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January 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th witnessed a lightening trip to Tulsa, Oklahoma, with the intension of descending on Mylinda's home like a cloud of locusts and testing the limits of her hospitality. The trip was the brain child of AJ, and conducted with secrecy reminiscent of the Manhattan Project.

The trip was originally set for Dec. 26-29, but inclement weather descended, and (much to the chagrin of some members of the younger set) the trip was postponed. This image was typical of the landscape from Oklahoma City to Eagar, on the return trip the outbound trip being even whiter. It is my humble opinion that this delay was the correct choice.

This sign was encountered in a shop window where we stopped for gasoline, suggests that, even the locals weren't completely prepared. Once again, I made the startling discovery that, I prefer summer heat over winter cold.

The hearty souls making the tour included myself, Nathen (Rachel stayed at Kylie's house, until sickness forced Wyatt to take her home), Symantha, AJ, Brittney, Sabrina, and Piper.

It was fun for awhile, until I became convinced that the voyage would never end.

We stopped over at Symanthas'/Ameilias' house in Eagar, in order to be able to leave when Symantha finished her shift at 0730 hours.

Our visit there was brief, but enjoyable. Unbeknownst to me, AJ claims that he and Brittney, become ill when they drink the water in Eagar. I don't dispute that observation, but it does seem a bit odd...

Brittney had not visited the great state of Texas, so we took a moment, to document the event. I'm not sure the Texas highway patrol would have approved, but given the pride they have in their state, maybe they would have...

I think Mylinda was surprised, not necessarily by our visit, but by the sheer number of bodies that walked through her front door.

Mylinda sews a fair amount, and Piper was the beneficiary of some of her remnants.

After fighting over her blanket, AJ and Loren reached a compromise.

I think Lauren enjoyed our visit, as she and Piper seemed to get along quite well.

We ate quite well while we were there, but if we had done a better job of planning the meals, and then bringing the food for them, it would have freed Mylinda from the kitchen, and given her more latitude, to enjoy our time there.

I think Carson enjoyed our visit mainly, because his mother had too many irons in the fire, and by default, allowed him to play video games more than usual.

Perhaps it is an age related phenomenon, but everyone there, from Symantha's age on down, seemed to have a remarkable tolerance for those games.

One might conceivably conclude, that after the vicissitudes of life have beaten you around the head and shoulders a certain amount, you lose the capability to be amused by the semi-continuous stream of beeps and squawks.

Mylinda broke out her computer driven embroidery machine, and Sabrina fell in love with it (except for when it malfunctioned--circa once every 5 minutes). Still, it is a remarkable piece of equipment. My Grandmother Hatch, (who made quilts with the regularity that most people ate meals) would probably have given her eye teeth for one, (assuming of course, that you could convince her, that such an apparatus actually existed). I didn't take the opportunity to delve too deeply into the nuances, so I don't know if you can create your own designs, or if you have to buy them digitized on a floppy disc. Floppy disc??! Good grief! That machine is already obsolete!

Mylinda seems to have developed quite a talent for sewing. I lost interest in sewing when I discovered Value Village, where reasonable used clothing was available for a fraction of the price of the accouterments (buttons, zippers, etc.) on clothing you made yourself. Perhaps Mylinda has discovered a way to circumvent that, or perhaps is driven by specialty items.

In total, it was a fun trip. It was tiring and plagued by illness, but I may do it again some day... On the home front, our central AC/heating unit died. A blade from the squirrel cage fan broke (how and why that would occur is one of the mysteries of the universe). The resulting collision warped the fan housing, cut a slot in some duct work, and bent the shaft of the motor. That amount of destruction seems excessive, but once more theory and reality diverge. Anyway, four weeks, (the motor must have been shipped from China via slow swimmer) and $1,675.00 later, the unit is again functional. When I installed that system, I left the room heater (that had served us for 20+ years) in place. Turns out that was a good decision. Once in awhile I guess right (or as my old boss would say, "Even a blind squirrel finds an acorn occasionally"). The creative processes in the lapidary shop have slowed to a stop. The grinding/sanding equipment is water cooled. In the summer, that is not a problem, but in the winter... Lets just say, that keeping your hands in 33° water for an extended period of time, is a bone chilling experience. I purchased a submersible aquarium heater, only to discover, (after some protracted head scratching) that this last time I ran electricity to the shed and shop, I came off the 220 volt line leading through the AC/heating unit. So, pulling the circuit breaker to that unit makes the shop cold and dark. You would think I would have remembered that, but there really does come a point where you can hide your own easter eggs... I recently encountered two more stashes of photographic images, one containing 733 negatives and the other 49 slides. I have previously scanned many of the photos made using those negatives but, thinking first, that the negatives are less likely to have suffered damage than the print made from it and second, not seeing any convenient way to identify duplicates, I digitized them all. If having a copy of these batches is of interest to you, let me know. Late breaking news: Orland Reed Hatch (my fathers' brother) passed away 1-19-16.

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