A Welcome Dry Spell

My goodness! We haven't had any rain in almost two weeks now. I think this must be the longest dry spell we've had all year. Flood warnings are not popping up all the time and the farmers are working at warp speed trying to get as much of their crop harvested as possible. I'll tell you what, you can drive a rode one day and the next day it is a whole different scene. Go farmers!

I know I told you last week that I wouldn't talk about Paul and Cheryl Schwager anymore, but by now I know you know I don't always keep my word on things like that. I just have to say that last Monday, moving day, turned out to be a pretty big event in town. Dan the driver of the truck did a good job of keeping things moving in spite of the fact that half the town stopped by during the process. I think we impressed him with the importance of the folks he was getting to move furniture for. I wouldn't be surprised to find out that Paul and Cheryl have permanent bruises from all the hugs they got that day. Anyway they are now safely in California and catching up with all their children and grandchildren.

And turning the page now: Anthony, Jaimie and Rachel Dowdy have moved in and we are all looking forward to getting acquainted with our new neighbors. That won't be too hard as Rachel is already a Junior at Rector High School and Jaimie has worked at Harp's for years. Now I don't want to say they were anxious to move in, but Jaimie and Rachel were here before the truck pulled away. Approximately 2 minutes after Tabitha, the realtor, called to tell them she had the keys, they drove up. Welcome to you all.

Paula Benton and I went to the production of School House Rock at Rector High School Saturday night. It was such a fun and entertaining musical performance. Rector High School Troupes 4089/88539 did a wonderful job, as usual. Shulie (Sidney Simmons) had me laughing from the very first minute with her erratic personality. And Dori (Ashley Williams), Dina (Misty Hall), George (Seth Morris), Joe (Abie Petty) did a good job of keeping me amused.

Arithmetic and Grammer are always being used, but I found it particularly timely that while the performers were singing about the life of a bill as it finds its way to becoming a law, congress was at that very moment struggling over our healthcare reform bill and had the final vote less than three hours later. Now, according to the song, it is on to the Senate.

I was really impressed with the performances. There were some good voices on that stage, Saturday. I know, that's not surprising, but so many of the younger performers sounded so good too. Makes me anxious to hear them again next year and the year after. I expect great things from them.

I think Josh White may have a future as an Elvis impersonator. He certainly drove the crowd wild gyrating like the King on Saturday. I just hope that my dancing in the aisle didn't overshadow him too much.

The production was a lot of fun for everyone, audience and cast and crew alike. I hear they had presented the musical for over 6,000 students this past week. The audiences were given copies of the songs and encouraged to sing along. Now I was sitting with Paula, Jessie Malin, Mason Cohn and Laura Lynn. Laura's granddaughter, Hadleigh Watson was on stage and even sang a solo. Very well, I might add. Ethyl Cox and Jane Holifield were on the other side and I believe Mason was the only one of us to sing along. That is probably a good thing.

It was a good performance and it did show that learning can be fun. Great songs, great lessons, terrific choreography and just good clean fun.

I was sitting in front of Lisa White. She used to be my neighbor and we were sort of catching up when I asked about her daughter, Danielle. I already knew that her son Josh was "Elvis". To my embarrassment, Danielle was sitting next to Lisa. In all fairness she did not look a lot like the second grader that I used to watch walk by my house on the way to school. No indeed. Danielle is quite the lovely lady these days and has one published book and another she is working on. I can't wait to read this one. Good to see you, Danielle.

Susie Bell spent the weekend in Kansas City at a YouTheology gathering. Perhaps we can get her to share with us what she learned at the seminar.

I do need to report on Jim Stone. His chemo treatment last week had to be postponed, but he was unable to make it through the week without doing something to make himself miserable. Yes, in an effort to lend his bike to a church member who wanted to ride it in a bike-a-thon for St. Jude Hospital, he managed to get on the bike before it pitched him onto the garage floor. On his face. Nose. Blood everywhere. It looked like a crime scene. He thinks his bike is possessed by the devil. I am trying to convince him it happened because he and I disagree about health care reform. Heh, heh, heh.

Don't forget the Doo Wop band plays at the Collins Theatre in Paragould on Friday.

Well that is all for now. Let me know what goes on with you so I can share. Give me a call or email me to let me know what is going on. My address is 514 West 3rd St. Phone: (870) 595-3173 and email: porchswing@newwavecomm.net. Thank you so much for all your emails and phone calls. I look forward to hearing from you.

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