dad and the mav

In an earlier post--enough sources of stress already--I told you a little bit about my dad and the 1976 Ford Maverick he owned.

Before going away to college in 1984, I bought the car from him. My friends knew it as "the Mav." The Mav developed a reputation as a dating machine. I don't know how that happened.

Fast forward to the wedding in 1989. My betrothed drove her Pontiac Grand Am to the wedding. I drove the Mav. During the reception my lame groomsmen and Aunt Gloria decorated BOTH cars--not knowing which one we'd drive away in. Of course, we took the nicer car, the Grand Am.

That left the Mav at Carmichael Community Center covered in shaving cream, just married signs, tin cans tied on--you get the picture. So, the story goes, that my dad started driving across town to find a carwash. I think he got more attention during that one drive by himself than he had en route to his own honeymoon. Thanks dad.

The Mav died in 1990 and we sold it for scrap. If I'd been a little more car-savvy, I probably could have fixed it up. But who knows what it would have cost in the long run so I don't feel too bad about letting it go.

two amazing women

My grandmother was about 75 years old at the time--with another couple of decades yet to go. But at that point, she'd already lived an amazing life. My girlfriend was about 20, but the same thing could be said about having lived an amazing life to that point.

Grandmother had been a math and physics double-major on a basketball scholarship at Arkansas Tech in the early 1930's. Girlfriend had served an internship at the Smithsonian Institution's Museum of Natural History scraping squirrel skulls.

Grandmother had raised five children in post-Great Depression SW Arkansas. Girlfriend had travelled and lived in many parts of the US and Europe already.

The two made a connection when girlfriend drove (alone) the two hours to Arkadelphia to spend a weekend with grandmother. While she was there, she interviewed her for a paper she was writing in one of her communications classes. She wrote a fantastic paper that chronicled part of the life of one amazing woman who had done so much.

I had always been attracted to this woman and from the very beginning knew that she was the one for me. But that weekend was the point at which I knew that she would be my wife. The respect that she showed my grandmother really humbled me.

Eventually, one very amazing woman became another amazing woman's first grandchild-in-law.

I still look for that paper every now and then.

with that halo he must be an angel

The college baseball season just started which reminds me of my wedding day.

One week before I got married I spent the entire day outside. The day began with the annual Red-White intra-squad scrimmage football game at Razorback Stadium. Being the only football game of any kind in Arkansas from November to August it is usually well-attended. I was there in 1989. Following the football game, most of the spectators walked the two blocks to the baseball stadium for a double-header between Arkansas and SWC rival Texas. I watched all three games from the opening kickoff to the final out. Sitting in the bleachers watching sports for eight hours gave me a really dark tan.

One day before getting married I got a haircut--a short one. Of course the skin under the hair that had been trimmed was lily white giving my head a sort-of halo appearance. As the 20-year old videotape degrades I become even more angelic.

black gown/white gown

Graduation day was wedding day. At least for the bride it was. You know, the whole black gown in morning-white gown at night deal.

She graduated from college at 10 that morning. We got married at 7 that night. That's crazy. Although, it wasn't really that day that was crazy--but the months of wedding prep and senior-level coursework at the same time leading up to it that was really crazy. Anyway, she's an overachiever and she did great at both. I, on the other hand, dropped a letter grade in my Design of Experiments class.

Between commencement and nuptials there were about 4 hours of free time. Bride and groom spent about half of that time at Hardee's. Brilliant! That's the last place anyone would have ever looked for us. We still don't go to Hardee's. Our families and friends weren't looking for us anyway. They had a wedding to get ready for. Anyway, I think everyone else thought we were both very busy.

We only needed some time with each other. I'll never forget (and always treasure) those stolen moments with my fiancee at a fast food restaurant talking openly and honestly about our future together as a family. In retrospect I realize we'd worked harder preparing for the marriage than for the wedding--advice I'd give to anyone.

Even today in the busy-ness of family life with careers and church obligations and so on, we look for little bits of stolen time together. I love those times and I love her because of them.

but she did say a lot

One key to our longevity: talking. We talk. A lot.

We also listen some. Although I don't always engage the discipline, I have learned to listen. Mainly because most of the listening burden has been placed on my shoulders. I'm good, but distractions sometimes creep in--or in this case, slither.

I remember very well the afternoon at Riverside Park just outside our college town of Searcy, Ark. My girlfriend (the future mrs. kcrazorback if you weren't clear--hey, she's the love of my life I'm not going to be talking about anyone else) and I were standing on a paved path a couple of feet apart facing each other and talking. I peripherally noticed the snake that was just approaching her from behind. In an instant I decided the wise thing would be to not look down or step away but just watch what happens. The brown reptile meandered between her feet and then left. I really enjoyed telling her what had just happened after it got about 5 feet away. I still have no idea what she was talking about.

yes or no, just answer me already

Mrs. kcrazorback and I are steaming toward our 20th wedding anniversary in a couple of months. So, I plan to post some stories from those 20 years several times between now and then. I'll try to keep it tame.

Engagement: In November of '88, I asked the young lady to marry me. She started laughing hysterically. I'm not completely sure that I ever got an answer from her. I was pretty sure that was what she wanted. But you probably know what it is to have a litte self-doubt at a young age. Anyway, as we started telling people right away you could tell how happy she was.

Of course, a few months later the preacher would ask her if she would marry me. She had no trouble answering him. Tellin' you though: I would have gotten the joke if she'd just laughed at him.

Laughter still fills our lives together. We all laugh frequently.

Does laughter=yes?

i didn't know about the new models, but serve me up some pi

One item in the most recent hp solve newsletter, was news of the announcement of three new models at last month's Consumer Electronics show. I didn't know.

But now I know they exist. So, I'll have to get info about these three new hp calculators and get back to you: EasyCalc 100, SmartCalc 300s, OfficeCalc 300. Just based on the newsletter, it looks like I wouldn't mind a SmartCalc 300s for myself.

This edition also has some interesting trivia on the announcement of new models over the years.

The previous edition contained a calculation for the number pi that I had never heard of either. But it's so simple. You take 113355 and split it down the middle, divide the latter by the former so 355/113 and the result is pi accurate to six decimal places. I've been a mathematician for many years and I don't think anyone ever showed me that trick. Cool. Can I have a slice of 355/113, please. It's also possible I knew at one time, but have forgotten. You saw that I said "many years," right?

life journal

Sometimes, the same old routine suprises you and becomes new and exciting all over again.

I've read through the Bible many times over the years. I've tried several plans or systems to read through the whole thing in a year--even accomplishing the feat once or twice.

I've been prompted to journal before as well. But, until now I had successfully resisted the call.

This year, our church is reading through scripture in a year and journaling scripture using the Life Journal. I never expected it to change me, but it has.

The Bible reading plan is good but really not all that different than others. However, the journal is great. It requires writing out scripture every day. I love it. I read the day's chapters, then write a verse or two and my observation about that scripture, how it applies to my life and a prayer. It has become an enjoyable part of my day that I very much look forward to. It's a spiritual discipline that I didn't anticipate would be so easy.

If you've never tried journaling scripture, give it a try. It might suprise you.