The Shadow Knows

Do you ever get that eerie feeling that you are being followed?  Jack told me that he does.

 

But stalker Dot needs to be careful because she doesn't yet fully understand the universal law that what goes around comes around and her actions may come back to haunt her.

Oh dear....

Higher Education

At the Last Stop, Cat Meadow used to be overrun with cactus and that land wasn't very friendly for the cows.

Mom and Dad named it Cat Meadow because that's where Dad rescued these bad boys from a brush fire.

Ashes and Cinder now have lives fit for kings.  And they weigh 50 pounds each.

 

But I digress. 

Cat Meadow was overrun with cactus. 

It really drove Mom crazy. 

Mom happened to be living at the Last Stop by herself at this time.  Dad was working in Colorado.  That didn't stop my mother.  She was tired of looking at the overrun Cat Meadow.

So she got a bright idea.  An idea that took her to the barn and to the big, old Massey Ferguson tractor.

She figured....how hard could it be?  So she found the keys and headed to Cat Meadow and figured out how it all worked.

And with the tractor, a shovel and a wheelbarrow, my mother singe-handedly uprooted hundreds of prickly pear cactus and cleaned up Cat Meadow turning it into beautiful, usable land.

Now the cows are really happy.  They smile a lot more than they used to.

 

And then?  Massey Ferguson University heard of her good work and decided to award her a special diploma.  

Yes, Alice Ann Holliday is now a Doctor of Tractorology.

We're all really proud of Mom and continue to encourage her as she is now going for her second PhD, this time turning in her agricultural pursuits for her more personal interest in Theater Arts.

But that's a story for another time.

Christmas in July

Hi!  This is me in December.

Today?  I'm melting!  Triple digit heat means summer in Oklahoma.  So, to cool off I thought I'd share a little bit of Christmas in July.

We had some amazing blizzard and ice storms here in Oklahoma this past winter.

On Christmas Eve I left Oklahoma City at 7:00 a.m. to make my way to Altus to meet up with Randy.  I was leaving early enough to beat the storm and Dot and I were ready.

Oh but oh...was I ever wrong.  As we drove the snow got worse and worse until it was near white-out conditions.  At one point I actually spun 180 degrees and went off the road, but somehow was able to keep the forward momentum going and got out of the ditch and back on the road without getting stuck.  I have no idea why I was that lucky given that so many cars were off the road, stuck in the snow.

After THREE HOURS I got to Lawton (this usually takes me about an hour) and was right here...1 miles from my exit!...where they shut down the highway and I sat for another THREE HOURS!

Luckily while the blizzard raged around me I had plenty of gas and a good heater and finally three hours later the state troopers let us exit off of the highway and I crept along to a convenience store where I called Randy and told him I was done!  All of my I-grew-up-in-Montana-and-know-how-to-drive-in-snow! bravado was long gone and my shattered nerves were having no more of it.  I told Randy I was sitting right there until the storm passed.  Christmas Eve at the Quickie Mart!  Woo hoo!

But Randy would have none of that so he saddled up and my knight in shining armour came to my rescue, driving from Altus to Lawton to save me, and together we drove back to Altus with Randy following closely behind me in case I ended up in the ditch again.  (I couldn't decide if I was mad at Randy for risking his own life or completely swept off my feet by the sweetness of it all!)

Finally, NINE HOURS after leaving OKC, we left my car in Altus and headed south to Eastland, TX where we drove through some of the worst snow I had ever seen in Texas, ever.  At least 18 inches of snow on the road at some points.  Luckily, with Randy's 4-wheel drive and my constant freaking out encouragement, we made it to the Last Stop in one piece.  Can you say frazzled?  That was me.

But the next day?  Christmas 2009?  Wow...the blizzard passed, the sun came out and we were gifted with one of the most beautiful days ever.  I have never seen so much snow at the Last Stop and we had a great Christmas day being outside.

Big Jack probably had more fun than anyone.

Even Dot was having a good time. 

She was on high alert around those shifty cows!

Dad spent most of his day with the flame thrower burning off the needles of the prickly pear, which the cows love to eat.  It's their favorite candy.

It is written that you must celebrate a rare Texas blizzard by building snowmen.  And who knew that I was marrying the valedictorian of snowmen builders?

I thought I was doing pretty well...

 
But Randy and Jack had me so beat.

So we went for a spin around the Last Stop to check out the snow up on Scorpion Ridge.

And when we returned?  Something had gone wrong...very wrong!  The sun was getting to our snowmen.

So the snow didn't last long, but our white Christmas was fun while it lasted.

And if you're still hot from today's blazing sun, here is the entire snowy set to offer some chill.

Dot's Uncle is 8 Weeks Old

It is beyond my wildest imagination how someone can be so cruel as to dump unwanted puppies in the country. Special bad things happen to the person who does this.

But sometimes special good things can happen, too. Like you get a new family member!

Meet Jack. This little guy was put in an empty beer box and dumped by the side of the road near County Road 199 in Eastland, Texas. Dad found him yesterday morning. After a bath and some good food, he's officially a Holliday.

The cats are a little freaked because now the teams are tied - 2 dogs, 2 cats. And let's review... that's 2 cats dad rescued when they were just weeks old by jumping into the burning brush fire when they mewed, 1 14-year old dog they rescued from the craziness of two baby girls at my brother's house, and now an 8 week old puppy rescued from being dumped by the side of the road in a beer carton. When Dot and I visit - Dot, who was rescued from a cage in Brownwood - it's a menagerie for sure.

Beautiful This Time of Year

I spent the Memorial Day weekend at The Last Stop and I don't think I've ever seen it look more beautiful. Everything is so green and glowing. Knowing that the Texas heat of summer will wither everything to a crunchy brown seems impossible when it is all so alive right now.

I took lots of pictures of the wild flowers, trees and the scenes I want to remember. Here are a few from the prickly pear collection.













There is something poetic about the prickly pear cactus to me. The stickers are torture. Not the big, obvious stickers, but rather those tiny, needly, hair-like ones that pierce any piece of clothing and burrow their way into your skin, becoming impossible to retrieve. Contrast that diabolical defense mechanism with the beautiful, soft, bright flowers they produce for a few weeks during the spring and you just have to forgive them for trying to kill you earlier. It's amazing that the cows can eat these things and not fall on the ground in writhing pain when their tongues become pin cushions.

I just love how the flower bud is pink and as it starts to emerge it looks orange and when it burts open it is the brightest neon yellow.

The pods that stay behind once the flowers fade are called tuna. This is the part of the plant with which you can make prickly pear jelly. Mom and I have both made batches of this before and you just wait...your rotation on the Christmas gift list is coming when you, too, will receive this little jar of Last Stop crimson goodness.

A little trivia...if you're a fan of the Greater Tuna plays, that name comes from the tuna on the cactus.

To see more of these rustic beauties, I have a collection set up on Flickr.