A heart warming story from the Piney Woods of North Central Louisiana.

My son in law John Adams has a friend who has a few months to live. High on the bucket list of the friend is the desire is to go deer hunting and shoot a deer. John said to his friend "I will take you deer hunting".

The other day John took his friend out to the deer lease. He took him to the lowest, easiest to get into, deer blind available. His friend is not too mobile and nearly fell, twice, getting up into the deer blind. Nearly scared John to death. John spent that afternoon and the next day building a ground blind for his friend to shoot in.

Here is the front of the blind.

Here is the back of the blind. Notice the deluxe curtain door. The architect, John, can be seen in the background.

John is installing a swivel chair in the blind. After John installs the blind at the lease, his friend can step in the door and sit down. Openings built at shooting height. I thing that John is a good friend. This story has warmed my heart.

My life has suddenly become easier.

The other day I got handicapped plates for my car. It is so nice and easy to drive up to an entrance and park. Here I am at the softball game yesterday. You can not park any closer to the stands.

I should have had handicapped plates for several years. John was dropping me off at the entrance for some time while he found a parking place. (When we attended an affair together.) He bugged me to get the plates. I am so glad that he did. I had no idea how much they would help in my everyday life.

I can not walk very far without stopping to rest and get my breath. I have a balance problem also. Since I lost the sight in the center of one eye I have very poor depth perception.

"I have Alzheimer. I will not get well."

I visited my friend Rosa Lee Blakley today. I usually sit and listen to her talk. She speaks very low and I hear very poorly so I usually do not understand what she is saying. But today I heard the above two sentences. It seems to me that she is very brave. She has a right to feel blue. And I think that she often is. She will recall old memories. Her eyes will get wet and she will look away. But usually she seems to be of good cheer and is her usual pleasant self.

Today she had three of daughter Rhonda's dogs with her. You can tell that they love her. They are good company. Here is a picture of Rosa with Waffles, Jasper, and Flip-Flop.

Flip-Flop is in love.

Homecoming 2018 at Louisiana Tech.

This is an account of my Friday Night and Saturday at the 2018 Louisiana Tech Homecoming. I started at a softball game and a volley ball game on Friday evening. Saturday I had lunch at the football game tail gate festivities and attended the first half of the Homecoming football game.

I was so pooped that last night I had the best nights sleep in a long time. I need to go to more homecomings.

A pic at the softball game.  Tech played Northwest.

The volley ball game.

Hooray! The cheer leaders were there. They add a lot to the game. We won one game against UTEP and were competitive in the others.

Seven year Coach Adriano de Souza hard at work.

Tail gate party at Bulldog Village.

Mrs Smiley Reeves found me in the crowd and put me in line for a College of Education tail gate meal. What a nice lady. She has been my swimming class instructor for eleven years. (She was a teen ager when I started the class). I have been taking 3 units per quarter. Have not missed a quarter in the eleven years. I am scheduled to graduate with a degree in swimming in seven years.

Beans, rice, brisket, and sausage. Good!

On to the football game.

We won the game against UTEP.  31 to 24.

Ethan is 18!!!

Ethan Charles Newberry is my oldest great grandson. We joined him and his Mom Joy for lunch in honor of his birthday on Thursday October 18. Joy shot this photo. L to R, the old Prune Picker (great grandpa), Ethan Charles Newberry, Kerry Lee Adams (grandma), and John Morgan Adams (grandpa).

On his homecoming Ethan had a lovely date.

In the midst of all these good tines Ethan found time to open a "letter of acceptance" to enrollment next fall at Louisiana Tech.

That is grand! Congratulations Ethan. I am looking forward to watching you in your college years. I am so proud of you.

All States Picnic.

I was raised in an interesting time in an interesting place. I am thinking 1930 to 1940 in Pomona, California. It was the crest of the Great Depression. Hard times. People were leaving the Dust Bowl and the harder times in the Mid-West and moving to California. Many came to Pomona. I was raised with their children. Many were Okies (my older brothers married into this group, great sisters in law), many were from Arkansas, Missouri, Kansas, and other states in that area.

We had an disparaging nickname for anyone who had been born in California. This minority were called Prune Pickers. I was and am a Prune Picker. (native born Californian) I was at many a gathering of friends where I was the only Prune Picker present. I heard lots of stories about life in the Mid-West.

These people were homesick. They got together and started having an All States Picnic once year in Ontario. (next town east of Pomona). Euclid Avenue in Ontario was an ideal spot for such an affair. A straight main drag with a landscaped strip down the middle. Each state had a marked section of a picnic table placed down the middle of Euclid Avenue. Thousands attended. The picnic table reached two miles in length. The table was mentioned in "Believe it or not by Ripley". It was an exciting affair to me. The following photos bring back many memories to me.

Terry Bradshaw could not make it.

Fifty years ago the Louisiana Tech football team won a national championship. My son in law John Adams and Terry Bradshaw were on the team. That team is being honored at the football game at Tech this evening. Wouldn't you know it, Terry can not be here. The poor guy is in Hawaii to cover a football game on the Fox network. His ex team mates really feel sorry for him, having to be in Hawaii.

Last night the 1968 team enjoyed a fish fry. John took me as his date.

Here is a close up of John.

Fifty years ago these guys were all big, loaded with muscles, and mean. Now they are all nice old men. Fifty years can make a big change.

The fish fry was great. Tonight John is taking ten of his family to the Tech/UAB game. I am looking forward to it.

Vital Signs for September 2018

I had an esophagus stretch. It was really stretched. I had terrible pain spasms. Went to the emergency room and had an xray, ekg, and a catscan. After several days the spams went away. Doing good now. Do not eat for an hour or two in the morning. When I do eat I eat very slowly and try to feel every swallow before eating more. So far, so good.

Lost five pounds. 225 to 220. Hope to be 215 at the end of September. I have lost 30 pounds since the first of May.

My first volley ball game of the season.

Tech played Marshall from West Virginia. They soundly beat us. It was nice to watch tall pretty girls run around.

Coach DeSousa coaching.