Here Now, There Then

Four weeks ago we arrived in Wichita Falls, TX to an area like none we had ever worked before. Whispers of Hope Horse Ranch targets children with disabilities and disabled vets by teaching them how to interact with horses. The ranch started over twelve years ago by a lady who had a love for horses and a vision of how her love could be used to help others. Mary Elizabeth Pearce is a small bundle of energy and her vision has grown by leaps and bounds. 

The uncompleted barn - notice all the red dirt.  After all
the dirt that blew around us, I'm surprised there was
any left to be on the ground!



The barn almost finished - you can barely see Barry
on top constructing the copula

The interior office framed out with the wood walls installed.

The reconstructed Wichita Falls waterfall.
The original falls disappeared years ago.
This man-made falls was a gift to the town
from the people of Niagara Falls, NY.

 

We were there to help with a huge new barn. It was a steel building that houses 20 horses and the new offices. We were the second team to work on it and should have been putting up drywall. Unfortunately, weather and numerous changes delayed the construction and it was nowhere near completion when we got there. I have no idea what the previous team did but we spent the first part of the project staining boards that would be installed for the stall walls and painting a fence. Halfway through the second week, we were able to start framing the office walls inside the barn.

By the time we left, the offices were completely framed and all the wood installed on the walls. I also helped stain the framework and deck around an above-ground pool that is used for the disabled children. We were both happy to finish the project and get on the road.

Wichita Falls must be the windiest and sandiest place we have ever been! Everything is covered in dry red dirt and it blows by in huge billows of clouds that gets into everywhere – eyes, ears, mouth, windows, doors, everything! Then one day it poured rain and turned all that red sand to red mud. One afternoon after the rain, we were driving away from the barn and as Bill backed up the Jeep, we started sliding sideways. Four-wheel drive solved that problem.

Me in front of the Gano cabin

 

While in Wichita Falls, I took advantage of being close to Dallas and drove down to spend a weekend with my sister Jeanie and her husband David.  Jeanie took me over to a really neat fabric/quilt shop, Sew It Up.  Jeanie introduced me to this shop's website and I've bought a number of things from there.  The owner is a darling person and, of course, I found some fabric I couldn't live without.  Saturday, David and I went to the Old City Dallas Park and went into the cabin built by Gen. Richard M. Gano, a very distant relation of mine.  Originally, the cabin was located on the grounds of the new Dallas-Ft. Worth Int'l Airport and was moved to the park location for preservation.  Gano descended down a different branch of the Gano family than I did.  Too bad.  His granddaughter was Howard Hughes's mother!  Then David and I went through the 6th Floor Museum, the site from which Oswald shot Kennedy.  Super crowded that day but still bone chilling to look out the windows of the book depository.

Drywalling the bathroom.  Work in progress.
Nancy and I are doing this room.  Not bad
for two beginners!

Now we are in Ripley, MS (about 70 miles southeast of Memphis) and about ready to start

St. Paul's Methodist Church, Ripley, MS.  We are
working in the portion of the building on the right.

our second week of work at St. Paul's Methodist Church. The old original church had been closed years ago and not opened until last year. This is the second year of renovations to make it into a children's education center for the community. Our job was to get the framing done so the stained glass windows can be reinstalled in the sanctuary once the windows are ready. We don't think they will be ready before we leave but at least the framing is done. We are also working on the second floor where the Sunday school classrooms were located. All the old plaster walls were taken out last year and new drywalling and mudding started. We are finishing that part of the project and hope to get the wainscoting and the new walls painted before we leave in two weeks.

We are camped a couple of miles away from the church at the First Monday Trade Park. It is the oldest continuously operating flea market in the country. Started over 105 years ago in

Some of the merchandise available for sale at
the First Monday Trade Park.

the town as a trade fair for the local farmers, it evolved into a huge flea market. Recently, though, the numbers of participants has fallen drastically. It took place this past weekend and, as we wondered through it, we saw all kinds of stuff being sold – chickens, ducks, goats, rifles, dogs, t-shirts, outdoor furniture, tools, all manner of clothing, birds, junk, and more junk. And you saw every kind of person wandering too. We enjoyed just sitting there watching people go by.

This past Saturday, the whole team took a road trip and drove up to Corinth and then onto Shiloh Battlefield. In Corinth, we had lunch at Borrum's Drug Store, famous for their hamburgers and milk shakes. It was founded by a Civil War veteran and is still run by his descendants. I would go back there any day for another cheeseburger. Too good!

Lunch at Borrum's - Nancy, Bill, me, Bill, and Meredith.
Nancy's husband Dennis took the picture.

Corinth has a very good Civil War Interpretative Center. I didn't realize Corinth was a vital railroad center for the South and seeking to capture it was the original intent for Grant landing at Pittsburg Landing that precipitated the battle at Shiloh. What was really neat about this center was the walkway leading up to the building. Inbedded in the concrete sidewalk were all kinds of things a soldier would have carried into battle – rifles, ammo, backpacks, hats, canteens, cups – and other pieces of battle equipment. It was meant to demostrate what a battlefield looked like after the fighting was over. What was heartrendering about it was a replica of a letter a young soldier had written home.

Shiloh is, without a doubt, one of my most favorite battlefields to visit. It is so far off the beaten path that it takes a real effort to get there, but when you do, you are very glad you made the effort. It is so quiet. No airplanes flying over, no super highways with noisy trucks and cars whizzing by, no shopping centers cluttering the roads. It's a privilege to visit. And it is immense. The National Park Service grounds don't encompass the entire battle grounds. We drove by monuments and info markers placed among the few houses built in the area. And, like when I drove along Cemetery Ridge outside Chattanooga with all the houses perched along the battle line, I certainly wouldn't want to walk out of my house early one foggy morning and come face-to-face with the ghost of lost soldier! That could be conceivable at Shiloh – losses amounted to 23,746.

The battle was fought over two days in April 1862 in dense oak thickets and deep ravines where it was hard to distinguish friend from foe. The first day, the South prevailed but with tragic consequences because General Johnston was shot in the leg by a stray bullet and bled to death. He ended up being the highest ranking general from either side that was killed during the war. The next day Grant was reinforced and ended up winning the battle which led to Corinth being taken in October of that year.

We happened to be there while the park was observing the 152^nd Anniversary of the battle. There were some reenactors present and I met Generals Johnston, Beauregard, and Grant

Generals Johnston, Grant, and Beauregard

with their ladies at the Visitors Center. We missed the cannon barrage but arrived in time to see the last showing of the film. It was a very well done film that showed the battle from the viewpoints of two young soldiers, one from the north, one from the south. It brought home the fact that the war was a dirty, tragic affair and that Shiloh opened the eyes of this country to the horrors of a war that was tearing this country apart. Too many died and too many were maimed because a different solution to this country's problems could not have been found. A beautiful place it is and should continue to be remembered for what happened there.

Okay, it's getting far too late and I need to get up in the morning to work on the drywall I started last week. So for now, this is all I have to say.

More later . . .