It has been a good weekend with our daughter, Kathy, and her expert remodeler husband, Keith, coming in Friday night. Keith wanted to help with the mowing. It had rained a little Friday with the meteorologist promising rain all weekend. However it rained all around, but here only a couple of sprinkles and Keith learned how to drive the Ford tractor with the mower shredder to handle the large area around the Halsell House. He used the Deere riding mower and the walk behind mower around our house and got everything mowed. He also used his home skills to repair a blind with a broken cord. He cleaned the garage and did a lot more.

Kathy fixed some great meals and turned out more work than you can imagine. She did the laundry before leaving. Last night she addressed a whole bunch of envelopes for announcements of the pounding she is planning for June 30 for Ashley Rodenberger and Ross Pagenkoph's wedding in August. She is one of the most efficient persons I know. Although Mary Kathryn may tie her for turning our sewing along with cooking.

I finished Mark Finn's BLOOD AND THUNDER and am very impressed. This is not only an excellent biography of Robert E. Howard, but it is a great study of Texas and a small town during the oil boom days and the depression culture. Much like today the literary markets were in flux. Howard published in the pulp trade and it was folding up. Many published his stories but didn't mail the checks to him. Some closed others started and he finally used an agent to get him into other venues. At the end of his life he was concentrating more on Westerns than on fantasy. His western stories were comic westerns with larger than life good ole boy heros. But Finn's description of how the citizens of Cross Plains handled their lives and how they viewed Howard is an excellent insight into small town thinking and living. I have met some of Howard's friends. His best friend, Lindsay Tyson, was treasurer of our church when we first came here and I got to know him. Zora Mae Bryant inherited his papers and I was a good friend with her. I am trying to find time to transcribe my oral history interview with her.

Howard day celebrated by Cross Plains with their Barbarian Festival is scheduled for June 9 with events for Howard's fans June 8 and 9. Lou has a TWU Regent's meeting June 8 so I will miss those events. Lou is feeling better from a pain standpoint.

The mail brought good news this morning. We received a pink card from Dr. Hancock's office mailed 5/21 saying the tests indicated everything normal and no problem. We are assuming this is the results of the CT scan done Monday. Also I walked 2 miles again this morning and felt pretty good.

I worried about the beautiful girl in shorts from N. Carolina who showed up on my porch this morning asking if we had children in school. She is selling "educational materials" for her summer job. In today's world I would really worry if she were my granddaughter doing that kind of work. I told her that Mrs. Halsell used to sell children's encyclopedias so I knew what she was doing.

Yesterday I almost finished BLOOD AND THUNDER and learned a lot more about how Robert E. Howard felt about the citizens of Cross Plains. I got to read for about 3 hours as Lou had her CT scan. It takes a lot of time when you have to drink an iodine cocktail and wait 30 minutes and then she had four attempts to place an IV before they got one working so that they could watch her innards with the dye going through. I sat and read and then Lou had to wait another 15 minutes to make sure she didn't have a reaction to the chemicals. In the waiting room was a woman with a cane waiting for a CT for her back and her husband. She asked the woman across from her if she wasn't from Cross Plains. She then remarked that she lived on 2228 so I started paying attention. It was the Copley's who have the Larry's Computer sign at the Ellen Simpson house that they are occupying. I had contacted them by phone and email to use them in my column but had never met them in person. The Cross Plains couple were Ophelia and Howard Merrill. He had Lou's mother for a teacher in CP and Ophelia ran the Dairy Queen for 20 years. She is now working for a deli in Abilene United Supermarkets. He was having a CT because they are trying to find the cause of his high blood pressure and suspect a problem with his liver. You never know who you will run into in the waiting room.

Lou is doing a lot better, although the CT wasn't easy on her back. We ate at 3:30 at China Star and had the place to ourselves. I am doing a lot better. This morning I walked the entire two miles with little pain in my leg. I am hoping it will go away like it did a few years ago. I am planning on working on the Zora Mae oral history transcript tomorrow. I would like to have it finished for the REH fans who will be here June 9.

Kathy called this afternoon and they are at the Spurs vs. Jazz game I am watching in San Antonio. Haven't seen them in the crowd.

I need to get back in the corner related to literature. My son, Mark, and his wife, Mary Kathryn came Thurseday and stayed till Saturday morning and reminded me that Mark had started reading Mark Finn's BLOOD AND THUNDER when we were waiting for Lou's last surgery and I promised that I would finish it so that he could read it. While waiting in the doctor's office for Lou last week I made some progress in the book. It is a great read. It is an excellent history of Cross Plains documenting its history to establish the milieu that Robert E. Howard grew up in. One of Howard's best friends (and I am working on a transcript of a oral history that repeated the allegation that Howard's will leaving everything to this friend, Lindsay Tyson, was destroyed by his father when he found it in Howard's desk) was the treasurer of the Methodist church when we moved to Cross Plains so I got to know him. I wish that I had read this book so I could have quizzed him on Howard. At the time I knew nothing about REH. Takes me a while to come up to speed on any subject.

Finn quotes extensively from Boatright to establish Howard's skill in folklore and tall tales. From his early childhood Howard was a writer that uses tall tales to embellish his writing. His father, Dr. Howard, was an inveterate storyteller and Howard spent many hours listening to him and his friends. He also grew up in the oil boom days of the 1920s where wells were drilled all over town and the town was filled with 10,000 persons who were mostly looking for the fast buck. His first job was with one of the tailor shops where he delivered clothes, sold them and also washed clothes in the shop. He was fascinated by the fancy silks and lace dresses worn by the harlots who always came to him soiled by everything from vomit to gutter mud. He worked for oil companies as a stenographer after completing the first few courses in business college in Brownwood. He got to know all of the characters in the oil field. He held a job as a reporter for the newspaper to report on oil activities. He was a great student of history and visited libraries when he could. He first discovered the Picts in a history book in a New Orleans library when he traveled with his mother. Finn documents the close relationship of Howard with his sick tubercular mother and strained relationship of his mother and father. I am only half way through the book, but believe it is a real contribution to literature. Well written and documented.

Our friend Dr. Chaffin is still in the hospital but expects to be released soon. He had to let his sermon be read by a friend this Sunday and is looking forward to watching the video of his sermon coming from someone else.

We continue to support the high gas prices by driving to doctor's offices. Today Lou had her annual physical by Dr. Estes and he pronounced her fit and told me she was a "survivor" so now she is singing Reba's theme song. (You have to watch Reba reruns to know what I am talking about.) We ate a late breakfast at Town Crier restaurant and it really tasted good at 9:30. When we got home the phone rang and Dr. Hancock's secretary told us that due to the CA 125 test going up to 31 that they have scheduled a CT scan for her in Abilene next Monday to look at the abdominal area just to make sure there are no new growths. CA 125 should be less than 35 so she is not out of the normal range. The test is also known for not being too accurate. We were hoping it would stay low.

I went to the chief rehab doc yesterday and he looked at my arm and leg that are hurting and said he didn't think it was arthritis, just problem with tendons in the arm and maybe a small something wandering around in my knee. Told me to continue exercising and gave me a prescription of a stronger pain pill if I needed it. Buffered aspirin seems to be working now. I am doing better. Lou is also doing better and looked at some suggested back excercises in her AMA book that she plans to use to improve her back.

In Lubbock our friend Dr. Richard Chaffin, fomer CP FUMC pastor went to ICU with blood clots in his leg and lungs. After a day of treatment the leg clot disappeared but the lungs still have problems that they are treating and he is out of ICU. He is still planning on preaching this Sunday. If he can't make it, he has the sermon ready to be read. So add him to your prayers. We know they have worked for Lou.

Second three-month check up for ovarian cancer today went perfectly for a doctor's appointment. Blood tests right on time, Dr. Hancock right on time and his exam showed no cancer but the blood test results will have to wait for Thursday. Lou is doing better but too much standing still causes some back pain, not bad. I went by Cokesbury to buy next quarter's SS class books and then we had lunch at La Madelaine on Camp Bowie. Left at 1 and got home by 3, so I got a short nap. No rain today after a little yesterday.

Tomorrow I will get advice on controlling arthritis after Kiwanis. Lou will go in the next day for her annual physical.

Today was my trip to the doctor for my annual checkup. He tells me that I am 80 and therefore need a complete exam: electrocardiagram, x-rays of my chest, PSA, stool check for blood, etc. Took all afternoon, but Lou was reading a Sandra Scofield novel and sat patiently. I protested but Dr. Estes mandated that I be referred to Dr. Endsley to get a better diagnosis of my arm and knee. He found some deformity with my knee and wants an expert's opinion. Basically he said I was in good health. Therefore next week Lou goes to Dr. Hancock for her periodic checkup on the ovarian cancer on Monday, I see Endsley on Tuesday and Lou has her annual physical appointment with Estes on Wednesday. As Dale Bishop told me "when you retire buy a new auto because you will wear it out going to the doctor".

Lou was starving after not eating all day, so we had an early supper about 4 at The Olive Garden and enjoyed a good meal, with enough to bring home for tomorrow. She then spent some time at HEB getting cosmetics along with her prescription refill. I bought chocolate covered almonds for my part. She said her back is not hurting in the morning and only bothers her during the day when she has to stand for a time. She is a lot better and walking with her shoulders back looking better. We can see what all the prayers have done for her. Thank all of you for them.

Literary is the word for the day. Last night Lou was one of the featured authors at the fifth Literary Lubbock event. We have attended all of them. Last year we went on Friday when the event was held during a thunderstorm under a tornado warning, saw rain and hail and then it cleared for us to go home. The next Monday was the day she went into the emergency room for the diagnosis of ovarian cancer.

This year the honored authors of books published by TT University Press were Jane Manaster - JAVELINAS, Robert A. Fink - TWILIGHT INNINGS, Lou Halsell Rodenberger - JANE RUSHING GILMORE, Harold Burton Meyers - THE DEATH AT AWAHI, Betty Grant Henshaw - CHILDREN OF THE DUST, Bill Neal - GETTING AWAY WITH MURDER ON THE TEXAS FRONTIER, and Sandra Scofield - THE SCCENE BOOK.

Manaster is an Austin writer who writes about Texas outdoor scenes and is not a great friend, even though we shared a car back to the hotel. She is the critic who trashed LET'S HEAR IT in Texas Books in Review. Someone told her there was no book on javelinas so she wrote one.

Bob Fink is a long-time friend, poet and English prof at HSU and a long time supporter of Lou's writing. His book was essays on grace and getting along. He gave a good talk. All authors were asked to limit their talks to 6 minutes. Lou wrote hers to limit it. She could have talked for an hour as could all of the authors, but they were all excellent talks. Many of the people there knew Jane Rushing, so her book was appreciated.

Burt Meyers was a white haired gentleman who was born on an Indian reservation in Arizona and had a career as a writer for major news services including an eight year stint with Fortune. His novel was a fictional story set on an Indian reservation in NM and used his knowledge from his childhood.

Betty Henshaw wrote her memoirs about growing up on farms in Oklahoma even living on one for a while near Muskogee, where my uncle had a farm that is still in the family. After WWII her father finally agreed with her mother's urging to move to California where other family members had emigrated earlier during the dust bowl. She later moved to Oregon, met Sandra Scofield at a writing class who urged her to publish her stories.

Bill Neal is a retired lawyer who worked both sides of the law, 20 years prosecuting and another 20 defending. After he retired he wanted to record some of the many interesting stories from the courthouses in West Texas and has a couple of books. He told funny stories about how you could get away with murder and rape, but if you steal a horse you are lucky to get past the first cottonwood tree without being strung up and always got the death sentence.

Sandra Scofield teaches writing now in Montana after moving from Oregon and her book tells writers how to put action in scenes. She illustrated her talk with examples from Jane Rushing's writings which supported Lou's book.

This morning we had breakfast with our granddaughter, Vanessa Wilcox, who we were delivering a repaired computer to. Also Noel Parsons, TTU Press director and Judith Keeling, TTU Press managing editor joined us,(they paid!) We had a great conversation on books and authors and left Lubbock a little after 9. Stopped to eat at China Star coming through Abilene and I still got my nap at 2.

I really goofed up in not contacting the Chaffins. I had decided they were on the road and they were at home. I can't goof like that again.

Yesterday I poured 2.9" out of the rain guage. It intrigues me how fast the moisture is absorbed into the ground. We were really dry. There was a little water in the spring where our entry road crosses the creek and for a little while there was water running through the culvert.

This morning we left at 8:30 to drive through a thick fog all the way to the Cisco highway. It cleared there but the clouds kept the sun out of our eyes all the way to Fort Worth. We got to the funeral home a little after 11 and got to visit with friends and family until the service. Mark Kite's brother 7 years younger spoke first and told how Mark was a leader in his school. He graduated from high school at age 15. He was the only one who knew how to run the printing machine at the school and they shopped out printing of wedding announcements, etc. He also edited the school newspaper and printed it. I had presumed he was a leader even then. Being the eldest brother when his father died when he was 15 he helped the family cope. He took them out to the cotton fields to pick cotton for a few dollars. When the war broke out, he went with 3 other classmates to volunteer for pilot training and he was the only one who qualified. He became a pilot but flew after the shooting war was over in Japan. He then flew coal cargos in C-54s during the Berlin airlift operation. He later was sent to reactivate Reese AFB in Lubbock where I served in a reserve unit and was called to active duty during the Korean War. Mark was my boss. He had gotten married a year after Lou and I. We were there for the birth of their son, Matthew and served as godparents for his daughter, Melissa. Our son Mark was named for him.

I was asked to speak at the funeral service after his brother and filled in his life with General Dynamics. I also told of his living with us for a few weeks in Fort Worth after he left the AF and got his Civil Engr degree from SLU in Lafayette, La. and at my suggestion came to work with me in the wing group of GD. I told how he had a great impact on my religious development by bringing a copy of a book written by his CE department head, Dr. Henry M. Morris who later founded the Creation Research Society. I still read devotionals written by him every morning. I described how Mark and I used to have discussions that Lou thought were loud arguments and how I look forward to joining him in a few years when we will then have all the answers to our discussions and will be able to say "I told you I was right".

My talk was followed by a beautiful talk by his daughter-in-law, Valerie Kite, who is a poet and told of Mark's love for all literature and especially the poets. The funeral chaplain then recounted stories of Mark teaching Sunday School class at Westcliff United Methodist Church where we were both active on the Board.

We then had a police escorted procession to Grand Prairie where the DFW national cemetary is located and had a military detail fold the flag, listen to taps and then present the flag to Madge. Mark and Kathy drove us and we appreciated their help. We returned to the funeral home for light snacks before getting on the road. As we exited 820 toward Weatherford we ran into rain that became a downpour with wicked looking clouds to the left and the radio reporting tornado warnings south of us. We apparently were just on the edge of a storm that then proceeded to flood and knock out power in Fort Worth and Dallas and the towns in between. When we got home we had another inch in our rain guage. We are thankful for the rain and were glad that it didn't pour during the funeral.