We will be known forever by the tracks we leave.



living room bed and the quilt Mrs. Butler made

It's our anniversary today and for  36 years this old quilt has kept us warm and made a picnic special.   It was prayerfully made as wedding gift  by Mrs. Butler.

 The Butler's were Pentecostal hog farmers that lived across the road from my husband's family home.  Prayers and Pigs is what first comes to mind about the Butler's.  They've since passed on into eternity but the quilt lives on, as do the good memories and kindnesses of them.  

We've had a lot of rain.  Last week we had 14 inches in just a couple days. This  wreaks havoc on the miles and miles of dirt road on the ranch.  When it's raining the wildest you will find Mark out with shovel in hand keeping the ditches flowing and the culverts clear.
 

 

Mark and his shovel

 

Trees also fall in such wild and wet weather and block the roads and dam up water.  The cattle need feeding too.

hungry cows and oak tree down

 

One 87 year old neighbor, Gil, is always the first to offer us a hand.   After this last storm he changed one of our culverts and cleared that oak tree from the road with his backhoe.  He also cleaned up roadside ditches as he drove along.  Gil is a good neighbor and, like the Butler's,  leaves behind a lasting, positive  legacy.

 

I wonder if we will? I hope so. 

In Fahrenheit 451, Ray Bradbury wrote,

"Everyone must leave something behind when he dies, my grandfather said. A child or a book or a painting or a house or a wall built or a pair of shoes made. Or a garden planted. Something your hand touched some way so your soul has somewhere to go when you die, and when people look at that tree or that flower you planted, you're there."

manzanita's are starting to bloom

 

Some questions we sometimes ask ourselves:

What's our legacy going to be? 

What's important to pass on to the next generation?    

What value can we add to each other, our family, our community, our country, our world?
And... Who is our neighbor?

 

Late January at the front of the ranch

 

Happy Valentine's Day! 

Charity - LOVE- is the greatest legacy.