Bob Hall's Lost Letter

Something interesting happened to me today. Yesterday was the last day of finals and today at school we teachers were busy doing cleaning and checkout. I was cleaning out my desk in my classroom and pulled out the bottom drawer as far as it would go and noticed some papers had fallen underneath it into a metal tray under the drawer. I stuck my hand in there and pulled out a stack of dusty papers.

There were English papers and Science papers from the mid 1990's. And there was something else. A letter, maybe something like a birthday card, sealed in its envelope addressed and stamped (with a 29 cent stamp, dating it to 1991-1994), but never mailed. The letter was from Bob Hall to another Hall relative in California. Bob Hall was at my school before I got there so I never knew him, but there is an image of him in the memorial garden next to our school. One graduation day in the mid-90's, I think around '94, he was diagnosed with cancer and died before school started the next fall. At that time I think he was an assistant principal. So here I was looking at a card from a man who died within a few years or months of writing it, but apparently lost it and never mailed it.

My friend gave me a stamp to make-up for the change in postage price since it was written, I put a little note on the back of the card explaining what had happened to it, and put it in the mail. I have no idea if the addresses are still valid or if the relatives are still alive, but I hope someone in Mr. Hall's family gets that letter. I know I would really like to get something like that if it were my relative.

Memorial Day

Mom and I visited relatives buried at Evergreen Cemetery today. Please see the photos here.

Kites!

We had a great day flying kites we made in geometry class. Check out the pictures!

Sunbonnet

So today I decided I wanted a sunbonnet like in the artist pictures for Little House on the Prairie. It would come in handy for mowing the lawn, yard work, or Western dress up day at school, etc.

I found some instructions at Mother Earth and sort of followed them. I was too lazy to make a pattern and just cut the fabric directly. I kept sewing the seams on the wrong side but I like the end result, it is good enough for me - what do you think? Instead of three layers of muslin in the brim, I used one layer of batting that I had on hand. And it took me more like 3 or 4 hours than the 2 suggested by the directions - it always takes me longer than instructions say it will because I mess up and or it takes longer to cut, etc.

Happy Mother's Day

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day. A friend of mine sent me this Mr. T video about treating your mother right (and the rap was written by Ice T - not kidding!) - you have to see it!



I spent mine watching the new Star Trek movie (great!) and visiting mom. I have always loved Star Trek and I loved the movie - the characters were great and the story was hot! I want to see it again. :)

This weekend also marks one of the dates mentioned for the martyrdom of Lady Fatima (as), Mother of Believers.

Picketwire Canyon Bike Trip

This weekend, mom and I and several teachers - including a disproportionate amount of math teachers and former math teachers - went mountain biking down in Picketwire Canyon to see the dinosaur tracks and petroglyphs. It was a great experience! The La Junta locals were very friendly and the weather ended up being perfect for the trip despite forecast of possible rain which might've made the trails miserably muddy.

Some photos from the trip are here - enjoy and comment!