Thankful for good times

We're still in a heat wave and drought, here in my part of Missouri.  My tiny garden looks pretty good, thanks to the good Lord and daily watering.  There's still no sign of blight on the tomato plants and some of the tomatoes are getting pretty big; I'm thinking if the plants keep doing this great, I might have tomatoes by the fourth of July.  BLT's for my birthday July 7, I'm hoping.  

Last Wednesday we went with Cliff's sister to Versailles to visit Cliff's aunt and cousin.  The next day, Flag day, was our anniversary; yesterday was Cliff's birthday, and today, of course, is Father's Day.  The morning of our anniversary, I went to the computer to make sure my social security had made its way to our checking account, as it always does on the second Wednesday of the month.  It wasn't there, and I panicked.  At 7 AM I called the Social Security number and was informed that the money had, indeed, been deposited.  At 9 AM I called the main office of our bank and was somewhat comforted to hear the problem was with their online banking, and they had techs working on it.  By noon, my money showed up.  I was reminded of the parable in the Gospel of Luke:  "And what woman, having ten silver coins and losing one, does not light a candle and sweep the house and search diligently until she finds it?  And when she has found it, she calls together her friends and neighbors saying, 'Rejoice with me, for I have found the coin I lost.'  Likewise I tell you there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents."

Since I have Facebook, I didn't have to throw a party to celebrate.  I told all my friends and neighbors in a Facebook post until I'm sure they were sick of hearing about it, but perhaps some of them rejoiced with me.  I think it was noon before I felt relieved enough to tell Cliff happy anniversary.  If you knew how small an amount my Social Security is, you'd wonder why I even cared.  But what's mine is mine, and I want it!  

Friday we spent two hours opening a checking account at a different bank, not because of my disappearing money, but because they have made a big mess of our grandson's accounts there.  It's sort of a local bank, but if you're in the Kansas City area, let me advise you to steer clear of North American Savings Bank (NASB).  We aren't the only folks who've left them lately.

Yesterday, Saturday, was a big and busy day.  We went to the tractor show at Lathrop.  It's one of the better ones within easy driving distance, and one of our favorites.

Doesn't this take you back in time?

They're threshing wheat here, I believe.

The main problem is that it always seems to be very hot when this event takes place.  

Minneapolis Moline tractors were featured, and there were a lot of them.  These in the next picture are my favorites:

If you'd like to read the story of this model of tractor, built briefly in 1938, it's quite interesting, even for folks who don't give a hoot about tractors; you'll find the story HERE.  It's very rare, and these command a price that you wouldn't believe.

My problem with the tractor show was that air conditioning has spoiled me, and I don't do well in the heat these days:  I get to feeling sort of "floaty" and out of things.  That makes me worry that I'll pass out and be embarrassed to wake up with strangers gathered around me.  So I mostly just walked from one shaded bench to another and sat a lot.  It wasn't that unpleasant, but I didn't like the feeling I was having.  I did have a corn dog, my first of the year, but the corn bread on it wasn't quite done.  The home-made ice cream, though, at $3 for a generous serving, was excellent!  We went back home for a couple of hours, cooling off and dozing for awhile and then went to Truman Lake Opry to see one of our Country's Family Reunion favorites... actually, one of our favorite country singers ever since the 70's... Moe Bandy.  Here's a picture Cliff took of me with Moe in 2005 when he had his own theater in Branson.

Yeah, we've both aged since then (we're the same age).  Moe is so gracious with his fans and will spend as much time talking with them and signing autographs as they need.  I loved every minute of his show.  Cliff asked if I wanted to go up and talk to him, maybe get my picture taken again.  But I'm not a night owl, and there was a crowd of old folks like us already wanting to talk to him.  I was ready to head home.  

What an adventurous week it's been.  All's well that ends well, I say.  Oh, and according to the forecast, we're due for cooler weather and some possibilities of rain this week.

Peace.