High Points| from El Camino Real

Folks along El Camino Real have been trying to work in baseball games and other outdoor activities between storms and so far the storms are winning.

When you open the season with cancellations you’ve got trouble. Everyone is hoping that things settle down and we can get on with what we’ve got to do but this is East Texas weather we are talking about, so don’t get your hopes up. I’ll do my best to keep things straightened out with my six bits worth of news, but it’s going to be tough.
We lost a precious member of our community this past week with the passing of Darline Lindsey. She was 84 years old.

Darline worked in the grocery stores and was our mail carrier for many years, so everybody knew her and loved her. She leaves behind lots of wonderful memories that will continue to bring smiles to the faces of everyone that knew her for many years to come.
Please keep her son Ralph Jr., daughter Brenda, and the rest of the family in your prayers as they mourn the passing of this sweet soul.
We had hell in Alto on Saturday evening when a big storm blew through and dropped baseball size hail all over town. Windows were broken in cars and travel trailers and the leaves were knocked off the trees. There wasn’t any wind, just a torrent of big hail the size of golf balls and baseballs falling straight down.

All of the old timers that I talked to said that they had never seen it that bad. I’ve heard several horror stories about the storm and the damage it caused. Gerald West was down at his barn and he had to put a bucket on his head to get back to the house.

The big hail that was falling made all the cows go crazy and they were running in every direction. I got a call about midnight about a big black cow being in the road in front of my house.
I don’t have a cow, but I got up anyway to look. A nice Alto police officer was coming out of my driveway and told me that he put the cow in my pasture and closed the gate.

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that I had a gate, but I didn’t have a fence. The cow came back up the driveway a little while later, so I got up again and shooed her back. Aaron and Randy Low got the cow back where she belonged before church.

I’m thinking about buying a fence to go with my gate. If you had any damage from the storm, I hope it was minimal or you have good insurance.
I ran into Sonny and Charlotte Skeeters at the grocery store in Rusk the other day and I got the low down on Sonny’s heart trouble.
A few weeks ago Sonny and Charlotte took an old stray cat down to Dr. Kessel’s Veterinary Clinic to get it checked out. While they were waiting their turn, Sonny’s eyes rolled back in his head and he fell out.

Dr. Kessel came out and kept Sonny going until the ambulance got there and then they flew him to Tyler.

They got Sonny straightened out in a few days and sent him home, but Charlotte said that ever since Dr. Kessel worked on him down at the Veterinary Clinic, Sonny has been trying to chase cars.
I’m glad everything turned out good for Sonny thanks to Dr. Kessel. I don’t know what happened to the cat.
I got this a few weeks late but I want to wish a late happy birthday to my friend, Jack Guy. He turned 84 years old on March 29.
I first met Jack when he was a deputy for Cherokee County. He and his wife Linda have been married for 64 years. Happy birthday, Jack!
Billy Edwards called to remind me about the Sardis Baptist Church Homecoming scheduled for Sunday, April 14 on Palm Sunday.
The singing starts at 10, the preaching starts at 11, and the eating starts after that. I don’t know how long winded Pastor Guess is so I can’t tell you exactly what time the eating starts.
This old church has been spreading the good news since 1854. If you have roots in Sardis you need to show up on Sunday, April 14 with a covered dish and take a place on a pew.

There is nothing like a good church homecoming to renew the spirit.
Judy Ramey came by the house the other evening to let me know that her grandson, Jackson Townsend, was graduating from Austin College after four years of playing football for the school.
I hope his cousin, Jillian West, has as good a run in volleyball for Austin College as he has had in football. It’s a shame the cousins couldn’t have been in school there at the same time. Congratulations to Jackson on his upcoming graduation.
It’s funny but all I could think about during that hail storm was my tomato and watermelon plants.

I couldn’t wait until Sunday morning so I could go out and survey the damage. It literally looked like my garden had been strafed by machine gun fire from a WW II fighter plane, when I finally got to walk through it.
There were big holes and little holes all in the ground where the hail hit.
There were a few leaves knocked off, but other than that it was better than I expected.

I swallowed my pride one day last week and called Carlton Jones to ask him to show me how to fix my old Covington Planter, so I could plant corn.

He called the next day and told me he had fixed it and all I had to do was get on my tractor and plant corn.

This proves we can all make mistakes. Carlton Jones isn’t near as sorry as I thought he was.

Of course, if I don’t get a good stand of corn his sorry status could return.
Tom Ball, Jimmy Lee Huggins and Gerald West are all having birthdays this week, so if you run into any of them be sure and wish ’em a happy birthday!
I can’t think of anything else you need to know for now. If you’ve got something that needs telling just give me a call or drop me a line. I’ll see ya next week!
And remember, Life is short. Smile while you still have teeth.