Rambling Back with Rip

by Mina Loy "Rip" Teal

May 30, 2003

Hello to each and ever one. I'm sitting at the computer this starting of the Memorial Day Week End. We've had a little shower move through that will probably put a damper on lots of plans that people had for this evening. We were out on the Interstate last night just after dark and the traffic was really picking up. There is a construction project on I-40 a few miles west of Clarksville where one lane is closed and traffic was already backed up for five miles. I have been out over a lot of the country and there is construction going on all over the place on the interstate and the back roads as well. We were up on I-94 just north of Chicago and there were three lanes and two were closed and it took us nearly two hours to work through it all.

Glad to hear that you have had moisture in Kiowa County. I hope it primes the pump and that there will be much more in the days to come. Down here in this part of Arkansas we had a very dry spring. At one time we were 9 inches below on rain fall but in last three weeks things have turned around and we have had five inches so that helped us to catch up. So far we have missed all the bad storms for which we are thankful.

This is the third time I have started to write this column and some thing has always came along so maybe I can get it finished this time.

In my travels I have been through Eads three times since the first of the year. The last time I bummed a bed and breakfast off of Pete & Phyllis. It was the week when the state tournaments were going on and the town was deserted. Our tip of the hat to both the boys and girls. To have a winning team involves not only the players but lots of folks behind the scene. It starts with mothers' and dads' encouragement and goes on up to the coaches who inspire each team member with the will to win.

I was in Denver three days before the big snow. I sailed in and delivered my truck and picked up the one I was to take back to Dallas and my shirt didn't hardly touch my back.

I have been racking my brain for some body or some thing to write about and out of the blue came Harold and Fern Barnes. They were very dear friends of the folks so we were around them a lot. Ramona was a special friend of Barbara's. Many years ago when Barbara was in the early years of high school she worked for Roy Sibcy in his cafe and stayed with the Barnes'. Ever since we knew them Harold sold Insurance and worked in the Barber Shop. When the golf course was built his life was changed for ever as was the life of lots of his cronies. I guess I should say that the life of their wives was changed for they became Golfing Widows. My mother use to get up set with my dad for spending so much time out at the North Forty. Harold and my dad were the superintendents of the Sunday school at the Methodist Church. They would get all the figures added up and duck out to the cafe to get a cup of coffee before the preaching service started. Harold was the sort of fellow who always had a story or a joke for about every occasion. Fern was always in bad health and has been dead for lots of years. Harold died in a nursing home in Limon. Does any one know where Ramona is? The last we heard she was in Pensacola, Florida.

This retirement is getting pretty complicated now. I am so retired and so busy now I may have to go back to work so I can find time to rest up. Time is flying by so fast that we can't keep up with every thing and ever body.

Well the war is over, Oil is flowing again and the price of gas is slowly going down. The nation is on the highest alert waiting for the terrorists to strike. With the SARS coming closer and the Mad Cow Disease just over the border to the north so if your really want some thing to worry about throw in the State of the economy and there is plenty to keep you going for awhile but if that not enough just wait and there will be plenty coming on the scene. The rain has started in again and it looks like its sitting in for the night. If you are camping out in a leaking tent it will be a long time till day light.

I hope you'll will keep all your snow geese up there in Colorado as we have so many down here that they are causing lots of trouble for the farmers. I went out fishing the other morning and I walked down a pretty good trail and the chiggers were waiting for me. I caught one fair size cat fish and collected over 50 little red chigger bites. We will be glad to send a few of those out your direction. Cat fish or chiggers either one.