To be honest, I had to sit down and figure out how long ago I moved my family to Gonzales. I’m not going to guess, as I know it has been at least 30 years or more. I loved this town as soon as we unpacked our belongings.
I like to tell folks that when we got word that we had fulfilled all the requirements to make this beautiful house our new home, we moved after packing all our worldly goods in my old 1956 Ford pickup. We made three trips from Salinas with nothing but a scrap of rope covering our goods.
When we parked my truck out front, we just sat in the cab and smiled at each other. We smiled a lot. Our house was the second house sold in the sub-division. A young married couple lived right beside us who had bought the first house sold. Both of us were really happy to be here.
I developed a sore back from pushing this old wheelbarrow full of decomposed granite that the guy running the crew told me I could have. I filled all the holes that were left after the construction crew had left. We had Zack the wonder dog with us and he loved being able to run around the backyard. He had been cooped up in our condominium up in Salinas while we were working, and this was a breath of fresh air for him.
The way we exercised was to walk out of our sub-division with Zack the wonder dog and walk toward the Fanoe family home until we felt we were tired. Then walk down the bottom of the culvert built to run off all the water from the fields. After the boys were born, we used to play war games down in the culvert. That was probably the best time of my life. They still thought I was a hero because I had fought in the Vietnam War. We would hide from each other and try to hide from Zack, but he was too smart. Those were some of my fondest memories.
I guess I am having a little maudlin feeling whenever I walk down Fanoe Road. My memory bank keeps taking me back to those good ole days with my boys. Lorraine and I walk our Ranger down those paths today, but we don’t walk down in the culvert. We try to change the directions of our walk just so we can talk about how quick the kids grew up and have their own lives now. Although they are still close enough to drop by to say hi.
I’m writing about those days because the route is getting tarnished by the dog stool that seems to multiply with each day. I just can’t figure out how a dog owner can walk away from the deposit their dog made at least two times a day. Maybe the City Council can figure out a way to place the plastic dog bags around the city a little more. I’ll study on that and perhaps something good will happen.
On a another note, Jim Muscio, the owner of Agri-Frame, donated the metal for a heavy duty box to be made and attached to the metal frame in the front of the American Legion hall. This will serve as a place for folks to deposit any old worn, discolored or ripped American Flags so they may be disposed of correctly.
Last year there must have been well over a hundred flags turned in. Jim’s senior welder, Juan Cabrera, designed and built a great container, and we are looking forward to placing it. It is the hope that we can, again, destroy any flags that are in poor condition. The American Flag is special to me and to any service man or woman for it represents home when we are in a foreign country.
I am particularly protective of our country’s flag. While in Vietnam, I carried a flag sent to me and to my team from Washington, D.C. That flag had been flown above our Capital. My team leader had asked me to write my representative and ask for a flag to be flown over our team site. I didn’t have much faith in my letter, but I received a flag in five days. It was flown above my team site and brought home when I rotated stateside.
I have it still and hope to pass it on to my sons and daughter when the roll is called up yonder, as my Mom used to say.
I would like to finish this week’s thoughts with a smile, but I watched the “State of the Union” dog and pony show on TV last night and there is not much I can add to what was said. Of course, it was difficult to follow the screaming and threats spewed out by our prez.
For a guy that takes 14 days vacation while supposedly running our country and deserts our soldiers in Afghanistan where so many have died. I won’t scream and threaten either party as he did so often. However, there is no down without an up.
I may have felt a little concerned by what was said on Thursday night and the way it was said, but I always remember my Mom telling me there is no bad without a good. Our Savior taught her and she taught her boys that the rain may ruin a picnic, but it brings out the sun and the sun shows us the way.
This Saturday brought out the love our town has for the children. It filled my heart to see all the kids and their parents working the soil to build a garden that will feed our hearts and our stomachs. Gonzales has a new “Community Garden.”
If you would like to warm your heart, drop by right next to the swimming pool and gaze upon the flowers, fruits and vegetables planted with love to bring our town even closer to each of us. This will continue to evolve and I can’t wait to see the fruits and vegetables that will provide for our community.
God Bless.
