My name is Lilly Dale and I’ve come to see this house. I wanted to see if what mamma said was right. She said, “Don’t waste too much time chasing dirt around yur house. It will still be standin long after yur dead and buried.” I guess she was right cause we buried mamma five years ago and this old house is still standin.

My mamma was born and raised here. In fact, she lived inside those broken down walls most all her life. I was born here too. I lived with my mamma and granny till granny died. Mamma got too sickly to take care of herself let alone a little kid, but we managed til her lungs got so bad she had to go to a sanatorium in Colorado. I got sent to live with the man mamma said was my daddy. He must a been, otherwise I doubt he would have been agreeable to that arrangement.

I’m 15 now. School got out for the summer two days ago and instead of going home, I took a bus here. Mr. Jim doesn’t know I come here. I call him Mr. Jim. It just don’t feel right to call him Daddy. He don’t like my name Lilly Dale either. “Why would yur mamma give you a pretty woman’s name and a 2nd name of Dale?” When he does use my name, he calls me Lil, which I don’t like.

You see that window that’s got cardboard over it? It’s been like that for as long as I can remember. Granny said some mean boys threw rocks at it til it busted. She didn’t see no reason to fix it cause she didn’t enjoy looking out that window anyway.

Mamma said the house was kinda pretty once. I think she was dreamin that don’t you? She said they had good times here when her daddy was still alive. He kept things up. You know..fixed things when they broke down. I don’t know about that. I never saw this house with a lick of paint on it, inside or out.

No, It’s been a long time since anybody chased dirt around this house, but I guess it did what it was supposed to. It was a roof over people’s heads. We always stayed warm and had food to eat. That’s better than some have it.

Now that I look at it..That front window might a been kinda pretty once. If a person ever lives here again, they should tear the old lean-to that’s hanging off the side door down. It’s nothin but a place for rats and snakes to live under.

Well, I’m guessin it’s time for me to catch the bus back home. I just wanted to make sure mamma was right. The other thing she always said was, “Lilly Dale, you gotta put up with trash to rise above it.” I’m not exactly sure what that means, but I think I gotta go to school til I get my certificate. Mamma sure did want her daughter to get educated.

“Goodbye house. You did what you was supposed to do, now that’s what I’m gonna do too!”

 

 

 

 

I have received a number of water tower photos in the last several weeks. You are all getting so good at spotting the great ones, and I appreciate your taking the time to photograph them. Of the many recent submissions I have received, these are a few of my favorites. They are now on display at my Water Tower Studio.

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Hernando Beach, Florida…submitted by Kerri Venard

The first thought I had when I looked at this tower on the beach was.. sun on the head makes for early balding, no matter how much water you hold. This guy has a rather wide-toothed comb by his side for windy days. Wind and comb-overs aren’t a good combination, and I’m sure it’s hard to use much hair product when you’re a Beached Water Tower. Kerri tells me this is close to where Sherry Dykema Phillips lives and Weeki Watchi…Nice!

Thanks for this marvelous addition to the collection Kerri.

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Quinlan, Texas……submitted by Lewis Williams

I did something a little different with the photos Lewis sent me. I wanted you all to see how I saw the majesty of the first picture of the tower. It almost looks like a burst of sunlight showed up just as the photographer snapped the shot. The sad thing is that if this would have been in Quitman, Texas instead of Quinlan, it would have been the home of the famous actress Sissy Spacek. She starred in The Coal Miner’s Daughter and The Help. It’s amazing how two little letters can change the whole dynamics of a water tower. Now you get why I showed both photos. I still love that first picture with nothing but blue sky and sun reflecting on the tower….Great work Lewis!

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Colome, SD….Submitted by Dianna Kenobbie Diehm

Cowboys, Cowgirls, and Colome, hence the name Triple C of Green. You can C Cowboys written down the side of the metal stabilizer post. Cowgirls can be ceen on the other post. Very good Dianna!!

C?

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Mitchell, South Dakota…submitted by Kerri Venard.

This Water Tower is near and dear to my heart which is why I named it after an important event in my Mother’s life. Yes..Once upon a time Loretta Sanderson was voted Miss Highway 16, and was honored with a trip to the Corn Palace.

She was indeed, a Highway Queen. I believe she was the first Queen in our family, but as we all know,…not the last.

Sadly, Highway 16 fell on hard times when I 90 went around Murdo. Mom would say, “I was Miss Highway 16!” People would say, “You were the Queen in 1916? You must have had more repairs than the Highway! You look Great!”

What a thoughtful thing to do Kerri. Thanks for the memories.

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London England…Submitted by Queen E.

Queen E. was getting a little put out when she realized I hadn’t entered her water tower. I’m doing this just to humor her because she has not documented that she actually took this picture, besides..how many WT’s have you seen with windows all over? “Where’s the Water Queen E?”

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Lackland, TX…submitted by Lewis Williams

I was going to name this Tower “Trail of Vapor,” until I noticed the For Sale sign. Lewis, am I right? Is this at Lackland AFB? I will turn this entry into a plea to save the Tower. Water Tower lovers everywhere..Please Help Us. We will meet in San Antonio in a week or two to organize a protest. I sure hope they haven’t started making waterless water towers like they have waterless water heaters. I don’t understand how they do that.

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This is a late entry..It came to me anonymously..Yup! This is a waterless tower. What will they think of next?

 

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A little preview of more to come…Very Exciting

Remember…You can live without Gold, but you can’t live without water.

It was a wonderful Easter in Beasterhop Land, and Mr. Beasterhop and I want to thank everyone who spoke an encouraging word, read my words, spread the word, expressed loving words, sang and danced the words, and otherwise promoted my desire to get the Beasterhop story out to as many young readers as possible.

The story was inspired by a favorite childhood memory, and it was a labor of love to write about the character I made up when I was just a little girl. Many times throughout the years my family talked about the Beasterhop, and how I had imagined him. He was a rabbit that rode on a bicycle, and now he has come to life in a big way.

I decided to write the story in the same rhyming cadence as the Mother Goose nursery rhymes I loved so much. The Beasterhop has a family, and works very hard to feed all of the bunny mouths, but he also tries to teach his children the things they need to know to grow up happy and healthy.

The child in the story talks to the father about things that concern all children. Together, they watch the Beasterhop model what a good parent child relationship might look like, and learn ways to communicate their own feelings to each other.

There will be more Beasterhop stories as the the characters all grow and learn from each other. Through their stories children and parents will also see how important it is for families to play together, as well as look out for one another.

A special thank you to my brother, Billy Francis for suggesting I write the story. I also want to thank Pat Davis for reading it first, and loving it. She supplied all the bunnies I took pictures of to illustrate the Beasterhop family. Thank you to Bradyn Burelsmith for drawing the very likeness of the Beasterhop I imagined as a youngster.

Some very special friends and family members topped it all off by planning and executing the Book Signing. I’m really grateful to all of you. Thanks to my husband Kip, who was as excited as I was to see the finished product.

My hope is that my grandchildren, as well as yours, one day read the Beasterhop stories to their children and the books become as worn as my old Mother Goose book.

If you haven’t purchased a book, or want to tell others about it, you can find it on amazon under my name or the name of the book, “We Shall See what We Shall See,” by Mary Francis McNinch.

We Shall See what We Shall See

Just close your eyes and it will be.

We never have to be without the love of God within. My love for you fills up my heart much more than ten times ten.

I had a full day today, and although I do know what happens next, I don’t have the brain juice to write a good story. So I thought I would play a game of let’s pretend, but first I would like to introduce you to a few of my new sponsors.

Have you spent thousands of dollars on new dentures, or sat there while tiny lazar beams whitened your teeth to the tune of $70 or $80.00? Or maybe you have bought the white strips and tooth trays filled with gunk. It doesn’t take long to sink a fortune into the quest for beautiful teeth. Think about it for a minute. The only thing you need perfect teeth for is …Pictures!..you can eat soft food and pay less than $20.00 for these amazing plastic veneers and be done with it. According to the picture on the box, the transformation is absolutely stunning. These are seen on TV. What more do you need to know? (I get $.50 for every box I sell…2 million boxes, equals 1 million dollars. Now that will make me smile 🙂

Now can you think of one person that doesn’t need a Glowbowl? It’s a motion activated night-light for your toilet. It comes in four colors. I’m sure they are all beautiful, but I wouldn’t recommend red. It might cause your guests to become needlessly alarmed. I sort of like the blue color pictured on the box. As you can plainly see, this remarkable invention has been selling for $9.88 and has been reduced to $9.88. Hmm, hold off on making these fly off the shelves for a while. I need to check my portion of the Glowbowl proceeds. In the meantime use your flashlight. This is also endorsed by TV everywhere, but so were those sunglasses that make you go blind.

Well, just like when you’re watching TV, the commercials take up most of the time. I do have a little “let’s pretend” story for you.

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I’m going to make up a story about this old building

I remember sitting in this old school house. I could look out the last window in the back and see the changes in the seasons. Since it doubled as our country church, I spent 6 days a week here. On Saturdays I did my homework, so I was being truthful when I told everyone I was here every day of the week.

In this little building out in the middle of someone’s pasture, I learned about life everywhere else. I learned how to count as high as I would ever need to, and I learned to count my blessings.

I learned how people survived hardship and how some did not survive success. I learned the happiest people are those who truly care about others. I learned how to pray for strength, courage, and wisdom. I learned how to be humble, grateful, and compassionate.

I learned that nothing is forever, and life would be better if I learned to embrace change. I figured out that we all come from a long line of dead people, and we should be proud of our heritage.

This old building shaped my life. I wouldn’t be who I am if I hadn’t come here when it was too cold, or too hot. I learned everything from how to tie my shoes by watching my classmates, to what love is and isn’t from reading 1 Corinthians 13: 4-7.

Remember this is a “Let’s pretend” story. I kind of wish it were true. Learning and living are two different things, but so are saying and doing. I think I might have leaned something from what I just wrote.