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Jackie Crowe (Finch)

Barbara Porter Raines  is out of surgery and doing okay.  In fact, she may go home this evening.  Thanks for all your prayers!

Hugs,

J

Pat Brantley (Ross)

Thank you for the update on Barbara.  May the healing begin!

Patricia Williamson (Williams)

Barbara, I'm glad Jackie kept us up-to-date on your surgery and am so glad all went well.  Prayers for healing...

Patty

William "Butch" Ginder

GREAT NEWS BARBARA

GLAD TO HERE YOU ARE DOING GOOD.

Jackie Crowe (Finch)

Good news!!!!!! Barbara came home yesterday evening.  I talked to her this morning and she had a good night and sounds great.  I am going to see her this evening.

She said to tell all of her wonderful waltrip family how much she appreciates everyone's love, offers of help and prayers.

Hugs,

J

Lloyd Pond

Wanted to write about sleeping. Then the first thing I read is Pat saying, "Wake up!" 

Last Saturday night, Downtown Abbey reruns, yawn. So I hit the sack early. I slept almost 12 hours!  Very unusual sleep pattern for me  these days. Oh back in my younger days, I could fall asleep at the drop of a hat and sleep through whatever noise might be around me.  Sure I was a growing boy and very active running around and back and forth the football field, but, falling asleep is not always a good thing. Examples might be, sleeping during a Sunday sermon or Mrs Kennedy's Latin class. But believe me, you should not fall asleep during Coach Burton's skull sessions. Watching all,those Xs and Os, still makes me sleepy. Oh the time I wasted at University, when I should have been reading Plato and solving convoluted mathematics. Now, I am just the opposite sleep pattern. Seems like just when I am getting to a deep sleep, something wakes me up and drifting off again is not as easy.  Sometimes, nature calls and I am off to the bathroom. Other times, activities outside disturb my reverie. One house has Tuesday night Poker Games and they go on until all the money is gone. Then the trucks fire up the engines and zoom off into the night full of anger. My Vietnamese neighbor who flew Hueys with Special Forces rendezvous with some one at 4 AM about once a month. They drive away in one of those "tuned "exhaust  Hondas. One night, a couple of weeks ago, two romantic owls, were sing arias outside my window.

Therefore, I was grateful for a full night of sleep. 

Wake up!and smell the coffee. Might be what Pat had in mind. Something important is happening that needs our attention. Teaching Civics must be hard because it seems like the process is being made up as we go.

Wake up and smell the roses. Of course means that we need to take time to enjoy all the beautiful things around us. Or is it Take time to smell the roses?

Some folk s cannot sleep and Narcoleptics sleep too much. Glad I don't fall in those categories

i hope all of you have sweet dreams this year!

Beau Wann, Jr.

Hey, wake up and smell the kitty litter! ! !  Hey Pat how you dune?  et al...

Been absent from the forum, mainly because I cant keep a connection up, and that discourages me from posting. I mean, whats the point MAN...

Been trying to take er easy per sawbones orders.  had my MRI done before Christmas, and then had it read last week. "Why Mr Wann, you have a remarkably wonderful looking spine for a man of 70...thats the good gnus..." Howsomever, and aint there always a "but, or a however"...you sir, have a broken back! ! !"   I would have collapsed on the spot, cept I gnu that it would hurt, so I just stood my ground..."uh, doc? you want a run that by me again mon ami"  

He says it is a fracture of the patula oblundalla...or a broke back!  Actually a fracture of T-9...Well, I can tell you that that just sucks!   I asked "how, why, what"?  an old war wound? Football injury mayhaps?  Dodge ball?  Fruitcakes???    Nope, it's just one of those things that can happen to your back. 

I remember when it happened, I bent over to clean coopers feet of the ten pounds of mud he had caked on em, before he brought it into the house. I bent over and grabbed a big ol paw, to which he moved away, apparently he doesnt like his feet cleaned, (I was singing "put your little foot, put your little foot, put your little foot right there" and I guess he didnt like my singing. Granted my voice isnt what it use to be, if it ever was.) I felt a turrable (east texas for terrible) pain, and screamed, loud and long. No matter what position I got in, the pain just followed and was turrable! ! !

I'm thinking of suing cooper!  Nah, he couldnt hep it!  He's the down syndrome dog of the canine whirld. Dont get insulted because I mentioned "downsyndrome" or "retarded", I have a cousin that has downsyndrome, and is just as sweet as he can be,  and two cousins in law that are retarded. Their father, Mr Bill Browne was instrumental in starting the MHMR (mental health and mental retardation council) sometime back in the 50s methinks! Anyway, I dont mention the above in any derogatory way atall.(east texas for at all), but if yall could live with Cooper for any length of time, youll know what I mean!  He really is hard to describe.

But, back to my back..."skip to my lou", dont you just love limericks and old sayings...When the sawbones in College station told me my back was broke, I said, "why, I'll swan", and oncet (east texas for once) youve "swannied", then all bets are off!  My mom use to always say "I'll swan" at things that were, surprising so to speak. I one time queried her about that expression, and she said she didnt know where it came from!  Maybe early on, sometime BC,  if you were surprised, you would do a swan dive into the ground, and someone along the way figgered out that that was not a healthy thing to do, so they shortened it to saying "I'll swan", instead of actually doing the swan dive!   Eh? whatcha think? Sounds plausible to me, and in fact, that;s the way I'm gonna tell it henceforth! I'll bet it was one of the popes, that fixed that vexing problem, yeah, thats the ticket!

Our sawbones, good ol Doc Holliday, said he could do scourgery and go in and put some  glue in there and it would find it's way to the fracture, and also he could take a biopsy to see if maybe somethin else was involved like a tumor, but judging from the MRI, he didnt see anything else!  I says, "or what else"???? He says it should heal in 6 weeks. I told him I think I'll just take the six weeks and see what happens, and then do surgery ifin the 6 weeks fails...he says that's probably a good idear. So, if it doesnt heal, then it's off to the cuttin board I suppose!

But hey, dont cry for me Argentina...I'm ok...slong as I have my pain pills and muscle relaxers and whiskey, and dont pick anything up heavier than a fork or other utensil or whiskey bottle and or glass of ice!  Do you realize, that speaking of silver ware (eating utensils), it was a long time before I realized my mom was not telling me to put the "civil ware" on the table...I kid you knot!   Never dawned on me that it was "silver ware"....But, you allus gnu I was slow anyway...dint cha????

Hey pat, I had civics, or was it economics, no matter, they are both soooo boring,  with Ms Hodges...she hated me, and with good reason too...I was a clown, and I fell asleep in that boring class, most everyday. Needless to say I flunked. That was my last class before I gradumaated, or matriculated...now that sounds er uh not so nice...anyway, I took it over with Mr Leonard, and with Jenny Taylors hep, I passed and made a 97 on the final and 97 in the course...HOORAY FOR ME...THANK YOU JENNY...otherwize I'd be a high school dropout...actually in my case, I dont think it mattered much...I'm where I'm suppose to be! instead of say, inventing the corvette or peanut butter!

Hey Pat, I'm not a John bircher, but I am 12 aircraft carriers to the right of Attila the Hun! I believe in live and let live, and in the process of "NATURAL SELECTION"...instigated by the meanest mother of all, "MOTHER NATURE"...

I dont believe in legislating morality or false inteligence...that's where God was suppose to come in, but they have taken God out of the schools and just about everywhere else. To hell with em, I allus say!
I'm gonna say "MERRY CHRISTMAS" and not happy holidays. And when you sneeze, "God bless you"...speaking of which, I have to force myself not to sneeze of cough...you have no idear how many muscles you use in your back around good ol T-9, until you sneeze of cough...

Ok, lessee ifin  this will post...

William Donald Ansley

Glad to hear that your surgery went OK and that you are home now Barbara.  Take good care of yourself and soon you will be up and around.

Pat Brantley (Ross)

Beau , it seems to me you should send cooper into the yard with an antennae tied to his head.  Then you could get wifi connection or ufo connection.  You could talk to someone.  Maybe we need to stage an intervention with your internet provider.  

Lloyd Pond

Mr Leonard. Yes, Beau, thanks for remembering his name. I was unsuccessful in accessing that remote area of my dusty brain. He was quite a contrast to Mr. West. More like a big brother, I guess. I don't think he projected a know it all attitude like Mr. West, but, an attitude of letting us figure current events out for ourselves.

Steve Puckett '65

Here are the 1965 photos of West, Leonard, and a few others.  I *think* I had Mr West for something or other - not sure about the others. Whatever I had, it did not seem to have a big impression on me.  I too would have been one to see the UK-socialism-stability link but probably would not have pressed the point in those paranoid times.  Ha!  I had the very patient Mr Agleton for drivers ed.

Allen C. Geiser

Hey Beau,

Sorry to hear about your back problems.  That crap just comes with old age.  Most of us never dreamed abouted ever being this old!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  Matter of fact everybody keeps telling me I' m on the down Hill side.  Hell I don't even remember ever getting to the top!!!!!!!!!  Anyway it sure isn't what it was cranked up to be. I don't have time to sit on the porch in my swing or Rocking chair. It's like Coach Burton always taught us, "life is tough, Deal with it, the 4th qtr's not over yet.!   Even though I retired from the daytime job, I'm still a partner in a Storage business and guess what its 7 days a week and I put in 40 or 50 hrs a week.  Big problem is it comes at odd hours!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Supper time , nap time, in the middle of my personal projects.  Oh well, Asi es La Viad as Mrs. Bates used to say.

As to Bill Leonard, he was a really cool teacher, he was only about 4 yrs. older than us.  Mcuen and I made a surprise visit to him and his wife Dinah at their apt. one night.  You talk about drop dead gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  We spent a couple of hours with them killing a 6-pack and listening to their tales of College life and goggling Dinah.

He was a pretty good teacher too.  Problem was back then none of us were into Politics or government or even had a clue what it was about.  Best I remember, Civics was only a 1 semester class your Senior year.  Now I wish they Still taught it, it had been at least 2 semester's, and they had drilled it into us. We all had to really learn it in the school of Hard Knocks.  I think our Graduate Couse in Civics started with the War in Vietnam.  A crash course to be sure!!!!!!!! Take care of yourself and don't be trying to pick Cooper up, as I remember he ain't no Chuahua!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Allen Geiser

Kay Watters '65 (Greene)

Hey all,

Life is good in the country....a little cold here.  I feel that Beau is getting a little shell-shockd, no concrete and a lot of work out here.  I thought I would retire here and maybe work part time and read books.  That was 1995. I've been working steady until retirement, and worked harder than I've ever worked. But love it still, the country has so much life and stars and the people so quaint. So Beau.s transistion, it is what it is,and i must say as as long as you can work..it's paradise.    

Teddie Jordan

I'm sitting on the porch in Freer finishing up three days of ranching and sipping on a cold one and I'm pooped.  Put out 2300 pounds of corn and protein for our critters, did a little roofing, and spent 5 hours today shredding on our 50 year old Farmall tractor. And for once, so far, I haven't discovered more new broken equipment than what  I have fixed, and we haven't had any snake encounters so it's been a successful trip.

Gus and our ranch cat have been my only company and the solitude and communing with nature and livestock have been enjoyable. But back to the big city and the real world tomorrow and Gus and I are both missing Miss Francine so we're ready. Daytime highs have been in the 80's and I came in a little while ago and took a shower and I'm wearing shorts and tennis shoes for the first time in a couple of months. 

Hope to see all yall at Fudds in a couple of weeks.

Linda Webster '65 (Jennings)

For those of you who are not on facebook...

Sheryl Knight Chambers daughter Kim Canfield passed away today. She was relieved of her Earthly pain at 12:30pm today Kim had ovarian cancer and has suffered since her diagnosis in June,2000. Please send Sheryl and her family your prayers.

For those who might want to send her a card here is her address:

2384 Spring Hollow Ln.

Germantown, TN 38139 

Linda Webster Jennings

Pat Brantley (Ross)

At one time I knew how to post pictures to message forum, but I seem to have lost that bit of grey matter.  Help.

Beau Wann, Jr.

Hello Myne fyne waltripynes...Sorry to hear about Sheryls daughter...We are praying for the Godly strength to find the Chambers and Canfield families...how hard that must be, cannot even imagine that kind of pain! I know our class has it's share of that tragedy...dont think there are enough consoling words or actions to ever assuage anyone of the loss of a child...only the belief in
God and Jesus Christ and that someday we will all be together again...no pain...no sorrow...

Beau Wann, Jr.

Here's my hawk friend that is watching the sunrise with me almost everyday.

Hey pat, go up to the top of your "response" box, and to the right of "source" is a smaller box. Click on it, and it will bring up "browse", click on that, and then it will bring up a plethora of sources for you to draw from. I click on "pictures", or where ever the picture u want to post is, and then double click on it, and then it will bring up a box with the "height" and "width". You can type in 300 X 300 and then click on ok at the right bottom of the box. It will bring up "URL". disregard it, and the picture will appear as the one above.  Me thinks. I had a little trouble getting this one to post.

Teddie Jordan

So glad to hear from you all!

And Cephus, I know you have to put aluminum foil on the rabbit ears to get the Internet up there in bluebonnet Heaven, but we were all starting to get worried about you.

You don't have a hair on your asterisk if yall don't come to Fudd's next week.

Don't make us all come up there and spend the night with you!

Beau Wann, Jr.

Hey TEDDIE...we are for sure coming to Fudds next Tuesday.  I will be rresting all day so I can be in shape to go to fudds.   But hey, you and fran come on up, any time...and you can spend the night too also anytime.

you can help us clean mr hawg dawg...coooper...he loves to play in the mud

But hates to get hosed off...but that ol boy aint comin in the house looking like that...notice the pound of mud on each foot...

Beau Wann, Jr.

Hey all yall...From brokeback mountain aka thorasic park...Allen, Kay, I've been retired since 2000, and have worked harder in retirement than when I've been in the workforce...I just take more coffee breaks now than before plus I'm good friends with the boss, so I can take off when I want to.

But the problem with all the work, that I'd like to do, it's just harder to do it now with a broke back. I can stand up and work for a while (awhile defined as from 10 minutes to an hour or maybe if I'm lucky, more), but when my back says lay down, I've got to obey it like I'm one of my dogs Jack and Cooper! Who am I kidding, my dogs dont listen to me. I say lay down, and they just stand there waiting for a treat! So I show them, I give em a treat and they stilll dont lay down, so I go lay down! Ha, I'll show em whose boss! ! !

My back is the master now! I've been absent from the forum just for that reason...I cant even sit in a chair for very long, and yall know how long winded I am! I have been working on that problem by putting my thoughts on WORD PAD. I type till I cant stand it, then go lay down, get all right again, then come back and resume my pre-post, until I cant stand it, then go lay down until I get right again, and resume...etc ad infinitum...

My beloved, who all yall know, is much smarter and a hell of a lot nicer on the eyes than I yam, taught me how to put my pre-post on WORD PAD, then when I'm ready to post, hit shift and move the cursor from back to fore, hit CTRL C, then minimize WORD PAD, go to waltrip 64 forum, and hit post, then CTRL V, and voila, there's my post already typed out, hit submit, and thar she is...dang I just love it when a plan comes together! dontchoo?

Speakin of which, gotta go lay down...see ya in a little while! ! !...

Otay, I'm back...

Hey Kay, how you been? Been missing you on the forum. I do hope youse is doing swell! Finally getting the hang of being here in the country. Wasnt much of a transition, cept got further to walk with 7 acres. It's not too bad, cause I was use to walking 40 acres, albeit didnt have a broke back though, and I was much younger! I love it...not the broke back, but all the options of things to do! I can work outside, or inside, at any given moment. I can stop at any given moment and have a coffee break, which I pretty much use that option most of the time!

The hardest part is staying on any one project! I know yall know what I mean, I start on one thing, and go looking for a screwdriver or hammer and wind up on the other side of the house or property working on something else. The best part, is the scenery! Settin on the front porch watching the sun come up, the hawks flying down in the valley or settin in a dead tree...or settin on the back porch watchin the sun go down!

You know, yall can come by anytime! If the gates open, I'm here! Always got a pot O joe perkin, and ice tea in the fridge, might even make you some chocolate chip cookies, so come on up and set with me on the porch. I got two golf clubs left, and a bunch of golf balls. I cant swing a club anymore, but that dont mean you cant. Just tee one up, give it a good smack, and knock it way yonder down into the valley.

I no longer have a pellet gun, it broke! I needed a hammer, and it was the onliest (east texas for only) thing handy, and I didnt think I hit that post that hard, well you know the rest of the story. No longer have a working pellet gun. Isnt that ashame, they just dont make things like they use to do they! Well, my birthday and fathers day is just around the corner, so maybe I'll get a gnu one!

Just fixed lunch. The boys got milk bones, and I made a sandridge...not just any sandridge, a liver wurst, ham, extra sharp cheddar, swiss, pepper jack cheese, onion, pickle, jalapeno, lettuce, tomato, horseradish, and on 100% wholewheat bread also too. Man what a sandridge! OH, and dessert, red velvet cake...and a quart mason jar of ice tea! ! !

Ok, gotta take another break...

Hey Teddie, sounds like youve been having the same kind O fun I'm having! When I get the tractor out, ol jack is ready to go. When I turn left, he's already on the right side...same as when I turn right, he's already on the left. Seems that ol boy knows which way I'm gonna turn even before I do. Mysteries of critters never cease to amaze me. Even t he cats can sense which chair I'm gonna sit in, and get there before I do. Or if I want to lay down on the couch, there the little darlins are, takin up the WHOLE couch! Sweet little darlins....

I can understand about your happiness about not seeing a rattle snake, I feel pretty jmuch the same way. NO SNAKES, NO ALLIGATORS OR CROCODILES, lions tigers or bears oh my! ! ! My beloved became acquainted with a BLUE INDIGO AKA BLUE RACER, a few months back. It was in the northwest pasture, and when she and Jack walked by, it rared up at her! Didnt strike at her or chase her, but caused her legs to run hurriedly back to the house. She even beat ol Jack to the back door! Snakes pretty much have that effect on folks...RUN! ! ! ! ! It is supposedly one of the good snakes, because it eats rattlesnakes! GOOD ! ! !

Been trying to find some skunk repellant to put around the place! What could repell a skunk? they already stink to high heaven. Do they even have a natural predator? Probably a noseless hoochie cootchie dragon or some such critter! Havent seen anymore skunks, but sure have smelled em! ! !Spotted a big ol bobcat on our game camera. Made three appearances.

Got a gnu TV, an 80 incher mounted over the farplace (east texas for fireplace). Now I can really see what's going on, as I change from channel to channel, to channel to channel...cant seem to find stuff on this furshlerginer satelite. The watchable channels are scattered all to hell and gone. I have a directory, but cant remember which channel is which, and cant find the directory. I liked cable tv, theirs was easy to navigate!

I did watch the stupor bowl for the first time in about 10 years. Just lost interest in it over the years. thought I'd watch it on our big scrain (east texas for screen) TV. It really looked wonderful, colors in HD and all, but didnt care who won, or who was playing. I liked the Dallas Cowboys, and that's about it. Well, I sorta like those scraggily ol cheerleadin bunch, ceptin (east texas for except) they dont show em enough! I did manage to stay awake for some of the game, dont know which part, but I did see stuff...a run here, a missed pass there etc...

Ok, ol longwinded best shut this down...hey Wayne, you shoveling snow in minnersota? Man, those folks up noth got smacked good with that ol snow stuff! I thought we might get some, so had my sled at the ready. Got an American Flyer I picked up at a garage sale. I sawr it, and it was only a couple O bucks, so I said to myself, I said, "what the heck, I need a sled", or words to that defect. My beloved just shook her head and walked away.

Ok, see ya...yall come on over now ya hear! ! !

Beau Wann, Jr.

as you can probably tell, this aray of highly technical and complicated instruments, is the OFFICIAL Chappell Hill weather center.   Our standard and normal wind sock is in the shop for darning, darn it, so we had to switch to a more sophisticated wind direction measurer, a black Jack daniels scarf...scarf that Jack Daniels, er...anyhow, the black flag is waving straight out, and as you can tell by the highly sophisticated and technically strategic placing of said wind sock, it is straight out a heading noth, which means the wind is coming from the soth as indicated by he markings on the weather post.  The wrain gauge is empty, thank goodness, but that is subject to change at any given monument!  

Our thermometer, supplied by NASA via Earls Feed and Grain store in Houndsduck, Ky.  It is accurate to within a silly meter!  Ha, and you folks prolly thought I was illegitimit in the technical field of meteorological shenanigans...I invented the weather...

Jan Barnes '65 (Nimtz)

Good to hear from you, Beau.  I guess so long as you don't run out of aluminum foil for your antennae you are in good shape.  It seems we have been making more trips back to the mother land (Harris County) lately and would like to either stop by and visit you or at least come snooping to see where you moved.  If we are heading to the kids in Katy we generally drive I-10 all the way.  But if we are visiting the kids in Cypress or stopping at the Lee County relatives we drive in on 290.  I have wondered several times as we passed through Chappell Hill which house was yours.  Now we won't be making that trip for awhile but could you give me directions for the next time?  I know you are always saying you're at home if the gate is open but I don't know which gate I'm looking for.  Wishing you a pain-free day!

Teddie Jordan

Cepheus, your intricate weather station design is pure genius. You're a high tech redneck!

Charles Dent

Beau; you are a true Renaissance Man.