60 Years and Counting

Sixty years ago today, two crazy-in-love teenagers were married – against their parents' wishes. Just 16 and 18 years old, LeRoy and Patsy Tucker got hitched on a horse-drawn buggy by a preacher in a small Arkansas town. They picked cotton on their honeymoon and spent many years with just about nothing except each other. My Dad eventually joined the U.S. Marines, and my oldest sister Patti was born. Susie was born just over a year later – and about 16 years after that I came along as a big surprise to everyone.

My parents have experienced a lot – the Great Depression, poverty, stressful jobs, big moves across the country, raising children, deaths in the family ... all kinds of good and bad things that just happen through the years. They've seen their world change dramatically in ways I can't imagine. And through it all, they've stuck together.

Here's to you, Mom and Dad. Happy 60th.

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A Boneshaker and Bongo Drums

I took the boys to Centennial Park recently, and we saw this man riding a weird contraption around the park (maybe you've seen him?). We eventually struck up a conversation, and he told us all about it. Parker even got to try it out. It's called a Boneshaker (also a Hiwheel bike) first built in the mid-1800s. It's called a Boneshaker because there are no shocks, and it would rattle people's bones when they rode on dirt roads. Cool, huh?

Then we fed the ducks...



And just ran around...

Another Centennial Park adventure: Earlier this month, Jerod took Parker to the city's Celebration of Cultures at Centennial, and they came home with bongo drums.

I'm all for open green spaces and plenty of parks.

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Random Moments

Here's a little moment that turned out to be one of my best memories from the past week. The kids were up by 6:15 Sunday morning - the first really chilly morning after the swampy, buggy weather of last week - and the neighborhood was cloaked in fog. We ventured onto the porch for a quick look, but Parker and Sawyer didn't want to come back in. So we all headed down to the trail (bleary-eyed, hair sticking up, teeth unbrushed) to experience the cool, misty morning. Cobwebs, heavy and white with dewdrops, could be seen everywhere, and the woods were quiet. We ended up walking for more than an hour.

Asters, transplanted from my late grandmother's garden, are in full bloom for the first time this year.

Art in the buff...

A new nighttime ritual - looking for bats in the sky at dusk ...

Parker drew a special picture for our neighbor, Amanda (an older woman of 12). He was so excited to give it to her. Here he is waiting by the fence.

And here's Amanda accepting the drawing so sweetly.

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