Trip to Whitharral

I was scheduled to fly to Beijing, China on Thursday, 27 June, in order to attend a conference entitled “China-US Medium Energy Physics”. I had arranged my itinerary to arrive a few days early in order to have some time to sightsee with my older daughter Lela. But I received word on Monday that my 88-year-old aunt, Vinita Couch, had passed away and that the funeral was scheduled for Wednesday in Littlefield. I called American Airlines and managed to reschedule my itinerary two days later if I presented a copy of the death certificate when I checked in.

I got off late Tuesday evening and arrived very late at my mom’s house outside Whitharral. When I woke up mom already had made the coffee and was preparing sausage, eggs and biscuits for breakfast. Stanley (my brother), Marla (sister) and Sarah (niece) also came. We enjoyed the breakfast and the visit but had to cut it short in order to get dressed for the funeral that started at 10. Mom announced that she didn’t feel well and wasn’t going to the funeral, which surprised all of us. Mom and Vinita were in laws but quite close, so I knew that she must really be hurting.

Stan conducted the funeral and did an excellent job. It was a true celebration of the life of a dear Christian lady. I saw Floyd and Rachel Price again (uncle and aunt that attended my candidacy announcement in Lubbock) and most of my cousins from the Sadler side. I had to brush up again on what was happening with their children and, in some cases, grandchildren. We went to the home of Harry and Gayle Heckard (Gayle is my cousin, Vinita’s daughter) for lunch. It was good food and fellowship. Everyone wished me well on my campaign, but we didn’t talk much politics.

On Thursday I got up early with mom and watched the West Texas sun rise from her front porch. That’s one of her favorite activities, particularly if she has someone to share it with. She said she was feeling much better. I went to Lubbock to touch base with people who are helping me with signatures and to get on the internet at the Daylight Coffee shop at 19th and Quaker. I caught up on my email, particularly the abstracts that my students are preparing for a nuclear physics meeting this Fall. I called them in Abilene with some edits and suggestions. They’ve been on their own quite a bit this summer as I have been occupied with the campaign. I then went to different elderly care facilities to visit my aunt Fern (mom’s sister) and aunt Florence (dad’s sister). I picked up some signatures from their caretakers since I try to always take my clipboard with me.

I decided to spend one more night with mom. One of the things on my mental “to do” list has been to go to the Whitharral coop gin on a Friday morning when the farmers get together for coffee and donuts at 8 AM. I worked there as a night scales clerk during Thanksgiving and Christmas breaks while I attended Texas Tech and Indiana. It was a good job. After the farmers brought their last trailers in at the end of the day, my duties consisted of weighing an empty trailer every 10-15 minutes and sweeping and mopping the floor before I got off, usually at 8 AM. I had ample time to study my physics texts. I prepared for my preliminary examination there during Christmas break in 1973. The gin was short-handed so I worked from late afternoon to early morning and put in 105 hours in one week. Neither my mom nor Ginna (we had been married six months) were very happy with the situation but I made over $700 during the break. And I passed the preliminary examination in January.

So I showed up shortly after 8 AM with campaign materials in hand. The mood was high, owing to the rain that had come through the night before. Everyone knew about my candidacy (news travels fast in small towns) and almost everyone signed my petition. Many had already signed the petition that Monty Rodgers has been circulating. Both of Monty’s sons are now farming at Whitharral and were there. It was interesting to hear them talk farming. The young guys mostly stood around the periphery while the more established and retired farmers sat at the joined tables. Everyone was talking about the rain, asking how much each other got.

I received my first campaign contribution. Someone I didn’t recognize put a $100 bill in my hand and said “you’re going to need this”. I tried to give it back to him, repeating my phrase “you must like betting on long shots”. But he wouldn’t take it back, so I asked for his name. It was John David Dukatnik, who was just a boy when I left Whitharral. I knew his parents and had taken a class with his mother at South Plains.(I think it was psychology). I apologized for not recognizing him, saying he was in grade school the last time I saw him. He said he remembered me from when I played football, which I thought was odd. I never started a varsity football game in my life and can only remember playing when we were so far behind the game was out of reach.

So now I have my first official donation and I need to set up a bank account for my campaign treasurer, Rachel Eckard. She is doing a good job of reading all the fine print from the Federal Election Commission.