School days...
This is another pretty day and so far a quiet one. But not for long. School buses will be coming and going filled with eager young pupils, at least most of them. I know they will have to be quiet on the buses the driver sees to that. But when the doors are open, out they come.
When I was a bit younger, things were a lot different. There were no buses, so my daddy saw that we got to school.
As I think about these days, I wonder if he needed some quiet at home. I know I have had that feelin’ at times when my children started growing.
He would hitch his mules to a wagon and we would be on our way. He would stop and pick up neighbors kids on the way and they were very thankful.
As I was saying, no buses, but we got to school.

The View From Here

Relationship to-do's...
There are a few simple things I do know about relationships. The number one thing I have learned is to not get married acting like you can simply change everything you do not like about your spouse in the first year. As for my knowledge of men, the only thing you can actually change on a man is a diaper. The only thing you can change on a woman is her hair color.
Women are notorious for getting fixer-uppers. We believe we can change a bad behavior because our other half loves us. This is a myth.
The only person you can truly ever change is yourself. Nagging never works and actually makes everything worse. So if a behavior of yours drive your mate crazy - change it. That is the best either of you can do.
Both men and women can be like cute puppies. Their bad habits are not so cute when they become old dogs. If your partner makes a great tuna casserole and you hate it, but say you love it, she will continue to make it because she thinks you love it. But remember to use tact when you tell her that you love a hot meal, but never have really liked tuna. If your mate keeps grilling the same old steaks over and over and you never say you would really like to not have so much red meat in your diets, you’ll get steak again and again, and no vegetable lasagna. Get the picture? The key here is to do it nicely, and choose your words carefully, so as to not wear your meal you do not like.
You need to let go of the minor irritations that do not really matter in the long haul. Nobody ever died because the dishes did not get done, or the bed was not made every single day first thing. Remember your list of annoying behaviors is at least as long as his. If both partners make it a habit to be courteous and considerate of the space they share, everybody wins.
Finally, remember to dream and plan together. It takes a certain amount of courage to tell your dreams to somebody else. Even when times are tough it is crucial to share a dream together. A better place, a calmer life, and a shared common goal is critical.
Remember as you walk through life sharing your life with someone, that you need to show respect and love to them first. Don’t be nicer to strangers and neighbors, including friends, than you are to your partner. It is a challenge to live with somebody’s quirks and idiosyncrasies, and everybody looks better in soft lighting with music playing, but this is real life. Give your partner the extension of your inner stability and caring that you would like to receive from him, in the bright light of day.

Running out of gas...
It was a hot and muggy morning, around 10 a.m. A friend came by and offered to drive me west to Kerens to see someone. We started out, laughing about my hat, and on the highest point of the higher bridge over the Trinity River, the car died from lack of fuel. My driver manipuplated the car to the right railing. We had no cell phone.
Yes, I’ve owned three of these phones in the past, run a pickup over one, but the final use was on a trip to the East thinking long-distance calls cost the same as local. Really, I was born ten years too early for the present technology.
That was two or three years ago. We were driving through Tennessee on our way home when the phone rang from Trinidad. It was the superintendent then asking if my husband would be making the school board meeting. “I don’t think so,” he said. “We’re coming into Nashville, and my wife wants to eat at a popular country restaurant she’s heard about.”
That phone bill and the shape of the economy were not welcome greeters at home. Nothing has gone right since. I can forget two items on my “bucket list.”
Back at the bridge last week, my driver said she would roll down the windows, raise the hood (?) and we would walk to the nearest building for a phone.
This was the VFW structure, closed, but shade was on the west, and I sat there while my friend walked more to the next building. I told her to call City Hall to see if someone there could help us.
In a few minutes here came my chauffeur and a nice employee of building No. 2. He had cold water and said he’d take us to my home. We had just sat in the living room when the police chief drove up, asking what trouble I’d had. When I told him, “No gas and where it happened,” he laughed.
But he did let me ride alone in the locked-in back seat of his semi-van to a station. Our car gets good mileage, and with a gallon I drove the same vehicle on to Kerens and back.
Occurrences like this remind me of travels with the four children, atop the luggage if we were in our Fairmont used station wagon.
Once we were headed up the peak of Pike, only to run into a surprise blizzard half-way to the top. Tour buses were coming down fast mostly on the inside lane, and we were frightened by it all. One child and I were huddled in the front seat crying. Finally, traffic stopped, Dad managed a turn-around without going over into an abyss and we were soon safe at the bottom. Had we run out of gas, we might have pushed, all of us, and coasted.
I forget. Men don’t run out of gas.