ONE MORE THING

Doña Duchess called this old knight’s squire one day this week. She simply said, I have someone who wants to talk to you. Immediately Don Andrew began by saying, Hello Grandpa. From that point he started off on what seemed like a never-ending story.

When Don Andrew gets through talking, he is through! Trust me! Well, that’s usually the case. On this particular day he said, and it is always this way, very rapidly, I love you Grandpa, Goodbye. Of course, this ancient one couldn’t understand some of what he said but he got most of it and enjoyed the message.

Then came a big surprise. Wait a minute, Grandpa, I have one more thing to tell you. He told his old Grandpa about special rocks he had saved and we could share when the two of us could get together, when his Grandpa came to seem him. Grandpa could have them just as soon as he came. Then he said, I love you Grandpa, Goodbye.

That was really neat, but wait a minute! He still wasn’t through with his old Grandpa. Wait a minute, Grandpa, I have one more thing to tell you. If you ask my Mommy and Daddy if you can come see me on Sunday and you can stay with us and we’ll hunt Easter eggs. I’ll see you Sunday, Grandpa. I love you Grandpa, Goodbye. This time he was gone!

The very next day this old share cropper got a call from Doña Duchess again. Usually Don Andrew is too busy to talk to his old Grandpa. Since Grandpa Sancho wasn’t born yesterday, he had a very special plan. Before hanging up he told Doña Duchess, Tell Don Andrew his old Grandpa has one more thing to tell him. It was not expected that Don Andrew would be too excited.

I’ve got to find out what my Grandpa has to tell me. Now, of course, this befuddled one had to come up with an answer. A man had mowed the grass and found our two special sticks we use for swords to fight all the enemy trees and bushes and fences, and weeds, and sometimes even cars.

After we discussed all that Grandpa Sancho told this brave knight that his Grandpa would probably be on his walker only one more week. Don Andrew had a four year old plan. Grandpa, we can get you a stick cane and we can go to the park and . . .One cannot top Don Andrew. Grandchildren are so neat.

LONG DISTANCE POSTAL ADVENTURE

The Duke and Duchess of East, TX., loaded the wagon, complete with Don Andrew and Don Matthew. Their destination was Houston and a visit with friends from the City of Angels on the West Coast. After a nice visit with old friends they reloaded the wagon to return to East, TX.

They decided to take a small detour to visit the Duke and Duchess of Waxland along with Don Sean. It was at this point the discovery was made. Doña Duchess discovered she had left her purse in the hotel lobby in Houston.

Quickly Doña Duchess called both the hotel and her friend and some very nice, honest person had turned in the purse to authorities. All the friend had to do after positive I.D. had been established, was mail the purse to Doña Duchess

Several days later the Duchess called and visited this befuddled old laborer on her way to the United States Post Office to secure her purse. In a few minutes, while they were in that Post Office, Grandpa Sancho got this phone call: Grandpa, where is my grabber? Now, for you who might not know what a grabber is, it is a device used by those who have had hip surgery and other surgeries. These devices are very handy in fetching many things the patient can’t reach. Grandpa Sancho has three such grabbers since he has had three hip surgeries. Don Andrew thought that a grabber made a fine Don Quixote Adventure device to do all sorts of things. He claimed one of the grabbers as his own, which his old Grandpa was happy to oblige.

Andrew, I have your grabber and I will bring it to the Key City of West Texas for you to use this weekend. In the background this sharecropper heard someone ask, Are you really talking on the phone. Who are you talking to? Don Andrew replied, My Grandpa!

This ancient one was a bit confused so he asked, Is that your Dad? It did sound a bit like him. Don Andrew replied, in a kind of authoritative voice, No, Grandpa, I’m at the post office. Grandpa, I need to tell you some secrets. That was okay. I was good with that idea. Grandpa and grandson secrets can be pretty neat and enlightening.

So, Don Andrew, went around the corner, perhaps being a bit embarrassed at the postal person asking such questions. Then Don Andrew ran into a woman and, being the chivalrous knight that he is, offered to help the damsel in distress. He offered to help open her Post Office box to get her mail. She assured Don Andrew she could do the job but I could tell she proceeded immediately to let him help her.

After this ordeal, Grandpa Sancho was inquisitive. Andrew, tell your old Grandpa the secrets. Don Andrew got really low in his speech but at the same time being quite bold. He said, Grandpa, you are a stinker! Was that it? Probably so! Grandpa Sancho replied, No, Andrew, you are the stinker. You are the one who began with the Benny the Jet stance and rand and jumped feet first into the creek.

No, Grandpa, you jumped into the creek. Was Don Andrew in denial? Could he be projecting his behavior on poor old Grandpa Sancho? I think he was having fun with his old Grandpa. Don’t believe he doesn’t enjoy that! What a neat kid to have for a grandson. And, we are blessed with three others just as neat. How about that!

BUNGLING IN THE JUNGLE

Just before Don Andrew hit the ball over the creek and ended up in it, thankfully feet-first, he experienced another frightening adventure. There are very few adventures that would cause fear in such a fearless knight as Don Andrew. Of course, it was Grandpa Sancho who was the frightened one. You see, Grandpa Sancho is just like his 16th Century counterpart from la Mancha. His goal in life when there are adventures is to protect Don (whether 16th Century or today) from his external environment and so often from himself. That’s been a particularly difficult thing to do for 500 years for the various Don Quixotes who have come along. This old knight’s squire is sure there have been plenty through the years.

Now the day began right. Grandpa Sancho and Don Andrew watched a little bit of a semi-violent cartoon which this old sharecropper abruptly changed. This did not meet with our hero’s approval, upon which he did the usual number like say, Mommie would let me watch it! Grandpa, please! and finally running around the room saying, I don’t want to watch Jo Jo! Grandpa Sancho stood his ground, or tiles as was the case. Grandpa Sancho would rather have an angry hero than have one of those little ones watch such nonsense on the TV. He did get over it all and put in a video we could share.

Finally the temperature was perfect. It was not too cold and not too hot. It was time to go to the backyard and fight some enemies or something. Grandpa, let’s play baseball. Nothing could make this befuddled old laborer happier unless Don Andrew changed his favorite color green to Dodger Blue.

Everything began just fine. Don Andrew went down toward the creek and set up his tee and put the ball on it and knocked it clear up to the house a few times. That was awesome. Well, there was just one problem. Don Andrew easily gets sidetracked into many adventures. The Duke had sawed many limbs from the Oak Forest in the backyard and piled them up against the house. It was a jungle of very dead limbs.

As fate would have it, one of the balls, the green one to be exact, landed right in the middle of that jungle. It’s fortunate that Don Quixote and Sancho Panza did not have to encounter jungles. Windmills are quite sufficient for adventures.

Don Andrew took his bat and declared it a sword and began to attack the jungle from the outside. This resulted in no progress whatever. There was just one thing to do. This boy has the spirit of Benny the Jet Rodriquez written all over him. Again he squared off at one end of that probably 20 ft. pile of limbs, the jungle, and started working out his strategy.

Very gingerly Don Andrew began to make his way through what had now become The Jungle. Bungling along, he attacked the limbs in front of him with his sword-bat. Do you want to hold my hand? Another of Don Andrew's favorite expressions is: What are you talking about? He does not say it disrespectfully but it was time to say it when the old knight's squire asked that question that met with such disapproval since Don Andrew is now 4 and needs little help for anything: What are you talking about, Grandpa? I can do this myself. And, do it he did. From one end to the other and he emerged with bat in one hand and ball in the other. I might add that he had many scratches on his legs for he is perhaps the first famous knight to wear shorts on adventures. We would no suggest such Bungling in the Jungle adventures for those under 4.

What a marvelous day was had and too many adventures to recount at this time. Grandpa Sancho is tired.