June 19, 2011 The week in review……

First, Happy Father’s Day to all fathers. Some of us are lucky enough to have had two fathers—a birth father and a loving stepfather. I was lucky with my mother’s second husband, (Thank you, Bill), and my two kids were extra lucky with my second husband—Larry. Two great guys who treated their step children like birth children.

Second, it has been a HOT week in laid-back Livingston. It is almost too hot to venture far from the constantly-running air conditioners. It would be easy to spend the entire summer in front of the computers and TV under our air conditioners, however, we are going to take one day a week to explore parts of East Texas.

Do you ever drive by places on routine trips and say: Some day we are coming back to tour that museum or visit that park? We are going to do it!

When home, we make at least one trip a month to Lufkin, Texas, to shop at Sears, Sam’s Club or Home Depot. We have been driving through Diboll, Texas, for 20 years and have yet to drive one block east or west of Hwy 59—or visit the History Center located right on Hwy 59.

The history of Diboll goes hand-in-hand with the history of Southern Pine Lumber Company. Since 1984, the company name has been Temple-Inland and you still see it stamped on edges of prime pine lumber moving across the US on 18-wheelers.

Back in 1894, T.L.L. Temple built a saw mill in the area he named Diboll after Joseph Copes Diboll, of New Orleans, who had sold Mr. Temple much of the land.

The history of the Diboll and Southern Pine Lumber marched along with the history of the railroads in the area.

Early “mobile homes” were moved from logging area to logging area via flat bed cars on the trains. (Photo in the museum)

Notice the homes along the tracks in this photo in the museum.

At first, lumber was floated on the rivers down to Beaumont, TX and later the local railroads transported the lumber from the deep East Texas Piney Woods to places as far as New Orleans.

The Museum has Engine # 13 on display along with a caboose. We were thrilled to see inside of the caboose as we had always wondered what they looked like:

We were able to climb up on the engine to see the size of the compartment—and how close the engineers were to the heat of the fire box and boilers. Not where I would want to be on a hot day in East Texas!

It was a great morning exploring the museum to learn about East Texas history. We asked their suggestions for lunch. Patty suggested the Airport Cafe. You have to know it is there—we didn’t see any signs or advertising—even inside the building.

It was a winner! Check out Larry’s diet Chicken Fried Steak lunch. That huge lump under the gravy was a slug of meat dredged in flour and deep fried practically in front of us! Fresh!

It was delicious and we have left-overs in the freezer for another meal. One plane came in while we were eating, but it was TOO hot to go outside for photos. Next time, I promise.

Next week we will head out in another direction to explore another area. We did make a quick trip down next to NASA’s campus area yesterday to pick up a new kiln. There are very few areas in Houston that we know—luckily, Clearbrook and the Kemah area—where there are boats—is one we know. Found a Paragon Kiln on Craig’s List in that area that was just what I wanted—and need. So, we drove down Hwy 146—just outside the park here—south to Clearbrook. One of the highlights is the fancy bridge just south of Bay City that crosses over the Houston Ship Channel.

First you notice the ship’s sails as you approach. Then—watch out:

Suddenly, you are surrounded by a dizzying array of yellow cables. It is quite an engineering feat. We continued south to the NASA Space Center area. We visited the NASA Space Center last March when my dad was visiting. We were filled with pride over the Space Program’s achievements. We are sad to see the space program being downgraded.

We came home—slowly with our valuable cargo. The only issue is that we have to hire someone to lift it out of the truck bed for us. It weighs about 200 pounds. Luckily Dean lifted it into the truck for us. His wife Sarah, the potter in the family, is very talented. I am sorry they don’t live closer.

It fires from an electronic key pad—something new to learn. There goes the electric bill as I experiment to learn how to fire the automatic kiln like a manual kiln--one that has given us such great results. The old kiln has developed some bad traits—it is shedding tiny metal pieces from the lift handle into the kiln while firing. That doesn’t help my glazes. It was time to look for a replacement, and once I get past the learning curve, should be a fantastic addition to the pottery shop!

Meanwhile, I will be checking the map to decide next week’s East Texas adventure.