Branson In The Fall

I am sitting at the desk in the spacious duplex condo time share a friend of a friend allowed us to rent this week.  Our lifelong friends Mike and Jodi Sala traveled up with us and are occupying the other unit.  Our unit is on a mountaintop near Table Rock Lake about 15 minutes south of Branson.  Finding the condo was a trial.  The place is built on very rugged topography accessible only by a maze of near vertical slope two lane roads, confusing intersections and unmarked streets.  It even managed to confuse our GPS.

Today, I am in the unusual position of taking a vacation from our vacation.  I have done this before on cruises.  When you get so tired or are having so much pain that you aren't enjoying yourself a rest is in order.  I reached that point yesterday and declared today a personal rest day.  The rest of the crew headed out over an hour ago for a scenic train ride and in all likelihood a late lunch at Paula Deen's.

To keep myself occupied today while the others are gone, I set up my little jewel of a Japanese portable ham radio on the coffee table attached to an expedient antenna draped over the beams of our patio.  By midday, I had talked to Texas, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Illinois, Nevada, California and Alberta, Canada to name a few on only 5 watts of power.  This is called operating QRP (low power).  It takes a lot of skill and patience to make long range contacts using half the input power of an average cell phone charger.  The average ham radio puts out about one hundred watts and it is not unusual to hear guys running over a kilowatt.

So far we have had a great time.  On the way up we stopped at Clanton's Restaurant in Vinita, Oklahoma for lunch. We split one of their giant chicken fried steaks which have consistently been voted the best in Oklahoma.  Sheila even threw caution to the wind and ordered their homemade blackberry cobbler with two scoops of ice cream.  It was delicious.

Tuesday, we had lunch at the main dining room of College of the
Ozarks.  This is not a college cafeteria.  It is a very upscale restaurant run by the college and staffed by the students.  Much of the food comes from the University's own student run farms.  The food was fabulous and the prices were quite reasonable given the quality and service. The whole places was a breath of fresh air.  The student/staff were all friendly, well groomed and seemingly happy in their work.  No bad attitudes here.  And it showed in the food.  Our meals were every bit as good as those from any upscale restaurant and made all the better by the great attitudes on the part of the staff.

After lunch, we attended a student production honoring Viet Nam veterans.  It couldn't be called professional exactly even though the players were very talented and the young lady playing an Army Nurse sang like an angel.  I almost broke up when she sang a verse of "Leavin' On A Jet Plane" acapella. That song has special meaning for the guys of our generation who time and again boarded planes wondering if it was a one way ticket.

But, whatever this production lacked in sophistication it was made up in spades by their willingness to speak the truth about the Viet Nam war and our nations shameful treatment of Viet Nam veterans.  My cynical mind turned critical very quickly when they began telling the stories.  I caught myself thinking, "That scene was taken straight out of "We Were Soldiers Once" and that one was straight out of "China Beach."  And then it hit me that I was forgetting that those story lines were based on real events lived out by real people during the war.  And then it hit me even harder that over fifty years later these big hearted, well meaning kids were taking the time and trouble to tell my generation's story, a story almost completely unheard by their generation.  Lack of sophistication aside, the production was deeply moving.  Many in the audience wept quietly as the stories unfolded.

Wednesday, we had lunch at place that successfully moved from the main street  of Haskell, Oklahoma to the main street of Branson.   Mike and Jodi knew the owners and often ate there when they were in Haskell. They are apparently making good in Branson.  They've won multiple awards for their down home cooking, a couple of buses were parked out back and the wait for a table was over forty five minutes.

Last night we saw "Queen Esther."  I don't really know how to describe it.  I was skeptical about any show being worth sixty bucks a ticket but my skepticism vanished five minutes into the show.  The costumes were stunning, the scenery was breathtaking and the stagecraft/special effects were technically amazing.  The talent is world class.  Amazing talented, professional, legitimate theatrical voices performing powerfully and movingly.  The plot follows the Biblical narrative precisely. I was stunned by it all.  The theater seats over two thousand and every performance is sold out.  Buses from all over the middle of the nation were in the parking lot.  When it was over there was a massive traffic jam.  It took us nearly an hour to get back to the main streets.  I usually don't have much patience with big productions and big crowds.  Queen Esther was worth it.  I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Thursday, Sheila and the crew had a good time on the train despite some out of control children and
then thoroughly enjoyed their late lunch at Paula Deen's.  Paula Deen is the reigning grand dame of Southern Cooking and if the chicken wing and butter cake Sheila slipped into her purse to bring back to me was an example the quality of the food has not suffered in the translation from South Carolina to Southern Missouri.  Sadly, Mike was in a bit of pain by the time they got back and both Mike and Jodi were worn out.  They went straight to bed more or less.  

By Friday morning Mike and I were ready to come home.  We were up early, had a quick breakfast of toast, yogurt and coffee, packed our things and headed out.  By mid-afternoon we were back in Tulsa.  It has been a good trip.  Good food, visiting with old friends and seeing a few new things.  At our age, that is a great adventure.

Memorial Day 2023

Yesterday, Sheila and I made the annual trek to Sallisaw to decorate our family graves. As usual it was a sorrowful day somewhat ameliorated by the pleasure of seeing family and friends and a nice drive through the always beautiful Cookson Hills.

The American Memorial Day holiday began after the civil war as a way to remember our war dead. “Decoration Day,” another local holiday when all family graves were decorated was usually a separate event. But, over the years, they were commonly merged. I try to keep the two remembrances separate in my consideration of the day.

When we began decorating, I noticed that Sheila had chosen an otherwise nice red, white and blue bouquet marred by what I saw as a cheap plastic doo dad saying “Hero.” There were dozens of similar displays all over the cemetery since this one was one of the better displays being sold by Wal Mart this year. However, I couldn’t help but cringe over what dad would have thought of such a display.

Dad was a genuine hero. He had the medals and commendations to prove it. He started his war in Sicily, survived the bitter slog through Italy and the Anzio catastrophe to celebrate VE day deep in Germany. But, like many if not most of his generation, dad was quiet about his heroism. He never discussed it. Once, when I was a child, I found his medals. I asked him about the Bronze Star. In his typical shy, modest manner he just said, “Aw shucks. They gave those things away with Wheaties.” It was many years before I learned that they don’t award the Bronze Star for trivial reasons.

But, dad was a hero in another way as well. Despite suffering from PTSD his entire life, he was a pillar of the community and our church and literally worked himself to death to give Mom and I a better life. Taking nothing away from his war time heroism, this second kind of heroism, the daily surrender of your life, your hopes and your ambitions to care for a family under always difficult and sometimes nearly impossible circumstances is truly awe inspiring.

Dad would not have been happy to see a little white plastic sign over his grave, calling him a “hero.” He was a hero, he knew it, I certainly knew it and that would have been enough for him. In my dad’s generation, real heroes didn’t brag and they certainly didn’t cheapen their sacrifice by letting anyone make merchandise of it.

As we were getting ready to leave, I reached in my pocket and realized I had no coins there. I don't know what I was thinking. I haven’t carried coins in years. So, I asked Sheila to dig around in her purse and find a penny for me. There is a tradition among veterans. When you visit another veterans grave, you leave a coin. A penny simply means that another veteran was there showing his respect. A nickle means that you served in boot camp with them. A dime means that you actually served with them at some point. A quarter means that you were there when they died.

A young army captain is buried near my families graves. He died in Viet Nam on my birthday in 1970 during a truly hairy mission trying to rescue a number of wounded that had been left behind by their retreating unit. The citation for his Silver Star, America’s second highest award for valor, says that he personally pulled two of the wounded back to safety and died with a third in his arms. That kind of selfless courage deserves to be remembered. In years past, I would I would often find other coins on his headstone. This year, there was only mine.

As we were driving home, Sheila remarked sadly, “When we’re gone, nobody will decorate their graves or ours.” She is right. The ungrateful generation after ours at best cares nothing for their heritage and at worst is ashamed of it. And even the fact that we are ashamed of them will mean nothing once we are gone.

 

A Classic Christmas Dinner Whoops

 

Yesterday, we were celebrating an early Christmas since our daughter and her family will be out of town during the actual holiday.  We recently sold them our old home in midtown and they are remodeling it to prepare it for rental.

As we were sitting around the living room distributing presents, my son in law handed me the old Chilton's repair manual for my dearly beloved and sorely missed '68 Z-28.  He said he had found it as they were stripping out the garage.

Smiling he said that he had also found something else with it.  An old love letter from Sheila.  He had not opened it. Looking across the room I could see from the handwriting on the envelope that the letter WAS NOT from Sheila.  Sheila was immediately alert and interested.  She grabbed the letter and put it in her purse.  

We quickly determined that the letter was from a girl I was dating just before Sheila and I were engaged.  Sheila demanded that she be allowed to read the letter.  I strenuously objected.  Eventually, I prevailed and the letter was consigned in pieces to the nearest waste basket.

The moment passed without further incident but the look on my son-in-law's face was priceless.

 

A Working Adventure

Covid has really limited Sheila and I's "adventuring."  Now that we have the time and money to travel this blasted disease is still keeping us prisoners.  We have cancelled two winter cruises and two summer mountain cabin stays plus numerous smaller adventures like nice dinners with our partners in crime Pam and Wayne.  (Pam is recovering from Covid right now BTW and her mother has it as well.)

The closest thing to an "adventure" we have had in quite a while was our short stay in the Ft. Worth area while I took Instructor training for law enforcement level Verbal De-escalation.  We stayed at the Hyatt in Hurst.  It was nearly empty.  The service was superb and and lovely little Tejano lady who cooked the morning breakfast bar was a real gem.  Tejano cooking is something special and this lady was an artist.

Sheila pampered herself as you only can in a high class hotel while I learned how to teach our security students how to talk down violent and crazy people.  She slept in, read a couple of novels and raided the local WalMarts until she located a hard to find locally toy our grandson Ben wanted for Christmas.

The training was conducted by Blue Shield Tactical.  They are the best and most commonly used law enforcement training organization between the Mississippi and the Rockies.  Our instructor was a tough as nails active duty St. Louis cop who also still serves as an Air Commando in the Air Force Reserve.  The class was held at the Hurst police station.  It was the cleanest most modern police station I have ever seen and Hurst PD went out of their way to be good hosts.  

Our class was a truly interesting group.  We had the chiefs of many of the smaller departments from the DFW/North Texas area, the chief training officers of several of the larger departments and agencies and a good mix of patrolmen and detectives from several more.  We also had a lady who identified herself as a consulting psychiatrist from an institution on the east coast.  She was also staying at the Hyatt. 

The training was intense at times, hilarious at times and overall very practical.  The hardest part for me was conducting a session of the class.  Each instructor candidate was required to set up a short scenario, run it, address the class and then sit through the class critique of your performance.  The very thought of taking the front of the room before all of these senior cops and hard bitten serving officers was daunting.   But, I got through it and my reviews from the audience were encouraging.  The overall opinion was that I was calm and organized.  Somewhere in my office I have the class picture and a diploma.  I even have not just the tee shirt but the golf shirt proclaiming that I am a certified law enforcement level de-escalation instructor.

There was only one hitch for the entire trip.  TRAFFIC.  I-35 was down to one lane through a big chunk of southwest Oklahoma and about the same time it opens up you hit the REAL DFW traffic flow.  75 is messed up at the Red River and we missed our exit for the Indian Nations turnpike on the way back.  Seven hours plus each way.  On the way home we got lost  thanks to our GPS and spent an hour winding our way through the Oklahoma hills trying to cross over to the Indian Nations Turnpike to avoid the nightmarish traffic.

Having said that, Sheila got in an almost week long rest in reasonable luxury and I acquired some very valuable training.  And we both had a good time doing it.

Sheila's 50th High School Reunion

Adventures come in all shapes and sizes at our age.  Sheila had a good one last night.  It was the first night of her 50th High School reunion.  She had a wonderful time, moving around the room catching up with old friends.

Sheila, obviously  having a wonderful time.

Sheila's close friend Judy.

These three used to travel in a pack of smiles, giggles and laughter.

Sheila's old and dear friend Linda C (center not to be confused with Linda T right) was the fourth member of their pack.

In a pleasant surprise, I ran across an old friend from my school, Larry S and his lovely wife.

Twelve Tips for Cruisers

Sheila and I are winding up our preparations to take another Caribbean cruise this winter.  I love cruising.  If you forego the booze, gambling and pricey shops, dollar for dollar it is the cheapest resort vacation you will ever find.  Food, lodging and entertainment are all included in one price. This will be our third cruise.  I thought I might share some of the tips we have picked up in our experiences.

1.  Prepare and pack well in advance.  Spread the stress of making travel arrangements, packing, doing notifications, etc. out over the month before the cruise.  That way you will not start your vacation stressed.

2. Drive to the port of embarkation the night before unless you live close.  Many cruise ship port hotels will offer you a week's free parking in their parking lot and a free breakfast if you stay with them the night before the cruise departure.  The winter is the off season in beach towns and they are desperate for business.  Many will even help you arrange taxi service to the ship.  You are going to have to pay for parking anyway.  This way there is no question of your missing your boarding.

3. Schedule an early boarding time.  Most ships start boarding at 1:00 PM for a late afternoon departure.  If you board at 1:00, you can go straight to your cabin, park your carry on luggage and other gear, freshen up a little bit and head straight for the nearly empty dining rooms and buffets for a nice lunch included in the price of your cruise.  You will then have a couple of hours to explore the ship or take advantage of the great "day of boarding" discounts while everyone else is scrambling to get through the boarding process.  If you want massages, spa treatments, etc. this is the time to do it.  Discounts may be as much as 50% during boarding hours.

4. Do not pack an outfit to wear on the return trip home.  There will be a small laundrette not far from your cabin.  Simply wash the outfit you wore on the trip down and put it back on when you are ready to leave the ship for your return.  This also means you don't  have to over-pack underwear, socks, etc. since the laundry is so handy.  Leave your heavy coat, gloves and cold weather gear in your car.  You're not going to need them on the cruise.  Usually, a light jacket is all you need in the port and on the ship. 

5.  Pack light. Sheila and I each have a shoulder bag where we carry our ID, money, electronics, spare glasses and emergency meds.  We also have a small high quality carry on rolling "pilot's case" that contains our weeks supply of meds, med devices, toiletries, a couple of changes of underwear, a bathing suit and a change of clothes.  These stay with us through boarding and are not checked.  Everything else fits in one medium sized rolling suitcase that is checked. 

6. Pack Casual.  Shorts and golf shirts for men and shorts and tank tops for ladies and of course bathing suits and cover ups are all that are needed for daytime wear.  Many cruise lines only have one or two "formal nights" in their dining rooms.  The rest of the time "resort casual" is fine.  That means a shirt with a collar and slacks for a man and nice summery dresses or pant outfits for ladies.  If you are careful to choose mix and match items you will only need to pack two or three of each. Jeans, athletic wear and shorts are frowned on in dining rooms in the evening.  Athletic wear may not be allowed at any time.  Men  can pack good quality dockers instead and get double duty out of one pair of pants.  Ladies can choose "packable" comfy light dresses and skirts to get the same benefit.   If you want to do the "formal night" that's fine.  Pack for it. But, on those nights you can also eat at one of the several buffets and specialty restaurants and save yourself the bother of another piece of luggage.

7.  Mark your checked bags with streamers that you can spot easily.  There will be literally hundreds of pieces of luggage just like yours.  You need to be able to spot yours instantly from a distance.  I use yellow "Crime Scene" tape.  It always gets my bags checked through at a high priority.

8. Carry on anything you can't do without.  We have never had a lost luggage problem but we have heard some real horror stories.  Pack your meds, medical devices, spare glasses, essential toiletries and a change of undies or two in your carry on bag and keep it with you until you are safely in your cabin.

9. Check carefully before you spend too much on a phone plan.  You may not even need one.  If an emergency develops back home you can always be contacted through the ships satellite radio  communication center.  Just make sure family and friends have that number.  I discovered that my phone plan (T-Mobile) actually covers Mexico, most of Central America and some of the Caribbean.  So, every time we pull into port, I check and usually have phone and sometimes even SLOW data service.

10. Check carefully before you spend too much on a data plan.  Do you really want to be on the internet that much on your vacation?  I usually spring for a relatively cheap ($5.00 a day) social media only plan that lets me stay in contact with close friends, send a few selfies etc.  It's more than enough.

11.  Think about staying on board in port.  Unless you just positively absolutely have to say that you set foot in Honduras or Jamaica think about spending the day on the ship.  It will be deserted from approximately 9:00 AM until 4:00 PM.  This is wonderful time to enjoy the pools, hot tubs and other recreational facilities without the crowds.  This is also a wonderful time to get know some of the crew.   
12.  Don't do anything stupid.   There is a long list of prohibited items (like guns and other weapons, booze, illegal drugs, etc) as well as other do's and dont's.  Read it carefully and just do what it says. Cruise ship boarding is handled by the TSA.  While I have always found cruise port TSA officers to be far more friendly and helpful than their counterparts in airports they will still send you to jail with federal charges for breaking the rules.  Once you board the ship you are in a foreign country.  The laws of the country where the ship is registered will apply and the Captain and his security staff have complete control. Again, just play by the rules because the alternatives are very unpleasant.

These are a few of the things we have learned from our research and experiences that help us enjoy our cruises.  We hope they help you as well.   

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Postcript:  After we booked this cruise, I developed an arrhythmia and my cardiologist recommend we not get that far from medical help until it was properly diagnosed and controlled, a procedure which often takes weeks or months.  So we had to cancel.  As difficult as this was, Covid broke out on cruise ships during the period we had booked.  So, it would appear that hard as it was to accept a new physical concern we may have also dodged a major bullet.

New Years Day 2019

Sheila and I were still tired from our Christmas Cruise so we did not do the usual production of a meal we normally do on New Years Day.  If you want to read about our traditional celebration and its historical roots you can find a description HERE.




Instead, we made a small pot of our traditional "Hoppin John" with canned blackeyed peas, canned collard greens, a few fresh root vegetables and smoked turkey.  It turned out very well indeed and we enjoyed it.  Sheila also made a blueberry pie from scratch.  It was delicious.  As much as we enjoyed the fancy cruise line food it was good to have home cooking again.

We usually have friends over on New Years Day but this year we ate alone.  That was fine.  It was a dark, cold, windy day and it would have been trying for our normal partners in crime to have gotten out.  But, the spirit of the celebration was there in full force, thankfulness to the Good Lord for a sturdy roof over our head, a warm fire, good clothes and nourishing food on the table.  And, despite the small size of the celebration it was indeed a Happy New Year.