Sunday, March 11, 2007

Folk Art...

My father, Jim, loved to use a metal detector, always looking for that pot of gold. Along the way (that pot is still out there) he continually "unearthed" interesting things from across the country. Rather than toss them away again, he brought them home. When he had enough he took them to his friend, Jake, who welded them together and onto old metal bed rails forming fence sections that my father used to line the side of the yard.

When my mother decided to sell the house in Arkansas, she reserved four sections and brought them to Texas. Yesterday, on a whim (or was this planned?) she "suggested" it "might be fun" for John and me to see if we could find a place for them in the yard - "better than being stored in the garage - right?" (Guess Mother also thought we needed some weight bearing exercise as they got moved more than once.) We ended up "thinking vertically" and leaned them against the white garage wall. Raided a nearby country road for some caliche (it's in the dictionary) stone to raise them off the ground. Don't worry about them blowing over - John & I can attest they weigh a ton!

Today we're off to Mason, Texas for a two week Habitat build there. Will try to keep you posted but we never know what connection opportunities we'll have.

Around Brady...

Isn't this a beautiful school? It's Brady High School, home of the Bulldogs. When my sister taught there waaaaaay back when, there was no air conditioning but that's been corrected and it's now climate controlled. However, the school board is proposing to level it, make it into a parking lot and build a new building near it. One of John's favorite saying about colleges is "just because it's an institution of higher learning does not mean good thinking always goes on". Perhaps that applies to high schools as well.

About 10 blocks from the school is one of Brady's newer businesses - The Tree House Family Salon offering "Professional Microdermabrasion", at least that's what the sign attached to the building says. We were speculating that since it didn't have a pickup in front, it was probably "out" with the latest family dragging them behind to "cleanse" their skin.

And last, but by no means least, is Texas BBQ. We had lunch at Mac's, home of Brady's finest. However at the same time and only a half block from my mother's, was this BBQ "on the go". It smelled delicious as well.