Finding joy in life, one day at a time!
The Main Street Arts Festival is coming up in Ft. Worth!
April 19th – 22nd.
Downtown, Ft. Worth
This is a juried Arts Festival, with wonderful creations of many types. There will also be a big food court area, and four stages for musical artists to perform.
I’ll be looking for a new head for my collection. What will you be looking for?
I like to take small road trips to towns in my area. On Palm Sunday, my husband, Dick, and I went to Abbott, Texas. Abbott is a very small town, but has a lot of history. A number of businesses have been closed up, but they have a police department, fire department, city hall, several churches and a big school. Abbott is the childhood home of Willy Nelson.
We first went to Abbott when we moved to Ft. Worth in 2003. My dad’s cousin, Stubby, lived in Hillsboro. Hillsboro is just a hop, skip and a jump from Abbott. We called Stubby and said we wanted to see a cotton field…could he take us to one? Sure. So he took us to a field, and then on to Abbott. He had spent a lot of time there, when he was growing up. He described how it had been a pretty hopping town, when he was young, due to being a stop on the railroad. Then I-35 was built, and Abbott gradually got smaller. Currently, Abbott has a population of about 375 people. I looked up the statistics, and it said that about 75% of the population is between 30 and 55 years of age. That makes it a nice place to live, and drivable to Hillsboro, Ft. Worth and Waco for jobs. The homes were well-kept. Continue reading “A Road Trip to Abbott, Texas”
This past week, Linda Brown, of Topeka, KS passed away, at age 75. Linda was a primary figure in the desegregation of schools, in the USA. She was one of 5 or 6 African American children who wanted to go to a white school with their friends. Linda wanted to go to Sumner School in Topeka. Her father tried to take her to school, and she was refused. Eventually, there was a big court case involving the 6 children around the US. Since it was a national case, and Mr. Brown’s name was at the beginning of the alphabet, it became the Brown vs the Board of Education of Topeka, KS. Linda eventually went to Sumner school.
In 1984, my family was living in Wichita. Our son would be starting Kindergarten. In Wichita, they drew names to see which children would be bussed to another school. That was their solution to desegregation.
My husband got the job of General Manager of the Topeka Transit System. We moved and wondered what school our son would go to. It turned out that Topeka didn’t have bussing. They found another solution.
Continue reading “My Connection to the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, KS”
This year is an unusual year, in the fact that Ash Wednesday was on Valentine’s Day, and Easter is on April Fool’s Day. We plan to celebrate Easter AND April Fool’s Day. When I was a child, we lived on a farm. Before breakfast, Daddy would be down by the pasture, feeding the cows. Every single year, we would call for him, and tell him that there was a phone call for him. He would come all the way in from the pasture, and answer the phone as we giggled and giggled. What a patient man he was!
My sister, Toni Wood, seemed to take April Fool’s Day a step or two farther. After we were grown, mind you, she played bad tricks on me. Yes, I fell for it, every time. I’m so gullible! One of her milder tricks happened when we were visiting the farm. I received a phone call from the local florist that I had a bouquet to pick up. Wow! Neat. Well…it was a bunch of dead flowers. Thank you, sweet sister!!!
Another time, we had kept two gentlemen from Japan for a two week stay. On the day they were returning to Japan, I was teaching. I was called out of class to answer the phone. There was a very official sounding man who told me the information had reached him that we were harboring an illegal alien. WHAT? They were going to have to take him to jail, and we might be called in for a trial. Oh. My. Gosh. Then I was told that it was an April Fool’s joke, and it was my sister’s co=worker that she had told to call me. GRRRR.
Once when I was in KC visiting my sister, she told me that they were looking at new houses. She had a pager with her. The real estate person was going to page her when the house was ready for us for viewing. Yes, her husband had had a really good few months, so they wanted a bigger place. As we drove out to the country, she casually said, “Did I mention they have a pool?” No…as I grew green with envy. “Um…there’s also a barn, with horses, and lots of land.” I’m trying not to show how envious I am. Then we approached the house…a very BIG, beautiful house. The realtor’s car was already there, and she was getting out with her briefcase. We went inside and it was beautiful. Spacious and beautifully decorated! As the realtor showed us around, it suddenly clicked to me that the realtor was one of Toni’s good friends that I had seen in her photo album, the night before. I called them out on it, and it was the friend’s house. They had planned this to the hilt!!! They were highly amused. I was highly relieved.
So…it will be April Fool’s this Sunday. What will my sister do to me this year?
What shall I do to her????
What are some of the April Fool’s jokes that you have played on someone? What jokes have been pulled on you?
“Virtue is its own revenge”……E.Y.Harburg (1898-1981)
This past week, I accompanied my husband to Washington, D.C.. He had a conference. I went along to have fun and explore. I also got to see a bunch of ladies that I call the Transit Mamas. We are all married to current or former transit managers or consultants. I hadn’t seen them in a couple of years. What fun!!
There are so many massive buildings in DC! It takes a long time to just walk between museums. I had been to DC several times, so I zoned in on two newer museums to visit. Continue reading “Lovin’ me some D.C.!”