Make Like a Tree and Leave

When we bought our house, one of the selling points was the pre-existing landscaping and trees. Our yard had a peach and two plum trees, and for several years, we enjoyed wonderful fruit from all three trees.

But all good things must come to an end.  Fruit trees don’t have a long life expectancy to begin with, plus we had bores (sp?) and several freezes  did a number to all three of them.  We haven’t had fruit in several years, and finally, the trees gave up.  Shortly thereafter, my ivy and grapevines decided the trees would make an excellent habitat, so they took over. It looked like the trees were alive, but alas, they were covered in vines.

In an attempt to up the resale value of our house, we enlisted the help of Dr. Alyx “Chain Saw” Shultz to chop ‘em down.  Alyx loves her chainsaw.  She gets great pleasure from sawing, trimming, logging….generally anything that involves the chainsaw.  You can see by the look on her face that she is completely enjoying the project.  Alyx is so awesome!  She has an infinite knowledge of chainsaws, veterinary medicine, marathons, equine science, and statistics. 

While Alyx was annihilating our yard, I, on the other hand, stood back and acted like a girl.  I checked on the cookies, moved limbs, asked her if she was wearing proper eye protection, and made dinner.  It’s as if we were married in the 1950s. Scott and I did, however, manage to make an impressive brush pile, and if we weren't in city limits and if our shed weren't five feet from the pile, we would have a bon fire worthy of our college days. 

Alyx is about to move to Kentucky to be on faculty at Murray State University, and she is just giddy about the vast amount of trees that she will get to saw down once she moves. 

Another endearing quality about Alyx is that Patsy likes her.  For those of you that know my dog, she likes my mom and dad, Erin, maybe Scott’s mom and dad, and now Alyx.  That speaks volumes to Alyx’s character and we will miss her and her chain saw.

Note: Patsy approached Alyx on her own accord.
I did not force this behavior as I typically do.

Our yard now looks naked.  We were going to put a garden in along the fence, but it’s so bare.  We need a little protection from the alley as any creeper could stand back there and look right into the yard. Any suggestions for filler in this area are needed and welcomed.

We Saw Marfains!

Here in Lubbock, we say that we live in West Texas.  Although that statement is not un-true, there is a place that is even further west than what we consider “West Texas,” and we went there this weekend.

We went to Marfa, Texas. As Meterologist Matt Laubhan stated, think Mexico, then up a little.  It was only a five hour drive to get there from Lubbock, which surprised me, I thought it would be way longer.  Marfa is centrally located 180 miles from El Paso and 180 miles (approximately) from Midland. This Google Earth picture isn't as clear as I had hoped, but yeah, find Mexico, then up a little...Marfa is marked on this map.  Lubbock is where the little I-27 marker is.

Marfa is an odd little place, but we really liked it.  It is frequently featured in Texas Monthly and I’ve seen it a time or two in Southern Living, so we have wanted to see this mysterious little place for a while.  It’s known for several things:  the Marfa lights, art, movies, beautiful scenery and our friend Eric Pierce.

The Marfa lights are a mystery.  No one really knows what they are.  They’re just lights that appear on the horizon east of Marfa at random times of night.  My mom told me about them when I was little and it scared the dickens out of me. Unsolved Mysteries was even intrigued by the lights and did a segment on them.  In order to face my childhood fears and in hopes of getting to dial 1-800-876-5353 to help solve a mystery, we went out to see if we could see the Marfa lights. No such luck.  Eric grew up in Marfa and had seen the lights several times.  I looked them up on the Internet, and there aren’t many good pictures of them, but you’re welcome to Google them yourself.

Marfa is also on the map because it’s an art community.  In the 70s, an artist named Donald Judd (I guess he was famous, but I hadn’t heard of him, but I’m not as cultured as most) moved there and started using many of the building in town for his art.  He acquired an old fort and renovated the fort’s building and grounds into art spaces.  One piece of “art” is a bunch of cement blocks.  Here’s a picture from Google Earth.  I just don’t get it.   The blocks are the dots on the right side of the picture in a straight line. 

We went into a gallery and found a photo of Judd’s art on sale for $15,000.  We passed on that in search for something a little less.  This “Prada store” is actually "art."  It’s a little box of a structure outside of Valentine.  You can’t go in.  It’s just an exhibit of Prada stuff, but the shoes and purses were from the 2005 line, so I wouldn’t want them anyway.

So now, artists flock to Marfa to set up shop.  Many have a studio in New York and one in Marfa, like this Evan Hughes guy that makes furniture.  Makes total sense.

Marfa was the setting for Giant, starring Elizabeth Taylor, James Dean, Rock Hudson and Dennis Hopper (God rest their souls).  The cast and crew took over The Paisano Hotel in the 1950s, which has recently been renovated.  We ate there Friday night.  Yummy food!  Can you imagine being a teenager in Marfa in the 50s and having that many movie stars in your hometown?  I would have been in movie heaven!  I still hold out hope the same thing will happen to Carmen, OK.  Hey, it happened to Wakita.  Anyway, No Country for Old Men was also shot there.  It was an odd little movie, but I kind of liked it.  I couldn’t get past the bad guy’s haircut.  Finally, There Will Be Blood was shot there.  That was the most horrible movie I have ever seen.  What a waste of two hours of my life.

The area around Marfa, Ft. Davis and Alpine is just beautiful.  They usually don’t get much rain, but after all the rain this year (thanks, Hurricane Alex), everything was so green and pretty.  Very cool rock formations, mountains, old buildings and yes, even some art decorated the landscape.  We really liked it there and hope to return at some point to see more sites.

Our friends, Eric & Melissa Pierce hosted us for the weekend.  Eric’s family has a ranch south of town.  The house is awesome!

The pond in the photo above is stocked with gigantic catfish and they love mealtime!

There was other wildlife (I only saw rabbits, but I kept my eye out for rattlesnakes, wild hogs and mountain lions). This jackrabbit couldn't figure out why I was walking in circles around the pond.  I tried to explain to him that I was trying to get in shape for a wedding, but he just didn't get it.  He's the tiny speck next to that plant.  Squint your eyes, if needed.

Although we didn't see the Marfa lights, we saw some very pretty stars.  The photo below is of the moon, but it didn't quite look like that in person.

Eric also took us to an old Indian camp.  I don’t know what the holes in the ground were for, but it’s pretty cool.  They found several arrowheads in the area of the camp. I didn't try to pick up arrowheads because I just knew if I put my hand on the ground a rattlesnake would jump out from underneath a bush and bite me.  I'm petrified of snakes, if you can't tell.

Although Marfa is an odd little place, it was really nice and very enjoyable with great friends! 

Cancelled.

Yet again, another television network broke my heart.

I was just getting my life back together after NBC cancelled ER (and yes, I know it was time, but I still miss Dr. Kovach!), when ABC cancelled Ugly Betty.  Rip my heart out and stomp on it!!! And now, TNT cancelled Saving Grace.  Just kick me while I'm down, Hollywood!

I really liked this show!  And according to a straw poll of my students, one in seven liked the show too.  So, did it really need to be cancelled?  I think not.  However, I do not run a television network (but maybe I could do a better job) and do not know what types of budget constraints they face, and I really have no idea what the ratings for the show were.

The main reason I loved the show so much was that it was set in my motherland of Oklahoma. They go places in The City (Oklahoma City for you backward, non-Okies) that I'm familiar with, they eat at Johnnie's Grill all the time (for you non-Okies, this restaurant is a must-try), and it was simply a really great story.  I don't get back to Oklahoma as often as I would like, so this show made me feel a little closer to home.  My biggest complaint about the show was that they made everyone out to be an ou fan.  NOT EVERY OKLAHOMAN IS A SOONER FAN.

The show is about the life of Grace Hanadarko (which is spelled wrong, it should be Anadarko) and her quest to find God again through the help of her angel, Earl.  Grace was raised in a strong Catholic family--her brother is even a priest.  But Grace has issues with God.  Her sister was killed in the Murrow Building bombing, and she spent most of the last 15 years being mad at God, and sometimes doubting God's presence at all.  In the final episode, Grace finally accepts God, but then TNT ruined what could have been a happy ending by canceling the show.  I did not like the way the show ended.  You can see the final episode here.  I won't tell you how it ends, but I really, really want to.  It's really bothering me to not tell.

I do want to point out the character names and why this show makes me laugh...and probably in a way that the writers of the show did not intend:

• Grace Anadarko--Anadarko is a small town in west-central Oklahoma. So small, it's a Class B school, although they used to be good in basketball, circa 1994
• Kate Perry--Perry is in northern Oklahoma on I-35 near Stillwater.  It's where the authorities caught Timothy McVeigh.  It is also the world headquarters of Ditch Witch
• Butch Ada--Ada is in southeast Oklahoma and is home to East Central University, Bob's Barbecue and Polo's Mexican Grill--yum!
• Ham Dewey--Dewey is a very small town in northeast Oklahoma.  There is also a Dewey County in western Oklahoma.  Taloga is its county seat.  We would occasionally play Taloga in basketball.  They, of course, beat us.  My friend Jill grew up there
• Bobby Stillwater--really?  I think the show's writers were stretching for names.  Bobby Stillwater is the lone OSU fan on the show.  The show did not do a good job of representing my alma mater, but I'll look past that

So farewell, Saving Grace.  I'm going to go sulk a while, or at least until Glee comes back in the fall.  If TNT cancels The Closer, I think I might eat an entire half gallon of Braum's chocolate ice cream and sob.

My Part Time Job

Although I am fully and happily employed by the Department of Agricultural Education and Communications at Texas Tech University, I have another job that I get a kick out of.


A long time ago, 10 years to be exact, in a state far, far away, Indiana if you're curious, I worked for AgDay Television.  I loved that job!  I got to travel and cover agricultural news from coast to coast...but I never went to the east coast, so coast to coast is not really an accurate statement...more like Midwest to west coast.  Anyway...


When I worked there, I was dating the man that would eventually become my husband.  He lived in Lubbock, I missed him, I wanted to be closer to my family, so I eventually decided to move.


When I started grad school in 2006, AgDay called wanting some freelance reports from God's country.  Anxious to practice what I teach (video production), I happily agreed to send them one story a month.  In reality, it's one story every two months, but who's counting? (Probably the head honchos at AgDay.)


Last month, I did a story in Tulia, Texas on wheat harvest.  Prices are terribly low this year, due to an oversupply of wheat in the world.  As down as the farmers were on prices, I still couldn't help but get a lift to my spirit by the beauty of it all.  I just love the colors during harvest.  The blues, golds and greens are always so pretty. I took this picture with my iPhone and it didn't do the colors justice, but it's still nice to look at.

Without further adieu, here is the story, as reported by Erica Goss--that's my showbiz name..  Special thanks to Tommy Womack of Tulia and Jay Yates of Shallowater for allowing me to interview them for this.  And a huge thanks to the fabulous Scott Irlbeck...the handsome young devil that charmed me away from AgDay.  He shot the video for this and did a marvelous job.

My Students Part II

For ACOM 5308, Utilizing Online Media, Dr. Courtney Meyers taught our students how to create portfolio websites, and I must say, I am so proud of their work.  So if any of the four readers of this blog are looking for talented and bright young minds, take a look at these people!

Brian Holladay's Portfolio Site

Brittni Drennan's Portfolio Site

Christy Witt's Portfolio Site

Kelsey Hall's Portfolio Site

Mica Graybill's Portfolio Site

Way to go, students.  This summer class has been one of my favorites to teach.  I learned so much teaching this class, and I hope my students did as well.