It's Time to Dream

My goodness are things soggy or what? This has been the wettest spring I remember since I moved here. I know the farmers are not very happy either. I can't imagine being so much at the mercy of the weather. I am sure it won't last forever, though. Another couple of months and I'll bet we will be begging for rain. And yes there was a tornado spotted near Reactor last week, but it was apparently moving away and at any rate didn't do any damage.

On that same rainy night, Paula Benton awoke near dawn to see her cat, appropriately named Taboo (heavy on the, boo), staring at her from the foot of the bed. Picture this: furiously green cat eyes glaring out of a black spiky blob, not so different from that mad wet cat picture you've seen on posters. Now this cat is unlike any other cat I have ever known. She doesn't mind a bath all that much and really seems to love hunting in rain, so she is no stranger to being wet, but normally she comes in with moisture on her coat, period.

This time she was soaked to the skin, all over. She had obviously been immersed. Totally! We are left to speculate as to just how this happened. Diving for goldfish came to mind, and being washed off the garage roof into the pool was another option. The ditches were full and we had had several hard rainy spells that night, so she could have chased something into the ditch. Who knows! But it was clear she was into something wet way over her head.

I hope all you mothers had a good Mother's Day. I love the idea that we honor our mothers in this way. I never had children of my own, but I have been closely involved with many and I have the utmost admiration for mothers and fathers who struggle to do the right thing for their children day after day. It's a hard job and I hope a rewarding one. Your children are your legacy.

Demetra Shultz had both of her children with her over the weekend. That was always what my mother loved more than anything else and I am sure Demetra loves it too. Douglas Shultz drove up Friday night and Terry, of course was already nearby. Douglas had a hard time getting away, I hear. He ended up sticking around for lunch at Bowden's Family Restaurant with the Sunday Church crowd.

My stepson, Denny called me Sunday to say Happy Mother's Day. I always like talking to him. Of course the grand children, Victoria and Nicholas were providing background entertainment. Sounded like they were having a great time and mama Ruth was trying to nap. She may have had a problem with that. Denny said to say "Hi" to all you Rector folks he met when he visited here. He keeps up with the town by reading the Clay County Democrat online. I hope they can come to visit soon.

Last Monday Lane Wozniak and Jessie Malin drove to St. Louis, where they spent the night with Steve and Mary Malin. They left early Tuesday morning to fly to Florida where they split up and went to visit separate relatives. Lane spent time with her sister Armaline and her husband Andy and daughter Andrea.

Jessie visited with her brother-in-law, Jim Baker. Friday morning they met up at the airport to fly back. You may remember that Friday was not a clear sunny day around here.

Their flight was delayed, delayed, still delayed and delayed again. And then suddenly it had boarded and pushed back from the gate. They were with 8 more passengers that were now struggling to find another flight home. They don't know how they missed a page for the flight as they were sitting near the gate. So, they left a little later, had a three hour layover and landed in St. Louis between storms sometime after 6:00 pm. They kicked back and spent another evening with Steve and Mary and finally made it home on Saturday.

It looks like Ivy Clair will be here before the paper comes out. So we can all offer congratulations to Nicole and Dustin and all those grandparents who have been so anxious to meet her.

Friday night was the Academy Choice Awards banquet at the high school. This year's theme was "Island of Dreams." Paula Benton and I went and shared a table with Jane Holifield, Ethel Stafford Cox, Glenna Bookout, Terry and Demetra Shultz, Shirley Simmons and Constance Johnston.

We met the guest speaker, Judith Burgess, the reigning Ms. Senior Arkansas before the program. As Ms. Senior Arkansas she represented our state in the Ms. Senior America contest. She will crown the new Ms. Senior Arkansas on June 6 in Alma, Arkansas. One of her many talents is motivational speaking and she certainly proved that Friday evening with her speech encouraging the drama group and everyone else to go ahead and dream and then follow your dreams.

Rector High School alumni, Whitney Conley was also a speaker. She is now a sophomore at The American Musical and Dramatic Academy in Los Angeles and is living her dream. Her powerful message was "Dare to dream. But also dare to be different and let that teach others how to dream."

The troop gave a great performance from "Mama Mia" which included a grass skirt appearance by Cole Thomas. It was great to be able to honor this group of young people. We can all be extremely proud them and their efforts. Thank you to Ms. Burns and Ms. Hargrave for helping them achieve their dreams. And for providing the rest of us with top notch entertainment and opportunities to be a part their journey.

Wow! I just watched the Space Shuttle Atlantis take off. Paula and I were raised in the area of the Johnson Space Center in Houston and went to school with the astronaut's children the last two years of high school. Yes, that was a long time ago. The astronauts were the original group of astronauts, including Alan Sheppard, John Glenn, Scott Carpenter, Gus Grissom, Deke Slaytor, Gordon Cooper and Wally Schirra. Oh, that really makes me sound old. But then I am old so..... Anyway, I still get a thrill watching a lift off and a landing.

Well, it is time to finish this and send it in. Good luck to all of you Seniors who are about graduate. It is an event you can be proud of and I hope you look back on your high school days with fond memories and great lessons learned. Now go on. Get on with the rest of your life. There are many more memories to be made and lessons to be learned. Go for it! Dare to dream!

Please let me know what goes on with you. I really enjoy hearing from you. My address is 514 West 3rd St. Phone: (870) 595-3173 and email: porchswing@newwavecomm.net.