High points from El Camino Real

Folks along El Camino Real had lots to deal with last weekend with Groundhog Day and the Super Bowl all coming on the same day.

The pastures are greening up with clover and rye grass and you can almost see the smiles on the cows faces as you drive past them.
I’m glad that I don’t have any cows to worry about and all I have to do is come up with your eight bits’ worth of news.

Harvey Morrison was laid to rest last week.

Harvey was in his early 60s. He had been sick for a few weeks before he passed. He always had a big smile on his face when I would run into him in town.

We worked together pouring concrete in our younger days.
He loved to fish and use to catch some pretty good ones. Please keep Harvey’s family and friends in your prayers during this time of loss.

I think Ray Penn is finally out of the hospital and back home after getting run over by his tractor before Christmas.

The tractor was sold and Ray is walking, so things are going a lot better for the Penn family.
I’m just glad I moved away from the Penns before it turned into “Tractors Gone Wild” over there.

Keep praying for Ray and now that Ray is home, pray especially hard for Cathy.
The groundhog in Pennsylvania saw his shadow, so that means we are supposed to have an early spring.
With the weather we had on Sunday, I’ll have to agree with that Yankee groundhog.

A few more days like that and I’ll be ready to start turning some dirt for the garden.

I know we are going to get some more cold weather, we always do, but its nice to get a little teaser like we had on Sunday to let us know spring is not far behind.

Our East Texas favorite in the Super Bowl, Patrick Mahomes, got it all together in the end and brought a win to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Super Bowl. I had gone back to writing this column when shouts from the den brought me back in front of the television.
I watched the half time show and I figure that those two ladies performing missed out on making lots of money. They never stood still long enough to let anybody give them a dollar.
Can you believe it has been 16 years since Janet Jackson’s wardrobe malfunction during her half time performance in 2004?

I thought we saw it all then. I guess I’ve been in Alto too long because I just didn’t get it.

The Super Bowl ads were about the same.

If somebody pays 5 million dollars for an ad and I don’t know what they are selling when it’s over then something is wrong.
A big congratulations to Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs on their great Super Bowl win!
Some peace has returned to our home as my wife, the Alto school librarian, is finally getting to put books back on the shelves in the library.

It has been a long journey, but on Monday the first group of students came back to the library.
The library has been closed and the books all boxed up and moved to a dry location since the April tornadoes.
There is still lots of work to do to get everything back like it was and all the books in order, but it is coming together with lots of help from students and volunteers.
The Scholastic Book Fair starts the week of March 2 and hopefully it will all be back in order by then. With less than a hundred books and a couple of used book carts, our librarian never missed a beat, going from class to class reading to the kids and letting them check out what books she had.

I must say I’m pretty proud to call her my wife.
The fox squirrels have been giving me a fit at our house. They came up on the porch during the day and chewed holes in our pillows and cushions that were in our chairs.
I had gotten tired of picking up pecans, so I decided to be nice and let the squirrels have a few, and this is how they repay my kindness?

Now it’s squirrel dumplings and a trip to Wal Mart for new pillows.
Sometimes living in harmony with nature just doesn’t work for me.

I know it seems that I’ve run a little short this week, but it is terribly hard to write a column between plays of the Super Bowl.
I think I pretty much covered all the important goings on around town and if I missed anything I can pick it up later.
I’ll see ya next week! And remember, Every day show your family how much you love them with your words, with your touch, and with your thoughtfulness.