Mama made beans

I remember the good old days when grandma shelled beans that she grew in the garden and baked them in a wood fired oven. Nothing smelled as good as food from that oven! To make baked beans, she had to shell the beans, boil them and then bake them in the oven. This was a long process and made a very hot kitchen in the summer.  Then there was the baking of the bread in the same oven. That was a lot of work, a lot of time and took a lot of love.  Every meal was unique in some way and planned to the hilt!  My job was to stay out of the kitchen. A meal was often was prepared by multiple family members. Lots of things were discussed in that kitchen that my ears were not supposed to hear.

I also remember mama cooking baked beans. She did it in a gas oven but bought the beans already shelled from the grocery store.  My job was to thoroughly wash the beans, because the bag had rocks and dirt in it. Then she soaked the beans overnight and baked them the next day. The oven was closed tightly so you could not smell the food baking in it.  And were they good! Bread? That was too much work! Instead, we just ate sliced bread or cooked prepared dough from the grocery store.  Every meal seemed to be by recipe, usually Betty Crocker. It was semi-planned and fun to do. Dinner cooked while watching the soap opera.

Today, I go to the super market, buy a big can of beans and precooked mini-loaves of bread. I open the can of baked beans with an electric can opener, heat them up in the microwave and serve them in five minutes. Then I lightly toast the loaves of bread in the electric cooker.  Yum! Every meal is by the skin my teeth, whatever can be thrown together in the shortest time, because when you get hungry, you got to fix the meal!  15 minutes to open the can, heat up the beans and bread and eat dinner.  Every one to serve himself!

All of this change happened over just 70 years. Now the next 70 years? Maybe we will say “abracadabra” and the baked beans with bread will just appear out of nowhere and go straight to the gut.  That’s progress folks!  … in the next 70 years …

Last dog day of summer

On the last Sunday of the summer school break, some people went out to the beach, others went shopping and then there were those who went to the local park. I did the latter and ran across these cuties selling their lemonade at their lemonade stand!

To tell you the truth, it was a scorcher! Who would be so crazy as to be out and about in the park itself? Let me tell you, I was not the only one by far!  I spent the afternoon exploring a park that I had not explored before - Windvale.  Can you imagine the thirst after walking in near 100 degrees for about an hour? That lemonade tasted great! It had a special ingredient.

This stand was attractive and functional. Accompanied by their father, these girls spent their last dog day of summer having fun selling lemonade. They did it with very little  assistance from any adult.

Sales volumes are not high and therefore vendors are not interested in setting up commercial businesses at our parks. But a stand such as this was certainly welcome by some of those who passed by.  Dog days? The star Sirius is the dog star. It aligns with the sun in late July. Some say it adds to the heat of the month of late July and August. This was about the very last day of the dog star alignment; therefore it was really the last dog day of summer for these youngsters (and myself). What did you do on your last day before school started again?  

Thanks to the father and these children for permitting me to publish this.  

Day Trip - East Texas history trail along The King's Highway, El Camino Real

From time to time, I go visit historical sites. Not that I am a history buff, but someone who appreciates the past to understand the present. Residents of Montgomery County have a very real and close connection to the origins of the nation of Texas. The daughters of the American Revolution have preserved history in a way where we can step back into the past on location and imagine what happened there. El Camino Real, The King's Highway, or otherwise known as the Old San Antonio Road existed from the 1600's, winding through the great east Texas forests of tall pines and hardwoods, providing a means to travel through East Texas to San Antonio. Part of it is less than two hours away, on state highway 21. This segment was just part of a highway from Saltillo, Mexico to Louisiana. It was a key road for travel and goods transport throughout early Texas history. 

The Daughters of the American Revolution placed granite markers every five miles along the highway in 1918. What I like to do is to travel down the road and stop at every marker. You get a one mile notice in advance, look at your odometer and be ready to stop in one mile. I like to get out of the car, but some people just read the markers from inside the car. A marker like this is difficult to read even when outside your automobile.

You can start at Crockett, Texas.  I will show you some of the places you will likely want  to stop at along the trail, but remember there are many more than I will show. It will take you through part of Davy Crockett National Park.

One of the places you likely will want to stop is at the Caddo state park to see the burial mound of thee Caddo Indians. This highway was originally part of the old American Indian trails of East Texas.

And here is one of the mounds inside the park.

A number of the markers are not so old and much easier to read.

Imagine the Indians coming to visit this mission. The word was out that there were gifts and the white man was trying to teach them their religion.  They would come through the thick forest and suddenly appear without notice, without warning and sometimes while nearby, hunting game and not exactly the best smelling of the animals in the forest after running along the trails.

And then in another era, you could hear the sound of running horses as the stagecoach approached. Then the red dusty travelers would get out of the coach, tired and ready to freshen up and sleep the night, all the while threatened by the presence of local Indians and the wildness of bears and wolves nearby.

There is beauty and interesting images to see all along the way. This is one very old barn that caught my eye.

Some old springs are located in this forest where the Indians and the settlers stopped for water.

Peaceful farms dot the landscape, providing opportunity to smell the countryside, and watch cows and horses calmly grazing on a summer afternoon. Hay had just been harvested when I went through in July.

Remember that Texas was a nation only 160 years ago. That is six or so generations, but many of our great grandparents saw those days during their lifetime. 

Now its your turn to go on a ride down that road. From The Woodlands, you can take I45 to Huntsville, head northeast on SH 19 to Crockett, then proceed northeast on SH 21 to Alto or even further to Nacogdoches. Plan on at least a half a day trip, if not a full day. This time, I took this outing as part of a trip back from Tennessee.

Recommended references:
1. The Handbook of Texas Online
2. Texas State Library and Archives Commission

Small step is every one's responsiblity

Have you ever seen something that is not correct and you know someone will be affected by it sometime? Many of us just go on our way and ignore it. A few months ago, after three years irritated by incorrect data on Google, I decided I would just report the problem and be done with it. I did and wow! Google researched it, found their error, corrected it and gave me feedback to check it out. It was a simple little thing. A pond in a park here was misnamed on Google Maps. It was labeled Mooney Pond. Now it is correctly labeled Reedy Pond and anyone can Google the pond. GPS systems will probably be updated as well over time since GPS objects generally start with Google. One minute little change that will affect someone in the future. We all can make some difference for others, even if is just a little thing such as this.

Church Activities - important for character and personal development

For many of us, our minds often separate church from our lives. In reality, our lives are governed by the linkage of what transpires spiritually to what transpires in our routine lives at home and at work. Some people don't separate the two at all. They actually live a spiritual life.

Today, I had the privilege to attend an adult Sunday School that helped me to connect better. Connecting can really make a difference in your enthusiasm, your recovery from problems, your work ethics, your reasons for doing things, just about everything in your life can be affected by the seriousness and quality of your spiritual life.

Today, we considered Abram. What was life in his days? How can we connect to the real person Abram? Well, he was the father of the people of Israel. The question - was he your 165th grandfather? He could very well have been! How did he connect? What lessons are there in his life that guides us to our destiny in this life?

His father probably worshiped or at least honored a heathen god, the moon god of Mesopotamia.  That god protected most of the cities that Abram visited. Abram was asked by Yahweh to leave his country and he did. His faith was beyond imagination! Of course that is the primary lesson that we learn from him and the reason he is an important figure in the Bible.  He went as directed and was rewarded for his faith.

What other things do we know about him that helps us to identify with him and lead us to make such decisions in our lives? He lied; his wife actually went to live with another man since he said she was  his sister and not his wife. Yes, he made deliberate mistakes and paid the price. He did not want to leave his family and travel hundreds of miles from one place to another. He resisted but obeyed. How tired he must have been traveling a journey from the land of Ur to Canaan - three 500 mile legs of a tremendous journey only to find bad drought in the land which required moving on to Egypt until the land was more productive.

We are called like he was, but sometimes we do not recognize that we are. This is what happened to me today. I have not recognized my call as a call. We do learn something every day and our lives are sometimes turned in one direction or another as a result. Mine is not turned; it is now more focused, more defined. We do have a calling, and we become better when we respond.

This is where we consider our children. Like Abraham, we must consider the fate of our children and teach them to learn as we have. Have them attend Sunday School. Let them learn the principles of life survival that have been passed down through the ages. Character is the root of success. It brings happiness and self-worth. Everything else takes a back seat to our spiritual strength. With it, we can move mountains; without it every mole hill is a mountain.

I feel very lucky to have been brought to the awareness of one particular teacher in the Spring area. He opens my eyes from his studies and insights into the Bible. I hope you find someone like him. If you want to know who he is, I will gladly tell you, not to bring you to "my church". I do not fall back on loyalty for certain individuals or institutions. I simply admire and learn from those to whom I best connect. I would hope that you gather your self confidence to do the same.

Man is fortunate to be able to pass along what he learns through various means of communication. In 165 generations, we have not yet refined it well enough to prevent falling away from so much wisdom.   

Teaching children politics and responsbilities

In my recent campaign, I ran across several families that I admired for their parental consciousness in politics. While some children were watching TV, involved in sports, and many parents too busy to tend to their community responsibilities, there were others who leveraged the time to teach their children. One family I remember well had a "family meeting to determine pros and cons of candidates". I love this practice. It taught the youngsters what is important and how to go about finding information. By discussing it with others, it also teaches how to reach a conclusion on candidate selection. They were learning how to do political homework. At the end of the exercise, each family member had their personal list, even if they were not of age to vote yet. To me this is a best practice. It did not take but a couple of hours, and it was quality family time.  This practice began when the first child approached voting age.

The Divine Rescue - a short inspiratonal, informative story about the Bible

Today, I went to a book review to hear about this new publication by the author Edward William Fudge. In colorful but simple language, the author highlights Biblical stories in today's prose, without referencing scriptures, to tell the overall chronological story of the Bible. It is intended for all audiences in all walks of life. Some people will read it in one sitting.

The author is impressive as a scholar of Greek and of the Christian Bible. This book is far from comprehensive; it is intended to serve those pressed for time, those who want vision from the Bible, those who want sound bites rather than detailed explanations of content. Several children, as well as adults, at the book review asked the author very good questions. 

If you are interested, Mr. Fudge offers volume discounts to help those who wish to spread the word in a concise manner. The book is available by mail order and is expected to be on the shelves of Costco late this summer.  I have my autographed copy and have read parts of it already. There is of course some doctrine from the author's assumptions, but all in all, he does paint pictures, like a video in words, to present accurate mental images of ancient stories. 

The Divine Rescue webpage