A Day in Historic Lexington

The Lee Chapel is on the campus of Washington & Lee University.


Robert E. Lee is buried inside, but not in this casket. This is a sculpture of Lee sleeping. He's actually buried in the family crypt beneath the chapel.



Lexington is also the home of Stonewall Jackson where he taught at VMI before becoming the great Civil War general. He is buried here.

Outside the front entrance of VMI are four civil war canons Jackson called Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. The other big shots in this picture are Julie, Caroline, David, and Marc.

With Caroline in Virginia

We're having a great time being grandparents this week to Caroline. We are playing puppets and reading stories.



We went on a day trip yesterday to the Blue Ridge Mountains and stopped on top of a mountain.

Marc and Amy are really enjoying the beauty of central Virginia.


So are we.

New Window

If you ever want to build a home in Granbury, I can recommend that Will Stead Homes are the absolute finest people to work with you will ever find. They built our home and have been quick to respond to anything we've asked, even a year and a half after being built.

We had a window in our bedroom leaking moisture.



Will Stead contacted the people who installed the windows and had them replace the cloudy pane with a new one.



Thankfully the temperature was in the 60's and the wind was blowing from the opposite side of the house.

25 Random Things about Ollie

1. My full name is Olympia Barkolona (because I was adopted at a garage sale raising money for Amy's youth orchestra to play at the Barcelona Olympics).
2. My mother was an American Eskimo (like Tris and Izzy) and my father was a cocker spaniel.
3. I am a beggar of treats.
4. I used to sleep in Dave and Julie's bed until they bought one too high for me to jump up on.
5. I nearly died two years ago. That's when they brought home the Corgi. Gee, thanks, guys.
6. I used to love to chase balls in the backyard at Cedar Hill.
7. I hate riding in cars. I become panic stricken, shaking and crying.
8. I hated going to veterinarian Chris Rose, but I don't mind Purfect Paws Pet Resort here in Granbury.
9. When I had my first visit to the vet as a puppy, Dave wasn't sure if I was a boy or girl. Duh!
10. I am on a special diet that controls my protein intake to protect my kidneys.
11. I can't control my toilet habits as well as I used to, but I refuse to wear a diaper.
12. Although Mom and Amy brought me home from the garage sale, I am considered Dad's dog because I stayed on his approval.
13. Mom never cleans up after my messes. Congratulations, Daddy Dave!
14. I still enjoy a walk, but I can't keep up with the wiggle-bottom Corgi.
15. I am almost deaf, although I can still hear if people whistle loudly or clap their hands.
16. I weight 22 pounds, which is what I've weighed most of my adult life. I'm not a fatso like the Corgi.
17. I have cataracts and see only very hazily. I can distinguish light and darkness but that's about it. I can still smell a treat from across the house.
18. I have never been crate trained and I ain't startin' now.
19. I have always cleaned myself like a cat.
20. In human years I would be 119 years old.
21. I still have all my teeth.
22. Veterinarian Rose "prophesied" that I could live to be 20. Oh my!
23. Mom has used my name as a password for her work computer.
24. I still eat and drink out of the same bowls I had when I was first adopted. At my age you appreciate antiques.
25. My favorite treats are Greenies -- and do I ever need them. My bad breath can peel paint.

If You Had Only One Day to Live

When I told my Dad that we planted three trees in our front yard, he told me the story of an old friend of the family who was asked once, "What would you do if you only had a day to live?" His response, "I'd plant a tree."


We planted two live oak trees on the south side of the driveway and this one on the north side.


The landscaper had to rig up these bubblers to the sprinkler system -- one for each tree.


"Blessed is the one whose ... delight is in the law of the Lord ... He is like a tree planted by streams of water (do sprinklers count?) which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers." (Psalm 1) Not a bad day's work.

The Big Six-O

February 23 and Julie hit the big Six-O. She set a beautiful table for a birthday party for a number of our friends who have February and March birthdays. She was especially proud of the centerpiece.


"Do I look sixty?"

What I'm Reading

Just finished Malcolm Gladwell's book, Outliers. I highly recommend it. It's an entirely different look at what truly makes for success in people. Turns out high achievers aren't that inherently different from you or me except for the opportunities they received from others. Behind the story is the hand of Providence, although Gladwell doesn't go there in the book. But there's no other explanation for the miraculous timing of "circumstances" that truly enable the wonder kids to emerge and blossom.