The Great American Eclipse

Spending time with family and friends was icing on the cake but the real purpose of our visit to Arkansas in April was so that we could be in an area of totality for the April 8th eclipse.  The next one visible in the USA will be in 2044 and since we will be 90 and 92 then, we decided this year was the right time.  Neither of us were in the area of totality in 2017 and even though it was amazing to be in a 90% eclipse, everyone told us that being in the totality was a different experience.  In fact someone named Annie Dillard said, "Seeing a partial eclipse bears the same relation to seeing a total eclipse as kissing a man does to marrying him.

Lucky for us, Lonoke was just barely outside the area of totality so getting to a place where it would be total was easy.

George and I studied the maps and decided that we would drive north towards Heber Springs and look for a safe place, away from the main road.  

And we found it! Dekalb Road near Tumbling Shoals, Arkansas. 

We drove down a little country road and pulled off at a wide entrance to someone's farm.  We didn't block the gate or the road so we figured that we were in a good spot.

There wasn't a cloud in the sky. In fact it was hot!  Now it was just get comfy and wait for the celestial show.

I noticed a man drive slowly by us and then come back and stop.  I thought for sure that he was going to tell us that we had to move but no, just the opposite.  He invited us to come down to his house where he was going to throw a few hot dogs on the grill.  I love Arkansas people and really wish we had taken him up on the kind offer.

We had plenty of time to relax and practice using the filters on our phones.

This is how the sun looked at first.

Then the magic started happening.  Slowly, slowly the moon made its journey.

Gradually blocking out more and more of the light.

Instead of midday light, it seemed like early evening.

The actual time was 1:53 p.m.

And finally totality!

The 'Ring of Fire'

The temperature dropped dramatically.

Automatic outside lights at a nearby house went on

In 2017, in Utah the birds quit singing, but not here in north Arkansas.

However, the nearby cows quit mooing.

The 'star' to the lower right of the moon/sun is actually the planet Venus.

It was a moment I won't ever forget. 

One friend told me that his chickens went into their coop.

Another reported that her horses left the pasture and went into the barn and got in their stalls.

Where we were, the 'totality' lasted over 4 minutes.

And you could take off the protective glasses for this part.

Finally the 'show' was over and the moon moved on.

We had a front row seat to the "Great American Eclipse of 2024!

I read this on-line about why people are so enchanted by a total eclipse 

"A eclipse is a chance to be reminded of our place in the solar system and the cosmos - something that, no matter how stark our differences, we still share."

For me it was also a moment to be in awe of a Heavenly Father who worked it all out just right.

Lyrics to a favorite song came to my mind.

It passeth all my understanding

How it all worked out just right

The distance that we live from the sun

The stars that shine at night.

We may prove that it was just an accident

But how did it begin?

It passeth all my understanding.

Family = Home

 I so enjoyed our days in Lonoke getting to visit with people I love; people who have been a part of my life for so many years.

First day we were there we met a group of my Lonoke Class of 1971 friends at the Grumpy Rabbit.

How I love these dear friends who I have known literally all my life!

Danny Chivers, Me, Barbara and Jim Fitzhugh, Barbara Jones Chivers, Ross Moore, Karen Lewis Mashing, Pam Cordell Landis, Amos Pack, Mike Pack, Shelia Childress Johnson, Elaine McElyea Anderson, Carolyn O'Bannon, Kirt Fort, Ronnie and Sherry Wallace, George

I don't think I've ever had a personalized menu before.

Also met some new 'cousins' that have joined the family in the last few years.

Mary, wearing the red dress, who is the wife of my 1st cousin twice removed, Logan Dewitt and Logan's sister Ashlynn .  

Darling girls!

George and I drove 2 hours down to Monticello, Arkansas to visit my 1st cousin once removed, Amanda McGraw's family.  

1st cousin twice removed, Tabor's wife Hannah had become my Facebook friend and I really wanted to meet her and see their cute little baby Tatum John.

Well worth the drive through the delta!

My cousin Amanda, her husband John David, son Tabor, wife Hannah holding TJ, and daughter Kelsey.

I loved meeting these new cousins....however many times they are removed! If you are keeping count, Tabor John is my 1st cousin  3 times removed.

Poignant meeting with the husband of my cousin Joy, who passed away two years ago, as Charlie has stage 4 pancreatic cancer and isn't doing well at all.  I remember Charlie when I was just a little girl since he and Joy dated for many years.  The thought of loosing him is painful.

With his two daughters Amanda and Leigh Ann and Leigh's husband Mark.

On a happier note - my youngest 1st cousin Robin Moore Lewis has two new grand-babies that are just darling.  She retired from teaching after a long, illustrious career and is a full time care taking grandma.  Lucky her!  And lucky babies!

I am sorry I haven't gotten to meet her son and daughter in-law but maybe next time. And I'd love to see her daughter Scarlett....

Robin holding Graham and her son, Mitch holding his son,Caden.

George and I also had a great dinner with my Depriest cousins but I forgot to take a photo of the whole group.  Janie's son, Tommy, and daughter in law, Anne, have restored one of my favorite Lonoke houses.  My Grandma Boyle lived next door and I always thought it was just a beautiful house.  They have made it a show piece with beautiful woodwork and lovely arches! I totally love it!

Ronnie and Janie Depriest Raper, Tommy and Ann Swint

I am truly blessed with the best cousins!

 

Snowy Lonoke

 Since my last post was all about a snow day in Lonoke when I was a child, I was thrilled when I saw these photos on Facebook of Lonoke recently after a big snow.  They are a snowy walk through my childhood, teen years and into adulthood.

The building where I attended junior and senior high school was torn down but when they built the new school,  they kept the arches that were at the front entrance.

The new school is beautiful and I realize how much a new building was needed.  I have finally come to terms with the need to tear down the very old school and construct a new state of the art building but it still makes me feel sad. 

The Methodist Church that is just across the street from the Presbyterian Church that I attended.

The beautiful Presbyterian Church founded by two sets of my great-great grandparents.

Presbyterian Church stained glass windows

Lonoke County Court House 

Our first home was on the street just behind the courthouse

The walk I described in the previous post was down the street that is just on the other side.

The sidewalks around the various monuments on the courthouse grounds were perfect for bike riding or skating when I was a little girl.  Not with the snow of course!

The football field at Lonoke High School - home of the Jackrabbits

Memories of marching band and so many football games

The Dairy Bar 

A common phrase during my teen years - "Let's go circle the Dairy Bar"

They still have yummy cheese dip! 

The Grumpy Rabbit is a new restaurant that has become quite well known throughout the state.  I read one review that said, "I never thought I would say that I was going to Lonoke for dinner but the meal I had there was excellent."

When I was a child, my mother worked at the Abstract Office that was on the right of the building that houses the Grumpy Rabbit. There were two doors then. One to the right that led to her office and the other to "Helen's Dress Shop".  I remember when I was finally old enough to shop at Helen's. 

The Lonoke Depot and looking down Front Street, the main street in town.

For many years, a train track went right through downtown Lonoke.  

The train track was what put Lonoke on the map more than 100 years ago.

This gas station has been on this corner in Lonoke for as long as I can remember.

It is now owned by a classmate and her husband.

This statue, or one similar to it, has been in a small fountain at one of the large homes in Lonoke for all of my life.

The Lonoke Community Center is a new building that has a swimming pool, community rooms, a gym,  an indoor track and basketball courts.  My mother went here several times a week to do water aerobics and almost every day to walk on the track.  It is a great addition to Lonoke!

This was the office of Dr. B E Holmes, long time physician in Lonoke.  After extensive renovations, it  now is for sale as a home.  

I will always love my home town!

.

Perfect Love

When we got back from Kenya in October, I discovered that the memory on my computer was so full that I couldn't download my photos so I have been diligently deleting photos that were stored in two places, organizing documents, and putting some downloads in the 'trash'.  One of the documents I found was a talk I gave to the Young Women in our Ward about 10 years ago.  

This week we had a snow day and more snow is expected so it seemed a perfect time to share my thoughts on snow and love!  The photos are not from a snowstorm in Lonoke.  Some are from Providence, Rhode Island and others from Port Deposit, Maryland, both places we lived when my Daddy was in the Navy.

"I love snow!!!  I love the way it looks on the trees and shrubs.  I love the crunchy way it sounds when you walk on it. I love the smell and the feel in the air….I love snowmen!  When my children were little and we lived in Colorado, those snowy days seemed almost magical to me.  Schools would be closed, Dads would be home from work and our neighborhood would become a fairyland of white, glistening snow filled with the excited voices of snowsuit clad children!  In spite of all the damp mittens and coats and boots that littered my laundry room, those days were filled with fun.  Snowmen!  Hot chocolate and toasted cheese!  Snow forts and snowball fights!  I loved it!  I always felt sad when it melted enough that the normal life of school and work started again.

I think my love of snow comes from growing up in Arkansas.  In Lonoke, Arkansas it does occasionally snow.  Lonoke is a small town.

When I was a child, the population was less than 2000. .  Lonoke has no snow removal equipment, no snowplows, people don’t have chains for their cars, and most people have little or no experience driving in snow so when it snows in Lonoke, even an inch or two, the town essentially shuts down.  No one goes to work, no one drives anywhere, school is closed….I remember the excitement of going to bed when it was snowing and wondering all night if it was just a little flurry that wouldn't stick or would it  stick so the next day would be a snow day.  Snow days yippee!!!

Last year I read this in a magazine

 

“Once, after dinner, my father hitched up the horse and took my mother and me for a sleigh ride.  The winter stars were very bright.  The sleigh bells made a lovely sound. I was bundled up to the nose, between my father and my mother, where nothing, not even the cold, could get at me.  The very perfection of happiness. “ from Later Novels and Stories by William Maxwell. 

 

This little paragraph brought back a memory so strong and clear that I could feel the moment in time.  

During one of those rare Lonoke snowstorms when I was probably 8 or 9, my parents and I went for a walk down Court Street towards town. The snow was crisp and crunched under our feet.  It was getting a bit dark so it was late afternoon. I remember that my mother had on the long brownish coat with a hood that I never liked once I was old enough to be concerned about my mother looking “cool” so that I would be “cool”.  That day though I was just thrilled with the snow, with no school plus having Moma and Daddy both home during the day. I’m sure that the snowy roads had closed not only school but all other businesses. I was holding both of their hands and would slide along on the icy roads as we walked.  Sometimes they would lift me up in the air ahead of them.  It was cold but I felt like the man in the preceding  paragraph…..safe “between my father and my mother where nothing, not even the cold could get at me.  The very perfection of happiness.”

My father and mother are both dead now but I still can feel that same safety and peace because I know that I have a Heavenly Father who loves me. The YW theme starts out, “We are daughters of our Heavenly Father who loves us…..”

 

President Uchtdorf spoke of this love so eloquently last conference….I don’t want to paraphrase his words but read them to you….I hope in your minds you can hear the distinctive accented voice of this prophet of God….

 

"Think of the purest, most all-consuming love you can imagine. Now multiply that love by an infinite amount—that is the measure of God’s love for you.

God does not look on the outward appearance. I believe that He doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely.

He loves us because He is filled with an infinite measure of holy, pure, and indescribable love. We are important to God not because of our résumé but because we are His children. He loves every one of us, even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful, or broken. God’s love is so great that He loves even the proud, the selfish, the arrogant, and the wicked.

What this means is that, regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes, our infinitely compassionate Heavenly Father desires that we draw near to Him so that He can draw near to us."

 

It is my prayer that each of you young women that I love so much can feel the love of our Heavenly Father ….& that because of that love you feel safe where nothing, not the cold or sadness or depression can get you…..and that you feel the very perfection of happiness."

And today in 2024, that is still my prayer - that we all feel the love of our Heavenly Father and experience a moment of perfect happiness.

 

Mary and Jackson's Epic Adventure

Mary told me several months ago that she had planned a trip so that she and Jackson could drive from West Virginia to Boise.  Her itinerary was so thorough,  that she even knew where she wanted to eat lunch each day.  I love her spirit!  3000+ miles alone with a 5 year old.  Lots of memories made!

Here they are starting out from Harper's Ferry, West Virginia. 

First stop was a safari park in Virginia.

Everyone got a basket of food for the animals to have in their cars as they drove along.

The llama was very interested!

A yak actually stuck his whole head in the car.  No photo of that!  I think it was kind of scary.

Finally an aggressive ostrich just reached in and took the whole basket of food.

I think feeding the giraffes was a lot more tame!

First night was in Gatlinburg, Tennessee which is a big resort town.

Mary and Jackson enjoyed the aquarium there.

Next night was in Jackson, Tennessee before spending a few hours driving around my little hometown of Lonoke, Arkansas.

I loved watching her on 'Find my Friends' as she explored.  First by my mother's house, by the school, Aunt Mary's house....the park, the church, and finally a lunch at the Grumpy Rabbit, which is a new and very popular restaurant in town.

Here's Jackson on the steps of the Presbyterian Church where his 4th Great Grandparents were the 1st couple married and where his great grandparents were also married. It's the church that I attended every single Sunday of all my growing up years.   They are about to tear it down.  That breaks my heart.

Next a trip to the cemetery where he played horsey on my parents grave.  

I hope they were amused watching their great-grandson!

I think they were.

The next few nights were spent with his cousins, aunt and uncle in the Fort Worth area in a town called Burleson.

With Aunt Amanda at the children's museum.

Exploring the Fort Worth Stockyards with cousin Izzy.

Hanging out at home with cousin Lilly.

I know the break to play with cousins and not drive hours and hours each day was a welcome change before the push to Albuquerque and Monticello.

Mary found some really child friendly places to explore along the way. 

Have you heard of Cadillac Ranch?

30 years ago 10 cars were partially buried in the sand.

Now you can go and see them but best of all, spray paint them.

What kid wouldn't enjoy that??

After a night in Albuquerque and a quick and very cold stop at Mesa Verde National Park, they joined us in Monticello.

I think Mary is already planning another cross country drive to see us, this time taking the northern route and stopping by Chicago.

Maybe I should fly back to West Virginia and join them!