“Whatever we practice, we get really great at. If we practice flexibility, humility, courage, we get strong at those things. If we practice rigidness, ego, cowardice, we get strong at those things.” Rev. Elizabeth Nguyen
Day Trip to Wineries and a Lebanese Restaurant Near Lubbock, Texas
Yesterday, Martina, my exchange student from Italy, and I drove to Lubbock so I could say goodbye to Venty, the young woman from Indonesia, whom I co-sponsored at Texas Tech University in conjunction with the teachers’ sorority Alpha Delta Kappa. She received her Masters in Applied Linguistics recently. She will return to her home in what used to be called the Spice Islands later in June.
First, we decided to try something new for lunch. Neither had eaten much food from the Eastern Mediterranean area so we went to Manara. For appetizers we ordered falafel, dolma, and baba ganoush, none of which they had eaten before. After enjoying these appetizers, two of us ordered the kafta kabob dinner and one ordered the chicken. Although the salad was rather ordinary, the saffron rice was heavenly. The kabobs had somewhat different spices than the kabobs I have previously eaten but were fine. They were served with two sauces: garlic yogurt and another which was quite spicy. We enjoyed both. If you want to try something different while in Lubbock, I recommend this restaurant. I would go there just to eat the saffron rice.
Second, once I discovered that Venty did not know there are vineyards and wineries near Lubbock, we decided to take a run over to Caprock and Llano Estacado Wineries. Llano has recently opened an expansive new tasting room. Caprock is still called Caprock Winery, but the wine produced there is called English Newsom Cellars. The following photos were taken at Caprock and Venty’s house.
On a Ranch Working Cattle
Today Martina, my exchange student from Milano, Italy, and I went with my students of the Wildorado Cattle Company to work cattle on a ranch west of Amarillo. When I posted this on Facebook, a city friend asked what does working cattle mean. These were calves of various sizes, both male and female, all Angus.
First, a person on horseback heels a calf (ropes it by its hind feet) and drags it to the branding area. Then, depending on the size of the calf, a few persons flank it (hold it down) while a person gives it shots, e.g. vaccines, vitamins, another brands it with a hot iron, and someone else ear tags it. If it is a male, its testicles are cut off. Having raised cattle, this was not new to me. However, for a girl from Milano, it was the definitive Texas ranching experience.
I think we worked over a hundred calves during the morning which started at a chilly 47 with a strong West Texas wind. Later, in the afternoon it warmed up about 30 degrees. The wind just now finally quit; it is 8:54. Here are a couple of photos of the day’s activities.
Three people from the National Angus Association headquartered in St. Joesph, Missouri, were there making a documentary. Although currently I live in the country in the Panhandle of Texas, I grew up on a farm about 30 miles from St. Joesph. Small world.
Appreciation
A few weeks ago it was Teacher Appreciation Week. Several students brought me things, home made cookies, something orange–my favorite color, a gift certificate. However, two notes written by the students themselves caught my eye. One especially made me smile a lot. Here they are:
“Thank you for improving my language skills and being such an amazing teacher.”
“Ms. Lightle
“Thank you for making all of us laugh every single day! Your craziness and how you stay true to you, even when we say stupid things, and make you angry. We have not known you for very long, but we hope we can keep you here at LEAST until we graduate!”
Love, ”
I do not think I am one speck funny. However, for years now, students keep telling me I am super funny. I have no idea what I do to make them think this, but guess it does not matter.
It is a beautiful spring day, exceptionally green for the Panhandle of Texas. Papers are graded. Now, I am going to read, cook cod with lemon and fennel, feed horses, and watch the moon rise.
Enjoy!
Day Trip to Caprock Canyons
Caprock Canyons State Park, at the southern end of Palo Duro Canyon, requires about 1 1/2 hours to drive from my house. Yesterday, we met the Panhandle Native Plant Society there to investigate flowers and grasses.
When we first arrived, it seemed blue might break through the cloud cover, but it did not.
The park ranger took us to several different sites to identify different flower and grass species. The above is an area which in the early 90s was a cotton field and has been restored with native vegetation.
We drove to another area which remained “wild”–never cultivated.
Then we drove to a picnic area overlooking the lake. Close to there we found the poppy below.
After lunch, we parted with the rest of the group and drove to the end of the road. Martina had hoped to see bison–the state bison herd roams there. At this point we had seen none. As I drove along, a bison bull was strolling down the road. Martina took this photo from the side window. He was only a couple of meters from the car.
We stopped and took a few more photos where the road ends. I have hiked from this point in the past, but not yesterday.
After leaving the park, we headed to Silverton, Texas, to visit a coffee shop there which was recently featured in a Texas magazine as the place to go.
I loved the murals and sculptures. The owner is a sculptor and also a raptor trainer. The shop features coffee, desserts, unique clothing, and art.
On the way back we stopped at the Palo Duro Canyon overlook/picnic area on highway 207.
If you are in the Amarillo or Canyon, Texas, area, I highly recommend this day trip.
Showers and Flowers
All these spring showers result in lots of flowers–wild flowers and iris.
Impacting the World
“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” Jane Goodall
Gelada in Simien Mountain National Park, Ethiopia
My Hair–a Student Poem
Recently, my students read a poem where the eggs in a carton expressed terror at being removed by human hands and a Pablo Neruda poem about his socks–hand made, blue wool with a golden thread running through them. Their assignment was to also write a 20 line poem about something ordinary which they love or appreciate. One student wrote about my hair.
A Birthday Tale
Several weeks ago, the tail of my favorite horse, Miracle, disappeared. When she died from colic after giving birth several years ago, one young lady at the vets took hairs from her tail, made a braid, and gave it to me. Since then, it had hung in the hallway next to Dad’s spurs and a photo of the family farm above Dad’s parade saddle. Suddenly, it disappeared. Where could it have gone? No one had recently been to the house except Martina, my Italian exchange student, and me. My daughter and grandson had stopped by, but no one else. Nothing else had disappeared. It was a mystery like the time I found a handful of dry dog food under the saddle. I never solved that one and had given up on solving this one. I had even considered looking for something else to hang in its place.
On my birthday yesterday, the principal walked to my room with a bouquet of flowers and a package. The bouquet was from my grandson. I opened the package. Much to my astonishment, there was Miracle’s tail, the top of the braid carefully and colorfully wrapped, a thin copper wire winding through it, and and then wrapped around the bottom. My daughter had managed to take it without my seeing her do so, took it home, and had wrapped it so it would not come apart. When I originally told her about it, she and my grandson commented how strange it was and made note of the dog food incident as if some mystery lurked in that particular place in my house.
My grandson had picked out each individual flower. He obviously knows my favorite color is orange.
Then to top off the day my son also sent flowers. It dropped 50 degrees from yesterday afternoon to late last night, the wind shrieks, clouds loom dark and ominous. It is a good day for bright flowers.
Saturday at the Wildorado Cattle Company Bull Sale
Yes, no kidding, I took my Italian exchange student to something so typical of where I live, a livestock auction. However, this was not just any livestock auction. With the guidance and support of the Ag Teacher, the students at Wildorado ISD, where I teach, have created their own cattle company. They did the advertising, contacted potential buyers and consignors, marketed, everything. Top bulls from various ranches and producers were in the sale. A few brought over 4000 dollars and many brought over 3000. Mostly these were top of the line registered bulls. Several were bred and raised by the students themselves. The freshmen and sophomores spent most of the week washing (no kidding) and moving bulls to Amarillo Livestock Auction where the sale was held.
Although there were two other breeds of bulls in the sale, The Wildorado Cattle Company raises purebred Angus cattle. The students have learned to AI, doctor, maintain records, and every thing it takes to maintain a superior quality cattle herd. I was especially impressed with several students the night before the sale at the pre-sale dinner. The students introduced the speakers and top consignors, introduced the Cattle Company program, waited on tables. Kudos to all my students who worked so hard to make this sale such a big success.
