The Fire

I guess I will have to fill in some stuff that has happened since I wrote the last two entries. I think the one before was "Fast Morning" where we were to watch the final four in the NCAA men's basketball championship. I was driving Leroy still and we watched that set of games at Normie's house and had a late night there. That was Saturday, and then Monday we went over to Normie's for the Championship game between Florida and UCLA. That was another late night...so far I had been messing around with Leroy from 7:40 in the morning till 11:00 at night, driving him and stuff. I didn't drive him all that time but I was "on call" the whole time. I got to stay home a lot, but had to drive him where he wanted to go on a moments notice, and my truck was stuck at his house till I was let go at the end of the day, so I couldn't go anywhere on my own. Tuesday we had a fire at the Elbow Room at the U-ark theatre. The Elbow Room is where Best Sports used to be, and is the store directly in front of the place that Leroy crashed over the railing. It was a minor fire that happened when the store owner was cutting some lead and a spark landed on a couch near the saw. He left at the end of the day and didn't notice it smoldering. A tenant saw the smoke coming out a window on an upper floor and called 911. Normie, Leroy, and I, were eating a spaghetti dinner at Leroy's house that Cheryl had made and Ryan called during the middle of it and told Leroy of the fire. Normie and Leroy rushed off to the Uark theatre where they saw four or so fire trucks, and assorted police cars there. The fire was restricted to a couch and some of the area directly around it and the fire department extinguished it quickly. The most damage was due to the fire department breaking down doors, even those that were no where near the fire. Leroy spent a lot of that evening trying to secure those broken doors and didn't finish till about 10 p.m. or so. I made it back to the property around eight or nine because Gypsy had slipped out the gate and I was looking for her for a couple of hours. Normie took Leroy back to his house and they attempted to finish dinner but they didn't eat much and she went back home soon after. The next morning I brought Leroy in, and he and Ryan spent the day fixing doors around the place.

Leroy is Fine

This will probably be one of the last posts to this blog. Leroy is pretty much back to normal now, though he still has me feeding his horse's. His children came up here to look him over and approved his permission to start driving himself again. He was ready to ditch me as a driver, and the last hurdle was to convince Robin and Chuck to let him drive again. I felt that I was a help in this by making them realize that his truck was so easy to drive that someone in far worse condition could drive it with no problems. I think the fire was a turning point in all this recovery stuff because it made Leroy go back to his normal life before he may have decided to do it himself. This morning I fed the horses again, and when I finished, Leroy was in the garage feeding the dogs. He looked and felt fine and was planning to come to town to get some conduit for his new barn's electrical system. He's a little weaker, and sometimes has to use his cane, but is getting stronger and soon will have all this ugliness behind him.

Fast Morning

Today was a pretty easy day at Leroy's. I got there around 7:40 a.m. and it was warm and sticky. We had big thunderstorms last night and the grey clouds were still hanging in the air, with the sun shining through, making the wet ground steamy. The horses were waiting in the corral for their oats like they were supposed to, and even the cats were on the hill watching the back door for the slightest movement. They know the routine when they see me drive up. Four horses and two cats, all in a row, anticipating. Once I walked through the garage and opened the back door, all the animules turned and walked to their posts. The feeding went quickly and left me time to fill the horses trough with water. Last nights rain did little to fill it. I fed the dogs later, and Leroy put me to work looking for some stuff. He also had me put his new insurance cards in all his vehicles, and then said he was tired and for me to go. I guess I was done by 9:30. He was tired from all the walking he did yesterday and wanted to take it easy today. He may have done a little too much Thursday, but I can see that he is getting back to his old self with each time I go out there. Tomorrow we will watch the final four at Normie's.

Big Day doing Errands

Yesterday was kind of a day off also, though I still had to go out and feed the horses. Leroy was waiting for Carl Strange to come out and hook up his new dishwasher, so he didn't need me to drive him around or anything. Today, Leroy kind of made up for it. After feeding the horses and cats and dogs, we left Leroy's house around 10:00 a.m. and went to Normie's to get my gate opener and some coffee. Then it was off to Howards office to talk to him about some stuff. I think it has to do with the horses and studifying them. Anyway Howard was on the phone most of the time so we talked to Cheryl about making more pie. Howard said that the three horses lifted the fence and walked through to the far field. They went through the giant hole in the fence. Thunder didn't go through because he is a scardy cat when it comes to wire and stuff. Thats how they got out there with the gate closed...no one let them through as it turned out. After Howards we came over to the Dickson Street place so that Leroy could talk to his minions and fool around in his office for an hour or so. Leroy walked all over the place and was getting in and out of his truck pretty well. We went to the Neighborhood Market and he walked all over that store getting stuff. Finally, we drove back to Blackoak and put the truck in the barn so the hail wouldn't get it. We're supposed to have severe weather tonight so he didn't want to take any chances. I'll bet Leroy walked at least half a mile today, all in all. He seems to be getting his balance back, and his stamina is improving by leaps and bounds. He may be perfectly well by next week sometime, not entirely well, but well enough to get back to his old life. We hope it doesn't include taking a dive off of any more bridges. I have to go again in the morning and feed the horses and everything, but it may not be too much longer till he can do it himself again.

My Day Off

Today was a pretty easy day at Leroy's, mainly because I didn't have to go at all. Chuck stayed around till the afternoon and did all the stuff that Leroy needed done. Mother said that they did a ton of stuff yesterday including getting a new dishwasher for his house and going to the Razorback football practice. They even got some part for Nana's car and drove that around a bit. Later they all went to dinner somewhere with mother, and she said Leroy was almost completely worn out. So they retired early. I got to sleep in this morning till about 7:30 a.m. and called about 8:30, but Leroy didn't need me for anything, so I had breakfast and then went about my day. Mother went out to Leroy's about 5:30 this evening to have dinner with him, she made a frozen pizza. She said he was getting around without his cane for the whole time and is slowly but surely getting his balance back. I was to stay out there for a few nights but it looks like he is making so much progress that I may not even have to go out and feed the horses for too much longer. Leroy even claims he is going to get the electrician out there one day to hook up the barn and then they can fill the ditch and remove the temporary fence around it. It seems that within the month he will be recovered enough to say the hell with the Dickson Street property and start work on disposing of it. Now that Chuck is gone I'll have to go out in the morning and feed the horses and then start on whatever Leroy wants me to do. Robin said she would be up here April 8th or so to see her dad, surprisingly he might be all recovered by then.

Chuck did it All

Today was kind of a wasted day, but at least it was warm enough this morning to wear the short pants. I got to Leroy's house around 7:40 and found that Chuck had pretty much taken care of everything with the horses and cats. When I walked through the walk-in gate, I could see Baby back in the corral, and she probably told the other horses that I may not be fired yet. Chuck said that the horses all came in yesterday about an hour after I left, and he and Adam closed the gate to the far field on them. Finally they were stuck in the right field with little grass to eat as Howard wanted. Chuck and Adam also moved Leroy's truck out of the barn and the new feed into the tack room. All I did this morning was feed the dogs. Chuck made us all breakfast so I shared that with them, Leroy and Chuck, Adam was still asleep as teens do. Last night we all had brisket at Normie's house and tonight I'm not sure what they have planned. All I know is that they will feed the dogs so I won't have to. Chuck is going back to Little Rock tomorrow so I will go out to Leroy's house and help him in the morning. I don't have to go in at the crack of dawn though, Chuck said he would feed the horses then too. I'll be back for them early Wednesday morning though, to feed them and call them some more names.

Catching the Tom Cat

This post is out of order and happened sometime in early February. The Tomcat would periodically show up in the mornings to steal the food for the two wild kitties, White and Siamese, that Leroy has been feeding for years. After determining that the Tomcat was going to make this a habit, he never showed up for the first few weeks that I put out food, I decided we would have to make him go. He wasn't going to leave on his own. Wally could shoot him, or we could trap him. I had thrown things at him and chased him...the cat, not Wally, and the cat would only go as far as the fence line and then start creeping back as I walked away...he knew I couldn't get him. So one day I took mothers raccoon trap up to the stables, where the cats feed, and put it down out in the open with some sardines in the end of it. The Tomcat, the arrogant Tomcat, started climbing all over it with me standing maybe 30 feet away from it, in plain sight. He walked in and got the sardines and then walked out...to my amazement. So I walked up there again and put more sardines in the trap, only harder to get to, and then walked to my original location again. The Tomcat walked in again, and this time the door came down with a bang! He didn't even notice, no reaction whatsoever. He bloodied his nose trying to get out once he saw me out of the corner of his eye standing over him, but it was too late. I had to take him out around the barn, so the dogs wouldn't see him, and took him to the humane society for disposal. Lauren was not pleased, and mother had to put an ad in the paper to make her feel better...no one called for him. Maybe the owners came and got him, but I haven't seen him since.

Worser Horses

This morning was nice and sunny and cold again. It started at 27 when I got out to Leroy's and warmed to about 48 by the time I left a few hours later. Leroy was back home today and I wanted to be quiet so as not to wake him or his son and grandson. So I came in the walk-in gate and circled the garage to the corral where I found no horses at all. Years and years have gone by and the horses haven't missed a morning in the corral to get their grain...till now. Its their dope, and now they're just saying "no," "damn Nancy Reagan!" I had to walk around the lake to find them in the far field again, and tried halfheartedly to get them to come in, but they wouldn't budge. I walked all around the fence back there to see if there was a place where they could have gotten in by themselves, but there was no place like that. Someone had to open the gate for them and they got in before he knew it and could close it...only Thunder was stuck in the middle field. This morning they wouldn't even come through the gate opening, knowing I would close it before they got back. So I ended up just feeding the cats and dogs and gave the finger to the horses. Leroy looked pretty good and was getting around well with his new cane. He and Chuck thought they would call Howard about the horses and what to do with them. We were also conferring with Robin, on the phone, about what to do now that Leroy was back and how to help him. We worked some things out, and Robin is a lot nicer now that she's away from the influence of Lauren. Tonight all of us may eat dinner at mothers and work out some more details, so stay tuned...this blog might actually start being about Leroy's recovery after all.
For more pictures go to http://certainpicturesandtext.blogspot.com/

Bad Horses

Leroy should be back today, he spent the night last night at Chucks house and is expected back around mid afternoon. This morning was sunny and cold again, about 24. I got to the house and believed that I would see the horses in the corral waiting for their food. What I got was no horses at all. I had to walk around the lake to find them, and the sight I saw mystified me. Brownie, Baby, and Spring, were all in the far field. The gate to it was closed. And, Thunder was standing in front of that gate wishing he was with the others gorging on new grass. It makes a little more sense why he was in the corral last night eating hay. The middle field, where they are all supposed to be, has very little grass in it which is what Howard wanted so the horses would lose some weight. The horses really hate it there. I went into the far field to get the other three horses, but they wouldn't come with the gate closed, so I opened it. Thunder galloped through. I called them a bunch of times, but none would come, so I wound up calling them names and stomped back to the stables to get some grain. I was going to bribe them but they were too smart for me, they remembered yesterday when Cheryl and I tricked them. They weren't going to fall for that one again...so soon. The best I did was get Baby almost to the lake and then she balked. I was feeding them out of my hand, Thunder, Baby, and Spring. Thunder, though, wouldn't come any farther than the open gate to the far field, the others kept following me. Spring stopped halfway through the middle field and Baby came to the tree at the start of the trail by the lake. I told them that if they didn't come that I wasn't waiting any more but they didn't care...they just wanted real grass. So I yelled some dirty words as I rounded the lake and looked back to see them making their way back to the far field. I fed the cats and dogs okay, and then on the way back to my truck I found my tire flat...more cussing. Then I remembered that Leroy had an air compressor, and if I could only figure out how to make it work, then I would be okay. I figured it out and here I am, everything bad happens on the most important day.