How Was Your Day?

ThatManILove finally came home from the rig last night for the first time in two weeks. Today, we went to eat breakfast, then to Starbucks, the mailbox, the movie and by Mom’s to give her the Valentine’s present. And voila, it was time to take Zack the Wonder Dog for his run.

Then, we ordered Outback takeaway crab legs and steak, and now we’re vegging out on the couch , under a furry blanket, watching Jennifer Aniston and Vince Vaughn in “The Breakup”. Yummy, quiet Valentine’s Day. There’s nothing better!

What did you do for Valentine’s Day? Tell all, because inquiring minds want to know!

We Bid Adieu to John and Suzan, plus ZZ Crew Pix

Sunday, we loaded Zack and Zanna in the crate, and headed to Woolforth. Our friends John and Suzan are heading northeast to join the crazies in the Pennsylvania Marcellous Shale, and this would be our last time to see them for a while. (John came out of retirement for the second time to take a VP position for an oil company there.) We met John and Suzan in 2001, when they transferred into Midland from Guatemala, and have been friends ever since. Our plans were to pick them up, go to lunch, and head out to view their property at Lake Alan Henry, then head home.

Right. The best laid plans...yadda, yadda, yadda.

We took our time, going back into Lubbock to eat at Rockfish (yup, my diet blown all to hell, but who can pass up Rockfish??), then back out to their house at Woolforth to load up Zack and Zanna again. Since we knew it would be some time before we were together again, we decided to all ride together. We headed out to the lake property, dogs in the big crate in the back of the Yukon. We almost asphyxiated en route, a la “eau de Zack”. The boy had some major gastro going on. It became quite the joke, that is, after we wiped our eyes enough to be able to see to roll the windows down. Several times. The boy is pungent – it gives a whole new meaning to being gassed. By the way everybody carried on about it, I can tell it will soon develop, with probable exaggeration, into one of those stories that are told for years to all of our kids, their grandkids, etc. What a thing to be remembered for, LOL - Zack The Wonderdog's farts.

Anyway, back to the lake property at Alan Henry. It is beautiful place, 10 acres, with a beautiful view of the cove. It’s rained quite a bit there, thus the overgrowth. The build site is on top of the hill, looking down into the cove. The properties surrounding John and Suzan’s acreage are beautiful, with gorgeous houses and rock fences, boat barns, and paths down to the lake. We walked the perimeter of all 10 acres. It was fun watching Zanna trying to keep up with Zack, jumping over cactus and mesquite bushes, and dodging the big grasses. Zack flushed a couple coveys of quail, and was one happy camper. He’s more than ready to start hunting season again.

At one point, the dogs had been running for a while, and were hot. The property also has a natural pond, and it wasn’t long before Zack found it…and in he dove. Oh, yes, he did. Zanna, hot on his trail, arrived about two minutes later (well, she is still pretty small, but you sure can’t fault the little thing for lack of determination!), took one look at the situation, and went leaping off the rock into the water. They were swimming, and Zanna was still after Zack, biting his ears and messing with him. They loved it. We finally got them out of the pond, and trekked on down to the cove at the waterfront. The grasses were quite tall due to the recent rains. Zanna was having to do a “hop run”. She couldn’t see around the grasses, so she would try to hop over them while running. We were almost to the cove when Zanna jumped into a huge cactus plant. She didn’t even falter. MLH picked her up, and called me to rescue her. She was full of cactus spines, but still wanted to “hunt”. The girl just wasn’t stopping. I got her back up to the road, and Suzan and I had to do a little “operating” to get all those spines out of the Zanna girl. It didn’t phase her a bit, she just wanted to keep on going. Here are pictures of Zanna running. She’s beautiful.

And here Zanna is, at the beginning of a scent of quail, not yet quite on point, but getting there. A second later, the covey flushed. She was definitely trying to do her job!

By the time we got to Post, it was 8:30 pm. We were hungry, so stopped at Holly’s drive-in for burgers.

As we headed back to John and Suzan’s, another smell permeated the truck. It was horrible. After some investigation, Sherlock (me) deduced it was pond smell. N.a.s.t.y. After such findings, el teamo scientifico decided to spend the night at John and Suzan's house, where we were able to utilize their awesome designer walk in shower, complete with 5 shower heads and a wand, to bathe the dogs. Soon, everybody smelled better, and we all had a good night’s rest.

This morning, we enjoyed a Cracker Barrel breakfast, and parted ways.

We’ll miss John and Suzan living in West Texas, but I guess that’s what planes are for, right?

(Wonder if I can get Zack a ticket? He does love him some Aunty Suzan.)

**Sniff**

Outpourings of Love

I was driving through Midland this morning, and happened upon quite a sight. At one of the local supermarket parking lots, all five local law enforcement factions were out with buckets. Cumulus radio stations and other media were everywhere. The Texas Dept. of Safety's helicopter was on site. The officers and media were raising money for the benevolent fund benefiting the families of the three recently slain officers, Cpl. Arlie Jones, Cpl. Scott Gardner, and Cpl. Abel Marquez. Officers from the Odessa and Midland Police Departments, Odessa and Midland Sheriff’s Offices, and the Texas Highway Patrol were present. All of them working together - what a beautiful thing to see. (Of course, I see it every year, at the ConocoPhillips Halliburton Bad Boy Blast shoot, but it's still awesome.)

I pulled in to the parking lot. People were everywhere, and the local radio stations had their advertising tents out and were broadcasting the fundraiser live from the street. One of my “Bad Boy Blast” OPD officers ran over to me, yanked open my door, pulled me out of the vehicle, and wrapped me in a bear hug. A "Bad Boy Blast" MPD officer comes up, and joins our embrace. Tears flow. My heart breaks for them - their pain and loss is such a huge and gaping wound right now.

This senseless tragedy has affected many in our local community. Though there is much pain and grieving, it is also good to see the golden threads of love and support being woven throughout the tapestry, pulling all the people together as one – not only the law enforcement agencies, but both general communities of Midland and Odessa. And it is right that it be so.

The fundraiser started around 6 a.m. this morning. When I left at 12:15pm, the total raised today had risen over $52,000.00 towards the fund, and the amount was still climbing. That’s just Midland alone, not counting what Odessa has generated(which in itself is a very substantial amount).

And there is a plethora of fundraising going on. For one example, both Odessa and Midland McAlisters’ delis are donating all the proceeds from one entire day to the fallen officers' benevolent fund. That is an amazingly generous action for a business. And if I know our community, there will be a huge amount of benevolence that happens behind the scenes, without any fanfare.

The outpouring is amazing – of resources, prayer, and love. Make no mistake, these brave men will never be replaced, on the force, or at home; however, the show of community support could pave a portion of the road towards the healing everyone needs. And speaking of needs, the grieving families left behind will need not only emotional, but financial support - their wives will be in financial need, and their kiddos will need housing, food and clothing. There will be medical, school, and college expenses - and this community plans to make it happen for them. This community is determined to honor these men who protected and served us - I can feel it in the air, it's that strong.

I am honored to be part of this place we call the Permian Basin.

(Donations can be sent to the OPD Benevolence Fund Acct No. 9002668, c/o Odessa Employees Credit Union, 1006 E. Seventh St., Odessa, Texas 79761. For more information, call 432-333-2510.)