HIGH POINTS FROM EL CAMINO REAL
CHRIS DAVIS elcaminoreal@consolidated.net
Folks along El Camino Real have blown the dust off of their sun shades and enjoyed a few days of sunny weather after weeks of rain and clouds. Who would have ever thought that the July sun would be something we would look forward to seeing? Our yards are looking great and we have had some pretty cool temperatures to enjoy this summer, so I'm not going to fuss about our strange summer weather. Finding four bits' worth of news has been a pretty tough chore with folks scattering ever which way on summer vacations. I've kept my ears open, but sometimes I still come up a little short.

The Home Demonstration Clubs from Central High and Ponta traveled to Mineola July 17 for the District TEEA Cultural Arts event. Members of the groups won several blue ribbons for their entries. The Central High Group won first place in scrap booking. Emal Rogers won first place for her china painting. Rosa Holcomb won second place for holiday decoration. Sandra Bone also won a second place for fabric creations. The TEEA state meeting and competition will be held in Tyler Sept. 11-13. Our area ladies work really hard in their clubs and we are very proud of the great showing they give our area.

Janice Christopher Hamilton came by my office in the courthouse last week to introduce me to her son Jonathan Avant. Janice is an Alto girl I have known for years, but this was the first time I had met her 15- year-old son Jonathan. He is a fine young man and a whole lot quieter than his mother. Jonathan is a member of Boy Scout Troop 405 of Rusk and Alto. He was decked out in his Boy Scout Uniform and I don't believe that I've ever seen so many badges and honors in my life. Jonathan has obtained the level of Eagle Scout and will have his Court of Honor on Aug. 19. Unless somebody jumps up pretty quick with information to the contrary, Jonathan is going to be the first African American Eagle Scout in Cherokee County. Did I mention that his Mother is from Alto? I don't care how long the young man has lived in Rusk if his mother is from Alto we are claiming him. He is a fine young man and someone that we can all be proud to have in our county. Congratulations to Jonathan Avant on becoming an Eagle Scout.

My wife wakes up every morning worrying about what she is going to wear to work and the first question out of her mouth during the school year is, "I wonder how cold it is outside?" I don't ever know the answer because I'm in my warm bed. The other day I was buying some clothes in a mens store and I bought a clock that shines the time and outside temperature on the ceiling.

I figured with this fancy clock , she wouldn't have to ask questions while I'm sleeping and she can just look up on the ceiling and find out everything she needs to know. For $20 I couldn't pass it up.

I was amazed when I got the clock home and started trying to figure out how to set it. There is a radio station in Ft. Collins, Colo. that broadcasts the National Institute of Standards and Technology-Time and Frequency Division's exact time continuously. The station receives the time data from the NIST Atomic Clock in Boulder, Colo. A team of atomic physicists is continually measuring every second of every day, to an accuracy of 10 billionths of a second per day.

These physicists have created an international standard, measuring a second as 9,192,631,770 vibrations of a Cesium-133 atom in a vacuum. For $20 I have the power of a vibrating atom telling my wife to get up and go to work and how cold it is. I don't think that my Timex watch will be able to keep time within 10 billionths of a second, but at least I know that I'll know exactly what time it is when I'm in the bed. All I have to do is look up on the ceiling and I can thank that team of government physicists in Colorado who work day and night to make sure that I don't lose a millisecond of time.

I wish they would get a team of those fellows working on what time the fish are biting or what time that big buck is going to come out of the woods.

If someone asks me if I have the correct time I can tell them "Yes," with confidence.

I wish I had more news to tell you, but things have been awfully quiet and peaceful along our little stretch of the King's Highway for the past few days. If I've missed anything that needs telling, I hope you will let me know.

I'll see ya next week! And remember, Don't take good friends, good health, or a good marriage for granted.