Sunday, April 26, 2009

Sunday evening from the beautiful marsh of the Gulf Coast...

Sorry I've been so negligent in writing, but my, we have been busy around these parts.  Steven, my 14-year-old grandson, is settling in just fine here with us, and he is doing well at school at Crenshaw on the Peninsula.  His progress report shows that he is making good grades, so we are thankful for that.  He has had two big projects to complete because he is nearing the end of the eighth grade.  One was on a book he had to read, "Witness," by Karen Hesse about prejudice and ill will. The other was on Robert E. Lee and we were able to find and use photos of the famous general on Stone Mountain to add a personal touch.

The school has a big talent show coming up on May 21 and Steven will participate in that. He is doing well with his guitar lessons and takes weekly from Michael Stewart here on the Peninsula. Michael is originally from West Virginia and is a very talented musician.  He also continues to play his drums and takes band at school.

We celebrated his big 14th birthday with several activities in his honor; cupcakes at school for his classmates, a chocolate birthday cake cut at the home of Terri and Randy Ward, his good friends and the owners of the two big dogs Steven bathes and cares for at their home.  And, then last night (Saturday), we had five couples over that have been especially kind to Steven in some way. Dana and Tim Turner from Beaumont came out. They have property here on the Peninsula and are now set up in their travel trailer on their lot.  The Turners bought Steven a wonderful acoustic guitar that he loves.  Becky and Rusty Cluck, our dear friends and neighbors here on the Peninsula, were also on hand, and they gave Steven a flash drive for his computer. He loved that! Michael, his music teacher, and his wife, GinGee, attended and gave him money for whatever he wanted or needed.  

Terry and Randy came to join us, too, and Terri found Steven two fabulous t-shirts (Rolling Stones and Rock) and an amp he needed for his guitar, so all in all, he had a wonderful birthday. Ted and I gave him a new leather guitar case, got Direct TV and Internet hooked up at the new house and some smaller gifts. His dad sent him a beautiful card with money inside.  Yea!  He said he loved getting "stuff" for his birthday. Each adult gave him one comment or piece of advice for his young life and that was a special time for everyone present.

Living on the marsh is different than living on the beach, but just as nice in a different way.  The wildlife and birds are amazing.  And the beach is just down the way a bit in walking distance, so we have the best of both worlds.  We met our next door neighbors, Dewey and Daisy Jones, originally from Houston, and they are a very neat couple.  

We are presently working on the Crenshaw Bulldog Talent Show for May 21 at the school and helping getting out promo material for the 24th Annual Crab Fest and Stingaree Music Festival to take place on Bolivar, May 29-31.  And, Steven will have a real graduation ceremony complete with cap and gown at the end of May.

Ted and I are fine and stay busy all of the time.  We each serve on several different rebuilding Bolivar committees.  Ted is on Housing with the Bolivar BLUEprint Committee and I serve on Human Resources, and both are active and interesting.  The Yahoo Group Internet site, Bolivar BLUE, which I formed shortly after the storm is very active also and we've made tons of new friends there.  Still no major payments from Texas Windstorm and so we all continue to wait to rebuild our homes.

Take care and stay safe.  We are hearing today much about the swine flu and see on TV that Mexico City is shut down for all practical purposes. There are cases in Texas, but so far, we are all well and safe here on Bolivar.

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