American Heroes

Oh America.  Where have all the heroes gone?

America is running out of true heroes.  I have seen this coming for many years.  Today, it was made more apparent with the passing of Neil Armstrong.  This man, for me, has always been one of the great American heroes.  I can still recall that fateful July 20th in 1969.  I was going to be a sixth grader the next school year and was an astronaut junkie.  I even had a model of the Lunar Module and the Command Module.  This was  a BIG deal.  America had beaten the Russians to land on the moon and now Neil Armstrong was going to be the first person to ever walk on the surface of the moon.

It was going happen late that night and I was allowed to stay up and watch.  I can still remember laying on the floor in front of the one TV as Mamma and Daddy watched on.  Neil Armstrong became an immediate American hero.

When Andrew texted me about Neil Armstrong passing away, I related the story of me staying up late to watch him walk on the moon.  His reply was that all the great accomplishments have already been done and his generation didn't have any real heroes.  This brought back another memory.

Twenty years after Neil walked on the moon, I did an activity with my Biology classes to see if they looked up to persons of science like I did as a kid.  I had the students list ten entertainment persons (singers, actors, etc.).  No sweat.  They could all do this.  Then I had the students list ten sports persons.  Again, most students could do this with no problem.  Then I asked them to list ten inventors or scientists.  Most could name Albert Einstein and some listed Benjamin Franklin. But that was about it.  I did this activity for several years and cannot ever remember anybody naming ten.  Of course, this all led to the students having to do a report on a famous scientist.  Sneaky, huh.

So thank you Neil for inspiring a whole generation.  I'm sorry this new generation hasn't kept up.

Ruidoso Memories

For at least the last 15 years, the Ruffins and the Dowells have been going to Ruidoso for Spring Break.  We've been able to do this because we stayed at Kaye's parent's condo.  Well, that could all be coming to an end.  Mr. Hawkins has decided to put the condo up for sale.  (Ohhhh, just typing that sentence is hard to do.) So, to take advantage at least one more time of our wonderful opportunity, Hank and Kaye invited us to Ruidoso this past week.

We did our usual things.  Sleep late and then go to the Log Cabin for a late breakfast.  Then take a drive to an area somewhere around Ruidoso for a little sight seeing adventure.  This time it was up to Alto to see the damage from the latest forest fires.  We then come back to the condo for a nap, book time, or a vicious game of spades (men vs. women).  Or we divide up with the girls going shopping and the boys going for a hike in the national forest.  This year as Hank and I opted for a nap, the ladies sneaked off for a visit downtown.  I'm not sure what they did there.  After this we manage to make our way to Casa Blanca or the Texas Club for dinner.  Then we usually find our way to the Truck Stop or Inn of the Mountain God Casino.  This year we were able to combine our resources and beat the Plum Crazy slot machine for a $50 victory.  The Blackjack table was good for another $65 win.

Since the possibility exist that we may have to alter our Ruidoso arrangements, it got me to thinking about all the good times we have had there over the last several years.

While we really enjoy doing nothing, doing something is what is worth writing about.  I remember the time we all four went for a hike up into the national forest.  The boys got ahead of the girls as we like to go at a faster pace.  After about an hour, the boys decided to head back down the trail to meet the girls.  Well, it just so happened that about that time another family came walking up the trail making noises and "bear" sounds.  The girls thought it was Hank and I and began to holler, "You're not scaring us. So just shut your butts up."  Needless to say, that meeting was a bit awkward for Kaye and Susan when they saw Hank and I coming down the trail and a strange family suddenly come up from where they had just shouted.

So we stayed there for a while to let the family move on away from us.  As Kaye and Susan told us the story of what just happened we noticed what looked like a fog moving in over the distant mountain.  Then we noticed the fog moved in over the next mountain.  Then we saw that the fog was actually snow.  As the snow moved over on top of us, we stood out in the middle of that beautiful forest with large flakes enveloping us in a quite, gentle, snowfall.

The snow continued that evening as we made our way back and on to Casa Blanca for dinner.  We got to sit next to window looking up the mountain and watched the snow blanket Ruidoso.

Another fond memory came when we happened upon the Fort Stanton Museum and National Merchant Marine Cemetery.  The first time we discovered it, the cemetery was in somewhat disrepair.  We were enjoying reading the history and walking among the white crosses when we noticed four white crosses at the opposite side of the cemetery all by themselves.  We went to see and discovered that the Museum was once a military hospital for men who had contracted tuberculosis.  But during World War II, it was also used as a POW camp.  The four graves that were isolated were of four German POWs that had died from TB during the war. 

Speaking of cemeteries.  We like driving around to other places around and going through the old cemeteries.  Outside the town of Lincoln, is an old cemetery that was very interesting.  Besides the normal old markers with lots of untold stories from the 1800's was a large marker of a local who's marker reads "Pal of Billy the Kid."

Then there was the time Hank took us all out to the Petroglyphs that we swore we never knew existed.  Hank tried to tell us that we had been there before.  We argued and argued until we got there and all three of us then recognized the site.

I could go on and on.  I'm sure Susan, Hank and Kaye have their own personal favorite stories too.  Thanks Hank and Kaye for many wonderful years of fun and making memories.

Dog Sitting

The only grandkid we know is Shelby. So while Andrew went to Mexico for vacation, we kept Shelby.

The big question is: How do you find things to do to entertain your grandkid?

Watch the video and see how Shelby spent her time. Well this and sleeping of course.

Susan's quote after the two weeks was, "We have one dog because we don't want two."  But we would keep her again anytime.