Family – Page 5 – That… Which Matters Most

My niece, Ellie!

She is the only one who figured out how to win at that silly game.

The Little Things

These are shots of the “little things” that make my Dad’s home. Some of these things have been around the house for years, like the fountain my step-mother had to have for that back patio when they lived in Houston during to 1990s. The birdhouse with “Pops Pub” is there because my dad goes by Pops with all the grandchildren. The marker for Barbara Arnold was on her grave before they got a tombstone. She was my Dad’s sister, and my aunt. St. Francis of Assisi has been hanging around gardens now for several hundred years.

Celebrating 60!

She did it again. My wife surprised me on my birthday. I told her I wanted to go to Balcones Distillery to sample their whiskey for my birthday. She thought it was a splendid idea. So off we headed, the two of us, for a night of sipping whiskey and being together.

What I didn’t know was that she invited Miller and Stephanie to join us. That was the surprise. It was a great celebration. We did what we loved to do: talked theology, the church, and the things that are important to us. What is more, is that we got a chance to share a wee dram of Whiskey together (a dram is about 1/16 of a shot, so not much).

Miller also brought a few cigars. I enjoy a cigar now and then. I realized later that the last time I had a cigar was … with Miller when we were at a Presbytery meeting in May of last year, where after the meeting, we talked theology, the church, sipped whiskey and smoked a cigar. For me, that is the best fellowship. It was a great birthday.

Out and About: Rosie

This one wasn’t quite an Out and About, but I love it so much, I’m running it as such. This is Rosie, my brother-in-law’s mother. She was with us at my father’s 90th birthday party and I couldn’t help but think how majestic she looks.

I asked Heidi if she looked like she belonged on that old sitcom Golden Girls, and she said that she did look like Bea Arthur, only prettier.

It was a joy listening to her talk about wine and HEB (the grocery chain here in Texas). She is responsible for wine sales, and knows a lot about wine. Needless to say, when she was talking about it and I was all ears.

She also told us what a great man Charles Butt is. He is the owner of HEB, and donates millions to charity. She told us that he also has a fleet of 18-wheelers that are filled with water, generators, and even ATM machines to provide rapid responses to disaster areas.

The topic came up because I mentioned that I don’t like wearing masks, and don’t do so in HEB. Rosie said Mr. Butt has said from the beginning of the Covid Crisis that if someone doesn’t want to wear a mask, that was their decision. That was enough to heighten my admiration for HEB all the more. It also happens to be the best grocery store chain in the state.

Happy Birthday Dad!

It was great getting together with you on Saturday to celebrate the awesome anniversary of your birth. 90 years is a long time. But I’m sure from your perspective, it has flown by.

I want you to know how grateful I to be your son, and to have you as my Dad. You have blessed me in so many ways, it’s hard to count, but I am especially grateful to you for your encouragement over the past 8 years, and all you have done to help me and Heidi. We are truly grateful for you.

I’m also grateful that we could gather and enjoy one another, the food, and hearing you talk with cousin Pat. (I was eavesdropping.) It was great to give Christopher an opportunity to show off his cooking skills. The food was excellent. And both Donna and Amy were the perfect hostesses. You are truly blessed by those two women in your life.

Happy Birthday. I Love you Dad.

Your son, Timothy

You can read about other posts about my Dad at these previous posts:

East Galveston Beach

My Father’s House

Moody Gardens Galveston

The Oleek, My Dad, and Being Dad

Bolivar Ferry Spring Break 2014

Dad & Donna

Ready for Sunday Morning Worship

Thursday “Missing” Doors — March 18, 2021

Sanger Avenue Grade School

1930

I’m always a bit nervous when I hop in the car with my camera. I think this is why I take my boys with me. I like to have them along for the ride, and for the extra set of eyes. It was no surprise that we all saw these doors, or lack of doors at the same time. How could you miss it? There, on one end of an empty field, was the remains of an entry way to some kind of building. I had to stop and take pictures. It was perfect for Thursday Doors, only, it’s more of a case of Thursday Missing Doors, since the doors were gone, and all that still stands is an entry way.

That is all there was for the Sanger Avenue Grade School. There has to be a story. Without looking, I imagined the school was built by the WPA during the depression, and didn’t wear well. I’m sure it had plumbing that didn’t last, walls full of asbestos, a heating system that was dangerous, along with a complete lack of air conditioning. I can remember days during the 1960s when I sat in a school room without air conditioning, so it’s hard to imagine this one had any at all. In central Texas, that can mean long, drowsy days, with a lot of unproductive learning sessions. Kind of like our Covid days now.

But the door itself is a bit misleading. According to a history page for Waco, the school was actually built in 1904. There were renovations in 1930, which led to the only lasting remnant for the building. There were plans to turn it into something worthy of the building until money ran short, and arsonists hit in 2008. Even then, the building stood for a few more years. It was bulldozed in 2010. Sad. You can read the history here.

I’m glad I find the courage to go looking for things. It was neat to discover something so filled with history and mystery, and sad to think of its demise. I hope you enjoy the photos.

Joey asking, “where is the rest of the building?”

Warm Sunset

Taken at my Dad’s ranch outside of Brenham, TX. The place is the center of the Hammons’ family. As you can imagine.

Mid-Week Monochrome #55 — Turning Two

From the archives…

After my son was born, I was talking with my Dad about the joys of having a newborn around the house. He responded by telling me that I should patient, because the joy only increased the older the children became. I began to see what he meant when Andy turned 2.

I though I would share these as part of the Mid-Week Monochrome #55 with the Brashley’s.

Andy in Blue

Taken back when I used Adobe Photoshop more often…

Toddler Behind Bars

I forgot this one… Alice doing time… waiting to learn to walk!

Toddlers in Black and White

Shared by Jessica.

Monochrome Monday — On the Trails

The boys and I went back out to the trails at Cameron Park on Saturday. I think we are determined to find every trail we can in exploring the park, as long as my knees hold up. There are some grueling trails to ascend and descend, so it is worth the trip out to visit. In fact, according to Andy, we are not really hiking unless we are going up or down. In other words, walking on a level trail is just a stroll.

This led us to finding the trail called “The Bat Cave.” Most of the trails at the park have been given names, although, there are a few that don’t exist on the maps. So we headed toward the Bat Cave and didn’t quite find it. The map was a bit misleading. We started at Lovers Leap and worked our way down to the riverwalk, a decent of problem 50 feet in all (rough estimate). At the bottom of the hill, we found the Bat Cave trail, going up. The boys insisted we head up. And we did.

It was rather steep, so I was taking my time going up. Andy was so hopeful to find an actual bat cave, that he was disappointed when we didn’t come across anything resembling a cave. But he did enjoy the climb. When we got to the top, we realized we were back at Lovers Leap, so we turned around and went down the Bat Cave Trail. I decided to take it slowly.

Since the boys were waiting for me, I told them to head on down, go onto the MCC trail to the end, then come back up the River Trail and they would find me there. Andy was reluctant to do so. I could tell he was worried about me as I descended.

“Andy, realize that I know you are worried about me because I am old. I am worried about you because you are young. Go on, I will be OK.”

He did.

Below are some of the pictures, including the last one with Joey, where we discovered what I’m calling the Bamboo Shoot, a trail that is just as steep as the Bat Cave, only on the other side of the hill, going through the Bamboo portion of the forest. It’s an unmarked trail.