R&R time at Cedar Crest Lodge

Friday was an overnight get-away for us, returning to Cedar Crest Lodge near Pleasanton KS. (You might remember Carla used to be an innkeeper there!) We met dear friends from Wichita, Sam and Mardelle Moyers. It was a perfectly gorgeous evening with wonderful fellowship, spectacular vistas from the front patio during our Happy Hour, and an exquisite salmon dinner prepared by our hosts, which we enjoyed in the lodge.
Much to our surprise, our visit included a drop-in visit by Carla and Delvin, who were on their way to visit her aunt and uncle, Mike and Phyllis Garrett in Monett MO and attend Young Christians Week-end at Silver Dollar City. The point of the stop was to enable Delvin to show off his newly-purchased first-ever pair of boots, still sporting their tags (he will be our resident Minnie Pearl!). I really do believe this man is a keeper! What a sense of humor! I only hope their weekend trip was as much fun as ours was. Thanks for your hospitality, Cedar Crest. Thanks for joining us, Moyers. And thanks for stopping by, CJ and Cowboy DJ!

A study in Border Wars

This trip was a trip back in history to the original Border Wars, and I began to understand where the terminology in the rivalry between Missouri and Kansas athletics came from. Back in the mid-1800s the issue of slavery polarized the nation. The site of the Massacre of Marais des Cygnes took place in Kansas territory, less than 1200 feet from the state of Missouri. Missouri permitted slavery and wanted Kansas to do the same. The fight over slavery erupted into violence, giving rise to the name of "Bleeding Kansas". On this site, a proslavery group captured 11 unarmed antislavery men and forced them to march towards the MO border. When they reached this point, the captives were lined up in this ravine and shot. In the background behind Jerry (taking the photo) stood a two-story log "fort", occupied after the massacre by abolitionist John Brown. John Brown stayed briefly, but long enough to liberate 11 slaves in Missouri and escort them all to freedom in Canada. The cemetery contains the remains of most of the men massacred at Marais des Cygnes along with the memorial marker.

A wedding in Phoenix - our niece

Our niece, Nancy, was married in Phoenix this past week-end to her love, Jon.  Our daughters were both  present, representing our family, since we were committed to being in Ft. Scott KS.  She is a single mother of a 19-year-old son, and Jon's coming into her life has made a tremendous difference.  She is oh! so happy now, as is her son, Jacob.  We rejoice with them in their creation of this new family. Here's a pic of the girls as they began their week-end visit - with a Royals game during Spring training. This was very special for them. While Jo continues to be a Cubs fan, Carla is a good supporter of her KC Royals, in good times and bad, and they did beat the Dodgers in this game. And they do dress up nicely, don't they, as they head to the wedding? Nancy was escorted down the aisle by her father (my brother) and her son - what a neat moment for everyone! In the collage we see the girls together, Jo with her cousin Steve, and Carla with her cousin Nancy. We drove to Kansas City today in order to pick Carla up at the airport when she returned home and have an opportunity to hear a first-hand report of all the festivities. Nancy's wedding planner was her sister, Sally, who was also maid of honor, and she did a masterful job.  I'm sorry we couldn't be there in person, but the marvels of modern technology with our I-Phones and videoing made us feel like we were! Bless you, Jon and Nancy and Jacob, as you begin this new chapter in your life.

Real Estate, anyone?

Our temporary community of Ft. Scott Kansas has some of the most beautiful homes you have ever seen. The sad part is that we have a lot that are in need of some tender, loving care. If you would like to buy a beautiful home and bring it up to snuff, I recommend you pay a visit to Ft. Scott and see what is available. A few of these I snapped pics of are for sale...others are receiving the care they deserve and are simply gorgeous. I wanted to be able to remember some of these by posting them in my blog. This particular home is called the Sample House, on 8th and National, and is presently on the market. This house above was called the Scott House, and used in the movie "Learning Tree" which was made by Gordon Parks, a famous Life photographer and writer, who was born and raised here...a sad story of a young black youth who did not have any good memories of those years, but who was later befriended by someone from Ft. Scott and left his photos and story in a wonderful museum located on the campus of Ft. Scott Community College. We have purchased the DVD of the movie so we can see it for ourselves when we return home. The home with the American flag flying in the garden is known as the Hudson House, while the white home is the Penneman House, which is on the market. In an earlier blog, I mentioned our friend Jeff, who is from Ft. Scott. The lovely light green home is the Cape Cod home his parents built around 1950, and in which he was raised. The red brick belongs to his special cousin, Barbara, from whom I am learning a lot about Ft. Scott AND Jeff...and she is creating a rock garden in the front. Burke Street has some gorgeous homes on it, and here are two of them..the Humphries Home and the Potter House. I leave you with this one - the Marble House, which carries a For Sale sign in front for $625K. These homes are treasures, and memories of a past that is fast disappearing. Want to make an investment in a Victorian home on the beautiful Kansas prairie?

Friends add so much to life!

I have two friends who have so blessed my life this winter...by making me laugh, which is - after all - the best medicine!

Meet Tom (in red) and his partner, Michael.  They have been friends of Jo & Scott's for many years, but in the last few years they have become our friends as well, for which I am very grateful.  And they live in San Antonio.

Last week, Carla posted on FB a picture of us, saying she and Delvin were eating dinner with the parental units at the Blue Moose Bar & Grill in KC.

This is Tom's very clever response that I am still smiling over:

I so miss seeing Mary and Jerry. I wish they would buy a house nearer to us in Texas. Oh wait, they already did. I just wish they would visit it more often. Thanks, Tom, for being special to us.

Here is the Anton-Hewitt family of Midland TX.  Our days have been truly brightened by receiving ongoing  emails from Jeff broadening our knowledge of Ft. Scott KS.  As you know, we are here only a very short time (golly - the time is half over already!) and it takes a while to learn about a community.  But it doesn't it you have a reliable (?) source of information.  Jeff was born and raised in this community (however, not in our church) and has shared story after story of people in its history, stories of some of the lovely old Victorian homes here, and tidbits like "Crawford St is paved with bricks that were made in Ft. Scott".  Its not the ONLY street paved in brick!  But the good news is that we know have 10 Ft. Scott bricks to take back to Wimberley and use in our landscaping someplace!   Today's email surely brightened our day as we learned about scandals back in the 20's involving some families who lived in the old Victorian homes I mentioned. I am about to go for a drive and check out some of these notorious places!!  Thanks, Jeff, for enriching our history of Ft. Scott and brightening our days.

One of Jerry's favorite expressions is "Friends are God's apology for family."  Could be!!!  Our family is certainly enriched by Tom and Jeff, and many many others.  Thanks for being our friends!