on Friday to visit her sister Theresa Agnew, bringing five of her grandchildren. I asked why five and she said it was all that would fit in her pickup. One was her granddaughter, Sandra Kaye. ( I have mentioned her in the column for being terribly sick with meningitis.) she looks wonderful though she is not out of the woods and is on medication that has to be taken 3 times a week. This group and Ricky and Theresa Agnew and boys all headed for Lubbock on Saturday for a 2-day family reunion. From all reports it was the best ever reunion and we will no doubt copy some ideas for ours next year. I don’t have any particulars on the death of Virginia Loflin. Virginia lived in Talpa with her husband Bill who died several years ago. She had moved back to Coleman from Abilene recently. She will be missed by her family and friends. She is a sister of Philip Davis who lives in Talpa. I know many of you have been waiting for one of our residents to make an appearance and he has shown up on the screen with some words to go down in history about the state of things in Talpa, “Hello, All, Not much news happening out here this past week. The weather man seems to have made only one forecast and then just copied it for a month...Hot and Dry..No Rain...the yard is just about all gone now. Last year at this time we had what seemed like millions of grasshoppers...and now...just a few and they are having to carry sack lunches to get through the county. My pet lizards, Ed and Martha , have been having it tough...so I stop by the bait stand and get a sack of crickets for them. You will remember them from last year...I told them that they could stay as long as they wanted to and gave them names and they have inhabited under the West porch. They are bug eating machines. Now, last week I did see something that I have not seen in a good 50 years. A West Texas Horned Frog. Actually, one of the cats had caught it and I took it away from her and made her go in the house...This may not have been a 100% Horned Frog, maybe a mutant..he had the colors on his back, a flat oval shape and horn ridges along his sides and up his back, but no horns on his head. So far I have not found a like picture on the internet. But I know where he lives. No name yet, but he is an ant eating son of a gun. I keep watching to see if there are two of them. Until then I will just refer to him as Eatanter. (Ed note: Bob sent a picture and I don’t believe it is a Horned Toad as the tail is too long. Our cat brought us one too and we were able to save it to live another day.) Bob continues, “Too hot to work outside, so, I did try my hand at plumbing under the sink. The faucet was getting leaky and I bought a new one the last trip into Lowe's. Cleaned out the bottles of soap, and spray thingys so that I could wedge my huge body under the disposal and still have room to reach the connections. I had not planned on them being rusted or corroded on like they were. It must have been leaky for a long time. However, I had a special tool that has "jaws" on a swivel and a long handle that one can insert a bar at the bottom to get leverage...and with a couple of skinned knuckles (the cats vocabulary was greatly enlarged) I got them loose. Then it was an easy matter to install the new faucet/sprayer and new water lines down to the source. The wonky faucet is now out on the carport. I will have it on display for another week or so if anyone who doubts this story, they are welcomed to stop by and look at it. And that is about all the news fit to print out in this quiet little corner of Coleman County.” Talpa Bob PS: “we are not just praying for rain, we are outright begging for it.” Xavier Jones spent the weekend of July 7-10 with his grandmother, Lourdes Santa Ana, in San Angelo. Carol and Xavier Jones were in San Angelo for an appointment on Tuesday. While there they shopped a little and had pizza at Sam's.
Rosa Baker also writes:, “Charles, James and Rosa Baker met Ken and Jan Baker, Landon and Sondra Pope, Hayden and Bailey Pope, Chuck and Nancy Baker, Elizabeth, Hannah, Olivia Jefferson, Tyler and Averi Ransberger, Rebecca Baker, Migeul and Joshua at Cook's Restaurant on Friday night and celebrated Ken's birthday. The fish dinners were delicious and we listened to some Very good music played by a local band. These guys can play anything you want to hear from rock, country or classical. It was worth the long trip there. We loafed the rest of the week-end. It was too hot to do anything else.”
Now, here’s our American Minute with Bill Federer, a good one (as they all are) and we appreciate his generosity in letting it be reprinted, no charge. July 18
Prior to the Revolution, British troops were marching toward Fort Duquesne when they were ambushed, July 9, 1755, by the French and Indians.
Not accustomed to fighting unless in an open field, the British soldiers were annihilated.
23-year-old Colonel George Washington rode back and forth during the battle delivering orders for General Edward Braddock.
Eventually, Braddock was killed and every officer on horseback was shot, except Washington. >From Fort Cumberland, George Washington wrote of the Battle of Monongahela to his younger brother, John Augustine Washington, JULY 18, 1755: "As I have heard, since my arrival at this place, a circumstantial account of my death and dying speech, I take this early opportunity of contradicting the first, and of assuring you, that I have not as yet composed the latter. But by the All-Powerful Dispensations of Providence, I have been protected beyond all human probability or expectation; for I had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet escaped unhurt, although death was leveling my companions on every side of me!" An Indian warrior later declared:"Washington was never born to be killed by a bullet! I had seventeen fair fires at him with my rifle and after all could not bring him to the ground!"
Talpa Talk 7-13-22 Ah! Weddings! They are so much fun! Even in the hot weather, Austin was enticing. HM’s granddaughter Kyla Connel and Scott Morgan were married in a very pretty garden called Chateau on the Creek. The grass was green, (as opposed to brown as Talpa’s grass is). We met daughter Pam Gasper of Houston, in Round Rock where we stayed at the Holiday Express. I don’t pass out free advertising as a rule, however, I wanted you to know we were comfortable. Pam relaxed in the pool on Friday evening while we went to the rehearsal and dinner with the family. I met a grandson of HM’s for the first time. Jacob Duncan is from Temple and works in Round Rock. Since all on his own he had looked up this column online, and informed me that he reads it, I will designate Jacob Duncan as “Reader of the Week”. Welcome on board, Jacob. On Saturday morning, we decided on the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in downtown Austin and toured all three floors. I lasted for all floors (I didn’t say I took the stairs, except for the last flight when Pam insisted I needed the exercise.) Take a tissue or two because you will probably need them. I will always have a weepy moment as I read about the Alamo and Goliad. HM and I saw the Wild Texas Weather Movie and it was mighty scary. More about that another day. Back to the wedding, we had time for a short, much needed nap before getting ready for the wedding. All I need to say is it was lovely with sweet young nieces as bridesmaids, lovely fresh flowers, fashioned by HM’s daughter Vivian, adorning everything. The bride did not appear to be nervous, she’s a school teacher, what can I say? Scott is assistant principle in one of the schools in Round Rock so he wasn’t nervous either considering he is taking on two young boys to help raise. While we were attending the wedding and delving into Texas History, other family members were watching the history making final launch of the Atlantis Shuttle and probably shedding a tear or two themselves at the close of an era of Space Technology. Dennis and Margaret Davidson of League City and Rex and Stacy Stephenson and their family of San Angelo and Mitzi Jones all attended the launch after spending the week at Disney World. Rosa Baker graces us with news from her family. “We have been busy entertaining boys, so haven't sent any news lately. On Father's Day weekend we held the Folkner Family Reunion at Ballinger Community Center and Park. Had a very good turnout. Some of our relatives hadn't been since 2005 and we enjoyed visiting with them. Our auction was also very successful. Cousin Jackie Bibby was our auctioneer and Zach Priddy was his helper. Zach also celebrated his eleventh birthday at the reunion with all his cousins there to wish him a Happy Birthday and share cake and ice cream. Zach and Marc Priddy have been visiting for three weeks and we have enjoyed them being here. We've been shopping, swimming, went to see "Kungfu Panda !!",went to Novice for the fireworks display, spent a few days at Hords Creek Lake where Zach caught a large catfish, visiting cousins in Coleman and generally running wild in the country. Levi, Jennifer and Jordan Priddy came over the weekend and spent Saturday night at Hords Creek Lake fishing and swimming with the boys. We went out to the lake and enjoyed a nice barbecue with them. They surprised Zach with a new bike for his birthday, so he and Marc rode bikes at the lake. Dana, Dorian and Jason Erkinbrach also paid us a visit and camped at the lake to fish with Levi and the boys. Gunner Milligan cooked beer-can chicken on the grill Sunday afternoon and after eating that with all the trimmings the "Kids" had to go home to Midland. We will have to get used to the "Quiet" again and will miss them.” I think you will find this American Minute particularly interesting and if you haven’t read the biography of this man he writes about, you will want to read about him.
American Minute with Bill Federer Born a slave around JULY 12, 1864, George Washington Carver became a scientist of international renown. On January 21, 1921, Carver addressed the United States House Ways and Means Committee on behalf of the United Peanut Growers Association on the use of peanuts to improve Southern economy. Initially given ten minutes to speak, the committee was so captivated, his time was extended. Explaining the many products derived from the peanut, including milk, mock beef and mock chicken, George Washington Carver stated: "If you go to the first chapter of Genesis, we can interpret very clearly, I think, what God intended when he said 'Behold, I have given you every herb that bears seed. To you it shall be meat.' This is what He means about it. It shall be meat. There is everything there to strengthen and nourish and keep the body alive and healthy." After nearly two hours, the chairman asked: "Dr. Carver, how did you learn all of these things?" Carver answered: "From an old book" "What book?" asked the Chairman. Carver replied, "The Bible." The Chairman inquired, "Does the Bible tell about peanuts?" "No, Sir" Dr. Carver replied, "It tells about the God who made the peanut. I asked Him to show me what to do with the peanut and He did."
Talpa Talk 7-6-11 Things were slow here on the Ranchette this week. The grasshoppers are the most energetic of us all. We gave them a treat that was supposed to cause them to become cannibals. There must be a missionary grasshopper on the place and they are not cannibals. They seem to have liked the flakes we served. Something else in abundance is katydids. I noticed something was eating on the parsley plants on the porch and brought them in only to have the spearmint and basil attacked. They all now grace a bedroom window and HM took the katydid population down a bit. The barn swallows have finished feeding and caring for their fledgling(s) and they have been taught to fly so the nest just outside the door is empty. HM and I got to the long postponed job of painting the storm/screen door. Actually I was intending to make it my project but it turns out he is a better painter than I, no real surprise here. I like to paint but my enthusiasm has a short attention span HM and I met Carol Jones at the DQ on Sunday after church. We saw Louis Pittard, Annie Mae Brimer and other friends there. In case you don’t read it elsewhere, Voss Baptist is cancelling church on Sunday, July 10 so several members can take vacations leaving the remaining to look elsewhere to attend worship services. Ricky Joe Agnew took Haley Quinones back to Grand Prairie on Sunday. She had other things to do so she got out of Talpa without even a visit with her great aunt Maureen. Next time, Haley we’ll have to get together with the boys and play Skip Bo. Robbie Jones brought Xavier Jones home on Monday from a week's visit in Sonora. Robbie took Xavier and Michael Lowry to Brownwood's water park Wednesday while he had Xavier and they spent the night in Coleman so they could visit with Robbie's dad, Richard Wisener. Thanks to Bill Federer again for his American Minute July 2 One bullet grazed his elbow, but a second lodged in the back of President James Garfield, who, on JULY 2, 1881, was shot as he waited in a Washington, D.C., train station by Charles Guiteau, a member of a polygamist-type communist cult. Garfield had only been in office four months. Though not wounded seriously, unsterile medical practices caused him to die two months later. A distinguished Civil War major general, James Garfield had been a college president and a preacher for the Disciples of Christ. In his Inaugural Address, March 4, 1881, President James
Garfield stated: President Garfield continued: Earlier, as U.S. Congressman chairing the Committee on
Appropriations, James Garfield stated July 4, 1876: Talpa Talk 6-29-11 Our front row seats to watch the barn swallows hatching have paid off. Two fledglings crowd the nest even after only one week. I think all the swallows in the area come to help out with the feeding. I had intended to paint the back door that HM put up but since it was so close to their nest, I postponed it ‘til after the little birds fly away. HM and I attended the funeral service for Dewey Wilson on Monday morning. I think Dewey would be surprised at the number of people who honored him and his family by being there. We both were in school with Dewey but since he was an “upper classman” we didn’t know him well then. Much later he spoke for the Gideons at Voss Baptist and we enjoyed him very much. He was not afraid to laugh in church and he made us laugh too. Stella Herring McClure passed away on Thursday, June 23rd at the Holiday Hill Nursing Home. She was raised in Talpa where she met and married Boyd Mc Clure who preceded her in death in 1989. She worked at Overall Morris Memorial Hospital and retired from her job after many years as nurses aide. She is survived by two sons, Wayne and wife Betty of Coleman and Dayton of Santa Anna , grandchildren and great grandchildren. Our sympathy is extended to her family Xavier Jones attended cooking camp sponsored by the Coleman Co. Extension Service last week. On Sunday afternoon, Xavier was baptized at the Talpa Immanual Baptist Church. Carol Jones would like to thank the members of the Church for allowing Voss Baptist Church to borrow the Baptistery and for the wonderful fellowship and friendship extended to Xavier, members of his family, members of Voss Baptist Church, and the many friends who attended. Thanks to members of both Churches for helping with the reception following the baptism, and thanks to all the friends who attended to support Xavier. Family members, besides Carol, attending included Robbie Jones of Sonora, Lourdes Santa Ana and Jacob Nino of San Angelo, and Shon (Sr), Melissa, Taryn, and Shon(Jr) Jones of San Angelo. Following the baptism, Xavier went home with Robbie for the week. Theresa Agnew and the boys have been at Spring Hill with their daughter Bobbie and family. They have celebrated birthdays and in general enjoyed swimming and the children. Theresa will be bringing Haley back with them for an extended visit. We lived in Montgomery, Alabama for 3 years and I didn’t get to Helen Keller’s childhood home in northern Alabama. To be truthful, the roads were not inviting and I didn’t like to travel on them. Two lane for a lot of it and too much traffic to pass. After my daughter Pam lived in Courtland, I went to see her over Labor Day and we went there. It was much better than the book report I gave on her life when I was in school. That was the time I decided to give a book report from the cover. Mrs. Veal did not approve though how she guessed, I couldn’t understand. Perhaps it was when she asked me when Helen Keller died and I pulled some year out of my mind. Actually, Helen Keller was still alive at that time. Oh, Mrs. Veal, you taught us well, HM still quotes you at times. Wm Federer wrote an American Minute on Helen Keller and I thought you’d find it interesting. Helen Keller was born JUNE 27, 1880. At the age of two she suffered an illness that left her blind and deaf. Her parents took her to Dr. Alexander Graham Bell who recommended the Perkins Institute for the Blind in Boston. There, at age of 7, Helen was tutored by Anne Sullivan through the sense of touch. Eventually Helen Keller learned to read Braille and began attending Radcliffe College, where Anne Sullivan interpreted lectures. Helen became concerned about all the blind, especially those blinded in war or by poor working conditions. She received numerous international honors for her efforts. Helen Keller learned to type on a Braille typewriter and wrote many books between 1903 and 1941, including: The Story of My Life, Optimism, The World I Live In, The Song of the Stone Wall, Out of the Dark, My Religion, Midstream, Let Us Have Faith, and The Open Door. Helen Keller stated: "The Bible is one mighty representative of the whole spiritual life of humanity." Helen Keller wrote: "I thank God for my handicaps, for, through them, I have found myself, my work, and my God." Helen Keller concluded: "Four things to learn in life: To think clearly without hurry... To love everybody sincerely... To act in everything with the highest motives... To trust God unhesitatingly." We will have celebrated Independence Day before we write to you again. I would like to mention a quote by Ronald Reagan on LIBERTY, “we don’t celebrate dependence (on the government) day July 4th, we celebrate Independence Day!” Talpa Talk 6-22-11 By Maureen Duncan
First news first, Talpa got .10-.20 in the rain gauges on Saturday night. Made a nice Father's Day present. I sure hope you Dads enjoyed your special day. It would not be a bad thing if you’re planning to call your dad to call him early. Then he would not have to sit all afternoon in his chair until your call came through.
I tried Ouida Morris’ recipe for crock pot chicken that she shared last week. It was great! Look in last weeks’ Novice News if you want something for the crock pot. Now I’ll send one for this hot weather. The only thing to cook is the cornbread which could be done ahead Chilled Tomato Soup w/cornbread croutons 25 min preparation time. 1 package cornbread mix 1 tsp chili powder 2 14.5 oz cans diced tomatoes w/green pepper, celery and onion ½ an English cucumber, seeded and coarsely chopped 3 green onions, trimmed and coarsely chopped 1 cup ice cubes 1 medium avocado, sliced 1. Preheat oven to 400degrees, prepare muffin mix and spread in lightly greased 13x9 baking pan. Bake 14 min or until golden brown. Cool slightly, cut in 1-inch cubes, toss with 1 Tbsp olive oil and chili powder. Place on baking sheet and crisp in oven 5 minutes. 2. While muffin mix bakes, in a blender combine undrained tomatoes, cucumber, onions and ice. Cover and blend until nearly smooth. Pour soup in bowls, top with avocado and half the croutons, (reserving remaining for another use) if desired, sprinkle with additional green onion, cucumber and chili powder. Drizzle with olive oil. For those who are watching their carbs, each serving has 66 g carb and 5 g fiber. My guess is it’s mostly from the cornbread but who could leave that off? BTW, don’t use tomatoes with green chiles unless you want “hot” cold soup.
Bob Dunn sent in this interesting story, a true one we’re told. I have been up in the attic trying to install a " heat radiant barrier " material that is suppose to reject 97% of the heat both in and out. If it works, that will be wonderful. I have knee pads but no hard hat. May need the hard hat the most as every time I raise up, I seem to find a nail sticking out. I have found out that I am not nearly as agile as I first thought when I rejected hiring this job out to the professionals..."haaa, I can do this" I thought.."that high acting primate looks like he belongs in a tree. If he can do this, than I should be able to." Smarts wise I qualify, his agility in the tree probably qualifies him better in the stoop and hunker down duck walk in the attic abilities. If I had been a very short person, say 3', it would go much easier. But, to borrow a quote from one philosopher, " Endeavor to persevere"...That was in a Clint Eastwood movie for you buffs...spoken by Chief Iron Eyes in the movie "The Outlaw Josie Wells"....really a good quote, don't you think? I did wear a mask. But my arms were bare and they are itchy and scratchy enough. Long sleeves...??..probably not..I was soaking wet from head to toes as it was. Does any one have a hard hat that they can loan me for a few days? That is about all the news in this quiet little corner of Coleman County. Talpa Bob
Last Sunday Carol Jones attended a baby shower for the grandson of Perri Ann Flores held in Ballinger. Xavier went swimming with friends and had an unfortunate accident involving the concrete side of the pool and his forehead. Now that the swelling has gone down, Xavier is sporting two black eyes, but he's okay. On Monday Carol and Xavier took their 14-yr old cat, Attitude, to Winters to the veterinarian at Pioneer Vet Clinic thinking it was going to be his last trip there. When Attitude's purring became so loud that Dr. Arledge could not hear his heart or lungs, he advised Carol that Attitude might only be suffering from a terrible ear infection and it was worth treating to see. By Tuesday, Attitude had improved enough for everyone to believe he might last another 10 years. He spent the week in the Pioneer Hilton and was due to be released this Monday. Thanks to Scotty Martin for digging a "hole" that hopefully won't be used for several more years. Bet Attitude saw the hole being dug and decided to rally a little. On Tuesday evening, Xavier discovered a 14 inch rattlesnake in the front yard and after alerting Carol, she shot it into two pieces. The snake had 4 rattlers and was promptly placed on a fence away from the house. On Wednesday, Carla Campbell and granddaughter, Lacey, of Ballinger visited with Carol and Xavier. The air-conditioning person also "visited" on Wednesday afternoon and left with promises to return soon. The air conditioners in both Carol's house and the mobile home chose this hottest time to go on the blink. Carol was without cool air for the weekend until relief came in the form of two window units for Carol and Xavier's bedrooms. Robbie Jones brought them and installed them on Sunday afternoon, much to Carol's and her critters' relief. The air conditioner man should be back to fix the big units on Monday when the temperatures are expected to be a few degrees cooler. On Thursday, Carol and Xavier and several parents took the Horns Minor League baseball team to Brownwood's new water park. All the kids had a great time in the water and enjoyed sandwiches, chips, cookies and drinks before returning to Coleman. On Friday, Carol hosted a small Birthday dinner for Kenny Brookshier at Beefmaster's in Ballinger. Fish and cake were enjoyed by all. Xavier Jones spent Fathers' Day weekend with Robbie Jones in Sonora. On Sunday they had lunch with Shon, Melissa, Taryn, and Shon (Jr) Jones at the Country Club in San Angelo. Afterward. Robbie brought Xavier home along with the window air conditioners. Not too sure which Carol was the happiest to see. Sunday after church Carol enjoyed Fathers Day lunch with HM and Maureen Duncan at the Dairy Queen at Coleman. Ronald Reagan had a few things to say about Government: "Man is not free unless government is limited." and, "We have long since discovered that nothing lasts longer than a temporary government program"
TalpaTalk 6-15-11 We’ve been watching a nest of wrens on the front porch. The parent wrens have been busy finding bugs and we wondered how many they were feeding. HM saw them leave the nest on Sunday and reported two fledglings got their “wings” and were given clearance to take off. It seemed such a short time that we enjoyed them. There is a nest of barn swallows on the back porch and we have a front row seat from the dining table. I hope those babies make it since the mother flies away every time the door opens. We even started using another door in hopes she won’t knock the eggs out of her nest by her sudden flight. HM has been setting his live trap lately in response to a predator getting one of the geese. So far he has caught 3 coons but he was sure it would take a bobcat to kill a goose. HM and I attended the visitation for Lonnie Stephenson on Sunday evening at Stevens Funeral Home . We were underclassmen at Mozelle High School when he was graduating. Others from Talpa were Jerry Don and Angelita Stephenson and children James and Shelbi. Our sympathy to that family at the loss of Jerry Don’s dad. Dale and Arletta Herring of Talpa were there to express their condolences. Also Immanuel’s pastor, Loyd Hopper and Edwina. Carol and Xavier Jones had lunch in Ballinger on Wednesday with Kyle Brookshier of Van Horn. Friday Carol and Xavier and a friend went to San Angelo to have all of Carol's dogs groomed. After shopping all day, they retrieved three clean dogs and came home. On Saturday Carol and Xavier attended the Clayton reunion in Ballinger and really enjoyed visiting with all the family members. On Sunday after Church, Carol attended a baby shower in Ballinger while Xavier went swimming with a friend. Theresa Agnew took the boys and went to Cedar Hill over the weekend. They stayed with Jason and Bobbie Ferguson and their family. While Jason and Bobbie went shopping, Theresa watched all the children, plus a few more children of friends. Theresa’s son Michael came over with Monica, and their little ones. Theresa prepared a cook out for all while the children were in the pool being watched by Monica. Michael took Theresa’s vehicle home to do some work on it. (he’s a mechanic but now studying to be on the police force.) sounds like a profitable weekend, Theresa said “awesome”, but I was glad to know they were back in Talpa. As I write today, we celebrate Flag day and are reminded of the sacrifices made to protect the flag and the freedom it represents. It was on June 14, 1954, Dwight Eisenhower signed a Joint Resolution adding the phrase "One Nation Under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag… “and the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave o’er the land of the free and the home of the brave“. In America we have two freedoms. The one secured by our military on arenas of battle and the eternal one paid for by Christ on the cross. Amen.
Talpa Talk 6-8-11 Talpa Talk 6-1-11 We are indebted to our Volunteer Fire Department again this week for putting out the fire between Valera and Talpa on Monday. The winds were fierce so it was a major job to keep it out. The kiddos from Talpa are attending Vacation Bible School at Valera Baptist Church this week. I haven't heard reports from them yet but judging from HARFAH, it is "different", and lots of other super good adjectives. Join them for a great time! Carol Jones attended Panther Creek's Field Day on Wednesday to watch Xavier. Afterward she ate lunch with Xavier in the cafeteria. On Thursday Carol and Maureen Duncan attended the Awards Assembly at Panther Creek. On Friday, Carol, and Kyle and Nina Brookshier of Van Horn attended the funeral of Arnold Allcorn in Brownwood. Arnold and Carol's father, Gordon Brookshier, were best friends for many years and Arnold was Carol's surrogate "Uncle". Arnold and Gordon dug graves in all of the county cemeteries for several years before they finally retired from that. They shared in many ranching and other business ventures, including the "creation" of Colonial Funeral Home in Brady along with several other partners. Glad to hear from Bob Dunn, sounds like his news is a bit menacing. We don’t like to thing our friendly computer as a weapon of destruction. “G'day, neighbors. This week I had a terrible experience. My computer was hacked and the address book was compromised. Then someone sent out very suggestive material as if it were sent from me. I don't really recall opening anything that was questionable. There were a couple of emails that I did and just deleted them. Now, I know that you don't have to open the email to get hacked, if you have the half screen "view" mode and can see the first few lines of the email, you are too late. My computer expert told me that the first thing to do was change my email password. I did this as soon as I could and maybe it saved me having to explain to more people. The only thing you can do is offer an apology and explanation and hope people understand. So far, all of my friends know that I would never send out something like this. They were also leery of the subject line and me sending it to a group that all names began with ..the letter "G". There is another scam being played whereby a friends address book will be copied and a message sent out to the effect: "sign up to be in "Friends name" circle of friends. Chat and keep up with all the latest news".You think, sure, we are buddies..if you click on and fill in your email address, in a couple of hours you will get hundreds of emails from the Philippines or Okinawa from men/women who want to come marry you...please send money for a plane ticket. Even as a joke, do not ever send a reply to any of these people. They will hound you like the IRS. Nope, the virus protect doesn't work..it isn't a virus, it just copies your addresses. And DO NOT fall for the "send this to 10 people if you love Jesus" type thing...it goes right to a spam factory that sells your new, fresh email address and there is nothing you can do about it. So, be careful out there. Too many hucksters are out there trying to take advantage of us. And that is the way it is out here in our quiet little corner of Coleman County.” Talpa Bob Ricky Joe and Theresa Agnew and the boys made the trip to Bowie last week to attend the funeral for Ricky Joe’s aunt. We extend our sympathy to them. Thanks to Theresa for placing flowers and flags on our family’s military graves in Rockwood. Ouieda Morris relinquished Wm Federer’s American Minute to my column this week. It’s a good one. I appreciate Mr.Federers generosity in allowing us to copy it. American Minute with Bill Federer May 30 Southern women scattered spring flowers on the graves of both the Northern and Southern soldiers who died during the Civil War. This was the origin of Memorial Day, which in 1868 was set on MAY 30. In 1968, it was moved to the last Monday in May. From the Spanish-American War, to World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm, War against Islamic Terror, up through the present, all who gave their lives to preserve America's freedom are honored on Memorial Day. Beginning in 1921, the tradition has been for Presidents to lay a wreath on the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is guarded 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The number 21 being the highest salute, the sentry takes 21 steps, faces the tomb for 21 seconds, turns and pauses 21 seconds, then retraces his steps. Inscribed on the Tomb is the phrase: "HERE RESTS IN HONORED GLORY AN AMERICAN SOLDIER KNOWN BUT TO GOD." In his 1923 Memorial Address, President Calvin Coolidge stated: "There can be no peace with the forces of evil. Peace comes only through the establishment of the supremacy of the forces of good. That way lies through sacrifice...'Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.'"
Talpa Talk 5-26-11 Talpa Talk 5-17-22 By Maureen Duncan
We didn’t write any news last week as you may have noticed. The event we were gearing up for was the wedding of granddaughter Jamie Davidson of San Angelo to Mark Baird of Ballinger in St Mary Star of the Sea Catholic Church in Ballinger. We enjoyed our company who came for the wedding. Pam Gasper came from Houston, Dan and Cathy Davidson of Snyder dropped off their son Daniel Davidson who had come down from Tech and they moved on staying with the Agnew’s in Talpa, Steve Gasper arrived from Algeria. Dennis and Margaret Davidson of League City and Brent Davidson, ASU student in San Angelo came by dropping off Michael Davidson from Hunter Army Air Field in Savannah Ga. They continued on to San Angelo for their accommodations. What can I say about the wedding after “lovely”? The groom was nervous, the bride was radiant,(and a bit nervous), Rev. Fr Wade was gracious, even mentioning Talpa Talk as he introduced the family. (That qualifies him for Reader of the Week. ) The 100+ year old church building was filled for the service. After pictures and visiting on the lawn, the party moved into the reception hall next door and the celebration continued throughout the evening, with dining, dancing and a lot of visiting. Ricky Joe and Theresa Agnew and grandsons, Junior and Ricky, Talpa cousins of the bride, attended the wedding and said they had the best time ever. Meanwhile, back in Talpa, Carol Jones took Xavier to the doctor in San Angelo on Wednesday. They did some shopping but made it back just in time for the last "Wednesday Church" of the school year at Valera Baptist Church. Xavier and Carol attended a birthday party for Lilly Milligan at Memory Lake in Coleman on Sunday afternoon. Xavier's last baseball game of the season will be Saturday, May 21 at 9 a.m. Closing ceremonies for the CYA Baseball will be at 11 a.m. after Xavier's game. It's been a great season for everyone. Can't wait until next year, but next year Xavier has CYA Football in the fall. HM and I went to Coleman on Monday to watch Xavier and the Longhorns play against the Tigers. The ’Horns gave it their best but the Tigers won 13-7. Coleman has a fine athletic area with lots of ball fields and bleachers. We would do well to support our youth and their sports activities.
Rosa Baker writes, “We had a cool week and the rain, 2 inches plus, was wonderful. Really made the weeds in the garden grow, though! Other than our usual routine of going to Ballinger to shop at Walmart and buy groceries our week was uneventful. On Saturday the 7th, Charles and Rosa, Chuck and Nancy Baker went to Fredricksburg and toured some of the wineries and the new distillery and saw lots of pretty places. Ended up at Wildseed Farms, which is always a treat and ate some good food at the Old German Bakery. We did end it Sunday, the 14th by going to our great granddaughter's birthday party at Memory Lake. Lilly Jo Miligan had 22 of her friends from Panther Creek School, Coleman and Santa Anna there to help her celebrate her eleventh birthday. They enjoyed swimming (brrr), kite flying and games. After swimming they ate hotdogs with all the trimmings and birthday cake. The parents, grandmas and grandpas all had a good time watching the young ones laugh and play. Talpa Bob has a very interesting story for us , “I was in Dallas for my six month check up and was copied on an email...and it mentioned a "Curtis", a Pecos ex, had been careflighted to a hospital in Plano. I grew up knowing a couple of guys named Curtis so I called around and found out which hospital in Plano he was in. Sure enough it was a Curtis Carlson. Knew him in elementary, middle and high school. Played some football together..saw him for a year in college. Then everyone just sort of moved on. I had not seen him in a good 52 years. Went to the hospital and there was one woman in the waiting room. I asked if she were a member of the Carlson family. And yes, she was Kathie, his wife. So I introduced myself. We visited a good, bit telling of our families. I told her about my children and where they all lived and that one lived in Wiley and taught school in McKinney, a nearby community. Kathie said that her daughter's children attended a private school in McKinney and did I know the name of it?
No , not really ...except that it is a private Christian school. Okay...about 2:00pm that same day, several of her children came in...including the daughter. She has the most precious little group of kids that I have seen in a long time...four red headed boys and one girl. so...the daughter is Jennifer and we talked and her kids go to Faith Christian Academy...."What is your daughters name?" Kristen...she thought a second and said "Tittle?" Yes, that is her. and I showed her the pic on my iPhone of them. The little boys were yelling "that is Mrs Tittle" and "That is Hannah". so, here I am on a trip one time in my life to a hospital that I will probably never go to again to visit a sick friend that I had not seen in years ...and his daughter lives in McKinney and her kids go to the same school that my daughter teaches at and they all know her and her daughter. At some point in the week, Kristen teaches the girl and three of the boys....but not the youngest one. What are the odds? well, that evening about 6:00pm...we had finished dinner and were sitting at the table and I was telling Kristen about this when her cell phone "dinked" and she received an email from her principal..a Mrs. Terri something...and the lady, Jennifer, had emailed the principal of the school, to share with her of being in the waiting room to see her dad and met a man who was not only a high school buddy of her dads, but his daughter taught at the that school. All this happened at the same time we were all talking about what a coincidence it was...and Kristen said "wait"...up till now it had just been "my friend" "her dad" no name....what is your friends name? Curtis Carlson...well, the teachers meet every morning for a prayer session before classes and that Monday morning one of the men asked for prayers for a man in his church that was in the hospital and needed prayers. His name is Curtis Carlson...so, that morning , my daughter had been praying for my friend , but didn't know it until the end of the day. What are the mathematical odds of all this ever happening? I don't know. My friend , Curtis, is holding his own for right now. It is still a serious condition. It was a long and tiring trip and I am happy to be back in my quite little corner of Coleman County. Talpa Bob
Thanks to Bill Federer for his American Minute. This week he writes appropriately about Armed Forces Day which falls on Saturday, May 21st.
Army Day, Navy Day and Air Force Day were combined in 1949 to be Armed Forces Day, celebrated the 3rd Saturday of May.
Army Day formerly was the date the US entered World War I, Navy Day was President Theodore Roosevelt's birthday and Air Force Day was the day the War Department established a division of aeronautics.
On Armed Forces Day, MAY 15, 1995, Secretary of Defense William Perry said: "In World War II, the United States Armed Forces helped defeat the forces of aggression and oppression on two sides of the globe... In the Cold War, we faced down the global Soviet threat. Today, our forces stand guard, at home and abroad, against a range of potential threats." Secretary Perry continued: "On Armed Forces Day, the nation says thank you to our men and women in uniform, their families, and the communities that support them…” Daniel Webster said, 'God grants liberty only to those who love it and are always ready to guard and defend it.'" U.S. Army Chaplain Father William Thomas Cummings, who was among those captured by the Japanese at Bataan, Philippines, and died when the prisoner "hell ship" he was on was hit with a torpedo, said in a battlefield sermon: "There are no atheists in the foxholes."
Talpa Talk I didn’t have a companion to go with me to the Ladies Spring Luncheon for the Lake Ivie Baptist Association. I went anyway and was really glad I did . The speaker was our own WMU Director, Becky Weber and we were very blessed with her message and her music. Nice lunch too. HM and I went to San Angelo on Monday for an appointment and hurried back to attend the last meeting of “Do Well, Be Well” at the Coleman Library Annex. We even got to participate in an exercise video. I had slipped up on exercising with such a busy day. Good timing. Thursday is the National Day of Prayer and I found out
folks in Coleman will gather on the courthouse lawn at 7:00PM with the main
prayer items being our nation and rain. (which we did have on Sunday evening, ¾
inches here in Talpa). As we always say, “we could use more.” Haley Quinones of Grand Prairie came to Talpa this weekend and visited with her brothers, Junior and Ricky Pas. Grandpa and Grandma Agnew took them to the Ethnic Festival and they reported having a good time there. I almost didn’t recognize them with their hair colored red, blue and ?. This from Talpa Bob, “It has been really hot and dry out here, and very windy. None of the wildflowers that I put out seeds for last fall came up. All I had was weeds and they were looking wilted. So, Saturday morning I mowed it all down. Sunday night it rained. Maybe one or two will come up and I will let you know later. But we do give thanks for that rain. Usually it is very quiet out here. One afternoon I heard a loud banging and went out to investigate. My neighbor, Darr Huckabe, was out wacking the side of that tin garage with a hoe. Wham, Bang, Wham. Then he would walk real careful around to the door and peek in...then go back and wack the side of the garage again..I walked over closer to where he was and called over,"Darr, what'cha got cornered, a snake?" "No", he sez,"it is a skunk" I wished him good luck and went back home. The next day or so I saw him out again and went over and asked how it played out. "Well", he said, "I shot it three times. I think I shot a dead skunk. It never moved. Must have gotten hit over on the highway and crawled in here to die". Said it stunk pretty bad but not as bad as if it had sprayed. I would rather deal with a rattlesnake than a skunk. Other than that, it has been very quiet out here in our little corner of Coleman County.” Rosa Baker writes, “The rain is wonderful...sure perked my garden up. So far, Monday morning, we have an inch in the rain gauge. The wind makes the cool temp. even colder for May, but we won't complain as long as we get more rain. We spent a pretty quiet week end here...dog-sat with "Jake" while Lisa and Gunner went to Midland to see their kids. The wind blew them back on Sunday afternoon.” With the death of Osama Bin Laden, there has been much “celebration,” if you will. It may be like Darr’s dead skunk in the garage. He’s dead but there is still an awful smell left behind. We do wonder what brings a man to such a life of murdering, torturing and evil in general. If I hadn’t had the good fortune to be born in a nation that upheld Christian morals and principles, and been taught the love of Christ from my mother’s knee, I might have been the woman who was trying to protect bin Laden from the bullets aimed in his direction. Thank God for the United States of America. In the hopes that Ouida from Novice has chosen another of Wm Federer’s articles, I will include one here that I thought was appropriate. American Minute with Bill Federer May 2 The director of the FBI, J. Edgar Hoover, died MAY 2, 1972. For 48 years, under eight Presidents, J. Edgar Hoover oversaw the Federal Bureau of Investigation, becoming famous for his dramatic campaigns to stop gangsters and organized crime. Hoover established the use of fingerprints in law enforcement and successfully tracked down well-known criminals. FDR gave Hoover the task of investigating foreign espionage and left-wing activist groups. J. Edgar Hoover stated: "The criminal is the product of spiritual starvation. Someone failed miserably to bring him to know God, love Him and serve Him." In the introduction to Edward L.R. Elson's book, America's Spiritual Recovery, 1954, J. Edgar Hoover wrote: "We can see all too clearly the devastating effects of Secularism on our Christian way of life. The period when it was smart to 'debunk' our traditions undermined...high standards of conduct. A rising emphasis on materialism caused a decline of 'God-centered' deeds and thoughts." J. Edgar Hoover continued: "The American home...ceased to be a school of moral and spiritual education. When spiritual guidance is at a low ebb, moral principles are in a state of deterioration. Secularism advances when men forget God."
Talpa Talk 4-27-11 I hope you had a great Easter! We did for the first half of the day when we went to church. Then HM and I spent the afternoon at home since daughter in law Cathy had broken 3 ribs (her own). We had planned to be with them but we didn’t want to cause her any more pain. They said Daniel came down from Tech so she overdid anyway. Can’t have that boy going home hungry. HM and I stopped in the Stevens Funeral Home Monday evening to pay our respects to the family and friends of Dollie Sue Scott. She was a delightful person and we were blessed to know her after she moved to the Coleman High Rise from Tomball. We extend our sympathy to the family and expecially our friend Annie Mae Brimer, one of Dollie's sisters. Thursday night the Horns defeated the Warriers in a Minor League baseball game in Coleman. Yeah Horns, Yeah Xavier. Carol Jones and Xavier were in Winters Saturday with Kenny Brookshier and Perri Ann Flores. They had lunch later with Kenny and then spent a quiet evening at home. They attended Easter Sunday services at Voss Baptist Church where Xavier got to hunt Easter eggs following the service. Rosa Baker writes, “We had a good Easter with some of the kids, grandkids and great grandkids. The Coleman bunch came out after church and we had a late lunch of ham, brisket, sausage on a stick, veggies, hot rolls and desserts. Really too stuffed to move, but the Easter Bunny had hidden eggs all over the place, so we had to go out and watch the great grandkids hunt them. They had lots of fun and the weather was very nice except for a little wind. We also had three birthdays to celebrate; Mandy Ceniceros, Hannah and Olivia Jefferson. They each had a beautiful birthday cake and presents and cards. When Chuck and Nancy got back into Coleman the tornado warnings were sounding, which was a little scary. But the cloud went right over Talpa (as usual) and we still have no rain. Those who came out to play Sunday were: Chuck, Nancy & Rebecca Baker, Miguel Quinones, Kerry, Elizabeth, Hannah, Olivia Jefferson, Tyler and Averi Ransberger, Germann, Mandy, Lilly Jo, Monaca and Johnathan Ceniceros all from Coleman and Gunner and Lisa Milligan of Talpa. We talked to Amanda Bigham and children Charlie and Alexis in Washington. It rained the Easter Bunny out up there. She sent pictures on her Facebook so we got to "see" them. The Midland kids didn't get to come for Easter, but we hope to see them in a few weeks and hope to have them visit when school is out.” Grady and Nona Fletcher had a visit from Nona’s nephew, Mark Howe from Ogden Ut. Bob Dunn sent this news to you all, “Last week was just staying in out of the wind. Not much of anything happening. I did drive to Austin for Easter church and then lunch with my son, David, and daughter-in-law Carrie. I had a wonderful time with my grandchildren. My grandson, Gerod, is only 12 but very nearly as big as I am. Yes, he plays football and the high school coaches are already courting him. The lunch was just too much to try and describe. Everyone has had deviled eggs, but Carrie made these with real bacon bits and roasted jalapeno bits...yumm. There was a honey ham on a bed of some kind of green
bean, not snap greens but long and thin, maybe Asian? with long strands of red
onion and pecans...these were roasted until crisp and then sat the ham on
it...the juices from the ham just made it all that much better. There were 2 or
3 spears of asparagus that were toasted until crisp and rolled in a very thin
dough (crepe?) and baked, had a platter of those...very good. Of course
scalloped potatoes. Did I say rolls? Easter is not about eating, but we gave thanks for it all and enjoyed the family being together. Daughter in law Carrie's parents, Ron and Alice, were there from Brownwood. A couple that Alice knew from Sul Ross in Alpine were also there, Mike and Billy. They were all working on their Masters Degrees at the same time. I had attended Sul Ross but that was years before. Very few of the building that I knew were still standing. Of course, my dorm was constructed out of the native rock by the CCC a long time ago. Probably needed replacing. Actually, it was pretty wobbly back in the early 1960's when I was there. We seem to have missed the big storm from Sunday night. All we got was the wind. That is about all the news in this quiet little corner of Coleman county.” Talpa Bob Ummm, Bob you surely know how to make us hungry. Have you been plagued as we have with the brown moths? HM had an invasion in his pump house down at Voss . Just tonight they have filled the garage. He is trying to lure them onto the porch from the garage by turning on the light. We’ll see if this works. Thanks again to Bill Federer for his American Minute April 25 U.S. Senate Chaplain Barry C. Black was elected in 2003. Posted on the official U.S. Senate website is: "Chaplain's Office - Throughout the years, the United States Senate has honored the historic separation of Church and State, but not the separation of God and State. The first Senate, meeting in New York City on APRIL 25, 1789, elected the Right Reverend Samuel Provost, the Episcopal Bishop of New York, as its first Chaplain. During the past two hundred and seven years, all sessions of the Senate have been opened with prayer, strongly affirming the Senate's faith in God as Sovereign Lord of our Nation." This was a continuation of the practice of the Continental Congress during the Revolution, as Ben Franklin remarked in 1787: "In the beginning of the Contest with Great Britain, when we were sensible of danger, we had daily prayer in this room for Divine protection." Beginning with Senate Chaplain Bishop Samuel Provoost, who conducted George Washington's Inaugural Service at New York's St. Paul's Chapel, all 62 Senate Chaplains have been Christian, though occasionally members of other faiths have been invited to offer prayers. The U.S. Senate Chaplain after World War II was Peter Marshall, who prayed: "Our liberty is under God and can be found nowhere else. May our faith be not merely stamped upon our coins, but expressed in our lives." On February 7, 1984, President Reagan addressed the National Association of Secondary School Principals: "God...should never have been expelled from America's schools. As we struggle to teach our children...we dare not forget that our civilization was built by men and women who placed their faith in a loving God. If Congress can begin each day with a moment of prayer...so then can our sons and daughters."
Talpa Talk 4-20-11 HAPPY EASTER ! All of us in Talpa have a story this week. HM and I
were taking our usual trip to Coleman on Thursday and he asked me if it was
clouds or smoke out to the west. We decided to observe it from the hill to the
east. Before we could get there, we met Glen Cove Fire truck, then Valera and
then Coleman’s truck followed by some official cars. We decided we were heading
in the wrong direction and came home to make sure we had a proper bag packed for
evacuation. Thanks to Ouida Morris for printing a list last week. We got some
other important items ready like our income tax which hadn’t been filed at that
time, (he did make the deadline) and the Good News Club materials for the final
party on Monday. Since then, I’ve thought of several other things that would be
important to put in an evacuation bag. HM and I went to the Palm Sunday Celebration presented by the Coleman County Choir at First Methodist Coleman on Sunday evening. It was a fine performance, “Here at the Cross” and put us in the spirit for celebration of the resurrection. A man/wife team of Podiatrists spoke at the “Do Well, Be Well” class last evening. We learned a lot about the importance of well-fitting shoes and HM learned he ought not wear his “yard” shoes to mow. Thongs are anathema and clogs are not much better. We need to wear shoes all the time to prevent the things we might step on causing an infection. Antibacterial Dial Soap is best for washing feet, don’t put lotion between your toes, use “Udder Butter” for cracked heels. For a better fit buy shoes at the end of the day. Those are some of the things I jotted down and wondered why getting those shoes off feels so good. Is it because they don’t fit properly or maybe I'm lacing them too tightly? >From Carol Jones, “The Horns won both games last week. Xavier and all the team members are very excited. Carol took Xavier to the pediatrician in San Angelo on Wednesday. (glad for a good report, Xavier) Thursday was the fire scare here in Talpa with a pretty good-sized blaze about a mile and a half from the city limits sign. Thanks to the eight fire departments responding including Coleman, Ballinger, Miles, Rowena, South Coleman Co., Valera, Glen Cove, and of course Talpa. Everyone should feel very lucky to have these men and women who voluntarily go out to fight our fires. Show them you appreciate them.” Linda Davis writes, “Jessica, Wade, Christian, Brendon and Lizzie Smith came over from San Angelo for a couple of days. We went to the county wide garage sales.” Rosa Baker has some news, “We didn't do much this week except try to keep the garden watered after the winds keep drying it up and beating the tomato and pepper plants to the ground. The threat of fire was a little scary...We watch the sky for smoke each day and pray that it doesn't get near us. Our county firemen are on the ball, though... There were trucks from all over the county and I think Runnels county to fight the fire west of us. Cheers for all of them!! James and I went to Brownwood to an auction Saturday, ate at Underwood's, our favorite place in Brownwood. Sunday James cooked a brisket and Gunner and Lisa came over and ate with us. We've been enjoying the cool days and cooler nights this week.” >From Talpa Bob comes this report, “Last week I did receive an invitation from Maureen to come over and have a bowl of pinto beans with her and H. M. . This was to be in return for showing her a couple of short cuts on the computer. A power surge had knocked her off line and she was having trouble getting back on. There is a trick to every trick, that is why they call it a trick. The beans were very good. We were also treated to some prime venison and all the trimmings. That H. M. is a lucky fellow. As I was leaving, he cut me one of his roses...a very large white rose with delicate pink edges. I took it home and put it in water and it is pretty still. I may try to take a cutting and splice it onto one of my rose bushes. We did have a grass fire down Hwy 67 going West out of Talpa. It was put out very quickly before it could become a real bad one. It was about 0.8 miles from my house. Had the wind been blow West to East, as it is today, I would have been in bad trouble. However it was blowing out of the South. Sunday morning at church, there was a baptism of a young man. On the way out I asked Pastor Smith if he was through with the water in the baptistery...he looked at me kind of funny and I explained about the grass fire. He told me, "Bob, if you need that water, take it". If only I had one of those 330 gallon tanks you see being hauled around, I would have taken it. Someone at the post office asked me, "Is it hot enough for ya?". Nope, I said, "I would like it 4° hotter". I get some strange looks now and then. But after all, it is summer and we are in West Texas...expect it to get hot. I told her , Remember last winter and we had snow and ice on the ground and the wind was blowing gale force out of the North and would cut right to the bone? And you were praying 'Oh Lord, please warm it up some'. Well, the Lord has answered your prayers...it is now warmer. Amen. And that is about all the news there is in this quiet little corner of Coleman County.” Talpa Bob, I would’ve invited you over even if you hadn’t shown me another trick of sending pictures via the computer. It worked out very well for me anyway. Pictures, anyone? I wasn’t alert to send one of our fire. It just didn’t seem important at the time to get a few snapshots. Our final Good News Club was very good, much fun, so said some of the children. A lesson entitled “Thomas Believes” was tucked in among the games and singing. We hope to see all of the children in September. I know, we didn’t get started until October last year but that was because of my granddaughter’s wedding. We’d like to be out of the starting gate right after school begins. Much thanks to Glenda Gassiot, Theresa Smith and Janie Dawson for their efforts. Also to parents who stepped in from time to time. I noticed a runner from Kenya won the Boston Marathon yesterday. The race is in celebration of Patriot’s Day each year and if you lived in the New England area you could watch it from start to finish on your television. Here, we only get to see the winner if you tune into the right sports broadcast.
American Minute with Bill Federer April 19 Paul Revere was captured along the way, but William Dawes and Samuel Prescott continued the midnight ride from Boston's Old North Church to warn the inhabitants of Concord that British troops were coming to seize their guns. In early dawn, APRIL 19, 1775, American "Minutemen," as poet Emerson wrote, fired the "shot heard round the world" by confronting the British on Lexington Green and at Concord's Old North Bridge. The conflict began that in eight years would end in independence. New England celebrates this as "Patriots' Day." Also on APRIL 19, in the year 1951, Five-Star General Douglas MacArthur retired from 48 years of patriotic service. One of the most decorated soldiers in U.S. history, MacArthur served in France in WWI, was Superintendent of West Point and the youngest Army Chief of Staff. General Douglas MacArthur was Supreme Allied Commander in the Pacific in WWII and received Japan's surrender. He commanded UN forces against North Korea, but was dismissed by President Truman for not fighting a limited war. Douglas MacArthur said:
Talpa Talk 4-13-11 The southwest corner of Coleman County has been very hot
and very dry. We went into San Angelo on Saturday so I could go to a bridal shower for granddaughter Jamie Davidson. It was very nice and since she had selections at two places, I assume the gifts were her choices. Makes it very convenient for everyone, especially the stores. They provide one very attractive wrapping paper for all gifts. You might be surprised at how long it took HM and me to wrap a gift. He is always ready to help but then that means it has to be wrapped perfect. (Our idea of perfect.) I can tell you one thing, there was none other there wrapped like this one. It stood out above the crowd and you knew it didn’t come from the “selection” store. Michael Lowry spent the weekend with Xavier Jones. They had dinner in Ballinger Friday evening and played all day Saturday with Lilly, Monica and Naomi. They rode bikes and played in the water when they weren't watching TV or playing Xavier's X-Box. Xavier Jones left Good News Club early as he does on Mondays. He had a baseball game and when we got home tonight, there was a message from him. “The ‘Horns won! They beat the Blue Sox 12-2 and I got 2 hits.” I’ll await the news from Carol to see if it meant 2 runs or 2 hits. Anyway, we are very proud of the ‘Horns and Xavier in particular. Thank you Carol, for the updated version of the Horns game. “Xavier and the rest of his team, the Horns, played an excellent game of minor league baseball on Monday night. They played the Blue Sox and won, 12-2. Xavier scored two of the points and was very excited about them. Go Horns!!! So far, they've lost one, tied one, and tonight, they won one.” Joyce Huckaby makes us proud by walking in the Capitol 10K Run/Walk recently in Austin. She said nearly 23,000 hit the streets for this run , the most since 1987. Haley Quinones of Grand Prairie spent the weekend with the Agnew’s and Junior and Ricky Pas. Theresa and Tiffany and the boys took her home on Sunday and spent the remainder of the day with Bobbie, Jason, Autumn and baby Jason at their new home in Cedar Hill. Wm Federer has reminded us again of one of our space program’s near tragedies that turned into a victory in which prayer played a major part. American Minute with Bill Federer April 11 "Houston, we've had a problem" were the words sent from
Apollo 13, which was launched for the moon APRIL 11, 1970. Nixon concluded:
Talpa Talk 4-6-11 The hummingbird moths were introduced to you a couple weeks ago. There were several days when we didn’t see anymore. Now we have been revisited and note they come around dusk. Other times the flower patch is visited by butterflies, perhaps six to ten. One day I will tell you the name of the flowers. (loss of memory is not good for a writer). Any way, they are vivid purple and solid in the patch. Owing to the absence of one of the Good News Club teachers, Carol Jones filled in and was a great help even thought she and Xavier had to leave early for baseball practice. She helped Xavier to look like a leper in Jesus’ day. It worked, even some of our younger ones knew what the disease was called after seeing it portrayed and Xavier calling out “unclean, unclean!” Carol and Xavier Jones spent the day in Coleman Saturday. Opening Ceremonies for the Coleman Youth Association's Baseball were in the morning and Xavier had his first minor game later in the afternoon. Xavier plays short stop for the Minor League's team "Horns". They lost to the Raiders, 8 to 2. These words from Talpa Bob, “There is not much going on the South side of Hwy 67. Just trying to recover from that long drive to Cinci. We get one warm day and then last night it got down to 36...so we may or may not ever get a Spring...probably go straight to 100° weather and summer. Still sad over the loss of my little foundling boy cat, Lucky. I guess his luck ran out and he used up his nine lives all too quickly. I found him in the middle of a dirt road, covered with mud and stickers....his eyes infected and swollen shut. He was dying of thirst and hunger. I took him home and cleaned him up, gave him water and food...then to the vet and got him a shot or two and ointment for his eyes. He never did see very well. Then, he got to where he just couldn't eat and didn't feel very good. Took him to a vet and he tested positive for feline leukemia, always fatal, he was not going to get better...So, a hard decision but I allowed him to be put to sleep, without pain and with dignity. He has a place out back with his own headstone, beside Spot. I gave him all the love that I could from last June to now. He was well cared for, fed and cared for as much as I could give him. I will miss him a lot. Trying to find a store that has grass sod. Not to be found in Ballinger so I am calling around. Perhaps in San Angelo. I can't get my little tractor to start and need to find a mechanic to help me get the carburator set right. I am a fair hand at computers but not a mechanic at all, to speak of. I will need it to mow the "Great Out Back" when the weeds start to grow. And that is about all the news from this quiet corner of Coleman County.” So sorry to learn of Lucky's demise, Bob HM and I attended the Do Well, Be Well Clinic on Monday evening at the Coleman Library Annex. It was very informative in the area of nutrition and self-care for Type 2 Diabetes. This week’s speakers were Sandra Clack and Denise Rogers. The clinic meets each Monday at 6:30PM for six weeks. I believe there are still openings for those who would benefit. There were a few non-diabetics attending who wanted the curriculum on nutrition. We will soon finish the Good News Club for the year. There is one more club in the series on Life of Christ. The following week of the 18th, will be our party and we will pretend to be going on a hike. FUN! FUN! Here is our favorite Bill Federer, and remember if you would like to see your ideas in print, please send your thoughts and news to TalpaTalk@dishmail.net. (or call.) American Minute with Bill Federer
TALPA TALK 3-30-11 We had some strange moths visiting a flower bed last week. They are called “Hummingbird Moths”. You might think they are baby hummingbirds but not so. They are interesting to watch, and according to my source, also called a Clear Wing Moth as part of its wing is clear. Blackie looked longingly at them, swatted his paw, then I saw him chewing on something. He headed for the food bowl when he saw HM setting out cat food. I wondered of any of you dear readers have seen this particular moth. This from Talpa Bob, “Last Wednesday I started out on an epic journey to repay a favor. My good friend, Gloria, retired and wished to move back to Cincinnati to be with her two daughters, Kelly and Erin. Kelly has the twin 6 year olds, Eleanor and Wilson.
They are as hyper as howler monkeys and a bit louder. Erin has a newbie ,
Samantha. 2 or 3 miles of what looked like a lake or bayou...did not recall a lake near Memphis...got closer and of course there was the sign...Mississippi River...it was at least 5 miles wide at that point...big time flood stage. The 18 wheeler traffic was unbelievable. Like traffic on Dallas 75N but all trucks bumper to bumper. One would get up one more rev than the guy in front and try to pass ...took 5 miles to get around and they would not back off. The state of AR and TN need to make some laws. That was a good 650 mile leg of the trip. Up before 5:00am again and on the road...good thing it was an early start...there were two major slow downs...just before Nashville and Lewisville...roadwork. The hwy dept was funneling three lanes into one...on North and South bound traffic...traffic was stacked up 20 miles in each direction. And somehow, all the way from Memphis to Cinci, it is up hill all the way. Pulling a trailer, that is hard on the engine and gas mileage to stop and go every 5 foot. of the way. gerrrrr.. Pulled off on a certain exit #14 which had a sign to eat at McDonalds, Taco Bell or Waffle House...got off...nothing there...in either direction...rawr...get back on road and go further...and did find a real place to get off and eat...talking about it and the guy at the next table said, "yeah, they are two miles from the hwy" how good is that? Got to Cinci (actually just across the river in KY...but you can see the river from the back yard. and had time to unload the trailer and get lost trying to find the drop off point near the airport...those people don't spend much on signage for the streets. Took one day to recover and did go take a quick tour of the area. I can tell you that the football stadium in Midland is larger than the one in downtown Cinci for the Bengals. Midland probably has more fans attend also. The Stadium in Arlington could hold 3 or 4 of the Reds stadium. Down town is old and has some beautiful old architecture. Saw the "Lady of the Water" fountain down town. That was on Friday and we had snow flurries while driving around in 34° temps. I noted that my iPhone said it was 88° in Talpa. The Ohio River was still in a flood stage and up high on the cement wall to contain it from the city. I did buy a couple of packs of Skyline Chili that Cinci is famous for. I can tell you to not heat up a bowl of it and expect something like Texas Chili...not even Wolf Brand chili..it is more like a slightly improved Sloppy Joe. Goes best on hot plate of spaghetti with cheese on top. The locals think it is just about too hot with spice to eat. Saturday, I was awake early, 4:30am, so I just got up and slipped out the door. Made good time thru the construction areas as traffic had not started up yet and being a weekend. From Nashville to Memphis there was a torrential rain that caused many wrecks along the way, especially in the loop around Memphis. Then on to Little Rock in moderate rain. The 18 wheeler traffic had not let up any on that leg. Cross the state line to TX, the sun came out, the rain stopped and it was 91°, and all the creeks and rivers had dry beds. Why stop now, I am on a roll. Stopped in Dallas to get gas and eat a bite and back on the road. Reached Talpa about 10:45pm. That was about 1,200 miles in one setting. Numb from my ankles to my neck but okay. Did not really get sleepy and was alert. However, I don't recommend it and probably won't try it again. Not sure how to calc that...it was 3:30am TX time when I started...so I guess start with that and it was about 19 1/2 hours logged in one day. Very happy to be back in our quite little corner of Coleman County.” Talpa Bob Glad you’re back Bob, we’ve had Cincinnati Chili and
found it to be tasteful with the spaghetti and cheese. Actually it was made
with the cook’s own chili, not the Skyline recipe. Carol Jones took Xavier to the doctor in San Angelo on Wednesday. While there they shopped a bit. Little League practice is going strong. Twice a week so far. Philip Davis will quietly celebrate his 61st Birthday at home on March 30th. Happy Birthday Philip, what? No cake with fondant icing? Oh, that was last year when Linda made it. Rosa Baker writes, “Well, we thought Spring had arrived and here it is cool again. Ken and Jan Baker came out from Burkett after church Sunday. James had made a big pot of gumbo so, we had gumbo for lunch. Ken installed a new ceiling fan for James while Jan, Charles and I visited. Later Gunner and Lisa Milligan came over and James grilled steak for all of us. I think he got a cold or allergy bug in the cool wind. He's "under the weather" today. Lisa and I are planning a trip to Garden World to pick up tomato, pepper plants and a few other things. Hope it starts warming up again. Our hummingbirds are back, however. We've been watching three that are visiting our feeders.” Wm Federer has done it again and we thank him for this American Minute. On MARCH 28, 1885, the Salvation Army was organized in the United States. It was begun in England by "General" William Booth in 1865, who conducted meetings among the poor in London's East End slums. Originally named the Christian Mission, he designed uniforms and adopted a semi-military system of leadership. On December 1, 1965, President Lyndon Johnson remarked to the Salvation Army in New York: "For a century now, the Salvation Army has offered food to the hungry and shelter to the homeless-in clinics and children's homes, through disaster relief, in prison and welfare work, and a thousand other endeavors. In that century you have proved time and again the power of a handshake, a meal, and a song. But you have not stopped there. You have demonstrated also the power of a great idea." President Lyndon Johnson continued: "The voice of the Salvation Army has reminded men that physical well-being is just not enough; that spiritual rebirth is the most pressing need of our time and of every time; that the world cannot be changed unless men change. That voice has been clear and courageous-and it has been heard. Even when other armies have disbanded, I hope that this one will still be on the firing line."
Talpa Talk 3-23-11 By Maureen Duncan I have to admit that I have a reputation for being a health nut. Mostly that reputation was forged by friends of my teen-age children who claimed they couldn’t get a “tonic” (cold drink, to you) at our house and nothing with sugar in it.) I just saw this in things to ponder, “Health nuts are going to feel stupid someday, lying in hospitals dying of nothing.” I do hope that if I die of nothing, I’ll not have to go to a hospital to do it. We do occasionally find ourselves at the DQ and were there with our Voss Baptist friends on Sunday . Annie Mae Brimer came to play piano for us on Sunday. It was a last minute arrangement because Carol Jones couldn’t make it. We had planned to present Annie Mae with a token of our appreciation when we joined her and Louis at the DQ after church. Instead we gave it to her at the church and then a few of the church members did go and eat with them. Dave and Tonya Ellison, David and Mary Graham, HM and I joined Annie Mae and Louis Pittard and Louis’ daughter Nancy Pittard Smith. It was very enjoyable. I disqualified myself as a health nut by having a chocolate sundae but it really hit the spot. Carol Jones celebrated her birthday last Tuesday with a walk and some shopping on the Boardwalk in Atlantic City, New Jersey by the Atlantic Ocean. She and Carla Campbell of Ballinger spent a few days there during Spring Break, returning home on Thursday. Carla also treated Carol to a scrumptious "fresh" seafood dinner on her birthday. Robbie Jones brought Xavier Jones home on Saturday from his vacation in Sonora over Spring Break. They spent the week practicing baseball since Little League officially starts Saturday, April 2nd in Coleman. Monday it was back to school and also Xavier's first baseball practice. The team he's on is the Longhorns. Good luck to them this season. Dennis and Connie Halfmann went to Hords Creek Lake with friends over the weekend. They used the time relaxing, playing games and eating. Sounds like fun to me. Linda Davis writes, “I went to San Angelo last Thursday through Sunday to spend time with Jessica, Wade, Christian, Brendon and Lizzie Smith. Friday, Jess, Lizzie and I spent the afternoon shopping and having lunch with my mom, Juanell Robertson. Lizzie is growing though she will be a little one....4 months now, weighs 11 lbs and is 22 inches long, darling red hair and big blue eyes. Grandma is sure proud of that only granddaughter! Ricky Joe and Theresa Agnew and the boys, Junior and Ricky went to Willow Park on Sunday where they met Jason, Bobbie Dawn, Autumn and their new baby boy, (his name is escaping me). They enjoyed lunch together. It’s time to wish Ricky Joe Agnew a Happy Birthday. I happen to know his age but will refrain from telling our readers. Carroll and Addie Hinds had to go to Sheffield last week following the death of his brother in law Frank Klassen. Carroll did the funeral service at his sister’s request. Frank and Glenda lived in Coleman before moving to Sheffield a few years ago. We extend our sympathy Glenda and the family. Since the nephews from Panther Creek have been studying about Johnny Appleseed, I will enhance their studies with some facts taken from Wm Federer’s American Minute and thank him for allowing his works to be reprinted. “70-years-old, he visited his friend William Worth one evening, ate some milk and bread, read out loud from the Bible, laid down on the floor to sleep and never woke up. This was how John Chapman, better known as Johnny Appleseed, died on MARCH 18, 1845. Johnny Appleseed's father, Nathaniel, was a Minuteman who fought the British at Concord in 1775. Johnny Appleseed collected seeds from apple cider presses in western Pennsylvania and planted nurseries from the Alleghenies to central Ohio, giving thousands of seedlings to westward bound pioneers. He lived at harmony with Indians, bringing them medicinal plants. During the War of 1812, Johnny Appleseed heard the British had incited an Indian attack, so he ran 30 miles from Mansfield to Mount Vernon, Ohio, to warn settlers. Bare foot, wearing a mush pan over his eccentric long hair and an old coffee sack over his shoulders, Johnny Appleseed had a unique devotion to nature and the Bible. He called an apple blossom a 'living sermon from God' and often quoted the Sermon on the Mount. Poet William Henry Venable wrote: 'Remember Johnny Appleseed - All ye who love the apple - He served his kind by word and deed - In God's grand greenwood chapel.' "
Talpa Talk 3-16-11 By Maureen Duncan Talpa kiddos are pretty glad to be on Spring Break, I
think all of us are. Twenty of our family had gathered at Lowake from all parts of west Texas on Saturday night and celebrated, Daniel Davidson’s 21st birthday. He is my youngest grandson and a senior at Texas Tech where he is majoring in accounting. Ricky Joe and Theresa Agnew, Junior and Ricky Pas were part of the birthday party at Lowake. Theresa said they had a wonderful time. CAROL BROOKSHIER-JONES writes, “Saturday Xavier Jones celebrated his 9th birthday with a party in Coleman. There were 18 kids besides Xavier there and numerous parents. Attending from out of town were Lourdes Santa Ana who is Xavier's grandmother, Uncle Jacob Nino, cousin Junior Nino, Aunt Melissa Jones and cousins Taryn and Shon (Jr) Jones. After church on Sunday (Xavier's real birthday) Carol and Xavier traveled to San Angelo to celebrate Xavier's birthday with a second party. Attending were Shon and Meliisa with Taryn and Shon Jr., Robbie and Lorna Jones of Sonora, and Carol and Xavier. Afterward Robbie took Xavier home with them for the Spring Break week. Rosa Baker writes, “The weather was so pretty Sunday
afternoon, we had a bar-b-cue and home made ice cream after church. Chuck,
Nancy, Rebecca, Miguel Elizabeth, Hanna and Olivia came out from Coleman and
joined Lisa, Gunner, Charles, Rosa and James from Talpa. Also Lillie Jo and
Monica Cenceros are visiting Gunner and Lisa during Spring Break. Talpa Bob says he is not yet over his flu bug and to top it off, his cat “Lucky” is sick as well. He doesn’t wish to share his bug so he’s sticking close to home. He has a friend here from Olney who has been storing furniture at Bob’s place. As soon as everyone is well enough he will be moving the furniture to Cincinnati since he has the truck that is fit for the job. Then he should have a few well chosen remarks about the trip. The following is a great article and we thank Bill
Federer for his contributions to the internet.
TALPA TALK 3-9-11 Talpa Talk 3-2-11 Talpa Talk 2-23-11 By Maureen Duncan Greetings from Talpa on Presidents Day. School was in session so we had Good News Club. One of our clubbers said, “Do you know who my favorite president is?” of course, I didn’t. he said, “Benjamin Franklin“. When I told him Benjamin Franklin was a great American but not a president, he wasn’t at all chagrined just allowed as to how he was his favorite anyway. One of my favorites is George Washington who once prayed: "Almighty God, we make our earnest prayer that Thou wilt keep the United States in Thy holy protection: that Thou wilt incline the hearts of the citizens to cultivate a spirit of subordination and obedience to government, and entertain a brotherly affection and love for one another and for their fellow citizens of the United States at large.." Carol and Xavier Jones had Sunday lunch in Ballinger at the home of Kenny and Vivien Brookshier. HM and I were in San Angelo one day for a visit with his dietician. She is a fine lady and praises him no end when he loses a few pounds, (which is on a regular basis). We had lunch at Logan’s Roadhouse and they do have good selections for anyone watching what they eat. Pat Musick, a former Talpa resident joined us for lunch and we caught up on each other’s news. Talpa Bob writes, “Last Wednesday I went to Winters, at the invitation of Maureen and HM Duncan. There was a Senior To Do at the FBC. There was a guest speaker and we had a nice lunch prepared by the local members. I left after lunch to go visit my old buddy, Tom the Hermit. It was early afternoon and I had to beat on the side of the camper with a 2 x 4 to wake him up. Then I learned that he had been sick for the past three weeks with the flu. No, he won't go in to town and see a doctor. I did get him some over the counter stuff and made sure that he had enough food close to the hot plate. Some day I will go over there and find him frozen to death. During that snow and ice storm all he had was a little 4 square inch electric heater. He would sit on the floor Indian style with the little heater at his feet and cover up with a blanket over his head and the heater. You will remember the part about him living in a camper shell on the back of a 1991 Toyota Pickup. Thursday my contractor guy from San Angelo came to my house and installed a ladder to the attic, inside the house in the hallway. I have had a lot of traffic up to the heating and a/c unit since last summer and the workmen were going in and out the window on the side of the house. The window is just about to fall apart now. Gary, the contractor guy is very good and is very picky and did the job super well. This week the guy David from Agri Plex heating a/c place is to come out and add a couple of features to my unit. I call him the "O and W" guy in Heating A/C...that is "Older and Wiser" he knows everything there is to know about them. Not only that, he did have relatives that did live in this house so he knows the house as well. Who better to call for the job? Friday I drove to Odessa to get checked by my Toe Doc...he whittled on my big toes last Dec and I can now walk without pain from ingrown nails. He is totally painless. He released me and I walked out wearing my new pair of boots....custom fitted and hand made from M. L. Leddy's in San Angelo. They fit as good as an old pair of house shoes that you have been wearing for 10 years. No breaking in needed. While at Leddy's, I had a visit with Maureen's brother, T. L. Steward, who works there. Small world sometimes. And that was about all the excitement I could stand in this week in our quiet little corner of Coleman County.” The Senior Rally at the First Baptist in Winters was great. Sorry Bob had to miss the second half of the program as it just got better. I’m proud of him though for checking on his friend and hope he improves. I’m sure he is enjoying the warmer weather. Wm Federer printed a fine American Minute for me to share, and he includes some lines that Benjamin Franklin wrote. I know the Panther Creek student would be happy. Pilgrim's Progress was published FEBRUARY 18, 1678. An allegory of a pilgrim's journey to the Celestial City, it was written by John Bunyan, born in Bedford, England. At age 29, Bunyan became a Baptist minister and was imprisoned for over 12 years for preaching without a license. While in jail, he supported his family by making shoelaces. His book, found in nearly every colonial New England home, was the world's best-seller for centuries. Benjamin Franklin wrote in his Autobiography: "From a child I was fond of reading, and all the little money that came into my hands was ever laid out in books. Pleased with the Pilgrim's Progress, my first collection was of John Bunyan's works in separate little volumes." Franklin continued: "My old favorite author, Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress...has been translated into most of the languages of Europe, and suppose it has been more generally read than any other book, except perhaps the Bible." In Pilgrim's Progress, John Bunyan wrote: "Christian ran thus till he came at a place somewhat ascending, and upon that place stood a cross... So I saw in my dream, that just as Christian came up with the cross, his burden loosed from off his shoulders, and fell from off his back."
Talpa Talk 2-16- 11 We saw a number of ads on TV before Talpa Sale Barn had it’s auction on Saturday. I think they must’ve paid off , judging by the crowd that showed up. On the other hand, the gals at Voss Baptist had gathered up warm winter clothing and not much came of our advertising. We met at Mary Grahams on Saturday morning and drank coffee and chatted waiting for the folks to show up. Mary had made us a delicious taco soup and we visited some more and had a really good time before we decided it would be just as well to pack up and go home. We only had one taker and had cautioned her that we couldn’t give away too much in order to save coats for others. Our apologies to her, she could have taken more. Now the left over warm clothing is stored down at the church. It is still available to anyone who has a need. The children at Panther Creek came streaming out on Monday with their Valentine boxes and looking happy from their parties. I was totally surprised to receive a beautiful rose from Junior and Ricky Pas in Good News Club. Thanks boys, that was very thoughtful and thanks to Granma Theresa for coming down to the school to leave it for me. Some days are full of surprises. Theresa Agnew went to Grand Prairie on Friday to bring Haley Quinones to Talpa for the weekend. She and her brothers, Junior and Ricky went to the Abilene Zoo on Saturday. Xavier Jones spent the weekend with Robbie and Lorna Jones in Sonora, returning home Sunday afternoon. Carol sold another puppy on Sunday to go to Granbury. There is now one puppy, a sable male, left for sale. He is a 9-week old Pembroke Welsh Corgi. Talpa Bob writes this, “It has been a quiet week in our little corner of Coleman County. The weather has warmed up just a bit but the wind has canceled out the effect. The temperature would get up to 65° and the wind out of the South West at 63 mph would just blow your socks off. Last Friday evening I did enjoy dining at the local restaurant, Talpa Pit Stop and Grill and Grocery. I was seated at a table with Maureen and H.M. Duncan and some other local celebrities. The Matri'd, Phillip, assured us of prompt and very good service. The Head Chef, Linda Davis, prepared a sumptuous meal. I had the fried catfish. Maureen invited me to join her and H.M. to attend a Senior Adult Rally in Winters at the First Baptist Church on Wednesday. (Lunch included, so that would be hard to turn down. ) That would also give me a chance to go visit an old high school buddy who lives out in the country a few miles from Winters. To visit Tom I have to drive down a State Hwy, turn off on a County Rd and then find a certain un-named dirt road, cross a wooden bridge, then cut directly across a cotton field , ford a running stream and follow a fence line to a live oak stand where Tom lives in a camper shell on the back of a 1991 Toyota pickup. He has electricity but no running water. He cooks on a hot plate. The camper did have a little stove but it broke years ago. He has a little fridge/freezer just outside. When his mother passed away several years ago, he did inherit a house in Winters. However, the busy hustle bustle life in Winters was too much for him and he sold the house and moved out to the quiet of the country. I will report on this visit in next week's column. We, the Three Mouseketters, Tobi, Angel, Lucky, and I hope you all have a nice week.” I know you would be disappointed not to hear one of Wm Federer’s American Minutes, I am grateful that he lets us print something from his vast store of historical information. American Minute with Bill Federer February 13 "Man has forgotten God, that is why this has happened" was Russian author Alexander Solzhenitsyn's response when questioned about the decline of modern culture. This echoed another Russian author, Dostoevsky, in whose book, The Brothers Karamazov, the character Ivan Karamazov contended that if there is no God, "everything is permitted." Solzhenitsyn was imprisoned for eight years by Joseph Stalin, as he described in his autobiographical lecture, printed in the Nobel Foundation's publication, Les Prix Nobel, 1971: "I was arrested on the grounds of what the censorship had found in my correspondence with a school friend, mainly because of certain disrespectful remarks about Stalin, although we referred to him in disguised terms. A further basis for the 'charge' were drafts of stories and reflections which had been found in my map case." He was Awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1970, but the Communist government did not allowed him to leave the country to accept it. He began publishing "The Gulag Archipelago" in 1973, and in response to international pressure, the Soviet Union expelled him on FEBRUARY 13, 1974. The following year in Washington, D.C., Alexander Solzhenitsyn warned: "I...call upon America to be more careful...because they are trying to weaken you...to disarm your strong and magnificent country in the face of this fearful threat-one that has never been seen before in the history of the world."
Talpa Talk 2-9-11 I wrote you last when our week of “weather” had started. Ice on the roadways that didn’t completely melt for four days. We aren’t used to this so we stuck to home. Still we take what we get and it amounted to an inch plus in the rain gauge. In all of the school cancellations, (Panther Creek was Tuesday through Friday), we didn’t have to cancel Good News Club and met again today with a good turnout. The ladies at the Voss Baptist Church wished we’d gotten our “warm clothing” together before it got so cold, ( but we didn’t). We have ransacked our closets and those of our friends and will have a good selection of coats, and other warm clothing to be given away on Saturday morning, February 12, 9am to 1:00pm in the garage at 511 Columbus Ave in Coleman. Carroll Hinds went to Sheffield on Monday where he took his sister Glenda Classen for a doctor’s appointment. He started home on Tuesday, finding the closer he got to Glen Cove, the heavier the ice was on the roadway. The worst being on his road which hadn’t seen too much traffic. We were thankful to hear the end of his story. Home safe! Heard from our neighbor, “ Well, there isn't much to be said for the cold we had. I was talking to a gent in the post office and reminded him of his complaint last August and he was praying "Lord, please give us some respite from this hot weather"...well, the Lord has answered your prayer...here it is. Probably nothing compared to what is coming at us later this week. The weather man is saying "A winter mix of sleet and snow and freezing rain, 0° to 10° and winds up to 25 mph. I read that and was pondering on how it is that all of a sudden I am in Minnesota ? So, this morning I am starting up a big pot of beef stew. The coffee pot will also be on. So, if ya get too cold and are in our quiet little corner of Coleman County, stop in for a bowl of stew and a cuppa coffee.” Talpa Bob This came from Rosa Baker, “We spent the week inside as much as possible. Had to go out and feed and water the chickens and dog, but other than that we didn't venture out too much. We had to put ice cream salt on the north sidewalk and shoveled the ice and snow off. Charles remarked, " This is why we're not still in Colorado and New Mexico." Weeks like we just had were common in the winters when we lived there. We had stocked up on groceries, etc. before the storm, so we wouldn't have to get out. James braved it into town each morning to go to work, so we got a first hand road report from him. Charles had to shut in some of the oil wells because the roads to them were impassable. Looks like we may be in for a little more winter this week. Maybe it won't stay so cold like it did last week.” Xavier Jones visited his grandmother in San Angelo this weekend coming home in time to watch the Super Bowl. Other than that, Carol and Xavier stayed home and tried to stay warm all week. “All of us could take a lesson from the weather. It pays no attention to criticism.” written by Mr. Anonymous. Thanks to Bill Federer for permission to copy the following, American Minute with Bill Federer February 8 The Boys Scouts of America was incorporated FEBRUARY 8, 1910. Sir Robert Baden-Powell began the movement in England two years prior. A hero of the South African Boer Wars, Sir Baden-Powell's troops were besieged 200 days by an overwhelming army, but his resourcefulness saved his men. The Boy Scouts are now the largest voluntary youth movement in the world, with membership over 25 million. In the pamphlet "Scouting & Christianity" 1917, Baden-Powell wrote: "Scouting is nothing less than applied Christianity." The Scout Oath states: "On my honor, I will do my best: To do my duty to God and my country, and to obey the Scout Law, To help other people at all times. To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake, and morally straight." In 1924, President Calvin Coolidge addressed a gathering of Boy Scouts in New York: "The three fundamentals of scouthood are reverence for nature...reverence for law...and reverence for God. It is hard to see how a great man can be an atheist. Doubters do not achieve." President Coolidge concluded: "No man realizes his full possibilities unless he has the deep conviction that life is eternally important, and that his work, well done, is part of an unending plan."
TALPA TALK 2-2-11 We have had some enjoyable company. Dan and Cathy Davidson of Snyder came to Talpa last week and visited with Rick and Theresa Agnew and family before having a late lunch with HM and me . We played several games of ‘42 before the evening was spent and they had to go home. Val and Glenda Zepeda of Castroville were here on Monday. They intended to stay until Thursday but the weather was forbidding and they went back on Tuesday. As you know, we had a mix of weather on Monday night so they took their lives in their hands and started out on the roads late Tuesday morning. Several folks from Talpa attended the Fifth Sunday Singing at Glen Cove Baptist Church. Loyd and Edwina Hopper, Mike and Debbie Priddy, Grady and Nona Fletcher and HM and I . What a great night it was! We loved the music and enjoyed the supper which had soups of every kind plus a great dessert table. Haley Quinones of Grand Prairie visited with her family, the Ricky Joe Agnews’ over the weekend. We got in our Good News Club at Panther Creek School before the storm hit. We thank a grandparent, Nancy Cavanaugh for sending grapes for their snack. It fit in well with the lesson of the spies going into Canaan to check out the land and bringing back grapes as well as other fruit. We gave the children a craft of the space shuttle and hopefully they and a parent will get it made it before the 24th of February when NASA launches the USA shuttle to the ISS. We plan to launch ours around that date also. I don’t expect NASA to sent a reporter out to watch our launch but this reporter will let you know. The folks of Voss Baptist Church decided to gather warm winter clothing for anyone who needs some supplemental clothing before the winter has passed. They will display the free clothing in the garage at 511 Columbus Street on Saturday morning, February 12, 9am to1:00pm. What doesn’t get “needed” we will probably save to the Fall. Carol and Xavier Jones enjoyed Carol's grandchildren, Taryn and Shon (Jr.) Jones of San Angelo on Saturday afternoon and for the night. Melissa Jones picked up the children Sunday morning. The kids all had a great time playing with the puppies and blowing colored bubbles Saturday night. Kenny Brookshire came out on Friday night and enjoyed catfish at the Pitstop in Talpa with Carol and Xavier. TALPA BOB writes “We had really nice weather this weekend. I saw many neighbors out working in the yard and getting ready for spring. I did work on my tractor, a Massey Ferguson 50. Then I worked on a better base for my two bird baths. I dug down to the rock. It is not a matter of "Is there going to be rock" it is just "How far down is it" . Then I made a wooden form of sorts. It is not all that square or that level but it is better than the soft brown dirt, which will settle to one side or the other and eventually fall over. Then I put in quickrete and got it as level as I could using a flat shovel. I figure that later on I can shim it up on one side or the other if it is not level. My neighbor Ann was curious as to why I would go to all this trouble. Well, the little birds need water. The stock ponds are mostly dry and they don't have many places to get a drink. She noticed that the birds frequent her pets water bowl. So, I put out feed and water every day for our little feathered friends. I was surprised the other day to see the local Road Runner up on the bird bath, because it is near the house and my three cats. He just stared at them and they casually strolled off. He is a rather large bird. I found out that the Road Runner likes left over cornbread nearly as much as I do. However, I don't butter it or put any jam on it. And that was about all the excitement we could stand in our quite little corner of Coleman County. Well, Talpa Bob you should’ve seen our cat Blackie rubbing his paw on the frozen rain barrel and licking it. Cats do get thirsty. He had left before I could get the camera. I enjoyed Wm Federer’s American Minute on Robert Frost and I believe you will too. “American Minute with Bill Federer January 29 "I shall be telling this with a sigh, Somewhere ages and ages hence: Two roads diverged in a wood, and I - I took the one less traveled by, and that has made all the difference" wrote Robert Frost in "The Road Not Taken." He first published poems in his high school bulletin and graduated co-valedictorian with the woman he was to marry. Farming in New Hampshire, Frost wrote poetry and taught at several schools. After a brief time in England, he taught at Amherst College, the University of Michigan and Harvard. Robert Frost won four Pulitzer prizes, the U.S. Senate honored him with a resolution, Eisenhower invited him to the White House and he read a poem at Kennedy's inauguration. Frost was a consultant to the Library of Congress and received the Congressional Gold Medal in 1960. In "Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening," Frost wrote "The woods are lovely, dark and deep. But I have promises to keep, And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep." Robert Frost died JANUARY 29, 1963. In a 1956 interview on station WQED, Pittsburgh, Robert Frost stated
Talpa Talk 1-18-11 There was a NY policeman named Venditti who was killed by mobsters. Shortly afterward, his widow received a check for $20,000. Later a $100,000 trust fund for her children and then her mortgage was paid off. Did you think, like I did, that the mob felt guilty and sent her this money? That wouldn’t happen, it was from a man, Milton J Petrie who owned several retail clothing stores and wanted to help her out. Before his death he had the habit of scouring the newspapers looking for some news of a needy person that he could help. He found it was more rewarding to give away his money than to earn it. Hmm, now, I recall Jesus words, “It is more blessed to give than receive”. For the reader who requested my fruitcake recipe, it’s here and not mine to claim. I got it while the family lived on Travis AFB, CA and it contains whole dates which we got fresh out there. It’s called “Fruit Cake Isn’t Just for Christmas Anymore” and this makes a loaf. If you bake it in small individual loaves, you just have to watch it as the time to bake won’t be the same. The ingredients are: 1 cup flour, 1 cup sugar, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp baking powder, 3 cups whole dates, 1 bottle maraschino cherries (8oz)drained, 2 cups nutmeats (walnuts or pecan halves), 4 eggs, beaten, 1 tsp vanilla. Sift flour with sugar, salt and baking powder, add fruit and nuts, stir until all is well coated, blend vanilla and eggs. Pour into dry ingredients, mixing thoroughly. Line greased loaf pan with heavy brown paper--grease well. Spoon in batter. Bake in slow oven 325 degrees for 1 ¾ -2 hours. This cake will be delicious. Rosa Baker sent in this account of her week, “The weather has been so dreary lately, we have stayed in where it's warm. Lisa Milligan and I went to Panther Creek School Friday morning to view the food show entries and watch some of the livestock judging at the P C Stock show. Sunday, Chuck Baker came out and he and Gunner Milligan smoked sausage that they had made. Sunday afternoon Nancy Baker arrived with steaks to barbecue, french fries and green salad. Lisa brought macaroni salad and Rosa furnished beans, corn bread and hot rolls. Chuck and Gunner got back from the last hunt of the season, (DIDN'T SEE A DEER) just in time to eat. Those joining in the fun were Chuck, Nancy, Rebecca Baker and Miguel, Elizabeth, Hannah, Olivia Jefferson, Averi Ransberger and Lilly Jo Milligan from Coleman, Gunner and Lisa Milligan, Rosa, Charles and James Baker of Talpa. James has a flu bug, so his weekend was pretty miserable. Happy Birthday to Junior Pas who turned nine this week. His folks took him to Mr Gaddis for a fun time and shoppping for a set of "walkie talkies". His sister Haley Quinones from Grand Prairie came for the week-end and joined the celebration. Carol and Xavier Jones were in San Angelo last Monday for Xavier's Doctor appointment. The rest of the week they just tried to stay warm. Carol has four AKC registered Pembroke Welsh Corgi puppies for sale if anyone is interested. They can go to new homes starting Friday, January 21. Here’s an American Minute by Wm Federer: Martin Luther King, Jr. was born JANUARY 15, 1929. A minister like his father and grandfather, he pastored Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery and Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta. He formed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. On April 16, 1963, King wrote: "As the Apostle Paul carried the gospel of Jesus Christ...so am I compelled to carry the gospel... I must make two honest confessions to you, my Christian and Jewish brothers... I stand in the middle of two opposing forces... One is a force of complacency... The other force is one of bitterness and hatred, and it comes perilously close to advocating violence. It is expressed in the various black nationalist groups...the largest being Elijah Muhammad's Muslim movement. Nourished by frustration over racial discrimination, this movement is made up of people who have lost faith in America, who have absolutely repudiated Christianity and who have concluded that the white man is the incorrigible devil. I have tried to stand between these two forces, saying that we need emulate neither the "do-nothingism" of the complacent nor the hatred of the black nationalist. For there is the more excellent way of love." Martin Luther King concluded: "I say this as a minister of the Gospel, who loves the church; who was nurtured in its bosom; who has been sustained by its spiritual blessings and who will remain true to it as long as the cord of life shall lengthen.... One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters they were standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judeo-Christian heritage."
Talpa Talk 12-28-10 By Maureen Duncan This was my post- Christmas column, now is my post-New Years column, also. Dear reader, you had a very happy “Christmas” didn’t you? We did. We had rain accompanied by thunder on Christmas Eve, 1 to 1 ½ inches. Things got very serious here when we heard that a great-great niece was in Cook Children’s Hospital with meningitis. Then we heard she was responding to treatment, oh what a wonderful answer to our prayers! When we started getting a list of guests together for Christmas, we found Donald and Rhonda Harrell of San Saba responding to a year old invitation and said they would be coming. The others who came were Dan and Cathy Davidson of Snyder, Daniel Davidson a student at Tech, Brent Davidson, a student of ASU, Jamie Davidson of San Angelo and her fiancé Mark Baird of Ballinger and Steve and Pam Gasper of Houston. That was right smart of a crowd for the “ranchette” but everyone had a good time, mostly, I did. Grady and Nona Fletcher backed away from going to Dallas for Christmas and it sounds like a good choice with the weather we had. (Wonderful rain on Christmas Eve! Then it got very cold!) They ended up going to Ellis and Mary Motl’s in San Angelo. Theresa Agnew, Tiffany Boren and Junior Pas took Haley Quinones home to Grand Prairie but much as they wished to, they didn’t go near the Children’s Hospital due to the nature of their niece’s illness. We have a neighbor known out here as Talpa Bob. He writes, “It was a quiet week in our little corner of Coleman County. On Christmas Eve I drove over to Brownwood...My co-grandparents(Ron & Alice Cox) live there and it is kinda central to travel to for my son David, his wife Carrie and their three from Austin, my youngest son Kelly and his wife Mari and their three from San Angelo, my daughter Kristen, her husband Lloyd and my grand daughter Hannah from the Dallas area (If I said Wylie you would not know). Then the Cox family's son and daughter in law and two boys from Lubbock area. With that many kids it did get a bit loud but they have a big back yard and we just ran them out there. Christmas day here was very quiet...just me and my cats. We did go over and feed Ann Mount's critters as she went to visit her sister in Marble Falls. I can tell you that on Sat and Sun mornings, I had to break the ice in the water bucket for the horses and the dogs...I saw 20° on my $4 thermometer Sat morning. Sunday it was up to 22°. We hope that everyone had a good Christmas and that the New Year is the best ever.” Talpa Bob and his Mouseketters. Shon, Melissa, Taryn and Shon Jr. Jones visited Carol and Xavier Jones Christmas Eve for dinner and gift opening. Xavier and Carol spent a quiet Christmas Day at home. On Sunday, Carol and Xavier traveled to Sonora to have lunch and gift opening with the Robbie Jones family. Also attending was the Shon Jones family. They also celebrated Robbie's birthday. Carol left Xavier for the week and returned to Talpa Sunday evening. Darr and Joyce Huckaby enjoyed having Jay and Stacey Huckaby and boys, Colten, Sawyer and Braxton of Midland and their daughter Tammy Vick and friend Tony Mahan and grandson Chayne of Dripping Springs here on Christmas day. Chayne has stayed over for a few days. I’m hearing that some of our neighbors have had a stomach virus that postponed Christmas celebrations. Dale and Arletta Herring were in that state and ended up having their Christmas celebration on Thursday with Jerry Don, Angelita, James and Shelbi Stephenson and Andy, Kim, Sydney, Cole and Allie Hering of Franklin. The families went to the home of Sherman Sides in DeLeon for New Years Day. James and Shelbi are showing their sheep in Odessa this weekend. Perhaps you can relate to a poem by a friend in New Hampshire, Donna Richardson called “They All Come Home For Christmas” They all come home for Christmas, That’s where they want to be No matter where they live, They bring their family. Some travel for an hour…Others thru the night, Seeing all of them, Is such a pure delight. No winter storms nor sleet or rain, Can keep them from our door They sacrifice a lot of things, For something that means more. It’s nice to be together, All around the tree, To read the Christmas story, Of God’s love for you and me. We hang the nylon stockings, A tradition don’t you know, Started by my mother, Many years ago. We laugh and talk, And share good times…We maybe even cry We’re making special memories, That never say good-bye. Yes, they all come home for Christmas, And from my heart I say I love you one and all, On this very Special Day. Now for the New Years News, We heard the Talpa Pit Stop Gro and Grill served black-eyed peas and chicken fried steaks on New Years Day. The Pit Stop is managed by Linda Davis but Philip has done a great job painting and fixing up. It’s open 11 to 5 weekdays with Friday Nite Fish special 5 to 9pm. HM and I spent New Years Day in San Angelo at the home of Rex and Stacy Stephenson and their family. Dennis and Margaret Davidson of League City were there, also Jamie Davidson of San Angelo and Brent Davidson of San Angelo. Rosa Baker says, “We had a very nice Christmas lunch of chicken fried steaks and all the trimmings instead of the traditional turkey dinner this year. The Coleman kids, grandkids and great-grandkids came out, opened presents and had lots of fun. Tabitha Priddy brought Zach and Marc from Midland, so we got to have a good visit with them. They went back on Monday. The other Midland kids didn't get to come, but they sent videos of them opening their presents and "modeling" for us. Dana Priddy and Dorian came Tuesday, visited and took a couple boxes of presents back with them.” Rosa adds, “We had a quiet New Years. On Sunday afternoon Gunner, Lisa, Rosa and Charles went to Brownwood, ate at Underwoods and went to the movie. We saw the new "True Grit" movie. It was really good, but no-one can compare to John Wayne.” Carol Jones writes about her New Years vacation, “Robbie and Lorna Jones of Sonora brought Xavier Jones home on Sunday afternoon after he spent a week and New Years Eve with them. Carol returned home late Saturday night after spending New Years Eve in Reno, Nevada. While there she visited in the home of some friends of a friend and attended two NYE parties. Carol and Xavier are both glad to be home although Xavier's probably not that glad to start back to school tomorrow.” Good News Club will be starting on January 10 and we will be looking for all our members and any new ones will be welcome. (bring a permission slip) The DV informed me that someone had requested my Fruit Cake recipe and I am wondering who wants it since I don’t recall writing it in the column. I will be glad to give it in a later column, meantime feel free to call me. Latest news on my great-great niece (14) who has meningitis is that she walked on Monday. The parents had been told that even if she survived the disease she might never walk. God is good!
Talpa Talk 12-28-10 Dear reader, you had a very happy “Christmas” didn’t you? We did. We had wonderful rain on Christmas Eve, 1 to 1 ½ inches. Then things got very sad when a great-great niece was in Cook Children’s Hospital with meningitis. The next day we heard she was responding to treatment, what a great bit of news and an answer to our prayers! When we started looking at list of guests coming for Christmas, we found Donald and Rhonda Harrell of San Saba responding to a year old invitation and said they would be here. The others who responded to our invitation were Dan and Cathy Davidson of Snyder, Daniel Davidson a student at Tech, Brent Davidson, a student of ASU, Jamie Davidson of San Angelo and her fiancé Mark Baird of Ballinger and Steve and Pam Gasper of Houston. That was right smart of a crowd for the “ranchette” but everyone had a good time, I know I did. Grady and Nona Fletcher backed away from going to Dallas for Christmas and it sounds like a good choice with the weather we had. (that rain on Christmas Eve and then it got very cold!) They ended up going to Ellis and Mary Motl’s in San Angelo. Theresa Agnew, Tiffany Boren and Junior Pas took Haley Quinones home to Grand Prairie but much as they wished to, they didn’t go near the Children’s Hospital due to the nature of the niece’s illness. We have a neighbor known out here as Talpa Bob. Here's what he writes, “It was a quiet week in our little corner of Coleman County. On Christmas Eve I drove over to Brownwood...My co-grandparents(Ron & Alice Cox) live there and it is kinda central to travel to for my son David, his wife Carrie and their three from Austin, my youngest son Kelly and his wife Mari and their three from San Angelo, my daughter Kristen, her husband Lloyd and my grand daughter Hannah from the Dallas area (If I said Wylie you would not know). Then the Cox family's son and daughter in law and two boys from Lubbock area. With that many kids it did get a bit loud but they have a big back yard and we just ran them out there. Christmas day here was very quiet...just me and my cats. We did go over and feed Ann Mount's critters as she went to visit her sister in Marble Falls. I can tell you that on Sat and Sun mornings, I had to break the ice in the water bucket for the horses and the dogs...I saw 20° on my $4 thermometer Sat morning. Sunday it was up to 22°. We hope that everyone had a good Christmas and that the New Year is the best ever.” Talpa Bob and his Mouseketters. ( I'm wondering if he meant Mouseketeers, or perhaps Mousecatchers.) Shon, Melissa, Taryn and Shon Jr. Jones visited Carol and Xavier Jones Christmas Eve for dinner and gift opening. Xavier and Carol spent a quiet Christmas Day at home. On Sunday, Carol and Xavier traveled to Sonora to have lunch and gift opening with the Robbie Jones family. Also attending was the Shon Jones family. They also celebrated Robbie's birthday. Carol left Xavier for the week and returned to Talpa Sunday evening. Darr and Joyce Huckaby enjoyed having Jay and Stacey Huckaby and boys, Colten, Sawyer and Braxton of Midland and Tammy Vick and friend Tony Mahan and Chayne of Dripping Springs here on Christmas day. Chayne has stayed over for a few days. I’m hearing that some of our neighbors have had a stomach virus that postponed Christmas celebrations. I have a friend in New Hampshire, Donna Richardson, who writes and even gets paid for her poems. Hurray for her. I’ll share this Christmas poem with you called “They All Come Home For Christmas” They all come home for Christmas, That’s where they want to be No matter where they live, They bring their family. Some travel for an hour…Others thru the night, Seeing all of them, Is such a pure delight. No winter storms nor sleet or rain, Can keep them from our door They sacrifice a lot of things, For something that means more. It’s nice to be together, All around the tree, To read the Christmas story, Of God’s love for you and me. We hang the nylon stockings, A tradition don’t you know, Started by my mother, Many years ago. We laugh and talk, And share good times…We maybe even cry We’re making special memories, That never say good-bye. Yes, they all come home for Christmas, And from my heart I say I love you one and all, On this very Special Day.
Talpa Talk 12-15-10 We’re all looking for recipes that taste better and don’t take a lot of time to prepare. I recently found a delicious chicken one called “Pecan-Crusted Chicken”. It starts with a Marinade of ½ cup of Dijon mustard, 2 Tbsp dry white wine, salt and pepper to taste and 4 boneless chicken breasts. Whisk together the mustard, wine, salt and pepper to taste. Add chicken breasts turning to coat. cover and refrigerate for 4 hours. Preheat oven to 450. Coat a baking sheet w/cooking spray. Remove chicken from refrigerator allowing it to come to room temperature. For the coating, combine ½ cup crushed wheat crackers,½ cup finely chopped pecans, ¼ tsp dried basil, salt and pepper to taste. Drizzle in 1 ½ tbsp olive oil. Place the crumb mixture on a plate. Remove a chicken breast from the marinade without wiping off the marinade. Lightly coat the chicken with the crumb mixture and place on the baking sheet. Repeat the same process with the remaining chicken and roast for 25 -30 minutes until cooked through but still juicy. Ummm. Total carbs 11g, dietary fiber 2g, sugars 2g, and 310 calories if you’re counting. It’s almost a no-error recipe unless you decide to burn it or something. Carol Jones attended the Jr. High and Elementary UIL competition held in Veribest on Thursday. When Xavier Jones and Michael Lowry were finished, Carol took both boys to San Angelo to shop. Afterward they had pizza buffet in Ballinger with Kenny Brookshire. (Xavier places in Music Memory.) About four and a half hours after they returned home, Carol's female dog started presenting her with what eventually turned out to be four puppies. Mom and babies are doing great. Carol and Xavier attended Sunday School and Church in Voss on Sunday morning. On Monday, Carol took the new mom and her pups to the vet then went shopping in Abilene with Carla Campbell of Ballinger before picking up the dogs and coming home. Xavier came to my house after school on Monday and we were having a great time playing soccer with a beach ball when we decided to ask if Junior and Ricky Pas could come and play for awhile. It was a good idea for me to have the relief team come in. They really had fun. Junior Pas attended the Elementary UIL competition on Thursday and did very well in the Music Memory category. Shelbi Stephenson entered UIL for Coleman Elementary and took a 1st Place in Dictionary Quiz and 4th in writing. We are proud of our children for their excellence in UIL. Jerry Don and Angelita gave Shelbi a late birthday party at Hordes Creek Lake. Dale and Arletta Herring attended the Christmas Cantata at First Methodist in Coleman and gave it a “very good” rating. Linda Davis says, “Philip's sister Cora and husband Delbert Dillard, along with her daughter, son-in-law, mother-in-law, 2 granddaughters and her great grandson came over Friday to eat at the cafe with us. I went over Saturday afternoon to see that new granddaughter, Lizzie, grandsons Christian and Brendon and Jessica and Wade Smith. I spent the night and came home Sunday afternoon....she's still beautiful, redheaded and thriving well....she was a month old Sunday.” You may be waiting for the American Minute with William Federer Phillips Brooks was born DECEMBER 13, 1835. The bishop of the Episcopal Church in Massachusetts, Brooks is probably best remembered for a song he wrote two years after the Civil War, which goes: "O little town of Bethlehem! How still we see thee lie; Above thy deep and dreamless sleep, The silent stars go by; Yet in thy dark streets shineth, The everlasting Light; The hopes and fears of all the years, Are met in thee tonight."
Talpa Talk 12-8-10 We had a good turnout for the Good News Club Christmas party. Thanks to Ronda Allen for providing the refreshments. Trouble there was the children wanted to keep downing the popcorn and cookies and as always we had a time factor. That hour and a half goes by so fast! A few of the children were out sick and a couple more looked on the verge. A big thank you to the ones who make this club possible. And thanks to the Lake Ivie Baptist Office, in particular, Karen Hicks for making copies for Good News Club. Michael Lowry of Coleman spent the weekend with Xavier Jones. They played hard all weekend, but accompanied Carol Jones to Sunday School, Church and a meal afterward on Sunday at Voss Baptist Church. Bob Dunn titles his story as follows, “Fastest Deer in Coleman County” True story...I was standing out by Darr Huckabee's house talking to Darr. We were admiring his mule, Possum' when a car came around the curve going from West to East. It had a deer right behind it and seemed to be keeping up with the Chevy Suburban. As it went by we could see that the guy at one time had it tied up on top but the front tie must have come loose. He was dragging the deer behind him at 70 mph. There wasn't much left of the poor critter...I would judge that by the time he gets home all there will be is a rope and two front feet. He will be very disappointed ....$750 for a new rifle, $250 a day for the deer lease, drive hundreds of miles to get here...and his prize is only the two front feet, priceless . Dale and Arletta Herring were in the Pitstop Grill for the Friday Night Catfish Fry and reported it to be real tasty. It was a good time to visit with Talpa folks, too. Congratulations to Bill and Karen Hicks who have a great grandson, Darien who weighed in at 8 lbs 1 oz. Darian lives in Brownwood and is just fine according to Karen. Eighteen of the Hinds family gathered at Ral and Laura Dees for a Thanksgiving supper. Carroll and Addie Hinds enjoyed being surrounded by their family. They left on Sunday for Sheffield to visit Frank and Glenda Classen, and returned on Tuesday. Haley Quinones of Grand Prairie spent the weekend with Ricky Joe and Theresa Agnew, Tiffany, Junior and Ricky. Caught in the act of helping out: Cameron and Ora Lewis and Philip Davis helping Darr and Joyce Huckabee who put a metal roof on their “bunkhouse” and painting their house. Looking really good. Where were you on December 7,1941? Even at eight years, I remember the shock that reverberated through Rockwood where we lived at the time. It resulted in a large number of our finest volunteering for the military. I will include Wm Federer’s American Minute on December 7 "DECEMBER 7, 1941- a date which will live in infamy- the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." Thus spoke President Franklin D. Roosevelt following the attack on Pearl Harbor by over 350 Japanese aircraft. Five American battleships and three destroyers were sunk, 400 planes were destroyed and over 4000 were killed or wounded. President Roosevelt concluded: "No matter how long it may take us to overcome this premeditated invasion, the American people in their righteous might, will win through to absolute victory... We will not only defend ourselves to the uttermost but will make it very certain that this form of treachery shall never again endanger us." FDR continued: "Hostilities exist. There is no blinking at the fact that our people, our territory, and our interests are in grave danger. With confidence in our armed forces - with the unbounding determination of our people - we will gain the inevitable triumph - so help us God." (As a note, of the over 500 words inscribed on the new World War II Memorial in Washington, DC, the designers chose not to include FDR's phrase "So help us God," nor any other mention of God.)
TALPA TALK 12-1-10 Dear reader, you are about to read some fine accounts of Thanksgiving. HM and I went to Snyder with daughter Pam Gasper, Steve being stuck in Algeria. actually it would be a wonderful vacation spot but it's not "home". Dan and Cathy Davidson put on a fine meal with a few contributions from guests. Kim and Jamie Turner of Midland, Nancy and Brody of Snyder, Daniel Davidson of Lubbock. We ate and then a ‘42 game got underway that lasted all afternoon with several exchanges of players. I celebrated another year and HM gave me a camera. We made a second trip to Wal Mart to get the card (a card was included in the last camera we owned). We ran into Joyce Huckaby, our Talpa neighbor. She was shopping with her sister Selinda Meadows of Liberty Hill and their friend and ours, Betty Laws. It makes shopping nicer for me when I can have an effortless visit. No housecleaning or baking, just go in a store. Joyce said they went to Darr's family in Winters for Thanksgiving. Ricky Joe and Theresa Agnew enjoyed children and grandchildren coming for Thanksgiving. Mike and Monica Boren and children of Midlothian, Jason and Bobbie Ferguson and children of Irving, Jody and Sandra Hollingsworth and children of Roanoke and Tiffany, Junior and Ricky of Talpa. Pam Gasper stopped in to visit. Grady and Nona Fletcher went to Weatherford on Tuesday where they met relatives who drove them on to Dallas where they had a great holiday with Rolph and Anne Fletcher and their granddaughter Nancy and husband and Grady’s favorite and only great grandson, William. Many other guests were there but we’ll just mention these. Carol and Xavier Jones spent Thanksgiving in the home of Shon Jones with Shon, Melissa, Taryn and Shon Jr. as well as Melissa's father, Johnny Gonzales of San Antonio. Xavier stayed and spent the night and Melissa met Carol in Miles the next day with him. They shopped on Friday and rested the rest of the weekend. Rosa Baker’s news follows, “We had a good Thanksgiving even though some were missing. Nancy, our daughter in law, flew to Florida to see her brother, whom she hadn't seen in quite a while. Chuck, Rebecca and Miguel had lunch with us, as did, Kerry, Elizabeth, Hannah, Olivia and Devon Jefferson, Tyler and Averi Ransberger. Lisa and Gunner Milligan, Lily Jo and Monica Cenciros joined us for lunch, also. It was cool outside so the kids played games and most of the grown-ups watched the ballgame. Some of us played Yatzi .... Everyone was so full we weren't too active. Mandy Cenciros came out later to take Lily and Monica back home and visited a while. On Sunday after Thanksgiving Lisa, Gunner, Charles and Rosa went to Midland and had lunch with Levi and his family and Dana and her family. Had a nice visit with all of them. Traffic wasn't too bad going home, but a solid stream of vehicles was going back into Midland.” Bob Dunn has written a glowing report of his Colorado trip. I know you will enjoy it. “On Tuesday morning(23rd) at 3:30am I left Talpa for Florissant, CO. Got there about 4:00pm. It was good weather all the way but there are two segments of the highway that are slow. From Clayton NM for about 50 miles, NM has a "Safety Zone" and reduces the speed to 55 mph. then within that zone there is road construction that slows that down to 45 mph. I recommend that anyone going that way look at alternative routes. I stayed with my friends Les and Anna. Their house is North of Florissant on Elk Horn Road and then up a goat trail to about the 8,000' level. Four wheel drive is good to have in that country. Wednesday morning at 6:00am the thermometer registered a -20°f reading. The day was clear and sunny but a bit windy. My friends, Les and Anna, and I visited several places..first we went to Cripple Creek. I admit that we went to a casino and I did wager a few dollars. The machine was much smarter than I and kept the quarters. It cost me about $5 for an hours entertainment so that isn't bad. Yup, up to about $155 at one time...squandered it all back...just one more jackpot...didn't happen. Then a white knuckle drive down the other highway and on to Manitou Springs. There, we visited the Cliff Dwellings and the Pueblo buildings. What surprised me was that the native Americans lived there until 1984. The cliff dwelling looks really neat. However, when you climb up and go in, the rooms don't go but a few feet back into the cliff. They are very small rooms and the passage way between the rooms is very narrow. They must have been very small and tough people to live in there. The Pueblo is now a gift shop and museum. We had lunch in Manitou Springs and I found that the town has fourteen little fountains located on the sidewalks in various parts of the downtown. Each spring has a different flavor to it. One will be like carbonated water and the next a mineral water. I will take their word for it and didn't do a taste test. Then a few antique shops caught our attention. And there was one shop that had potted cactus for sale. I have never seen some of the types on display, and I have a pretty good cactus garden myself. A hanging cactus that looks more like mesquite beans. And a woolly booger looking thing that cost $150. One of those fence post looking things that was a good 15' tall. But they had no prickley pears...so there. Then we visited the Garden of The Gods. This is a very beautiful place with many interesting rock formations...like the Balanced Rock and the Steamboat Rock. The rugged and jagged peaks are very interesting. With permission and signing up at the tourist center, rock climbing is permitted at designated points...if you have the nerve to climb straight up. I just stood at the base of the rocks and admired the climbers courage and questioned their judgment (thank you Don Meridith). Thanksgiving day started out with a temp of -18°f , a warming trend. The day was sunny and not a cloud in the sky and no wind. A walk up the mountain and I had to take a couple of layers of shirts off. I saw many interesting birds that we don't get down here in the low lands. I did not have my bird book with me to identify them but I will look them up later and report on that. They do have a black squirrel with tufts on their ears which was neat. And a person can go crashing through brush and high grass and not worry about rattle snakes...too high and too cold for them. We all had a very good Thanksgiving day dinner that lasted a few hours too long for my good. I ate way too much and could hardly stay awake to watch the game. The Cowboys must have had the same dinner. I left Friday to return to Texas and Talpa. It was a late in the day start, about 12:30pm MST. There was really not much traffic for the day after Thanksgiving. After turning off I-20 and cutting for Ballinger on hwy 70 to hwy 158, there were a lot of drunk deer out and I had to really look out for them. I found my quiet little corner of Coleman County about 2:15 am CST. And it was about 80° warmer. That is a little over 725 miles at one sitting. I was numb from my ankles to my neck. A long trip but most enjoyable. Maybe sometime I can go back when it warms up a bit and I have more time. Also, the road to Pike's Peak was closed in October so, I have an excuse to return.” And Bob says that is his story and he’s sticking to it. With no other witnesses, we choose to believe it, Bob, and thanks for telling it. Here’s an American Minute by William Federer/ November 29 His death went unnoticed, as he died the same day John F. Kennedy was shot, but his works are some of the most widely read in English literature. Originally an agnostic, he served in World War I and became a professor at Oxford and Cambridge. He credits his Catholic friend and fellow writer, J.R.R. Tolkien, author of "Lord of the Rings," as being instrumental in bringing him to faith in Christ. Among his most notable books are: The Screwtape Letters; Miracles; The Problem of Pain; Abolition of Man; and The Chronicles of Narnia, which include The Lion, Witch and Wardrobe. His name was C.S. Lewis, born NOVEMBER 29, 1898. Over 200 million copies of his books have sold worldwide and, 40 years after his death, continue to sell a million copies a year. In Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote: "All that we call human history - money, poverty, ambition, war, prostitution, classes, empires, slavery - is the long terrible story of man trying to find something other than God which will make him happy." C.S. Lewis wrote: "Christianity...is a religion you could not have guessed... It is not the sort of thing anyone would have made up. It has just that queer twist about it that real things have."
Talpa Talk 11-24-10 By Maureen Duncan Talpa is a poor place to live when you need car repairs. It’s a ways to the nearest automotive shop and it takes two to get the job done as you usually need a ride home while waiting on the work necessary to put you back on the road. I read a story about the “Lada” which was a government produced vehicle in the Soviet Union. Not a reliable car to say the least and the Russians joked that the vehicle owner’s manual was 500 pages in length. There were 2 pages of operating information and the rest contained train and bus schedules. In a world where cars break, relationships falter and politicians let us down, we can know God’s righteousness is steadfast, immovable and unchanging…like a mountain. The great preacher Charles Spurgeon noted that the Lord's "strong love stands like a granite rock, unmoved by the hurricanes of our iniquity. He loves as much now as He did then, and when the suns shall cease to shine, and moons to show their feeble light, He still shall love on." On Thursday evening, Carol and Xavier Jones attended the awards ceremony in Coleman for this year's Soccer Leagues. In the 8-12 age group, Xavier's team won second place. They were the Rams. Greg and Nikko Parra were the coaches. Sunday afternoon, Carol and Xavier visited cousins, Kenny and Vivien Brookshire in Ballinger. Rosa Baker wrote us, “I went to my young cousin, Jolianne Winstead's, wedding shower Saturday afternoon. Had lots of fun with other cousins that were there. We don't get to see them very often, so it was kind of like a family reunion.. We've been winterizing the patio and front screened in porch with clear weatherproof panels. They serve as our "hothouse" for my plants during the winter.. Saw some Talpa people at the Pit Stop Grill Friday night where the fish dinner was very good,” Linda Davis says she went to San Angelo Saturday afternoon and spent Sunday visiting and loving on the new grandbaby, Lizzie Smith and Jessica, Wade and the boys, Christian and Brendon....she has to be the prettiest baby in the world of course! We were joined on Monday by Dennis and Margaret Davidson of League City and ASU student, Brent Davidson, our grandson. We had a splendid time celebrating Thanksgiving and my birthday. There was an unheard of victory at the ‘42 table when HM and I took 3 out of 3 games from Dennis and Brent. (Margaret opted for a nap. She teaches eighth grade math and algebra at Jackson Intermediate School in Pasadena. You can imagine what this week of vacation means to her ) They stopped by to visit Ricky Joe and Theresa Agnew and Theresa Boren on the way out of Talpa and presented Junior and Ricky with long promised shirts from NASA. I chose this American Minute with Bill Federer to share with you today, you will recall the day and time I know. November 22 Shots rang out as President John F. Kennedy was assassinated NOVEMBER 22, 1963, in Dallas, Texas. The youngest President ever elected, he was also the youngest to die, barely serving 1,000 days. The 46-year-old Kennedy was on his way to the Dallas Trade Mart to deliver a speech, in which he prepared to say: "We in this country, in this generation, are - by destiny rather than choice - the watchmen on the walls of world freedom. We ask, therefore, that we may be worthy of our power and responsibility, that we may exercise our strength with wisdom and restraint, and that we may achieve in our time and for all time the ancient vision of peace on earth, goodwill toward men." Kennedy continued: "That must always be our goal - and the righteousness of our cause must always underlie our strength. For as was written long ago, 'Except the Lord keep the city, the watchman waketh but in vain.'" Just three weeks after his Inauguration, February 9, 1961, President Kennedy remarked at a Breakfast for International Christian Leadership: "Every President of the United States has placed special reliance upon his faith in God...The guiding principle and prayer of this Nation has been, is now, and shall ever be 'In God We Trust.'" AMEN. Dear Reader, may you have a safe and blessed holiday filled with gratitude for the good things God has done. Rededicate yourself to live in a way that brings honor to Him. And pray that your national leaders will also choose themselves to serve the Lord. Join us in this prayer. “With
Pilgrims long ago I join my praise for blessings rich and fine, Mighty God, for all you’ve done in my life, thank you.
Talpa Talk 11-19-10 By Maureen Duncan Xavier Jones played his last soccer game of the season on Saturday. His team was the Rams. The awards ceremony for the soccer season will be at 6 p.m. Thursday in the Coleman High School Auditorium. Everyone played a good season this year. Thank you to coaches Gregg and Nikko Parra. Carol Jones and Xavier attended Voss Baptist Church on Sunday and after Church, Kenny and Vivien Brookshire visited the Joneses to help Xavier work on a school project. Linda Davis’ says “Jessica Smith had my only granddaughter, Lizzie Deeann at 4:27pm Friday at Shannon. Lizzie weighed 6 # 6 1/2 oz and was 19" long, with red hair. Mother and daughter are both doing great and went home Sunday. She is named after my mother, Lizzie Juanell Robertson and great grandmother. I’m so glad she is finally here. Big brothers Brendon and Christian are smitten right along with daddy Wade. Of course we are not prejudiced cause she really is beautiful!” We don’t doubt it for a minute, Linda and we share your joy at her arrival. Theresa Agnew made the trip to Dallas on Friday to bring Haley Quinones out so she could spend the weekend. Haley, Junior and Ricky surely had a fine time riding their 4-wheelers around and keeping “Pluto” barking when they got near where he was. Tiffany and Theresa took Haley back on Sunday. I know you have been enjoying William Federer’s American Minute. Here is his latest. American Minute with Bill Federer November 15 He lost two sons in the Revolution, was the only clergyman to sign the Declaration and served on 120 Congressional Committees. His name was John Witherspoon, and he died NOVEMBER 15, 1794. Born in Scotland, he was a descendant of John Knox. John Witherspoon was President of Princeton, leader of a New Jersey committee to abolish slavery, and taught 9 of the writers of the U.S. Constitution, including James Madison. His other Princeton students include a U.S. Vice-President, Supreme Court Justices, Cabinet Members, Governors, Senators and Congressmen. John Adams described John Witherspoon as "A true son of liberty...but first, he was a son of the Cross." On May 17, 1776, the day Congress declared a Day of Fasting, Rev. John Witherspoon told his Princeton students: "He is the best friend to American liberty, who is most...active in promoting true and undefiled religion...to bear down profanity and immorality of every kind. Whoever is an avowed enemy of God, I scruple not to call him an enemy of his country. It is in the man of piety and inward principle that we may...find the uncorrupted patriot, the useful citizen, and the invincible soldier." John Witherspoon concluded: "God grant that in America true religion and civil liberty may be inseparable." Good News Club at Panther Creek will be canceled on Monday, the week of Thanksgiving. We are very thankful for the cluband the communities that comprise the Panther Creek School. We are also thankful for God and country and our family. I am thankful for you, our readers and pray you have a blessed and happy Thanksgiving.
TALPA TALK 11-10-10 By Maureen Duncan The elections are past and I don’t know if your candidate got the vote, I do know one thing, we are not finished with our candidates. Now is the time to support them in office. They need it now and if our country is to succeed, it is vital for us to stand behind them, if they were or weren’t your favorite. Carroll Hinds attended the organization meeting of Glen Cove Fire Department. They elected officers and are in the process of building a garage for their fire fighting equipment. They are planning a money raising fish supper on November 13 at Tootsie’s Antiques in Coleman. They will begin serving at 4:00PM. Mark this on your calendars, it’s for a good cause. Carol Jones fills us in with what she and Xavier have been doing, “Xavier Jones played soccer Saturday morning in Coleman. His team is called the Rams. Attending the game to watch Xavier besides Xavier's mom Carol Jones, were his grandparents Carlos and Lourdes Santa Ana of San Angelo. They took him to Ballinger to shop for another Halloween costume after the game, then visited with Carol and Xavier until after the Fall Festival at Panther Creek. 0n Sunday Xavier and Carol enjoyed the hayride and trick-or-treating with the Valera Baptist Church children. Monday Carol and Xavier were in San Angelo where Xavier had three doctor appointments. All were check ups and everything is good.” Now from Bob Dunn, “ I went to Dallas Tuesday morning for two doctor appointments. Going from Ft Worth to Dallas on the old turnpike I was East bound over on the West bound lane, where there were two big time wrecks...because of the rubberneckers, it took me an hour to get from Ft Worth to Dallas. West bound traffic was backed up for 25 miles. Ask me again why I moved to Talpa. Then just about when I entered Dallas city limits there come a young typhoon, a torrential downpour all day and all that night and part of Wednesday morning. I tried to wave it on our way but it didn't do any good. Needed to go around on LBJ freeway....rain so hard I could hardly see the end of the truck...you think the natives slow down? No...they run four abreast and bumper to bumper 80 mph...hundreds of wrecks. Ask me again why I moved to Talpa. Both doctor appointments went well and said for me to come back in six months. I am very happy to be back in my quiet little corner of Coleman County with my cats. I guess if I were to have some news, it would be that I am going to paint the new drawers just any day now. Can't hurry these things, you know.” Bob has 4 cats all with a story as to how he came by them. Our latest visiting kitten “Blackie”, has turned out to be pregnant and I was hoping for a soft spot at Bob’s house to accept another kitten or two but he informs me he is at the saturation point and our, as yet to be born, kittens will have to look someplace else. Riding their four wheelers around Talpa this week-end were Mike, Monica, Caiden and Raimee Boren from Midlothian. They were visiting Ricky Joe and Theresa Agnew. I’d rather see them on the Talpa roads than back in the pastures on some of the roads we find there. In too many instances it’s a short drive from the pasture to ER. I couldn’t seem to find the time to get an article out last week. Today, I’d like to send you Bill Federer’s American Minute on Charles Carroll. United States Senator Charles Carroll was unique. He was the only Roman Catholic to sign the Declaration of
Independence and he outlived all the other signers.
Talpa Talk 10-25-2010 We are getting close to the final day to vote in our National elections and I would like to urge you to go to the polls. It’s the patriotic thing to do. Today I also would like to give you a word from Bill Federer who is fast becoming a regular in this column. October 25 On OCTOBER 25,
1887, President Grover Cleveland proclaimed a National "The goodness
and the mercy of God, which have followed the American Grover Cleveland continued: "By His
omnipotent power He has protected us from war and pestilence To the end that
we may with one accord testify our gratitude for all On that day let
all secular work and employment be suspended, and let Good News Club at the Panther Creek School is growing. The Gideons have presented the children with Bibles and it helps so much when they can look up the verses as we learn them each week. Thank you, Gideons! Voss Baptist hosted the Fifth Sunday Singing this Sunday. In case you noticed, it was on the fourth Sunday. They changed the day in order not to conflict with the Lake Ivie Baptist's Annual Association Meeting which will be held at First Baptist Church in Brady on the Fifth Sunday. Incidentally, that meeting begins at 4:00PM with the Ladies meeting. The evening meal will be at 5:30 and the evening session at 6:30. Robert Barge will be speaking and Jeff Gore will be in charge of the music.
Talpa Talk 10-20-10 By Maureen Duncan Dear reader, I think I could count on the fingers of one hand those who noticed that I misplaced “Newicks” and put it in Newburyport Mass instead of Newington NH in my last column. There, glad I straightened that out. Incidentally, it was a bit untimely for the leaves to change but we were in New England at the peak of the turning of many leaves into a collage of colors. It seems chlorophyll is an unstable substance which bright sunlight causes to decompose rapidly. The shortening days and cool nights of autumn interfere with this process and the green colors of the leaves begin to fade. What is left is the yellows, reds, maroons and purples. Why do we have color? One writer, David Roper asks, and answers his own question that it serves no practical purpose ---at least none that scientists can discern. And why are there photoreceptors in our eyes that enable us to see it? He says, “I believe that God’s goodness is the point of His creation. He is ‘good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works’ (Ps 145:9) He colored the world for our childlike delight. He’s like that you know.” When we came home from our trip, one lone hummingbird drank at the feeder. That was the last one to visit us. Did you know some scientists theorize that birds have a tiny magnetic crystal in their brain enabling them to migrate by detecting Earth’s magnetic field? (It’s a theory.) Hummingbirds, able to fly backwards, sideways, and upside down (?) cannot walk. It’s capability to hover provided the inspiration for the helicopter. Amazing little bird, I haven‘t seen it flying upside down. Another thing, the Fifth Sunday Singing was scheduled for Voss Baptist Church this month. It would conflict with the annual Lake Ivie Baptist Association at First Baptist in Brady so Voss has moved the Fifth Sunday Singing to fourth Sunday, the 24th of October. It will happen at 6:00PM when we plan to sing to our hearts content, special numbers and all. Supper comes afterwards in the Community Center. We don’t plan to run out of food. Karen Hicks says their grandson Tyler McDaniel was selected as Player of the week by Abilene Reporter News with two other players, Logan Polaski and Weston Norway getting honorable mention. Their team is Victory Christian High School in Early. Way to go, Tyler and teammates! We were proud to see the Panther Creek honor roll list Xavier Jones on the all A’s honor roll. How about it, Talpa kids, the rest of you can do it too! Carol Jones spent the long weekend last week in Thackerville, OK, returning Monday afternoon. Robbie Jones "stepped in" and took Xavier Jones to the Panther Creek football game on that Friday night and to Xavier's soccer game the next day. Saturday afternoon Robbie and Xavier went to Sonora for the rest of the weekend, also returning Monday afternoon and meeting Carol in Ballinger for the exchange. Carol and Xavier had lunch on Sunday in the home of Kenny and Vivien Brookshier in Ballinger. Linda Davis says, “I went to San Angelo Saturday evening to spend the night and attend the baby shower for Jessica Smith, my daughter who is expecting my only granddaughter, Lizzie Deann hopefully by November 21st. The shower was given by her sister-in-law, Brenda and friend Delana on Sunday afternoon....attendance was about 15 to 20 people, games were played, snacks were served and Jessica received a pile of very nice goodies for the new baby girl to come. Bob Dunn had two wooden drawers installed in his cabinet last week. This was to fill the hole left when he took the dishwasher out. The work was done by Coleman County Woodshop in Santa Anna and they did a good job. Thanks, Bob we appreciate your first contribution to the column. The Panther Creek Good News Club held their first Club meeting on Monday, October 18. We had a good turnout and speaking for myself, I had a great time with the boys and girls. Bill Federer has an American Minute for us this week. October 16 In 1746, French Duke of d'Anville sailed for New England, commanding the most powerful fleet of the time - 70 ships with 13,000 troops. He intended to recapture Louisburg, Nova Scotia, and destroy from Boston to New York, all the way to Georgia. Massachusetts Governor William Shirley declared a Day of Fasting on OCTOBER 16, 1746, to pray for deliverance. In Boston's Old South Meeting-house, Rev. Thomas Prince prayed "Send Thy tempest, Lord, upon the water...scatter the ships of our tormentors!" Historian Catherine Drinker Bowen related that as he finished praying, the sky darkened, winds shrieked and church bells rang "a wild, uneven sound...though no man was in the steeple." A hurricane subsequently sank and scattered the entire French fleet. With 4,000 sick and 2,000 dead, including d'Anville, Vice-Admiral d'Estournelle threw himself on his sword. Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote in his Ballad of the French Fleet: "Admiral d'Anville had sworn by cross and crown, to ravage with fire and steel our helpless Boston Town... From mouth to mouth spread tidings of dismay, I stood in the Old South saying humbly: 'Let us pray!'.. Like a potter's vessel broke, the great ships of the line, were carried away as smoke or sank in the brine."
Talpa Talk 10-13-10 Dear reader, I think I could count on the fingers of one hand those who noticed that I misplaced “Newicks” and put it in Newburyport Mass instead of Newington NH in last week’s column. There, glad I straightened that out. Incidentally, it was a bit untimely for the leaves to change but we were in New England at the peak of the turning of many leaves into a collage of colors. It seems chlorophyll is an unstable substance which bright sunlight causes to decompose rapidly. The shortening days and cool nights of autumn interfere with this process and the green colors of the leaves begin to fade. What is left is the yellows, reds, maroons and purples. Why do we have color? One writer, David Roper asks, and answers his own question that it serves no practical purpose ---at least none that scientists can discern. And why are there photoreceptors in our eyes that enable us to see it? He says, “I believe that God’s goodness is the point of His creation. He is ‘good to all, and His tender mercies are over all His works’ (Ps 145:9) He colored the world for our childlike delight. He’s like that you know.” When we came home from our trip, one lone hummingbird drank at the feeder. That was the last one to visit us. Did you know some scientists theorize that birds have a tiny magnetic crystal in their brain enabling them to migrate by detecting Earth’s magnetic field? It’s just a theory. Hummingbirds, able to fly backwards, sideways, and upside down (?) cannot walk. It’s capability to hover provided the inspiration for the helicopter. Amazing little bird. Another thing, the Fifth Sunday Singing was scheduled for Voss Baptist Church this month. It would coincide with the annual Lake Ivie Baptist Association at First Baptist in Brady so Voss has moved the Fifth Sunday Singing to fourth Sunday, the 24th of October. The Panther Creek Good News Club will hold their first Club meeting on October 18. Parents look in your child’s back pack for a permission slip next week. It must accompany your child for it says you will be responsible for a way home from club which will be 3:30 to 5:00Pm. Bill Federer has a good word for us today, On OCTOBER 11, 1798, President John Adams wrote to the 1st Brigade of the 3rd Division of the Militia of Massachusetts: "We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net." Adams continued: "Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." British Statesman Edmund Burke told the National Assembly, 1791: "What is liberty without virtue? It is the greatest of all possible evils...madness without restraint. Men are qualified for civil liberty in exact proportion to their disposition to put moral chains upon their own appetites." Edmund Burke continued: "Society cannot exist, unless a controlling power upon will and appetite be placed somewhere; and the less of it there is within, the more there must be without." U.S. Speaker of the House Robert Winthrop stated on May 28, 1849: "Men, in a word, must be controlled either by a power within them, or a power without them; either by the word of God, or by the strong arm of man; either by the Bible or by the bayonet."
Talpa Talk 10-6-10 A few weeks ago, we (Dan and Cathy Davidson, HM and I) left Talpa for NH and traveled all night to Kingston Springs TN where we visited with HM’s daughter Vivian, her husband Jeff and family. We had a great visit, and a good night’s rest before going on to Carlisle PA. We arrived in Rochester NH on Monday. Dan and Cathy left for her brother’s place which is on the side of a mountain in Lyndeborough NH. This would be the site of a wedding reception and there was considerable amount of preparation to be made. HM and I stayed in the home of the cake baker. Her cakes have graced many tables including for my daughter Pam and Steve Gasper’s Texas wedding . This time it was to be a gluten free cake to accommodate the needs of the bride, our granddaughter Jessica Davidson. Phyllis, the baker, is a celiac and surprisingly we found others at the reception who appreciated being able to eat the cake. Mostly people who can’t tolerate gluten will forego the cake. While we were in NH, we were invited to supper at the home of friends. They didn’t know HM so they were anxious to make his acquaintance. Old friends are so very special. May we never lose track of them even though we are many miles apart. Marge and I vowed to keep in touch with one another even if it’s just a brief email now and then. We celebrated my son Dennis Davidson’s 50th birthday on Saturday night with seafood, mostly lobster, at Newicks in Newburyport NH where we visited, laughed and ate for the better part of the evening. The wedding was an outdoor ceremony in N. Berwick Me and after a short reception there we traveled to a larger reception in Lyndeborough where we were treated to feast of roast pig and entertained by a dance band. Did I mention it had gotten cold on the mountainside and was drizzly, just the ticket for me to start coming down with a cold. We rode down the mountain with the understanding that we had launched another couple on their way to togetherness forever. We started for Texas on Thursday and were pelted by “Nicole” all the way to Carnegie PA where we stopped to visit friends and former co-worker of Dan’s when he worked for XVI in Somersworth. We stayed at Vivian and Jeff’s the following night and drove the rest of the way on Saturday. We, not as in me, I am not a good driver for the long haul and all the driving was made by the rest of the crew. Yea for them. Ricky Joe and Theresa Agnew have welcomed their daughter Tiffany home. Junior and Ricky Pas and Hailey Quinones were part of the family get together this weekend letting her know they are happy she is here. I would like to be part of that welcome committee but the NH cold I am still nursing needs to have a few more days for the shot and z-pac to do their work. Welcome to Talpa, Tiffany, we have been waiting for you to get here. Dale and Arletta Herring said Talpa had a wonderful 2 inches of rain (while we were away). They attended the Herring Family reunion at Joyce Smith’s Little Dude Ranch on Saturday. They also visited Arnold Alcorn in Early recently.(Arnold will be “Reader of the Week”, I’m told he is a faithful reader of this column) Having recently passed through Kentucky, we were impressed by Daniel Boone (who HM says he is a descendent of) I will include this American Minute by William Federer: Daniel Boone served with George Washington in 1755 during the French and Indian War. In 1765, Daniel Boone explored Florida. Virginia Governor Patrick Henry sent Daniel Boone to survey Kentucky and in 1775, the Pennsylvania Company had him erect a fort on the Kentucky River, which he named Boonesboro. In 1778, during the Revolution, Daniel Boone went to Blue Licks to get salt for his settlement but was captured by Shawnee Indians and taken to Detroit. He learned of British plans to incite Indians to attack his settlement, so he escaped and ran nearly 400 miles in 5 days to warn Boonesboro. Daniel Boone became a Major in the militia and served in Virginia's legislature. He bought land in Kentucky but lost it due to poorly prepared titles. Boone left Kentucky in 1799 and bought land from Spain in Missouri, west of the Mississippi River. Boone then lost this land in 1803 with the Louisiana Purchase. An act of Congress gave him back his land just six years before his death, which was September 26, 1820. On October 17, 1816, Daniel Boone wrote to his sister-in-law Sarah Boone: "The religion I have is to love and fear God, believe in Jesus Christ, do all the good to my neighbor, and myself that I can, do as little harm as I can help, and trust on God's mercy for the rest." My hero, Daniel Boone. BTW, a good website to remind you to “Pray The Vote” during this election, is Prayerteam@presidentialprayerteam.org . you will find a lot of valuable information if you go there.
Talpa Talk 9-15-10 How many of us heard these words repeated on (9-11-2010) I
read them on American Minute by William Federer. “Freedom itself was attacked
this morning by a faceless coward, and freedom will be defended," spoke
President Bush, SEPTEMBER 11, 2001, after Islamic terrorists hijacked passenger
jets, flying two into New York's World Trade Center, one into the Pentagon and
one which crashed in Pennsylvania. President Bush continued: Also on SEPTEMBER 11, 1683, was the Battle of Vienna. Over
138,000 Muslim Ottoman Turks attacked Vienna, Austria. For two months they had
starved the 11,000 Hapsburg-Austrian defenders. Sultan Mehmed IV had sent the
message to Austrian King, Leopold I: "Await us in your residence...so we can
decapitate you." Secretly, Polish King Jan Sobieski, gathered 81,000 Polish,
Austrian and German troops and on SEPTEMBER 11, 1683, led a surprise attack
causing the Turks to flee in confusion. Upon entering the abandoned Turkish
tents, Sobieski found bags of beans - coffee beans - revealing how Turks could
fight day and night. Shortly thereafter, Polish General Kulczycki opened one of
Vienna's first coffeehouses and coffee quickly spread across Europe. Whereas the
Pope and European leaders hailed Jan Sobieski as the "Savior of Western
Civilization," the humiliated Muslim army beheaded their general, Mustafa Pasha,
and sent his head back to Sultan Mehmed IV in a velvet bag. President Theodore
Roosevelt wrote in his 1916 book, Fear God and Take Your Own Part: "From the
hammer of Charles Martel to the sword of Jan Sobieski, Christianity owed its
safety in Europe to the fact it...could and would fight as well as the
Mohammedan aggressor." Banana Pudding
Charles, Rosa and James Baker went to Midland Saturday norning to visit grandkids and great grandkids. everyone went to Zack Priddy's football game on Saturday afternoon. His team lost, but it was fun to watch anyway. After the game, the bigger kids had pizza and watched a movie at home. They didn't want to go with the rest of the crowd to eat. Levi, Jennifer, Dana Priddy, Charles, Rosa and James Baker and great grandbabies Dorian and Jordan went to the Cattle Baron's Restaurant to celebrate James' birthday. On Sunday, Gunner, Lisa and granddaughter Lilly Jo Milligan arrived frome Talpa and Coleman Everyone joined Jordan Priddy to celebrate her third birthday. She had a "tea party" with all her little friends and family. Aunt Dana made her cake in the shape of a tea table decorated with a tiny set of tea dishes and miniature flowers. Apple juice and cake was served around child sized tea tables. All the little girls and the "grown ups" too, had a great time. Levi barbecued ribs and roasted wieners for hot dogs and made hot cheese dip. Everyone headed back to Talpa and got here late Sunday evening after a weekend of fun with the "kids".
Monday morning Rosa and Lisa went to Abilene to pick up Rosa's new glasses. They did a little shopping and "Mall Walking" after a lunch at El Chicos.
Talpa Talk 9-9-10 HM and I attended the Panther Creek Varsity football game on Friday evening. It wasn’t going too badly until I heard a remark when the mascot came up into the stands and one of the younger set, (a teenager, I believe) cautioned the mascot not to hurt the old lady. I looked around for the old lady and then discerned, I might be her. That ruined the game for me. Well, that and possibly the score the Panther’s ran up that couldn’t match the one Richland Springs was putting on the board. Since Panther Creek’s side of the board was broken and not recording the points, there may have been a mistake and we believe Panther Creek will make a comeback next week. Go Panthers!! We were sad to see two of Panther Creek players on crutches! Carol Jones recently had lunch with Fran Staggs in Ballinger. Carol and Xavier attended Open House at Panther Creek on Friday evening, then had dinner at Big O's in Valera. This past weekend Carol and Xavier played host to cousins Kenny and Vivien Brookshire of Ballinger, taking the fishing, then visiting in the evening. I have been remiss in not introducing you to one of Talpa’s newer neighbors, Bob Dunn. Bob grew up in Pecos and comes to Talpa from Dallas where he worked for many years. He retired to San Angelo and then while driving through Talpa going to look at real estate in Brownwood, he saw this house for sale. He investigated and now you know the rest of the story. We’re real glad he didn’t by-pass Talpa. He has three wonderful cats who were a gift from his neighbor while still kittens. He has adopted another kitten and appears to be making out just fine with the lot. He has the largest pear tree I have ever seen in his back yard. It bears many pears too, the question being how to get them off the tree. I think you will enjoy these thoughts on getting older… You know you are getting older when: You and your teeth don’t sleep together, When you try and straighten out the wrinkles in your stockings and discover you aren’t wearing any, When you wake up looking like your driving license picture, When your idea of weight lifting is standing up., When it takes twice as long to look half as good, When it takes two tries to get up from the couch, When you sit in a rocking chair and can’t get it going. Here’s a recent American Minute with Bill Federer September 2 3,000 Americans died when Imperial Japan attacked Pearl Harbor. 20,000 Americans and Filipinos died on Bataan's Death March, where starving prisoners were marched 65 miles in heat and jungles to a disease infested camp. Over 100,000 died retaking Okinawa and Pacific islands. Democrat President Harry S Truman made the controversial decision August 6, 1945, to drop the Atomic Bomb, which is estimated to have prevented an additional one million casualties on both sides. The year before, SEPTEMBER 2, 1944, a torpedo-bomber was hit by anti-aircraft fire while making a run over Bonin Island, 600 miles south of Japan. The pilot headed out to sea, ejected from his burning plane and was rescued by a submarine. He received the Distinguished Flying Cross, graduated from Yale, worked in the Texas oil industry and entered politics, eventually being elected the 41st U.S. President. His name was George H.W. Bush. President Bush began his Inaugural Address, January 20, 1989, saying: "I have just repeated...the oath taken by George Washington 200 years ago, and the Bible on which I place my hand is the Bible on which he placed his... My first act as President is a prayer... Heavenly Father...Make us strong to do Your work...And if our flaws are endless, God's love is truly boundless." I haven’t bothered any Talpites asking for news but please feel free to send me your news and we will gladly post it talpatalk@dishmail.net or call 365-3320. Hope you had a great weekend and don’t forget to fly the colors on 9/11.
Talpa Talk 9-2-10 By Maureen Duncan Greetings, dear reader, we had a cold front sort of, and now are back in the 90’s again. We can almost feel the cooler weather coming on. It was wonderful to step out of the car on Sunday and not feel as if you were entering an oven. Ah, yes, everyone talks about the weather…our conversation switches to the Fifth Sunday Singing which was held at Valera Baptist Church. It was one of those you were glad you didn’t miss. A group out of Coleman who call themselves “Soul-diers For Christ” were there and as usual this reporter didn’t have her pen and paper to jot down names. They were very good, with drums, guitar, harmonica, and a mandolin, and singing familiar songs like “I’ll Fly Away” etc. Ralph and Michelle Howell and their daughter Shea sang a beautiful number called “Captivate Us” while Leslie Ainslie signed the words. Carroll Hinds sang “He Touched Me” with his daughter Laura Dees accompanying him at the piano. Thanks to the church ladies who set out a delicious table of refreshments. HM and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary this week by having lunch at Hildagos where our waitress got wind of it and all the waitresses came to our table singing “Happy Anniversary” to us and presenting us with sopapillas for our dessert. After keeping an appointment in Coleman we went to Brady where we shopped for awhile and then enjoyed a fish supper. That was a retracing of our steps on our wedding day only we stopped there and came back home this year. I have had several emails reminding me to fly the flag and here is one I got today, THE PROGRAM: On Saturday, September 11th, 2010, an American flag should be displayed outside every home, apartment, office, and store in the United States. Every individual should make it their duty to display an American flag on this ninth anniversary of one our country's worst tragedies. We do this in honor of those who lost their lives on 9/11, their families, friends and loved ones who continue to endure the pain, and those who today are fighting at home and abroad to preserve our cherished freedoms. The days, weeks and months following 9/11, our country was bathed in American flags as citizens mourned the incredible losses and stood shoulder-to-shoulder against terrorism. Sadly, those flags have all but disappeared. Our patriotism pulled us through some tough times and it shouldn't take another attack to galvanize us in solidarity. Our American flag is the fabric of our country and together we can prevail over terrorism of all kinds. Bill and Karen Hicks truly enjoyed attending their grandson, Tyler’s first football game of the season. Victory Christian High traveled to Weatherford where they played, and won, over the Christian High School there, I understand that Panther Creek did not win their first game which was away and held in Blanket . Their next game will be against Richland Springs at Panther Creek. Go Panthers! American Minute with Bill Federer One of America's greatest generals for capturing Fort Ticonderoga with Ethan Allen and leading the charge at Saratoga, he felt unappreciated, so AUGUST 30, 1780, General Benedict Arnold conspired with British General Clinton to surrender West Point for 20,000 pounds, equivalent to one million dollars today. The British courier was Major John Andre, who had met Arnold's wife in Philadelphia. As Andre tried to cross to the British lines, he was searched, found with the blue prints for West Point in his boot and executed. Arnold escaped on the ship Vulture. George Washington wrote September 26, 1780: "Treason of the blackest dye was yesterday discovered! General Arnold who commanded at West Point, was about to...give the American cause a deadly wound if not fatal stab... Its discovery affords the most convincing proof that the Liberties of America are the object of divine Protection." On May 8, 1783, Yale President Ezra Stiles stated: "A providential miracle at the last minute detected the treacherous scheme of traitor Benedict Arnold, which would have delivered the American army, including George Washington himself, into the hands of the enemy."
Talpa Talk 8-24-2010 The Panther Creek School Bus came hurtling down US 67 this morning and picked up Talpa’s finest to take them to their studies for another year. I didn’t get all the names and grades of our young ‘uns. Perhaps next week I won’t be as lazy--or “heat effected” I hear we’re supposed to have a cool front come in this week
One of the new residents of Talpa is Darr and Joyce Huckaby. They are retired and came here from Stanton where Darr worked for Chaparral Water Co and Joyce worked for the Stanton School District in the office. They have two children, grown and married and five grandsons who appear to be the light of their lives. We welcome them to Talpa! Crystal Salazar graduated from TSTC on Saturday in a ceremony at Abilene Civic Center. She received a commission in Computer Aided Drafting. Congratulations to Crystal for her hard work! Cameron, Ora and Austin Lewis, Jonathan and Ciana Salazar, Orlando and son Orlando Mendoza attended the ceremony. They ate dinner afterwards at Hurrero’s Mexican Restaurant in Abilene. Jonathan and Ciana spent the night with Cameron and Ora Lewis. They went to Crystal and Orlando’s home for a barbecue on Sunday. . Bill and Karen Hicks are getting ready for the football season--grandparent style. Their first game to attend for Victory Life High in Brownwood will be at Weatherford this Friday. Go Victory Life! Carol and Xavier Jones were in San Angelo Thursday for Xavier's appointment. I subscribe to Bill Federer’s column thanks to Ouida Morris up Novice way and check with her as to which American Minute she is going to use. I chose for this week The Code of the US Military. (she chose it also but deferred to me, thanks, Ouida) AUGUST 17, 1955, President Eisenhower authorized the code of conduct for U.S. soldiers, which stated: "I serve in the forces which guard my country and our way of life. I am prepared to give my life in their defense... If captured...I will accept neither parole nor special favors from the enemy... I will never forget I am an American fighting man, responsible for my actions and dedicated to the principles which made my country free. I will trust in my God and in the United States of America." In 1947, the U.S. Corp of Cadets required: "Attendance at chapel is part of a cadet's training; no cadet will be exempted. Each cadet will receive religious training in one of the three particular faiths: Protestant, Catholic or Jewish." In 1949, the U.S. Naval Academy required: "All Midshipmen, except those on authorized outside church parties, shall attend Sunday services in the chapel." On November 15, 1862, Lincoln ordered: "The Commander in Chief...enjoins the...observance of the Sabbath... The sacred rights of Christian soldiers and sailors, a becoming deference to the best sentiment of a Christian people...demand that Sunday labor in the Army and Navy be reduced to the measure of strict necessity." That was then, when will this code be reinstated.? For the lack of local happenings, I’m including some things that Andy Rooney says he learned: I've learned..... That the best classroom in the world is at the feet of an elderly person. I've learned..... That when you're in love, it shows. I've learned..... That just one person saying to me, 'You've made my day!' makes my day. I've learned..... That having a child fall asleep in your arms is one of the most peaceful feelings in the world. I've learned..... That being kind is more important than being right. I've learned..... That you should never say no to a gift from a child. I've learned..... That I can always pray for someone when I don't have the strength to help him in some other way. I've learned..... That no matter how serious your life requires you to be, everyone needs a friend to act goofy with. I've learned..... That sometimes all a person needs is a hand to hold and a heart to understand. I've learned..... That simple walks with my father around the block on summer nights when I was a child did wonders for me as an adult. I've learned..... That we should be glad God doesn't give us everything we ask for. I've learned..... That money doesn't buy class. I've learned..... That it's those small daily happenings that make life so spectacular. I've learned.... That under everyone's hard shell is someone who wants to be appreciated and loved. I've learned..... That to ignore the facts does not change the facts. I've learned..... That when you plan to get even with someone, you are only letting that person continue to hurt you. I've learned..... That love, not time, heals all wounds. I've learned..... That the easiest way for me to grow as a person is to surround myself with people smarter than I am. I've learned.... That everyone you meet deserves to be greeted with a smile. I've learned..... That no one is perfect until you fall in love with them. I've learned.... That life is tough, but I'm tougher. I've learned..... That opportunities are never lost, someone will take the ones you miss. I've learned..... That when you harbor bitterness, happiness will dock elsewhere. I've learned..... That I wish I could have told my Mom that I loved her one more time before she passed away. I've learned..... That one should keep his words both soft and tender, because tomorrow he may have to eat them. I've learned..... That a smile is an inexpensive way to improve your looks. I've learned..... That when your newly born grandchild holds your little finger in his little fist, that you're hooked for life. I've learned..... That everyone wants to live on top of the mountain, but all the happiness and growth occurs while you're climbing it. I've learned..... That the less time I have to work with, the more things I get done. However we may agree or disagree with Andy Rooney, he hit the nail on the head with these.
Talpa Talk 8-17-10 HM and I attended the funeral services for Mrs Omega Priddy on Thursday in Winters. We saw Charles and Julie Burleson’s new baby. She is quite adorable as we had been told and is the great granddaughter of Mrs Priddy. Others from the Talpa community were there. The Voss Baptist, As well as other churches in the South Coleman County area cancelled their services on Sunday in order to attend the 110th Anniversary for Glen Cove Baptist Church. It was a great service and we heard the history of the church and the giving of thanks - not only for all the hard work that went into the building they enjoyed, but even more for what it took for the Father to bring Jesus into the world, offer Him on the cross, and raise Him from the dead so we can be part of God's family and freely worship Him. There were some interesting bits of information from former pastors. (I knew I should’ve had a pen handy to record names.) Special music was provided by Kay Shields, wife of former pastor Jerry Shields. Leslie Ailshie, wife of Zach Ailshie, the current pastor, presented a song in Mime which was very moving. The service was well attended and we all enjoyed dinner afterwards. Again the Talpa community was well represented. Linda Davis says, “Philip's sister, Cora Dillard, from Santa Anna stopped by to visit on Saturday and we really enjoyed it. Christian Smith, my grandson is staying with us for a week before he has to get back to the grind of school starting next week.” (i can't believe school will be a grind for Christian who is a wonderfully rounded boy). Carol Jones took Xavier to San Angelo on Thursday to meet Robbie Jones who took him home with him for the weekend. He brought Xavier home on Sunday afternoon. Carol and Xavier attended the 2nd birthday party for Ro, Danita and Steve Hinds's granddaughter, later on Sunday. It was a great party with both sets of great-grandparents attending as well as many other family members. One set of great grandparents was Carroll and Addie Hinds, so I was told by Carroll. Did you like the “rules of the elderly” that I included last week? If so, here are some rules for meeting new friends and we seniors should never let pass an opportunity to meet new friends, especially among those younger than us. Here are some tips: 1. Spend time. The best way to get to know someone is to do things you both enjoy together and talk. Look for others who share your interests. 2. Make eye contact, looking directly at someone, rather than away as this demonstrates your interest in what the person is saying. 3. Investigate. Ask questions. Discover what somepon likes or dislikes. Find out about her job situation, family background and dreams. 4. Listen. Interactive conversation shows you care. Learn from the different perspectives others have on issues. 5. Express esteem. Theat the other person with kindness show that you value and respect what he does or thinks. Did you notice the first letters of the items on this list. SMILE! That’s really the first step in reaching out to anyone in friendship. I have an article about the US Coast Guard which I found on American Minute with Bill Federer. "To sink the foe or save the maimed, Our mission and our pride, We'll carry on 'til Kingdom Come, Ideals for which we've died." Thus went the original anthem of the US Coast Guard, which was established AUGUST 4, 1790, when Congress authorized ten boats to be built for the Revenue Marine. Four years later they were charged with stopping slave-traders from bringing new slaves from Africa. The U.S. Coast Guard freed almost 500 slaves. President Herbert Hoover stated December 27, 1929: "A further proposal...is the definite expansion of the Coast Guard...in the matter of border patrol." On June 1, 1945, President Truman listed casualties of the Battle of Okinawa: "Navy and Coast Guard losses were 4,729 killed and 4,640 wounded." At the U.S. Coast Guard Academy in New London, September 20, 1952, Truman stated: "I was just reading...about the Coast Guard's icebreaker that has been closer to the North Pole than any other ship in delivering food and supplies to a station up there...That, my young friends, is what makes this country great." At a US Coast Guard commencement, May 18, 1988, President Reagan stated: "It's our prayer to serve America in peace. It's our commitment to defend her in war."
Thank God for the US Coast Guard!
8-10-10 By Maureen Duncan HM and I went to Snyder on Tuesday and helped granddaughter Nancy Burleson celebrate her 24th birthday. (I think you don’t mind telling your age at 24). Another purpose of the trip was to see our great grand, Brody who is 8 months old and cute as a button. We outsmarted any deer that might be on the roads by spending the night in Snyder. We came home through Ballinger and had lunch at Beef Master. On Sunday Carol and Xavier Jones attended a 5th Birthday Party for Shon Jones, Jr. at the San Angelo Nature Center. They were treated to an interactive program on bugs, lizards, snakes, prairie dogs, and alligators. After leaving San Angelo, Carol and Xavier went to Kenny Brookshire's to help his daughter, Vivien, celebrate her 9th birthday. Our sympathy goes to the Mike Priddy family at the death of his mother Omega Priddy of Winters. We understand the funeral service will be in Winters at 10:00 AM on Thursday. I like Betty Johnson and read this which was once printed in Ann Landers also. “We live by the rules of the elderly. If the toothbrush is wet, you have brushed your teeth. If the bedside radio is warm in the morning, you left it on all night. If you are wearing one brown shoe and one black shoe, you have a pair just like it some somewhere in the closet. Like other elderly people, we spend many happy hours in front of the TV set. We rarely turn it on. That’s all for now folks!
8-4-10 Greetings in the first “weekly” publication of the Democrat Voice! I am excited since I like changes. I hope I can remember the deadlines which have changed too. I am also excited that my grandson Brent Davidson of Houston will be attending ASU as a Junior this fall and has already gone through Orientation. Dennis and Margaret drove up with him on Friday. They also went to Orientation for Parents and liked what they saw of the campus. They came to Talpa on Saturday night along with Mark Baird and Jamie Davidson who have announced their engagement! We had supper at Alejandros and celebrated everyone’s good news. (Brent got the classes he was hoping for, the only thing left is a part time job.) Carol Jones went on a short trip to Tunica, Mississippi week before last. Last Wednesday Robbie Jones of Sonora brought Xavier Jones home after Xavier had spent 2 1/2 weeks with him there. On Saturday Carol took Xavier to Shon and Melissa Jones' home in San Angelo for the weekend. The Shon Joneses and Xavier left Saturday evening for Austin. On Sunday they traveled to Bastrop to Hyatt's Lost Pines Resort and returned Tuesday evening. Saturday before dropping Xavier off with Melissa, Carol and Xavier went to the movies. Angela and Karen Hicks celebrated their birthdays on Sunday. Happy Birthday to you both! HM and I went to the funeral service for Idajo Bowen Pyburn on Monday morning. We had known Red since school days at Mozelle and Jo was in the class with my sister Maudie Etta both at Gouldbusk and Mozelle. Lake Ivie Baptist Association Mission Banquet will be held at First Baptist Church, Coleman, Tuesday evening August 10, 2010 and will begin at 5:00 p.m. Executive Board Meeting 5:00 p.m. Mission Minded Women's Meeting 5:00 p.m. Meal 6:00 p.m. Program 6:45 p.m. LIBA Fellowship Breakfasts will resume in September!
7-29-10 Greetings from Talpa, it may be that we are the Grasshopper Capitol of Coleman County. They love our gardens, trees and anything green. HM and I have been spraying and seem to be making a dent. Too late for the current gardens though. HM is planning to replant some things that might do well in August. To something more pleasant that everybody’s talking about is the rain we have been having. Not flooding streets like Abilene or Brownwood but showers that amount to one or more inches. Very welcome! This came from Karen Hicks last week and I send it to you with pleasure, “Bill and I just returned from a Mission Trip with Lake Ivie Baptist Association. We traveled to a Navajo Reservation located in Alamo NM close to Magdalene, NM. The group had VBS and help a basketball camp at Alamo and at the FBC, Magdalene. We had 60 people on this mission trip--39 youth and 21 adults. It was nice and pleasant during the day and very cool in the evening. It rained several times there and one evening it was in the 50’s! Bill served as the cook. He prepared three meals a day --the best was breakfast. Kids, as well as the adults, worked up an appetite each day. We all intermingled with the people in Magdalene and at the Navajo Reservation in Alamo. We met and made new friendships with the people there and in our group. We had several from Santa Anna, Coleman, Rockwood, Winters, Eden, Rochelle and Talpa. The weather was wonderful, the country is beautiful and the work we did will be with us forever. We thank God for this special blessing.” Happy Anniversary to Ricky Joe and Theresa Agnew! We wish
them many more. They were in San Angelo on Saturday, (celebrating?) and went to
Grand Prairie on Sunday to secure their granddaughter Haley Quinones. She will
be here in Talpa for the week. Ricky Joe left work on Monday to help fight the
fire raging north of Lake Ivie. I understand there was equipment and fire
fighters from Leaday/Voss, Valera, Talpa and Coleman at least, there may have
been more. You all are very appreciated! We saw Carroll and Addie Hinds there. Their name was drawn for a $25 gift certificate to Unique Treasures in Santa Anna. They went to Cisco on Saturday to attend the 50th birthday party for their nephew Josh Klassen. Carroll said about 50 attended. Dale and Arletta Herring were missing at the Co-Op Meeting as they went to the Texas Sheep and Goat Raisers Association’s Meeting in Kerrville which was Thursday through Sunday. Jerry Don and Angelita Stephenson, James and Shelbi were there. I was surprised on Saturday to see a strange car in the driveway as I was coming home. It was a school mate from Mozelle, Louise (Sparks) Radle who lived in Eldorado until her husband Bill died and now lives at Rio Concho Terrace in San Angelo. She was accompanied by her daughter Norma Brawner of San Angelo. Their visit was short with promises to get together soon.
7-15-10 By Maureen Duncan Summer is here, the heat we‘re a’feelin.’ Fall or Spring are much more appealin.’ Winter days will again find us complainin’ But any season will do if only it’s rainin’. Maureen’s attempt at poetry. HM and I went to Sweetwater after church on Sunday and met up with Dan and Cathy Davidson at the Chinese Food restaurant. We enjoyed dinner together and celebrated Cathy’s birthday. We went to church at Immanuel in the evening where Loyd Hopper was showing a DVD about Israel with Jay Seculow. Loyd’s been finding some great and informative movies for Sunday evening . HM and I went to San Angelo on Tuesday for an appointment. We met Pat Musick for lunch and a visit. She has another great grandson and this one has the family name of Troy Jacob. Pat hasn’t seen him yet since he was an early arrival and had to be isolated at the hospital. He is now home and she plans to be seeing him soon as the traffic dies down. (everyone wants to see the little feller!) Rosa Baker wrote last week, “Our week started out on Saturday evening when Charles and Rosa took Zach and Marc Priddy to Ballinger for the fireworks display. On Sunday, James took them to Ballinger Pool for an afternoon of swimming, then to their favorite place to eat, Pizza Hut. On Tuesday Charles and Rosa took them to Brownwood to see "Toy Story III" at the theater and had dinner at Underwoods. Wednesday Gunner and Lisa Milligan got back from a family reunion. They had spent a week in Alabama and Florida. “Friday night we all went to Coleman for another fireworks display. We watched it from Chuck and Nancy Baker's driveway. We could see the Airport from there, and missed a lot of the traffic afterwards. Saturday night another fireworks show was held at the Milligans. After a wiener roast and smors were enjoyed, we had a fireworks display for over an hour. Those attending were Chuck , Nancy & Rebecca Baker, Miguel Quinonez, Elizabeth,Hannah & Olivia Jefferson, Tyler & Averi Ransberger, Paul, Shelly, Heaven, Evan & Jesse Bedell, Germann, Mandy, Lily Jo, Monica & Johnathan Cenceros and two of Lily's friends, Damara and Alysa Thomas all from Coleman. Charles, Rosa & James Baker, Gunner & Lisa Milligan from Talpa and Zach & Marc Priddy from Midland. Some of the other Talpa people enjoyed the fireworks viewed from their porches thanks to Gunner, Chuck, Paul and Germann. On Sunday the fourth, Lisa and Rosa met the boys dad, Levi, in Sterling City who took Zach and Marc back to Midland. They seemed to enjoy their stay with us as much as we enjoyed them.” Arletta Herring and I spent the week with the children at the 5 Day Club at Immanuel Baptist and both voiced our pleasure at being with the children each day and getting to know them. Arletta and Angelita Stephenson took Shelbi Stephenson to San Angelo on Tuesday to pick up her newly acquired pet, a brown and tan Chihuahua who she named “Tater Tot.” Carol Jones writes, “Xavier Jones attended and thoroughly enjoyed 5-day Good News Club last week. On Saturday Robbie and Lorna Jones came to Talpa to get Xavier for a little vacation in Sonora. While they were here, Carol, Robbie, Lorna and Xavier visited the grave of Brooke Jones and other family members. Xavier released a "Happy Birthday" balloon for his mom on her 32nd birthday while out there. Carol attended Church at Voss Baptist Church on Sunday morning.” ( Carol played piano for the Sunday School and Church Worship Service at Voss and we always appreciate her) Junior and Ricky Pas also attended the 5 Day Club and were heard to say they wished it would last all summer!
7-1-10 "What were you doing when the lights went out Sunday night?" That is the question asked by many out here after experiencing an outage. Several offered, "it was so dark!" Some were watching a movie, some asleep already and some getting ready for that time. Many were faithful and called to see if there was a problem, there was but it was resolved after awhile. Before I forget it, we will be having a 5-day Good News Club next week, July 5-9 at the Immanuel Baptist Church 5:00 to 6:00pm. We expect kiddos from k-6th grade, gonna have singing, stories, games and crafts, did I forget cookies and punch? Ricky Joe and Theresa Agnew had his brother Randy Agnew of Colorado Springs, Col for a visit last week. His birthday happened to fall while he was here so of course, Theresa and the children threw him a fine party including songs and plays performed by Haley, Junior and Ricky as they brought in his cake.. It sure sounded like fun! The grandchildren were treated to Water Park and skating on Saturday in Irving. HM and I went to the wedding of Bob Turner and Mona Wilson on Sunday afternoon. It was well attended and nice and cool inside the Gouldbusk Methodist Church. The church was beautifully decorated with fresh flowers and candelabra. Tables were set up for the reception and they were filled with guests enjoying the fine assortment of fruits, cheeses and finger foods. Beautiful wedding cakes took up a large part of another table, HM and I were pleased to see the Mozelle colors of purple and white, (actually it was more of a lavender, very pretty and put together by Sara's Neighborhood.) Those two popping up everywhere with cameras were Ralph and Judia Terry. Let me know how the one of Judia and I came out, Ralph. This might be a good place to tell a humorous story from my daughter Pam and Steve's wedding. A friend and I were setting up chairs for the reception and we thought it would be more conducive to visiting if the chairs were arranged in circles. After we left our artistic array, someone else came along thinking it was rather a muddled lot of chairs and set them up in very neat rows. When HM and I got married I specified the reception chairs were to be left in circles and they were!. Carroll Hinds tells us that Ral, Laura and Lisa Dees have returned from a trip to England where they had a good time visiting many places including London and Oxford. Linda Davis, her mother Juanell Robertson and daughters,
Becky Torres and son Stephen, Juanita Smith and sons Brandon and Christian
attended the Pringle Family Reunion which was held at Butman Methodist Camp near
Merkel. Dale, Andy and Sydney Herring and James Stephenson took a trip on Amtrak Railroad from Ft Worth to Chicago and back last week. They traveled with two sleeping rooms as it took about twenty four hours each way. They were in Chicago for two days and toured the city on Gray Line Tours. Dale says, "We took a ride on "The Mystic Blue" on Lake Michigan which included a delicious lunch in their very nice dining room. We viewed Chicago from the ninety-fourth floor of the Hancock Tower in their observation room. We saw the Sears Tower and the new Trump Tower." This trip was a gift from Arletta and Dale to the two oldest grandchildren that just graduated from the eighth grade. Arletta stayed home and kept Shelbi Stephenson, Cole and Allie Herring, the three youngest grandchildren. That sounds like a tour the grandchildren won't forget
both the ones who rode to Chicago on Amtrak and the ones who stayed here in
Talpa. Arletta is helping with VBS at the Methodist Church in Ballinger each
morning this week.
6-25-10 I just left HM washing windows on the back porch. They didn’t need it so much but the dirt daubers has started a condo and he wanted to discourage them. There’s hardly any place that I’d give them a permit to “go ahead”. If such a place existed, it wouldn’t meet their specs so it’s up to them to find a home for their babies. Yeah, I know they keep the spider population down. Rosa Baker sends this “We spent the week-end in Ballinger. Parked the motorhome at the City Park and participated in the Folkner Family Reunion. Lisa and Gunner, James and Chuck and Nancy Baker hosted the reunion and did lots of work before, during, and after to make it a success. We will have an item in the Coleman and Rising Star paper about it. We had lots of fun visiting with cousins, eating and playing with great grandkids. Crystal, Orlando Jonathan, Ciana and the newest grandchild, Orlando spent Father’s Day with Cameron, Ora and Austin Lewis. They enjoyed a barbecue together. We are glad to hear that Gaylon Hoelscher is home from the hospital. Emily stayed with her “Granny” Hoelscher in Rowena while he was in Shannon and even celebrated her birthday in Rowena. Xavier Jones spend Fathers' Day weekend with his Paw Paw, Robbie Jones, in Sonora. Xavier is attending an Art Camp in Ballinger this week. Images in the mirror are smaller than they appear: so says one of my favorite writers, Barbara Johnson (and she admits to borrowing it from some one else.) “Attitude is the mind’s paintbrush. It can color any situation.” when you look in the mirror, you can still see your smooth, unlined face just the way it was twenty or thirty years ago---unless, that is, you insist on wearing your glasses while you’re looking in the mirror! (Let’s face it, many of us have eyesight that’s deteriorating faster than our faces!) The point is, don’t be too hard on yourself. And look on the bright side. That’s the attitude of the woman who reported that she looked in the mirror each morning and said, “Thank You dear Lord, that wrinkles don’t HURT!”
6-16-2010 As usual, I can’t wait to tell you, dear reader, what HM and I did since we last talked. We went to Valera Baptist Church Fellowship Hall on Saturday where the folks had gathered for the Centennial School Reunion. He only went there through 8th grade at which time he transferred to Mozelle High School. Carroll and Addie Hinds were among the Talpa folks visiting with old friends. I’m not sure of other Talpa folks who went to that school. Carroll told me he visited with Ken Mulanax this week. Ken seems to be doing well but still has a few more treatments to finish off. Carol and Xavier Jones were in Coleman Thursday for Xavier to swim with one of his friends. On Saturday they attended the annual Clayton Reunion in Ballinger. After lunch Javier Nino came to Ballinger to get Xavier for the weekend in San Angelo. On Monday Javier and Xavier met Carol at the doctor's office in Ballinger. Xavier was ill with a tummy"bug" and temperature. Dale and Arletta represented their church, the First United Methodist church of Ballinger last week at the Central Texas Annual conference of the United Methodist Churches on Sunday through Wednesday. I really enjoy Ouieta Morris’ News from Talpa Community and I enjoyed reading the American Minute (she put us onto it). The one for today especially, as my Dennis has worked at NASA since well, I can’t remember when. He thoroughly enjoys his work but may not be too happy with my memory…or lack of it. American Minute for June 16th: The father of the American space program died JUNE 16, 1977. He developed the V-2 rocket for Germany before emigrating to the US, where in 1958, he launched America's first satellite. He was director of NASA and the U.S. guided missile program. His name was Wernher von Braun. Founder of the National Space Institute, Wernher von Braun stated: "The laws of nature that enable us to fly to the Moon also enable us to destroy our home planet with the atom bomb. Science itself does not address the question whether we should use the power at our disposal for good or for evil. The guidelines of what we ought to do are furnished in the moral law of God." Wernher von Braun continued: "It is no longer enough that we pray that God may be with us on our side. We must learn to pray that we may be on God's side." To the California State Board of Education, September 14, 1972, Wernher von Braun wrote: "Some...challenge science to prove the existence of God. But must we light a candle to see the sun?" In American Weekly, February 10, 1963, Wernher von Braun wrote: "It is difficult for me to understand a scientist who does not acknowledge the presence of a superior rationality behind the existence of the universe...Viewing the awesome reaches of space...should only confirm our belief in the certainty of its Creator." A-MEN
6-10-10 HM and I drove to Rockwood Cemetery on Saturday for the first leg of our family reunion which culminated in Brady. One of my favorite cousins who lives in Brady had left town to go to Ruidoso NM. Considering the extreme heat, we all went to her house rather than meet at Richards Park. I think it served her right (for leaving) but I did hope we didn’t leave a mess. We each brought a vegetable dish and dessert and ordered barbecue from “Rays”. My daughter Pam Gasper took first place for her confetti cookies. She got the recipe in Edmonton Canada where she goes for her job a couple weeks every month. I found a recipe online for Lavender Cookies and no one could guess the secret ingredient which I harvested from my flower bed. We did lots of visiting and played some ‘42. Everyone had a turn at playing with the youngest member, Brody Burleson, who is 6 months old. Linda Davis says, “Jessica and Christian came over last week and spent a couple of days with me and we really enjoyed the visit. We met Teresa (Agnew) in the Ballinger Park and let all 3 boys go swimming for the afternoon. Philip is looking forward to his vacation this next week, of course he'll still be working, can't slow that man down!” Xavier Jones attended Vacation Bible School at Valera Baptist Church last week. Carol attended Parent's Night and really enjoyed the sandwiches and homemade ice cream after. Carol and Xavier had lunch with friends in Ballinger on Friday. Kenny and Vivien Brookshire visited with Carol and Xavier on Sunday. They enjoyed hamburgers cooked outside and played games in the afternoon. Theresa Agnew, Junior and Ricky Pas went to the Metro Plex and brought Haley Quinones to Talpa for the month. Ricky had a birthday party, and HM and I were privileged to attend. We are amazed at the toys that 7 year olds like these days. Never mind, HM was sensible and saw to it that he got an earth moving CAT which we think a little boy would enjoy when he tires of trying to pronounce the names of the other creatures. Cameron and Ora Lewis took Austin and the grandkids Jonathan and Ciana to Hords Creek Lake over Memorial Day. Then they took Austin and Ethan Morris to Arlington to the Texas Ranger game and to Hurricane Harbor. Austin celebrated his fifteenth birthday on Saturday. Happy Birthday, Austin! He is working with Cameron again this summer. Carroll Hinds tells us that their granddaughter Lisa Dees has gone to Houston this week on a scholarship from the Right To Life Chapter. She will learn how to establish a Right To Life Chapter at San Angelo University where she will be studying this Fall. Thanks to Ouieta Morris of Novice for introducing us to The American Minute. American Minute for June 9th: Withholding taxes from people's paychecks began JUNE 9, 1943. Congress passed it as an emergency measure to get money to fight Hitler. The idea came from Beardsley Ruml, treasurer of Macy's and chairman of New York's Federal Reserve Bank. Called the "pay-as-you-go" tax, so much money came in with so few complaints that it continued after the war. John F. Kennedy told Congress, April 20, 1961: "Introduced during the war when the income tax was extended to millions of new taxpayers, the wage-withholding system has been one of the most important and successful advances in our tax system in recent times. Initial difficulties were quickly overcome, and the new system helped the taxpayer no less than the tax collector." But Americans weren't always so taxed. In his 2nd Annual Message, 1802, Thomas Jefferson wrote: "To proceed as we have begun in substituting economy for taxation." President Andrew Jackson stated in his 8th Annual Message, December 5, 1836: "There is no such provision as would authorize Congress to collect together the property of the country, under the name of revenue, for the purpose of dividing it equally or unequally among the States or the people. Indeed, it is not probable that such an idea ever occurred to the States when they adopted the Constitution." In his Message to Congress, May 27, 1830, Andrew Jackson said: "Through the favor of an overruling and indulgent Providence our country is blessed with general prosperity and our citizens exempted from the pressure of taxation, which other less favored portions of the human family are obliged to bear." Amen!
Talpa Talk 6-3-10 By Maureen Duncan Immanuel Baptist Church hosted the Fifth Sunday Singing and it was well attended. There were at least two harmonica numbers and one guitar solo, “America. My Home” by Ralph Howell. Lots of patriotic songs were sung accompanied by tear filled eyes as we thought of our brave military and the sacrifice they made and make even as we write. Rosa Baker and her son James went to Fredericksburg early Sunday morning and ate breakfast, then bought some peaches, fresh tomatoes and honey. We toured Fredericksburg a little and came back home. Didn't want their peaches to ruin, as much as they cost! Charles, Lisa and Gunner stayed home and got started on the new deck. Monday Rosa canned peaches. Later that evening James grilled steaks and fresh zucchini and Gunner and Lisa came over for dinner. Gunner had to work on the Holiday, so we grilled after he got home from Abilene. Today, June 1, is Charles and Rosa's 58th anniversary! While I’m wishing Charles and Rosa a Happy Anniversary! And 58th at that, I would also like to wish Ricky Pas a Happy Birthday!… seven years old. Ricky was on the AB Honor Roll at Panther Creek all year and received the AR (accelerated reading) award as did his brother Junior Pas. Congratulations to both of them. On Wednesday Carol Jones attended the Panther Creek Elementary field day at the PC football field. On Thursday she attended the Elementary Awards Ceremony. Xavier received one of the medals for being on the A-B Honor Roll for the entire year. He also received the 2nd Grade Reading Award, the Reading Comprehension Highest Percentage Award, and an AR (Accelerated Reading) Participation Award. In addition, Xavier was recognized for being the top fund raiser for the Jump Rope for Heart Event at $254 and also top fund raiser for the St Jude's Math-A-Thon with $310. Thursday night Carol and Xavier attended the Coleman Youth Assn. Little League Closing Ceremonies. Xavier's team, the Cougars, came in Second Place for the Minor League teams. Congratulations to Xavier on his accomplishments. Following a weekend of resting, Xavier is attending the Valera Baptist Church Vacation Bible School. Parents' Night is scheduled for Friday night.
Talpa Talk 5-27-10 By Maureen Duncan Dear reader, it doesn't get much better than this! Ready? We heard on Saturday that Dennis and Margaret Davidson of Houston would be coming on Sunday and bringing Jamie (granddaughter) Davidson of San Angelo and her friend Mark Baird of Ballinger so we decided to have lunch in Valera at the Grazin` Patch. It was also determined that Dan and Cathy Davidson and great grandson Brody of Snyder could join us, so there you have it. We anxiously awaited their arrival and the rest is history. Brody entertained us royally and saw to it that no one could have an uninterrupted lunch but we had expected that from his mother who I believe had not trained him in that area. He is 5 months and just starting to giggle. Carol and Xavier Jones traveled to Glen Rose this past weekend for the annual Cousins Reunion on Saturday. They saw several of their Texas cousins and a few Arizona cousins as well. On Sunday before coming home, Carol and Xavier and some of the cousins toured Dinosaur World and saw "lifesized" dinosaurs and other fossils. Monday Carol attended the Panther Creek Elementary picnic at the Coleman Park, and Monday night Xavier played in his last 2010 Little League game. Which they won 14-2 against the Cardinals. Yea Cougars! We are proud of you! Carol is very glad school will be out for the summer. She is looking forward to spending time with Xavier. Linda Davis writes, "I went to San Angelo for the Red Hats luncheon last Monday at Zookini's with mother. I helped her pot some plants Monday afternoon before spending the night with Jessica and the boys. I cleaned my Uncle Burl's house in Sterling City on Tuesday. Just did yard work as usual on the weekend, with this rain, it's every weekend."¯ Rosa Baker says, "All we did this week end was YARDWORK.... Gunner laid a foundation for a new deck to put the bar-b-que pit on. James did some leveling with the tractor around Lisa and Gunner's bar-b-que area. We all pulled weeds and mowed; can't seem to keep up with these big yards. No complaints, though, we'll have dry weather soon enough and be praying for rain again."¯ Dale and Arletta Herring attended the awards ceremony for her granddaughter Shelbi Stephenson at Coleman Elementary School this week. One of her awards was for being on"A"¯ Honor Roll all through her school years so far. They will attend James Stephenson`s 8th grade graduation on Thursday evening.. Sydney Herring graduated last week from 8th grade in Franklin. All five of their grandchildren are A honor roll students. We are having new residents moving into Talpa but so far they are in the "cleaning and fixing up"¯ stage so I hope to introduce them when they actually move here. Ricky Joe and Theresa Agnew have their grandchildren Raimey and Caiden Boren of Midlothian visiting them this week. Grady and Nona Fletcher attended a graduation celebration at the home of her nephew Daniel and Becky Motl of San Angelo. The Motl`s had a barbecue for their daughter Jessica who graduated from ASU with many honors. She plans to study forensics in Huntsville. Their son Sean graduated from Wall High School as Valedictorian. He plans to study Physical Therapy at ASU. Grandparents of the graduates are Ellis and Mary Motl of San Angelo and Mr. and Mrs. Skroner of Rockport who were there with their son, Donald. Others honored at the barbecue were David who is a friend of Daniel's who graduated from the Nurse's Program. Immanuel Baptist Church of Talpa will host the Fifth Sunday Singing this Sunday at 6:00pm and provide a supper afterwards for the guests. You are invited to join the singing and the supper. Valera Baptist Church has their Vacation Bible School starting Monday, May 31 (Memorial Day) and going through next Friday, 6 p.m. until 8:30 p.m.怀 As Memorial Day approaches let us all remember those who have put in their tour of duty be it on the front lines of battle or behind a desk or wherever they served. Each one was important and we are ever so grateful for their sacrifice. Grandson Michael is in Afghanistan at present and it is a sacrifice made by our family also in that he won't be at our family reunion, multiply that by all of our military who miss out on events back home. Only One was greater and He gave His life so that we could be free from the penalty of our sins. Talpa Talk 5-20-10 By Maureen Duncan HM and I went to Mercury on Tuesday evening to attend the Lake Ivie Baptist Association meeting. It was a pleasant drive down, (Voss Pastor Dave Ellison went with us) and we were so surprised to find such an attractive little church out in the country. The Mission Minded Women tended to their business and announced a workshop at First Baptist in Brady on Saturday May 22 at 10:00 -2:00 to work on “Witnessing Dolls” which will be used on the Navajo Reservation when a team goes there on July 11-18. Another summer project was called a Storybook Project whereby incarcerated women can tape stories for their children to listen to. This sounds like a good ministry since we understand that prisoners who have the most contact with their family are less likely to be "repeat offenders". The supper was very good. I didn’t see anyone else going for seconds so I restrained myself and finished up with dessert. We saw Bill and Karen Hicks of Talpa. A young man from Ballinger, Bobby Boone told us about a church in Eagle Pass that was on the verge of closing it’s doors, (attendance got down to 3) when one man with a heart for God stayed in and the attendance is now in the 80’s . Our speaker was a delightful lady who had spent much time in the Middle East with her son who goes to needy places and asks her to go along with him. Her main thrust was, “when God calls you…go!” She spoke mainly of her ministry in Pakistan and I was impressed that she could serve there without any training, especially in the language. We came home noticing some fires in the Glen Cove area so while Talpa and Glen Cove communities were sleeping peacefully, the volunteer firemen were hauling themselves out of bed and tending to the fires. Thank all of you volunteers. We saw Valera, Talpa and Glen Cove trucks there. Grady and Nona Fletcher have been in the Metro Plex where they visited with family and attended the funeral of their granddaughter’s father-in-law. Ora and Cameron Lewis went to visit their daughter Crystal, Orlando and the grandchildren in Early on the week-end. Cameron, Ora and Austin when to the Panther Creek Sports Banquet on Monday. Ora attended the National Honor Society Awards at Panther Creek. Ora tells us her granddaughter Ciana just turned seven and she would like to wish her a Happy Birthday. Robbie and Lorna Jones of Sonora were in Coleman Friday night to watch Xavier Jones' little league game. The game was postponed after the first inning due to the lightning and approaching thunderstorm and rescheduled for Thursday, May 20 at 6 p.m. now we understand it is rescheduled for Monday at 6 p.m. Xavier went home with Robbie for the weekend. Carol med them in San Angelo Sunday to get Xavier. On Monday Carol met the Panther Creek AR group at Prime Time in Abilene for a fun-filled day. Tuesday Carol took Xavier to San Angelo for an appointment, then to Coleman for a little league game. Bill and Karen Hicks attended the Victory Life Sports Banquet in Brownwood on Saturday evening. Their grandson Tyler attends this school. They have been able to attend a couple of their grandson Austin’s ball games in Brownwood. They echo all of Talpa residents saying how much they enjoyed the rains we have had. It is a relief to know this, “The body can get tired while the brain never does!”
Talpa Talk 5-13-10 By Maureen Duncan HM and I met Louis Pittard and Annie Mae Brimer on Sunday at the Grazin’ Patch for breakfast. What an enjoyable time we had and finished in time for Sunday School at Voss. We had several missing at Church but had a wonderful time of worship just the same. No naps for me on Sunday. Nope, had to wait for the phone to ring and I wasn’t disappointed. All of my children came through with a Mother’s Day call. It was great! Theresa Agnew says she heard from all her family too and Ricky Joe cooked dinner for her and the boys. We are still hearing about the devastation caused by the flood in Nashville. HM’s daughter Vivian who lives in a nearby suburb is a self appointed flood relief distributor. She says, “I get this feeling every day that I’m not doing enough”. The Red Cross has stepped in to help as well as other organizations, Vivian mentioned Logans Roadhouse, Waste Management brought what they call the Dumpster Diner, (you gotta realize it never hauled waste), Tide brought in an 18 wheeler to do laundry, they have workers there to wash and fold. Mostly, the good people of Tennessee are there helping the folks of Nashville area who have truly lost it all. If there are any groups or singles, among our readers who would like a way to help, she says Wal-mart cards, Bibles, clothing (used, in good condition), towels, toiletries. are all welcome. An address to use is Westmont Baptist Church/ Flood Relief; 516 Cunningham Ct. Kingston Springs TN 37082. Meanwhile back in Talpa, we have had a couple very warm days causing us to apply water to the gardens. The warm days are accompanied by strong winds. Linda Davis was planning to “yard sale” on Saturday and she said the wind blew the things away as fast as she could get them put out. Solution? Cancel the yard sale. Charlie and Rosa Baker had the whole family out on Mother’s Day. They enjoyed burgers from the grill. Xavier Jones spent Friday night with his Nino family in San Angelo returning Saturday night. On Mothers' Day Sunday Carol and Xavier Jones had lunch at Alejandro's in Ballinger with Shon, Melissa, Taryn, and Shon (Jr) Jones of San Angelo. On Monday, Carol went on the Panther Creek Elementary Field Trip to the Abilene Zoo. The group toured the zoo for about two hours and then had lunch at the park adjacent to the zoo. Bill and Karen Hicks survived the State Track Meet at Baylor University on Saturday. The Victory Life Boys came in fifth on their mile relay. Bill had a good time with his grandson Austin (6)on his field trip. Don’t forget the Lake Ivie Baptist Association meets May 18 at Mercury Baptist Church. Executive Board and Mission Minded Women will meet at 5:00. A meal will be served at 6:00 and program at 6:45. Carroll and Addie Hinds enjoyed Mothers Day Dinner with Ral and Laura Dee’s . Linda Davis says she went to Angelo Civic Theater to see Camelot with her mother, Juanell Robertson and daughter, Jessica Smith on Mother's Day and had a very good time. When HM came home from Locker on Monday, there was a small fire heading towards becoming a larger fire just east of Talpa. However, it was put out shortly. A big thank you to our volunteer fire departments.
Talpa Talk 4-6-10 By Maureen Duncan We put our heads on the pillows at night and settle down for a much needed rest. We then think of our “brothers” in Tennessee who have no pillow to sleep on, or a home for that matter, not even clothes, having left flooded homes with what they were wearing. HM’s daughter Vivian and family live in Kingston Springs just outside of Nashville. Their home is in the hills and wasn’t flooded. They keep us posted and say what we watch on TV is all true and more. It is so difficult to realize what has happened. Grandson Westyn (4)was overwhelmed at the devastation and summed it up when he said “it’s not amazing”. Vivian said one friend who had truly lost everything was thanking God for their very lives being spared. HM and I attended the annual meeting of the Voss Cemetery Association on Saturday. There were folks coming from as far away as Austin and Houston to visit the graves of loved ones and join in the fellowship meal and business meeting. Panther Creek Good News Club had it’s final meeting for the school year. The children got to spend their Good News Bucks at the “Store”. Each one also took home a helium filled balloon with GNC on it. We appreciate the efforts of parents to arrange for rides home for their children after club. Panther Creek School is a good distance for some of them. Jessica Smith and her boys came over on Sunday evening and spent the weekend plus a few days with her mom, Linda Davis. Linda and her mother Juanell Robertson are going to the Senior Spring Fling at the Coliseum in San Angelo on Thursday. Linda had a yard sale on Saturday . When we got back home from Voss, she was still going in full swing so I filled up a bag with treasures. Good prices! Linda plans another yard sale this Saturday. She has a little house for yard sales on the highway, you can’t miss it. A truck couldn’t either and broke down right in front of her store blocking her sign and merchandise for about an hour. Karen Hicks reports that the Ladies Luncheon held at First Baptist Church was very entertaining , (speaker down to earth and in touch with the group and good food. Karen and Bill’s grandson Tyler with his friends, Garrett, Gibson, Caleb are going to State with TAPS (private schools) running in the 400 meter relay. Bill went to school one day with Austin (6) for a field day trip. Lake Ivie Baptist Association will meet May 18 at Mercury Baptist Church. Executive Board and Mission Minded Women will meet at 5:00. A meal will be served at 6:00 with the program at 6:45. Thursday is the National Day of Prayer and, try as they may, to stop it, prayer is something that can be blocked only by us when we don‘t pray. There will be a program at 12 Noon for a couple hours. I’m not sure where you will find it in the media. Prayers for our nation, military, and leaders are definitely needed. You might want to go to PrayerTeam@presidential-prayer-team.org for more information.
4-22-10 HM and I celebrated on Wednesday, no, not an anniversary, but the annual mailing of our income tax forms to the IRS. We had lunch at The Owl and I mentioned to the cashier that I had lived in New Hampshire. She asked me if I was Trudy Rutherford. (I hope Trudy enjoyed that as I did). Then when I said I wrote for Talpa Talk also, she said I must be Maureen. Great grandson Brody paid us a visit on Saturday accompanied by his grandparents Dan and Cathy Davidson of Snyder. All the stories we had been hearing were true and we had a grand time playing with the 4 month old great-grandson. I decided the rain has stopped on Saturday so I left Talpa, enjoying the sunshine, and drove in to Coleman. Well, you might call it driving but about fifteen miles down the road found me sort of skating along with rain pelting down so hard that it distorted visibility. I was kind of nervous but after driving on snow and ice for some forty years in New England, I told myself it wasn’t really that bad. The sun came out when I came out of the grocery story so I finished my errands and came back to Talpa where it hadn’t really rained at all. HM and I will be going into town again tomorrow and one of the items on our list will be gas for the mower. He let some of the mowing go purposefully because of the wildflowers but the rest has plain gotten away from him because of the rains. Linda Davis and her mother, Juanell Robertson went to Red Hat Luncheon at Los Panchitas in San Angelo on Thursday, and to Lowe’s for plants afterwards. She and Theresa Agnew took in the yard sales in Coleman and Rowena on Friday. Wade and Jessica Smith (Linda’s daughter) and boys, Christian and Brendan came on Friday night to be ready to head out to the yard sales on Saturday. Wade left the sales early to get to the races in Dallas only to find they were rained out. Carol Jones was in San Angelo last Thursday, April 15 to observe her granddaughter, Taryn Jones, and three of her 1st grade classmates at Fort Concho Elementary as they competed in the finals of the Third Annual Texas Research Institute for Young Scholars (TRIYS) program. This competition is part of San Angelo ISD's Gifted and Talented program. This year's theme was "Global Issues" with over 300 students competing within San Angelo schools. The topic of Taryn and her classmates' (the Water Spouters) presentation was "Automatic Water Faucets". Their team was one of the 13 winning teams. Taryn in the daughter of Shon and Melissa Jones. Along with recognition, Taryn and her classmates won a trip to Sea World to "sleep with the sharks". Thursday evening Carol took Xavier to his Little League game that was cancelled due to the downpour in Coleman. On Saturday, Xavier's team, the Cougars, played a double-header. They won their first game against the Cardinals, 4-1, with Xavier contributing one of those points. The second game they lost, 9-3, to the MVP's. The Cougars are scheduled to play the MVP's again on Saturday at 2 p.m. Carroll Hinds saw his doctor on Monday and had a good report on his arm and shoulder. He reported that Immanuel Baptist had no church on Sunday evening because their pastor Loyd Hopper was ill. We’re glad to hear Loyd is better now. Lake Ivie Baptist’s Mission Minded Women have their annual vegetable seed collection to help the Big Bend Frontera Ministry supply seeds to the needy families along the border. Seeds are being collected at a Baptist Church near you during April. Dale and Arletta Herring attended the Talpa High School Reunion , class of ‘49 which was held at Fredricksburg last Thursday and Friday. Other Talpa classes had their reunions also. There were about 30 present. They left the reunion to attend the Commission on Archives and History, Central Texas Conference of the United Methodist Church in Fort Worth. Arletta said they traveled in rain from Wednesday through Sunday and had 1 ½ inches in their rain gauge. The bluebonnets planted last year have been flourishing in their front yard. (we understand there is a beautiful pasture of bluebonnets at Braggs Corner on St. Highway 153.) James and Shelbi Stephenson will be in San Angelo on Wednesday on a judging team for 4-H Livestock. Nona Fletcher was looking in her freezer for something and came across a small sack containing a fruit cake. It was one I had made at Christmas and given to them. Anyway, she said it tasted right good with a cup of coffee. Thanks to Betty of Houston for asking for a repeat of the recipe for BBQ pecans. They are yummy! Take 2 cups of pecans, put them in a quart jar with 2 TBS apple cider vinegar and 1TBS honey and shake to coat. Put them in an oven at 325 degrees for 15 minutes, stirring a few times. Add 1 tsp margarine and 1 TBS Lowry’s seasoning salt, (I used Natures Seasons) and bake 15 minutes more. Now does anyone want my recipe for fruit cake? It freezes well.
4-15-2010 Linda Davis and Theresa Agnew made the rounds in Coleman on Tuesday and ended up having lunch at “The Owl”. Theresa had not eaten there before and was impressed with the friendliness of the girls and the cleanliness of the cooking area. Theresa once cooked at the Country Corner Store in Paint Rock so she would notice things like that more than the average diner. Linda says she and her daughters are heading for the yard sales in Coleman on Saturday. Xavier Jones’ baseball team, the Cougars got beat last night 7-0. His mom Carol Jones said it was obvious that the opposing team, the Raiders had been practicing batting much more. This is a problem that is going to be addressed at the next practice which is not until Monday. They have 2 more games this week--6 p.m. Thursday and 1 p.m. Saturday. Xavier spent the whole game on the pitcher's mound and did pretty good. Talpa is proud of you Xavier! Our church’s pastor Dave Ellison wanted to take a Sunday off to visit his sister in Kerrville. It really was a blessing that Bill Johnson, a speaker for the Gideons, had already asked to present their work this past Sunday. We enjoyed having Bill and Gayle at our church and are always impressed with the ministry the Gideons have on an International scale. The Gideons have presented Bibles to the children at the Panther Creek Good News Club each year. Thank you, Gideons! Maybe you have noticed, dear reader that news is not as plentiful as it could be so if you enjoy reading Talpa Talk and you live in this area, you might want to call me with your news and we could discuss other methods of getting your news to me via email etc. My phone is 325-365-3320. Xavier
Jones spent Easter weekend with Robbie and Lorna Jones in Sonora, coming home
Easter Sunday. Easter Sunday, Shon Sr. and Shon Jr Jones of San Angelo along
with Robbie and Lorna Jones joined Carol and Xavier for lunch, followed by the
big Easter egg hunt. Melissa and Taryn Jones had to stay in San Angelo as Taryn
was getting sick with what was later diagnosed as scarlet fever. She is much
better now. 4-8-10 Word has reached us this week of the death of our own historian, Vena Bob Gates. She was very ill for some time now so this was no surprise. I would just like to describe Vena Bob to you. If you expected someone who would agree with you on every topic you discussed, that would not be Vena Bob. She spoke her own mind and for the most part we were comfortable with it. She used to say she was glad I had learned to talk right after my moving to Talpa with some sort of a New England accent, (so she said). She was an avid football fan and any sport her grandkids were playing in and would travel a ways usually with Dulce Decker, to watch them play. She had stories galore about her life and others who lived in Talpa past or present. When someone had died who was from Talpa, she would write out their name and the family that I should send sympathy to in Talpa Talk. She had helped write the Coleman County History Books and sometimes if you asked, wanting a shortcut to information, she would say, it's in the book¯. She also helped compile the Coleman County Cemetery Inscriptions. It is not possible to say what she meant to me in the years I knew her. In the days before computers were so available to everyone, she would bring me her sister Mildred Pauley's news and visit for awhile as we conversed on many subjects. One of Vena Bob's favorite stories was concerning a cousin, Dale Herring. She and the boys attended the wedding of Dale and Arletta in DeLeon in June of 1964. She kept asking Dale where they intended to go on their wedding trip and told him she wanted to join them. Dale finally put an end to her joking by saying, I don't think so¯. This was Arletta's first introduction to Vena Bob whom she hadn't known previous to then. Carol Jones says of Vena Bob, "She was almost a surrogate mother to me when my MOM was so ill. She referred to me as the daughter she never had. I loved her very much and she will be missed by all of her friends." The Catholic Church is having a prayer service at 9 a.m. next Tuesday at Old Valera Cemetery, then a Memorial Mass for her at 10 a.m. at the Church (503 College), followed by a covered dish luncheon and fellowship in the Church Fellowship Hall at 11 a .m. I'm sure all her friends will come out, Vena Bob, you loved us well. Andy, Kim, Sydney, Cole and Allie Herring of Franklin came to Dale and Arletta's ranch on Thursday and stayed until Sunday. Jerry Don and Angelita, James and Shelbi Stephenson were there throughout the week end with the grandchildren enjoying an Easter Egg hunt and just a good time in one another's company. HM and I attended church at Voss Baptist as usual on Sunday. Afterwards we went to the other end of Talpa where eggs had just been hunted, (didn't get to watch that one) but Jason was still cooking on the grill and we enjoyed fajitas and wings with the rest of the family. Joey and DeeDee Hollingsworth were here with their kids and Jason and Bobbie Ferguson and their entourage, which included 3 dogs, 1 small and 2 huge. They all headed back home to the MetroPlex area taking Hailey Quinones with them thereby saving Ricky Joe and Theresa a trip. Jody Rodriquez of Robert Lee and Carroll Hinds have been on a trip to Mexico where they distributed food and Bibles to 150 families and one orphans home in Ojinago. The families were in the villages of Los Angeles, Tubol, Los Alamos, San Carlos, Voquis, San Antonio, Nueva Lagitas and Escobea. They left a total of 24 thousand pounds of food in these remote places. One place took four hours for them to go 26 miles. Karen and Bill Hicks had a houseful of their children for Easter. Amy and her family and Angie with hers. They had the annual egg hunt and Karen said she found an egg after they had all left. They will be attending a track meet in Eastland on Thursday to see their grandson Tyler participate with the Victory Life High School of Brownwood. The Lake Ivie Baptist Association will host a Ladies Luncheon, Saturday, May 1. Registration begins at 11:00. The speaker is Beth Williams of Mason. Luncheon is at 12:30. This all takes place at First Baptist Church in Ballinger.
4-1-10 HM and I went to a birthday party on Sunday afternoon. Linda Davis invited us to celebrate her husband Philip‘s. I’m not sure I can describe the cake that she made for him but the icing was fondant. She originated the decorations to go along with his work, (he is a painter). She had made a paintbrush and paint bucket for the top of the cake. Besides that, the icing was very tasty. We met Philip’s sister Clare Halfmann of Ballinger and her son Bill. Linda showed me some neat tricks on her computer as I now have a satellite server and a lot to learn. The Agnews have had their grandchildren Caiden and Ramiee Boren of Midlothia visiting for a couple weeks. Theresa took all her available grandchildren to play “putt putt”. The Baker’s started off Spring Break by having some of the grandchildren and great grandchildren out for a brisket dinner on Sunday, March 14. Chuck and Nancy Baker, Rebecca and Miguel, Elizabeth and Tyler, Averi, Hannah and Olivia came to visit from Coleman. They brought fried chicken, so a great lunch was enjoyed by the above plus Gunner and Lisa Milligan, Lilly Jo and Monica Ceniceros, Zachary and Marc Priddy. Zach and Marc’s mom, Tabitha Priddy brought them from Midland on Friday evening and visited awhile. Tyler and Zach spent Sunday night with the Bakers’ and Tyler’s mom, Elizabeth, came to bet him on Monday afternoon. On Tuesday, Lisa and Rosa took Lilly, Monica, Zach and Marc to Brownwood to see “Alice In Wonderland”. they all ate at Underwoods after the show which was a treat for everyone. The weather didn’t co-operate the rest of the week. The kids made cookies, home-made pizzas and played Wii and watched videos. Lily and Monica had to go home on Friday to attend a birthday party. Zach and Marc made a trip to Walmart with Rosa and Charles on Saturday. Gunner and Lisa left early Sunday morning for Sterling City with Zach and Marc, where they met their dad who took them back to Midland. A great time was had all week by both children AND grandparents and now it’s back to school until Easter and Summer break. Lisa and Rosa have their hummingbird feeders out and saw the first hummer on March 22nd so Rosa says maybe Spring is here after all. Dale and Arletta Herring attended the funeral for Arletta’s aunt, Yvetta Nance in DeLeon on Tuesday. On Saturday March 13th, Xavier Jones celebrated his 8th birthday with a big party in Coleman City Park. Twenty two friends and family gathered to wish Xavier a happy birthday, play, eat pizza and enjoy a Bakugan themed cake. The next day, Carol and Xavier Jones went to Ballinger and had lunch at Alejandra's to celebrate Carol's birthday the next day. On Tuesday Carol and Xavier went to Abilene for two nights. They ate at Chuck E. Cheese's, went to the movies, and on Wednesday Ora and Austin Lewis joined them to go to Prime Time, an indoor amusement park. Carol and Xavier also shopped and dined out while there, returning to Talpa on Thursday afternoon. On the following Sunday, Kenny and Vivien Brookshire visited for several hours. They all enjoyed steaks cooked on the grill. This past Sunday, Carol, Xavier, Kenny and Vivien went to San Angelo for an appointment Xavier had. Afterward they dined at Lyn's Chinese Restaurant and shopped for baseball "stuff" and groceries. Xavier is playing on the Cougars Little League team in Coleman this year. Karen said the Hicks have been doing yard work as most everyone has out here. The grass is growing really fast, thanks to the rain. WOM (Women on Mission) of the Lake Ivie Baptists are gathering vegetable seeds for distributing to the churches on the border through the month of April. We extend our sympathy to Grady Fletcher at the death of his sister Roberta Arwood. We had a good turnout at our Good News Club party, “ A Shepherd For You”. We usually are winding up for the school year at this time, but now are planning to have 5 more clubs to finish the year. Arletta Herring made some neat cupcakes for our party and Glenda Gassiot brought cookies to round out the snacks. We actually ran short of our goody bags and one little girl who is having to wait for me to put more together and deliver them said, “why don’t you make 100?” We did have a few cupcakes left and when I stopped by Bob Dunn’s to see if he would welcome them, he was showing off his humming bird feeders where he had a number of them visiting. I got my nectar out today and they have found my feeders already. This came from Chuck Coulson, “This is a season of joy and victory, found not in the death of Christ, but in His glorious Resurrection. His empty tomb broke the cycle of sin and death forever. And now, we strive to break the cycle of crime and wickedness in His mighty name.”
3-17-2010
Two
weeks and much company and respiratory infections later, I join you in the news
and hopefully with some news. Ours is company, HM’s daughter Glenda Zepeda from
Castroville, his grandson Brandon Connell and two great grandsons from Lincoln
VT, HM’s daughter, Vivian McCall and her three, from Nashville TN, HM’s
daughter, Rhonda Harrell from San Saba . Pause a week for visiting relations to
leave and HM and I are beginning coughing and taking meds. Rhonda came to be
nursemaid and cook for much of that week, thanks Rhonda. On the flip side,
return Vivian and her three, oh and her husband Jeff. If you didn’t follow all
that, don’t worry, we got confused ourselves. Jeff was working two jobs with
Dave Ramsey, (his boss) both in Houston and San Antonio so he took a few days
off to recover from his personal type of bug and to visit which he almost never
does. All of the above with the exception of Rhonda caught one or the other of
what kind of bug Texas had to offer and rushed home to recover. I’m thankful
for Spring Break so I can recover from guests and housework. We do enjoy our
guests, we’d just rather have them to be in good health if you don’t mind. Charlie and Rosa Baker have some of their grandchildren here during Spring Break. More on this, she promises next week when they’re all back home. Grady and Nona Fletcher seem to be back in better health with Grady driving again and Nona breathing a bit easier following insertion of a stint to join two others that are about 12 years old and still in good standing.
Jerry Don, Angelita, James and Shelbi Stephenson spent last week in Houston
where both James and Shelbi made the sale. Shelbi had a 7th place with her fine
wool lamb and James a 15th with his cross bred lamb. Dale and Arletta Herring’s
granddaughter Shelbi of Franklin also entered the Houston Livestock Show and
won the Junior division in the Junior commercial steer feeding and management
show. She won a new computer/printer and $400 in prize money. Our
congratulations to these young people for their work. Karen Hicks says Bill is enjoying his retirement and doing what he wants to do each day which includes cooking breakfast. Since Karen is still at her job for Lake Ivie Baptist Association, we know she enjoys this aspect of his retirement. Sympathy to Karen at the passing of her uncle Vollie Pierce, age 80 of Winters.
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