SANTA TRAIN - 2014

Sorry it took me so long to get the Santa Train on the Blog… but I am using my broken foot as an excuse. OK, it might not be a good excuse, but it is a fact. It will also explain why there are not very many pictures of the kids with  Santa… Well, my inability to stand where I could get a decent shot and the crowd in the building, because we had trains running and because it was raining outside. The parking lot was filled with cars but no crowds of people like in the past. Just too wet! So, in they came, and stayed!

   

So, everyone crowded inside, some enjoyed watching the trains, some enjoyed the popcorn, hot chocolate, and cookies, but everyone enjoyed being inside a building where it was not raining and was warmer than outside.

Niall was wonderful with the little ones, as usual.

  

Santa had a comfortable spot to sit this year. He did not have to be under a tent – he had a brand new room to sit in.

 

it was almost dark when they left.

OPEN HOUSE – VETERAN’S DAY, 2014

 

We had a great Open House today as part of the Town’s Veteran’s Day Parade and festivities! 43 visitors – 8 kids – some Boy Scouts – and a Yorkie! The trains ran well – we discovered we need a governor on one of the layouts… when the kids shove the handle to full throttle… well… So we had a derailment or two, but, hey. This happens.

We got the farm together somewhat… not done, but the corn is about ready to be harvested and the hens are laying eggs. The goat ate some bushes, but that happens. The Exmore diner was open for business even tho construction is still going on.

Anyway, if you were there… thank you so much for helping out! If you could not make it – you missed out on a fun day – maybe we will see you for Santa Train – Dec. 6th. Santa usually arrives around 2:30. Mark it on your calendar! Wait ‘til he sees the new room! (I wonder if he remembers the year the roof leaked so bad we had to put him under a tent – inside the building!) Progress!

Come see how much progress we have made on the building, the new rooms, and the layouts!

Progress. We are all about Progress.

COMPANY FOR MOTHER’S DAY!

This is Briar on the left, age 7, and Caleb on the right, now 13.

SANTA TRAIN 2012

The Santa Train was a roaring success again this year. As always, it presented its own set of challenges, but the weather cooperated beautifully with temps right around the 60 degree mark and a perfect sunny day. Last year we nearly froze and the year before that we nearly drowned, so this was awesome! It took a lot of work to get the Station cleaned up – all the tools moved, wood stacked, scaffolds folded and put away, bags of insulation packed in the corner – and then setting the “stage” for Santa, Mrs. Claus and the helpers. Furniture was brought in from storage and cleaned, props brought from home, sheets staples to the walls to hide the tar paper and ancient boards. The “office” had to be emptied of all our work stuff and set up for dispensing hot chocolate, cookies, and popcorn. One of our best Santa helpers and his wife even washed the windows!  Imagine that! (I wonder if she rents him out?) (Thanks Paul and Sharon!)

We got to try out our HVAC system – so of course, the temps went up to 60 – wouldn’t you know it? For the first time ever, we did not blow any fuses (Thanks, Dennis!) so the coffee pots and popcorn machine did not have to take turns! LOL! We had a wonderful crew of volunteers – I cannot say enough about people giving of their time to do all this… the Santa crew and our members. Wanda B made hot chocolate for me this year – bless her heart. That is a never ending job. Frank loans us his coffee pots which then stay in my van waiting for the next event next week. Shore Bank brings their popcorn machine and Susan serves up bags of piping hot popcorn. Yes, I ate some! PNC donates a load of cookies, and the rest of the dozens of cookies come from our various members. I have to admit I ate a couple of them, too – nothing like a good home made chocolate chip cookie. So it is not on my list of things I am allowed – this only happens once a year!    

The crowd starts to gather and grow… with someone keeping an eye down the tracks. And then the magic moment arrives. After waiting and waiting and looking down the tracks, that tiny light that seemed to never move started to get a little bigger. I don’t know who cheered the hardest, the kids or their parents (or us!)                                                       Santa and his entourage finally work their way into the building. The long line followed. I bet the chairs felt good. Kids from the tiny to big climb on board and answer such questions as, “Have you been good?” Some of the answers were more honest than others with, “Ummmmm, well, ummmmm, mostly.” Or, “I did my best, honest, Santa, but you know how it is… do you have any little brothers?” It was hard not to crack up.     Some kids brought a l-o-n-g list, others ad-libbed as they went along. Niall found a scrap of paper, as we were cleaning up on Monday, with some little kid’s wish list on it. It was a modest list, the spelling was pretty good… I wish him well. Most of the kids, after seeing our trains told Santa they wanted trains for Christmas. I can’t wait until next year when we have our layouts built and running. Our members obviously were not having a good time, right? Who is happier? Finally, a hundred plus kids later, The Santa family head back to the train and the last stop. One of the elves told me they had started out at 4:30 that morning. What a long day! Thanks to all our wonderful workers for helping to make this a success. Its enough to make even me believe in Santa Claus!

SOME OF THIS, SOME OF THAT

OK, I DISAPPEARED... well, sort of. I have been so busy I have had lists of my lists of things to do. And I also had a major Lymes flair up that seriously slowed me down and made getting things done a hundred times harder. It is scary when the Babesia in my chest gets active. It is hard to tell if I am having a heart attack or it is "just Lymes." The symptoms are so similiar. Add fear to pain and not much gets done. OK, I read a couple books, something I seldom have time to do anymore. But, I am back on my feet, more or less... You can see some of what I have been up to at the other blog- http://onley-spots.blogspot.com/. Tho I must confess, I have not done much there lately... the body has not been cooperating, and then there is the problem with the heat. I do not do well in serious heat and humidity. I tend to pass out. So, last week while the guys labored in the heat, I sat with my camera and encouraging words and felt awful. I hate to not be productive, and my plans for all the work I needed to get done before this heat set in... well, I just get real mad at myself.
Then on June 16th, I was the "official" (!!!) photographer for our Shore's annual Juneteenth celebration. You history buffs know what that is, I am sure, but did you know that our county, Accomack, is actually mentioned by name in the Emancipation Proclamation? Unh huh.. Sure is. I will not bore you with all the pictures of the politicians and dignitaries, I will spare you all the entertainment shots, but will post Black Elvis upon request! However, I did get a few shots for my own amusement. I will share my kid fix shot for the day. They were dancing up a storm, these two, much to the entertainment of the assembled crowd. Ah, wouldst I could have a bit of that energy and pure joy!!!
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, the lilies decided to put on a show. This, a new one, is in front of the St John's Wort. The older lilies have been spectacular this year. Here are just a few of them. I really like what my aunt called 'funny faces' - deep color contrast lilies. This is my version of Happy Happy - and as close as I will ever get to owning one. Look it up, see what Happy Happy costs! In the rest of the yard there is an assortment of color run riot... blue, purple and orange! The window boxes are mostly deep reds and pinks.. And some unusual combinations seem to happen like Russian Blue Sage and gladiolas growing next to each other, and the phlox and coleus out by St Francis. I just thought I would share my garden with you. It has given me so much joy even when I can't be out in the midst of it. For those of you who get my Musings, those are faded prayer flags in the upper left corner. Thanks for stopping by! Next cool day, if you are in the neighborhood, come sit in one of the Adirondacks, have a glass of iced tea, and visit. Punkie will join us, I am sure. He LOVES company.

A DIFFERENT KIND OF GIFT

ACTUALLY, THE BEST KIND OF GIFT...
AS YOU can see, I have been posting with pictures of things I call “Gifts” – little surprises, butterflies, flowers, little moments that have stopped me in my tracks and made me smile and wonder at the beauty of it all. Well, on Wednesday, I got another gift, and it was a gift of the best kind. A gift that hugs! On my companion blog, http://onley-spots.blogspot.com/ , you can see the entire story. I won’t bore you with the whole thing here. What I will tell you is I got a phone call from our “Station Master” – otherwise known as the President of our tiny corporation “Society for the Preservation of the Onley Train Station” telling me that our local electric co-op was arriving to put in a new pole and hook us up for electricity. We had a volunteer, Tom Gonzalez do the prep work, install the big breaker box and meter box and outside connection wiring. Tom does the wiring for Habitat for Humanity around here… (Isn’t it great that there are so many wonderful people out there? We just have not met them all yet!) Anyway, I digress as usual. So I grabbed my camera, hopped in the van, and drove the half mile to the old train station. The guys were getting their trucks in position, and one guy was already in the bucket ready to go up to prepare the wires on the building for connection. I got off a few shots from the ground, then climbed the steps which another volunteer had fixed and attached to the building (Thanks Pat Morrison, Station Master) and prepared to get a closer shot of the guy clipping the wires. First shot taken, he looked down at me and called me by name! “Hey, how are you?” he asked. So we spoke a few more words to each other as my brain furiously worked to recognize any of the face – and there was not much of that I could see as it was in shadow, he was wearing sunglasses, a hard hat, and I had a feeling that I taught him YEARS ago… I strained to see the name on his jacket, but I could not see it for the bucket and his gear. He reminded me that I had taught him his freshman year in high school and he mentioned another student… my mind went racing back – what was that, 20 years ago? 25? I have lost track of who and when as well as names. I guess that happens if you teach long enough. So when I thought he was not looking, I quietly asked his boss what his name was. Virgil! It was Virgil! I taught only one kid named Virgil, and I will never forget him, but that was a few years ago. Sadly I do not remember any of his art work, but I do remember his personality. Here on the shore, Virgil was what people call “a mess.” Now if you are from away, just hang on tight. Being called “a mess,” especially when accompanied with a smile and a loving tone of voice is a compliment. It denotes someone who has a great sense of humor, is guaranteed to make you smile just by walking in the room, is probably trustworthy, and a lot of fun. He is the kind of kid that is just plain lovable without even trying to be. It is funny how kids expect you to remember them even after 30 years, they’ve grown a beard, lost their hair, gained 100 lbs, have grandchildren… not that that describes Virgil – just sayin’… they expect you to remember them even if they were only in the 2nd grade when you had them. I have no idea if Virgil has any hair or not – he was wearing a hardhat. He does have a beard – and it was a very bright sunny day, I think I was the only one who did not have sunglasses on. I have never gotten the hang of taking a picture thru sunglasses… anyway, Virgil got us all connected. Well, not by himself, of course, he had a delightful crew working with him. Truly, they were a nice bunch of guys. And today, we have electricity! But the best part of all, when he finally had his feet on the ground, I got the BEST hug I have had in a long while. In fact, I got several hugs. Maybe he was as happy to see me as I was to see him!

FROM THE MOUTHS OF BABES

'Our Father, Who does art in heaven, Harold is His name. Amen.' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A little boy was overheard praying: 'Lord, if you can't make me a better boy, don't worry about it. I'm having a real good time like I am.'
****************************************************************************
After the christening of his baby brother in church, Jason sobbed all the way home in the back seat of the car. His father asked him three times what was wrong. Finally, the boy replied, 'That preacher said he wanted us brought up in a Christian home, and I wanted to stay with you guys.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
One four-year-old prayed, 'And forgive us our trash baskets as we forgive those who put trash in our baskets.'
********************************************
A Sunday school teacher asked her children as they were on the way to church service, 'And why is it necessary to be quiet in church?' One little girl replied, 'Because people are sleeping.'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A mother was preparing pancakes for her sons, Taylor, 5, and Brian, 3. The boys began to argue over who would get the first pancake. Their mother saw the opportunity for a moral lesson. 'If Jesus were sitting here, He would say, 'Let my brother have the first pancake, I can wait.' Taylor turned to his younger brother and said, ' Brian, you be Jesus !'
**********************************************
A father was at the beach with his children when the four-year-old son ran up to him, grabbed his hand, and led him to the shore where a seagull lay dead in the sand. 'Daddy, what happened to him?' the son asked. 'He died and went to Heaven,' the Dad replied. The boy thought a moment and then said, 'Did God throw him back down?'
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A wife invited some people to dinner. At the table, she turned to their six-year-old daughter and said, 'Would you like to say the blessing?' 'I wouldn't know what to say,' the girl replied. 'Just say what you hear Mommy say,' the wife answered. The daughter bowed her head and said, 'Lord, why on earth did I invite all these people to dinner?'

BELATED MARDI GRAS

Remember your first taste of Cajun food?