Joplin Journal Volume 9-6, Issue 2

From the Editor's Desk:

Did you think the Joplin Journal had disappeared? The editor had quit? The reporters had all been fired? Nope. I just didn't have anything to say on the 12th, and then last week we were a little busy. Here's a hint:

Weather Report:

Today is a lovely rainy morning. It's been hot and lots of sun these past few weeks. I had to mow the yard again. This past Monday it cooled down and we actually had the windows open for a day and a half. Then it got hot again.

"Genius Burns":

Guess what? I finished writing Phil Wood! It now has a synopsis, a front cover, and I am ready for format it and order my proof copy! I'm so glad to finally be done writing this story!

I also wrote a short story about Hope. It's a little too long for the collection I'm going to include it in (with stories from other authors), so I'll send an abridged version for that and self-publish the full version myself.

And now I'm writing a bit on this story and a bit on that story.

Project Prognosis:

• Finish writing Phil Wood √
• Format and order proof copy of Phil Wood – That will hopefully be soon.
• Blog posts for July – Nope. I still need to do those.
• Prepare for KDWC √

Tree Stand or Fall:

We have or rather had, a huge pecan tree in our front yard. It was the tree where we'd drop our scarves, hats, coats, and such years ago when we and the other homeschool families in the neighborhood would go walking on chilly but not cold days. It's dropped thousands of pecans over the years. But it was growing older. It no longer produced as many pecans and now and then small branches would drop. But it was still shading our house and had green leaves. Then the power company came in and put a new larger poll in. And within a few weeks our pecan tree was dead. But the power company wouldn't cut down the tree. So we waited. Finally, a time was set to rent one of those big lifts. A few nights before we were going to cut the tree down, a large branch fell onto the roof and crashed to the ground. No, the roof wasn't damaged, but we were all ready to get that tree down.

Friday after lunch Dad and I set out to get started.

And yes, we were way up there! The lift went up 60 feet, and the topmost branches were higher than that.

Friday evening Jimmy came over after supper.

On Saturday the work continued. Dad and Jimmy were cutting the larger parts of the branches which dropped to the ground with thuds. We did end up with a hole in the sidewalk. :)

The last little branches.

They tied the tree to Dad's truck, Jimmy cut a wedge out, and then as Dad kept the rope tight, Jimmy cut the trunk. And it fell . . .

with a cloud of dust!

We have no more pecan tree. Dad and Jimmy cut up the trunk and after many loads, it now resides in a heap at Jimmy's waiting for cooler weather to be split into logs for their stove.

The Music Stand:

Nothing really. I do have a song I'm practicing on the violin a little that the ensemble at church would like to do sometime. Just don't know when.

KDWC:

Our 4th King's Daughters' Writing Camp is open. We are two campers short of having 100 people at camp this time! We are already at record breaking numbers both for people at camp and for new campers. Some of the new campers see camp, and then go and bring a friend or two along. It's been fun to see so many new people around our "grounds." Camp will actually start on July 1st.

Babysitting:

Yesterday the kids were all over for the evening. We got to celebrate Drew's birthday a little. Kinsley was in a very goofy mood and thought things were so funny and laughed and squealed and giggled. That was pretty fun.

Here's a picture of her from last week or some time recently.

Yes, she does ham things up at times. But usually she's quiet and rather sober. (In the picture I think James is holding the sunglasses on her.)

Sewing Room:

Orders continue to keep Sarah busy.

Read Another Page:

Christmas Day Joyous is now published! You can get your copy HERE.

And Dancing with Fireflies is available HERE.

And here's a sneak peak at the cover of Phil Wood.

Teacher's Lounge:

Closed until Fall.

Book Nook:

Reading? Yep. Get comfy because this could take a while. :) The Mystery of the Comanche Caves, The Phantom Of Wolf Creek, Fire on the Mountain, Earthquake, A Match for the Marine, Bernard Baruch, Boy from South Carolina, Watch for a Tall White Sail, Lee DeForest: Electronics Boy, Simon Kenton: Young Trailblazer, Secrets She Kept, John Fitch: Steamboat Boy, Glenn L. Martin: Boy Conqueror of the Air. Whew! If you actually checked out all my reviews on those books I'm impressed! And if you just read through the list, you may have noted I had similar sounding books. That's because Mom got, I think, around 50 Childhood of Famous Americans at a sale and I'm enjoying reading about all the people I've either never heard of or don't really know much about.

Farewell:

I have no idea if I told you everything I was going to tell you or not. On Monday the kids come over for the whole day. Well, not James and Krista. They might be here part of the day, and then they are heading up to Whispering Winds Bible Camp for the week. They're pretty excited about it.

There's political picnic this afternoon. Hopefully it won't be storming or raining. Dad's planning on going, but the rest of us weren't really interested in eating supper at 3:00. (That's when they are serving it.)

Right now Mom is downstairs visiting with a friend she hasn't gotten to see for a while. Sarah is either sewing or getting ready to pack an order.

And I have a list of things to do. So I'd better get busy. And no, I don't want to go and reread and edit this. But maybe I should.