Dusty Roads to the Heart

We didn't want to notice that ugly "For Sale" in the front yard.  We didn't want to notice all those boxes piled here and there, or the sheets of that ugly brown paper laying .... just waiting to wrap up all their plates, glasses, little nick knacks.  We didn't want to notice the empty walls.  No we didn't want to notice but we wanted to help so we went over and helped them go through the little building setting east of the house.  We helped in the big house that to us had become home.  We helped go through all those things putting some in piles to be sold and some in piles to be taken to their new home.  There were old trunks, Roy's old service uniforms, old magazines, old papers, dolls and so many things.  The auctioneer came with trailers and hauled away what was to be sold and the rest was loaded on a truck and taken to their new home. On a sad fall day, Harold locked the back door of that square farm house standing tall there on the hill.  He lock

Have you ever had the privilege of watching two people fall in love in their golden years?  It is a beautiful sight really. She calls him "my hubby" or "old fellow".  He calls her "sweetie".  She combs his hair with her fingertips.  He squeezes her hand so softly.  She would reach up and straighten his tie just right.  Every sunrise, every sunset is beautiful to them, and they love to walk hand in hand under the full moon.  There is that twinkle in their eyes when they look at one another across the room.  Their whole world revolves around one another.  This is what happened to my Jeannie, my "second mother." In a city miles away, a man sits on his bed, his phone in his hand.  He wants so badly to call her...but what would she say?  "I'm going to call, if she says yes that's my answer."  He makes the call.... It was a cloudy spring Sunday morning when our old wall phone rang and I ran to answer. "Hello" she sai

                                                        Chapter   1 It stands tall and square there on its hill close to the road.  Every time I go past it I look at that big front porch, its upstairs windows, its little car port, a sign at the end of the road, with the word "Ponderosa" written across the front, its mail box with the little yellow flag that would "pop up" after the mailman had come.  I see all of that....and it calls out to me..."We love you, you know."   "Yes I know and I love you.  Love you for always." It was the people who made this house a home.  I don't know why, but all three of them took hold of my heart and wouldn't let go.  I can picture them yet today as if they are still right there...as if I could run up those steps to the back door and it would fly open before I even had my hand raised to knock.  It was their spirit, so gentle, so kind so caring for this new neighbor, this new bride, this new mother.  Th

Turkey, potatoes, gravy, dressings, salads, vegetables, pies, cakes ... all sat on the table.  Friends and family chattering and laughing all around me.  We never go without, here in our great country.  That is we never do unless fate steps in.   This is the normal picture you see at a original Thanksgiving dinner.  This year as I stood there I noticed something else...something I take for granted every day. As I stood there among all those wonderful friends and family, my eyes settled on a young woman and her soon to be husband.  She was so happy, standing there.  The future all new before her.  I then saw a "mother to be" smiling from ear to ear.  Her face full of anticipation.  There were two little babies all wrapped up in blankets, cuddled in the arms of a happy mother, who was gently rocking back and forth, as she stood there visiting with a friend.  Middle age ladies and grandma's bend over the pies and cakes cutting them just right. A grandma walked in with a

Shhh....be still.  Here on the farm, God has put everything to sleep.  His huge trees stand there so still and quiet, all bare of their leaves.  Pasture grass stands quiet in uneven brown clumps...asleep.   Old milo stocks stick up through the new fallen snow.  The little frog is asleep deep in the ground.  The geese, the killdeer, and the dove have all flown south, leaving our little farm behind.  Shhh...be still---Gods creation is at peace, just how He wants it to be.  Waiting quietly for Him to touch it once again with His warm springtime sunshine. Hay bales stand in rows, snow covering their tops.  Feed bunks are all lined up, ready to be filled with ground hay.  Bale feeders set in the middle of the feedlots, all gates closed.  The old pitch fork and the wooden handled axe are brought out of the feed shack and find their new home in the back of the old gray pickup. Mother cows stand around the water tank, one here and one there.  Just standing, free from the worry of feeding t

Come little ones, climb up here beside me and let me take you back to yesteryear.  Back to that day Grandpa and I sat our little trailer among the hedge row on our own little rented farm.  Let me tell you about the "pot of gold" we found at the end of our rainbow. Now don't get me wrong...it wasn't all peaches and cream, but back in those days we were so happy that we didn't even know we were poor.  In those three years there were things we would rather forget at the time but now they are a bit funny.  We just shake our heads...not believing we really did them.  So I'll tell you some happy memories and some things that shows how patient Grandpa really is. Even if Grandpa and I both grew up on a farm, it is different to have your very own.  We both had lots of new things to learn.  Grandpa grew up in western Kansas where a wheat field laid flat for acres and acres.  On our little farm the fields were small with hedge rows or terraces.  Out west the air was

It was a sunny November day in western Kansas.  The "soon to be bride" was excited beyond belief.  She and her "soon to be" hubby were traveling south that day to look at a used trailer home that was for sale.  There were two really----then they were going to choose. Now is that a smart thing to do??  A man and woman choosing between two trailer homes that was to be home for three years?  Well---let's say the day didn't go real smoothly. The woman was looking for -- and seeing all those fancy little features, that in her eyes, were pretty important. Those important things like this one is a lot bigger than that other one.  It has that nice bay window in the living room.  You know a really nice place to set and read or put a plant.  Two bathrooms instead of one!! A nice open kitchen!! Wow!! On the other end of the stick--the man saw none of these things.  He saw his pocket book and the price tags!!  He saw how many miles he would have to move it, and ag

My dear Sweethearts, The whole reason for my blog is to make a book for you to read someday.  A book full of memories from Grandpa and Grandma's farm.  A book full of growing up days.  A book about our courtship and our wedding.  A book about our first days together as "Mr. and Mrs."  On a cold winters night you can snuggle in your blanket, take this book, and go back in time, to when Grandpa and Grandma were young. I wrote a story last week and named it "Our Guardian Angel"  I really don't know if there is such a thing as guardian angel's or not, but it seemed that someone was watching over us that dreadful morning.  I realize that story could be a bit upsetting to your tender, young minds, so that is why I am writing this letter to you.  Most of the time we can see good in even the bad. Did you know that all angels don't wear wings...or a halo?  Some angels are human, just like you and me. In this letter I want to tell you about the "ang

It was one of those wintery nights, cold with sleet hitting the windows.  A night for hot chocolate and cuddling on the couch.  It had been misting all day, sticking to everything it touched. At our little house, our children, ages 5 and 2, were fast asleep in their room down the hall.  Daddy and I were setting together on the couch admiring the new wallpapered hall way wall and the new paneled wall in the living room we had just completed. It was Saturday night, just before Christmas.  We woke Sunday morning to the same sound, the sound of sleet hitting the windows.  "I'm afraid we are in for a problem with electricity if this keeps up" daddy said as we set down for breakfast. We had no idea that just outside our back door at that very minute something was happening that we would remember for a lifetime. We were all in our jammies--all but daddy that is--he would soon leave us and drive up the road a mile to start chores.  So with a kiss to each of us, he put on hi

Do you have a "friend" that is so special to you --- that you can tell them anything?  Do you have a "friend" so close to you that you can pour your breaking heart out to them and feel the comfort of just letting go?  Do you have a "friend" that you can tell your deepest secrets to and know they will never be told again?  Do you have a "friend" who you can express your greatest joys to and know the world will never know? Well ...I hope all of you have a "friend" like the above.  I really think, in this world we all need someone we can confide in.  Or maybe a place you can go to just relax and be yourself.  I have had a "friend" like this for sometime now and this post is celebrating a "milestone" we have reached together. In May of 2014 I walked into Office Max and bought myself a plain writing tablet.  It had wide lines and the pages were attached at the top instead of the side.  In that tablet were one hundred

There is something I take for granted.  Something I sometimes forget to give thanks for.  Something I have shared in all my life.  That something is the beautiful flag.  That red, white, and blue, that flag that sometimes flies strong on its pole, sometimes hangs limp there, that flag we put up in the mornings and take down at night.  That flag that sometimes flies through the night, in the gleam of a spot light. That flag that has come to me at a great cost, at the sacrifice of great men and women. That flag that God has allowed to fly free over my great home of America. Because God has allowed her to guard our land, we are free to do many things.  Free to enjoy a life of plenty. I can drive to Wal-Mart, Sam's, Dillon's, or any store at anytime and see shelves upon shelves of food from canned fruit and vegetables, to flour, sugar, bread, meats ...you name it!  Instead of walking into a little store, your footsteps echo off empty shelves and you're told  "There is

There are four things that I am thankful for this time of year.  They are -- my four-wheeler --- a sharp spade --- a bean field --- and "pigweeds" Whoa -- you say --- this woman has to be crazy!! -- Your thankful for 'PIGWEEDS'  You must be kidding!!  But --- no I'm not crazy --- at least not all the way crazy.  I really am thankful -- and this is the reason why --- My husband and I are farmers --- small farmers really --- compared to all the other ones around us.  One of our crops is soybeans.  There are these weeds you call "pigweeds" and they love to grow right along with our beans.  My hubby sprays -- and sprays -- those little burgers when the beans are small--- but some of those weeds just will not die.   So now --- when you look out over our bean field -- you see all those weeds popping their ugly little heads up all over the place.  The beans are way to tall for the spray business ---  so guess what???--- Yep --- you guessed it --- Now don&

Men are amazing --- by that I mean they can do anything --- and fix anything.  Now I can only talk about my hubby --- because it is him who has the privilege of "fixing up" after me --- but I know as sure as I'm writing this --- that there are hundreds of other husbands that can do miracle's out there. Hey --- some of you girls may be handy with those wrenches and such --- but sad to say -- I'm not one of them.  My farmer hubby has a "tool box" that fills the whole machine shed and more.  I mean there are wrenches -- drills -- pliers -- screwdrivers -- hammers -- socket wrenches -- power saws -- you name it -- from one end of the shed to the other.  Some even extend a bit to the outside.  Believe me when I tell you -- I am not to touch it!!  By that he means -- don't organize it!!  He knows where everything it --- just the way it is. So I just gladly "fall over a pile of something" when I go to get a extension cord -- or push real hard

 I lay in bed --- the window is open --- I am wide awake.  All is still and dark in the house ---all is dark except in the little bedroom down the hall. A owl hoots in the darkness -- but otherwise all I hear is the chirping of the crickets and my husbands soft breathing.  My thoughts --- or feelings --- go this way and that.  I am happy --- very happy --- because I love with all my being --- the stillness --- the quiet --- of the beautiful thing we call nature.  Just laying there --- listening --- brings a peace to my heart --- that words cannot tell. But --- down the hall --- in that little bedroom --- are two people that have won our hearts.  As I lay there --- so content --- they are getting dressed -- combing their hair -- making their bed -- and packing their suitcases.  In about a half hour --- they will give us the biggest "Canadian hug" you can get --- pick up their suitcases --two bags --- and walk out our door --- leaving us standing there --- watching ---as th

It is still dark in our bedroom.  I lay there --- wide awake.  What had woke me up?  I felt so uneasy --- so unsettled.  Soon the alarm sounded.  "What time is it?" I ask my husband.  It was 5:30 --- oh if I could just get back to sleep --- if only for a little while. I lay first on one side -- then on the other -- as negative thoughts run like water through my mind --- effecting my heart --- not bad thoughts --- just thoughts that made me feel uneasy --- unsettled. With a sigh I say "I can't sleep so I am going out to the garden to work.  Getting dressed I rush to the back door.  As I opened it I saw a cloudy sky.  The air had a kind of "misty smell"  All was quiet and at peace.  The world was just beginning to wake up.  I took in a deep breath and walked to the feed shed for a bucket. As I knelt in the garden ready to pick my first beans something drew my attention to the creek.  I still had that "yak" feeling --- I didn't want to pick

Life's road is a beautiful thing --- a true friend by your side -- makes it even more beautiful --- more meaningful. I compare my life to a dusty trail --- a trail that goes on and on.  A trail that is straight -- that climbs high -- that dips down --- down into valleys -- before climbing back up again. My husband and I are just home from a vacation that was full to the top --- full of personal lessons --- lessons that taught me how I should be to everyone who walks this "dusty trail we call life"  They were simple little lessons I learned --- there on those back trails --- lessons I learned from my best friend --- my husband. We packed our tent, our hiking shoes and our bikes and went to the Black Hills of SD.  Our intentions were to camp and walk and bike the back trails --- witch we did.  There on those trails I learned some things about myself.  I learned how much I depend upon the kind words --- encouraging words --- acts of kindness --- positive talk --- of