Saturday, March 17

We left around 5:30 this morning and arrived in Hartshorne, Oklahoma roughly 13 hours later.

Trip interests included the cattle, leprous armadillos, and dandelion wine.

Safely here,
we found the swing set had arrived before us, and sat ready to be unboxed and assembled.

We also met David Warden, a local pastor, who showed us around before we settled in for the night to prepare for his sermon in the morning.

You can click his image to learn more about David and his wife Patty. Below are some pictures from inside the church, including a list of God’s commandments written in Choctaw, which you may click to open in a larger view. Check the other image for details from our friends at Grace UMC.

Sunday, March 18

Sunday School was at 10 am, so there was time for Rebecca to force Tom into an apron and fry some bacon this morning. After Sunday School there was a lunch where we met several of the locals before heading to their church service which starts at 1 pm.
No children were present so David called upon Chris and Erin to fill the void, Rebecca Young felt young enough to join them.

Afterwards we played with the local dogs who are warding off the coyotes for us. One of the dogs, Precious, is half prosthetic

Charlotte was using a pool inflatable as her bed, but has now been upgraded to an elevated fold out mattress complete with wheels and some royal looking pew cushions at the head for added comfort.

Some work was done today as we sorted out the swing set materials and ventured out to find a slide and various other parts for it. A trip to the store has stocked the fridge and we are now ready to start roofing… so long as it doesn’t rain.

Monday, March 19

Today, our first day, was challenging. We have a deadline. Five days to get the roof finished. The church here is praying for success, we are praying for success, and we ask for your prayers as well. We started on the rear, straight edge of the house. There were 9 of us working removing the shingles and old felt. By lunchtime, we had achieved our goal.

After lunch, the wind picked up, and we sped up. Several hats were blown off, but they were recovered from the dogs who eagerly picked them up. Despite the wind and rain, Mozart (David’s cat), remained in his tree watching us as we climbed the ladder. Rebecca spread her wings, but was unable to fly away. David will have to do without his TV time tonight as we have disconnected his satellite and left it hanging from the roof.

After the shingles were off, we picked them up and collected the nails. The felt got down, and we started on the first row of shingles and then the biggest rain drops started to fall. Three of us were on the roof hanging on and getting wet, but still putting on shingles. We stopped at six rows of shingles at the day’s end. It is now raining “cats and dogs.” We are concerned about our unfinished side. Pray for dry weather tomorrow. The wind is ferocious during the day. Supposedly, it is “Oklahoma.” It is much better than HOT weather and NO wind!

Tuesday, March 20

Today was a rainy day (3 inches in over 23 hours), and although we did get some work done, this entry will take a more somber tone. We ask your prayers for Leslie and family as she travels home today to be with her mother, Frances, who is in the intensive care unit at UT’s hospital. We pray God’s comfort upon this family as they muster their memories and prepare a final farewell for their loved one.

Wednesday, March 21

Today was a sunny day! We were able to get a lot of work done before leaving early to visit David’s other church in Talihina. Phyllis was quick to return to work after lunch and was the only one working for a while.
We would soon have the entire backside of the parsonage covered and the satellite dish, sort of in place. We also started to strip shingles from the front, but we had to hold David back to keep him from revealing more of the roof than we would be able to cover. He is delighted to have us here and always has a job for everyone to do. Erin is his favorite target and she has done a lot of painting this week.
The ground is still wet from yesterday’s rain, and the van sometimes has trouble getting traction, although we haven’t gotten stuck yet. The swing set is nearly complete, we need only to install the slide and anchor it, but we may end up moving it to a less muddy location before any of that. We built it inside while it was raining yesterday and maneuvered the pieces outside to be assembled despite the continued rain.
Back inside, we were treated to some local cooking as Gwen and her mother, Rosie, showed us how to make banaha, a corn based doughy mixture, and eggs scrambled with wild onions.

Thursday, March 22

With two days left to work, today was expected to be a busy one. Indeed we did work hard, until the rains came and washed us off the roof around lunchtime. When the rain stopped we were able to cross the first valley on the roof and worked hard to finish this part, until around 6:30 when the cold winds blew us off for dinner. For now, we have the backside and part of the front completed. We hope to finish the rest tomorrow, weather permitting.

With the rains came Tom’s chance to take a nap and rest up for another session of keeping us in line, but Rebecca stole Tom’s nap and sent David to occupy him in the meantime with a bathroom door issue. Outside, Julius and Vincent were together, as usual, surveying the yard for any critters, or humans, to feed them. We have been avoiding these two since Vincent’s encounter with a skunk. The end of the day brought aches and pains, but Erin has trained to be a masseuse and Charlotte has come to exploit this skill while lying on her luxurious bed.

As a random note of interest, this piece of shingle turned up as we were tearing them off this afternoon, and just to go and Oklahomafy this entry even more, here are some longhorns grazing in the field just behind the parsonage.

Friday, March 23

The roof is complete!

Today we finished the roof and everyone is pleased with a job well done. The first picture above looks to the West, while the second on the left looks North. To get an idea of what we did today here is a shot from the beginning hours.

We worked hard to finish today, and completed it just in time to partake in some tasty indian tacos, which have been described as funnel cakes with traditional taco toppings. They were delicious, and with all the food, our bellies were filled as we said our goodbyes to the good people of Oklahoma. Tomorrow, we will head for Tennessee, although Charlotte may be flying in later, as this recent photo of hers looks to have been sent from Russia.