One of the reminders from this sad time is how important pictures become when someone is gone. With that reminder fresh in our minds, here are some pictures of the family as we prepare to leave Dallas later that day.
The Tinsley clan:
The day of the funeral was a sad day. Ben, Paul and Q were pall bearers. The tribute was wonderful by Ray, the friend he worked for and his pastor. The music was wonderfully touching. It was a sweet tribute to our friend, father, husband, grandfather and great example of true Christianity in action.
While driving to the airport to pick up Jennie Gaye and I took a detour through her old neighborhood. This is the house that Gaye grew up in although it has changed in the last 40 years.
We had the unfortunate experience of traveling to Dallas for the funeral of my father-in-law, Gayle C Tinsley. What a great and terrible experience - on the one side I got to know more about the greatness of a person who I had already admired, and on the other hand, realized that I would not get to enjoy his company and guidance until I, too, go through the experience of death.
When we finally arrived in Dallas after a 20-hour drive, Hero decided that she should ride with the luggage to the room at the hotel.
Gaye received a call from her sister that her father was not doing to well and that if she wanted to see him alive she had better get to Dallas within the next 48 hours.
Paul and his family are here at the house with Ben and his family. Q, of course is here because he lives here. Jennie and Kyle arrive a little later. It was fun to eat and talk and enjoy the time together.
Every June we have the Tinsley family birthday party. It is a combination birthday celebration and remember Jase day.
Finally, we end up at the home of Gaylen and Dena. They are always such wonderful hosts and lots of friends come by to wish them well and to reminisce about Jase and the good times we had together with that great young man. The food is always good with some great elk, deer and javalina burgers or steaks with all of the side dishes and desserts to make the scales scream in agony and run for cover when we get home.
Dena's family comes as well. This year Jackie and Art Jacobson also came with Christa
.
Here we were, minding our own business as we ordered our favorite hot dogs at Ted's and I looked down the line and who should I see but Lynn and Vicki Nelson. So we ate with them. Then a couple of weeks later (these photos) we did it again only this time on purpose. And we invited Gary and Darla Tyler to come along as well.
We are so lucky that Jennie and Kyle love to come over often and have dinner with us and play games. Also, our fortunate circumstances include having Quentin around to join us for meals and conversation and an occasional movie.
If you have been very observant you have noticed that either Jennie is a fast-change artist and that there is a huge selection to choose from on the table or that these two photos were not taken the same day.
I love riding my bike. I don't do it as often as I would like during the summer. It is not that it is too hot. While I am riding I am very comfortable. I am often riding at 9 or 10 at night but that doesn't help too much because the temperature is still hovering around 100 degrees even at that time of night.
These pictures are of the area where I ride. The cities in the Phoenix Metro area have started using the canal areas as great places to make accessible to people who want to bicycle, run, walk or ride horses. It is nearly perfect because it is mostly away from traffic and the canals run all over the valley. These shots happen to be of the Tempe area where I ride. Tempe has not only paved the riding areas on one side of the canal (leaving the other side for riding horses), they have put designs in the pavement, added rest areas and drinking fountains. Near some of the parks they have put up netting to keep riders/runners from being hit by balls. There are bridges over the canal and walkways into neighborhoods, etc., to make these areas as accessible to everyone as possible.
Gaye is out of town. That much should be obvious. How else would I have survived making such a mess in the house?
So I found some extra coaxial cables. But you can;t just hook those together because someone who wasn't as smart as the guy who invented water hoses put the same kind of ends at both ends.
Hero LOVES cherry tomatoes. She loves to pick them. She loves to eat them. And she loves to wear her bear backpack while she does it. So we send her out with a bowl (and a helper) to pick cherry tomatoes. It is very entertaining to watch.
Today I went to price some good, composted dirt for the garden boxes and the new garden area that I am planning. I was shocked at the price of that . . . DIRT! For the amount that I need it is over $600! But, after thinking about it, that may still be a fair price but just more than my budget wants to bare right now.
Gaye is off gallivanting all over Texas (her dad had some cancer removed and is not doing as well as had been expected so she flew out to Dallas to spend some time with him and Audrey). So I am entertaining on my own. It was a fun evening. Notice that when I am doing the cooking that we have steaks and when she cooks we have real food. :)
We discovered that Hero, Paul and Jessica's daughter, loves cherry tomatoes. And then she discovered that you can just walk out to Opah's garden and pick them right off of the stem. So she is packing those cheeks like a squirrel who has seen winter just around the corner.
So now we have created the Cherry Tomato Addict. She will have to be in rehab and therapy for years to come. She'll be hopping peoples fences in the middle of the night to get her fix of fresh tomatoes. She will try to deny that it was her but the red stains on her hands and clothing will give her away every time.
Today, the 28th day of May, being a Friday and having taken it as a day off from work, it is a yard work day before we head out of town for the weekend. Mow the lawn, trim the edges, spray for weeds, trim the trees and try to get the front gravel in order. The lawn has finally greened up and is thick and wonderful in most aspects. It still needs airating and de-thatching but that will come. The garden is pretty sad this year. I took too long to get it started because I just couldn't give up the winter peas and lettuce that were still producing wonderfully. The only solution to that is to have two garden areas so that one can continue while the other gets planted. That would also allow all season long for the dormant garden to get prepared for the next season.
As you can see from the photo at the left, I have tried a new variety of squash. They are round Zucchini that I picked up from Harper's Nursery up on McKellips Road just west of Gilbert in north Mesa. They are delicious and tender, even when you let them grow too long and too large. They preserver better than the regular variety of Zucchini squash since these have an outer skin that is more like a pumpkin, I think.
We headed out for Farmington, New Mexico for the Memorial weekend with Dawn & Bo and Gaylen & Dena. I believe that Gaylen chose this location so that we could go and visit Chaco Canyon, an ancient tribal location that has been uncovered and was one of the largest gathering places in the area.
I actually did TWO things today that were memorable. It was graduation for all of those seniors at Dobson high School again. One of our neighborhood friends, the Reeds, have a daughter who graduated. The past couple of years the weather has been poor and due to holding the ceremony in-doors, the number of people who could attend was restricted. So, anticipating that, we did not go. We later found out that they held it out doors anyway. Darn - it would have been so much fun to go and watch these kids celebrate their escape from Azkaban. :)
Earlier int he day Gaye and I went out and finally bought me a couple more pairs of Levis so that I could stop trying to wear the ones with holes everywhere I went. That was cause for celebration.
Gaye has created another wonderful dinner. Jennie and Kyle come over about once a week to eat and have game night with us.
I was out this past Saturday attempting to be healthy as I rode my bike the quick six miles over to the temple to help with some of the landscaping. As I was riding along on that beautiful sun-shiny morning, this land fish came sailing right out of this guy's yard and onto the sidewalk. With no time to stop or swerve I slammed into the air grouper and sailed over the handle bars doing a double flip and not quite landing on my feet.
OK. I was riding my bike, dinking with a head phone that was making its escape from my ear when I realized that I was going too fast. With only one hand on the handle bars I grabbed for brakes, which ended up to be "brake" and faster than you could say, "Hit the road, mister!" I was hitting the road.
Needless to say, my pride was severely bruised. I hopped up, hooked a leg back over the bike and continued onward.
The choice of cast was tough. Should I get neon orange to go with the computer bag so that I can get into work incognito or shall I be a little more flamboyant? I got a high-lighter green one. I think there is a need for more attention - at least my wife says I am attention deficit.
Wednesday I go back to see the casting doctor to see if the broken stuff is all staying where it is supposed to. It was something called the Distle Radius or some such thing. As far as I can tell, it is the bone that supports the thumb structure. Oh, yes - and I really scraped up my leg, too. In fact, between the two, the leg hurts way more than the broken wrist does.
And being a mildly artistic person (or so I humor myself) It was not long before my cast received it's first piece of body art.
