Reddick Family Web

Nobility, Humility, Loyalty

A White Christmas (Eve at least)

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Winter, who has barbed the South Plains a couple of times this fall, came in with a vengeance Wednesday night.

The result Thursday morning was a beautiful blanket of snow over everything. Except for the occasionally howling wind, it was peaceful, quiet, and glorious. Lights from the city bounced off the low clouds and then were reflected off the snow-carpeted streets and yards so that there was luminescence all around even in the dark hours of the morning.

Snow-covered yard
Our front yard and driveway are covered with snow
As advertised, the storm came into the Hub City about 7:30-8 p.m. Wednesday with a mixture of snow and rain. The snow did not stick.

On into the evening, it was mostly rain until about 11 p.m. or so, when it turned to snow. Forecasters said we would have snow and blowing snow with increasing winds until mid-morning or noon. We’re expecting a high of about 39, so the six inches or more of snow we have probably won’t stay around.

Nonetheless, the voice of Der Bingler crooning the season’s anthem fills the mind.

Chemotherapy rugged

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Kenneth started chemotherapy this week (Dec. 14), and what started out smoothly became rugged quickly.  On Monday, he was feeling well enough to drive himself home. Then the reactions started in. Nausea, vomiting, dry heaves. They have tried several different medications to alleviate the nausea, but it has been a rough week for Kenneth and the family.

He completed the first round of chemo on Dec. 18, and is scheduled in January for the second round. The routine has been that Grandma Nancy takes Kenneth to UMC in the morning about 8 a.m. They put him on an iv tube for a few hours, and then he goes home about 2:30 to 3 p.m.

He’s had to have extra fluids because of all he has lost during the treatment cycle.

New cancer in family

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Jenni’s husband, Kenneth, checked himself into a clinic last week (on Oct. 26), and they immediately slapped him into the hospital at University Medical Center. Testicular cancer. Clinic sonograms had revealed a mass and one testicle completely destroyed.

Kenneth Faulkner
Kenneth Faulkner

On Monday evening, we had a regular gathering in his hospital room while Kenneth drank the wonderful “shakes” they give before radiology. Kenneth’s dad (Sam), stepmom (Dana), and sisters (Pam and Melinda) were there as well as Jenni, Lilly, Aiden, Nancy, me, Jacob and Andrea. Later that night Kenneth had a CT scan that confirmed the earlier diagnosis.

They operated Tuesday, and the doctors told Kenneth to relax for a few weeks. Hah! No lifting for six weeks. Hah!

Preliminary biopsy results suggested they got all the cancer and that it was limited to one side. Pending further results, Kenneth and Jenni plan to decide whether to undergo chemotherapy and/or other treatments to stay ahead of the cancer.

 

Take this home

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“Here, Grandpa, I advise you to take this home.” The advice came from Riley Lane, 4, and “this” was a small portion of hydrangea blossom picked up from the trail at Middleton Place. Middleton is an old rice plantation outside Charleston, SC. It is a National Historic Landmark preserved in its 18th century state.

 

Lanes before house at Middleton
Lanes before house at Middleton

It’s a grand place for families to visit. We spent an entire afternoon there, soaking in the beauty. drinking in the history, learning new things and enjoying each others’ company. We talked to animals like water buffalo, goats, horses and cows. We talked with a blacksmith about metal working in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. We had experience shucking and grinding corn.

After a mid-afternoon supper, we helped milk Rio, an 18-year-old Jersey cow. Supper itself was something of a Southern country experience for the grown-ups. The girls settled for chicken fingers and fruit.

We then spent some time expatiating the grounds, touring the gardens, and (as the girls said) “venturing off into the wilderness.” Along the way, we visited an old mill on the Ashley River, next to some of the rice paddies where Middleton grew “Carolina Gold,” a strain of rice prized through the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries.  Near the paddies was a terraced lawn perfect for rolling in the grass.

 

Jenna, Heather and Riley tumbling in grass
Jenna, Heather and Riley tumbling in grass

Earlier in the day we had the opportunity to see how to cook outdoors over open fires (much like we do in Boy Scouts. At the blacksmith shop, Jenna asked about the bellows and got something of an historical account of how bellows evolved between the 18th and mid 19th centuries. In the process, we learned several things about working metal and a few things about colonial supply and demand.

Then we had the opportunity to shuck corn using a 150-year-old machine and we ground the grain by using stones we had to turn by hand. Nearby was a clothier dressed in leather breeches, and out in the common area, Middleton Place occasionally a drummer and fife player would perform and then explain the role that drummers and fife players assumed in battle during the Revolutionary and Civil wars.

Riley and Jenna at corn mill
Riley and Jenna at corn mill

We visited Liza’s House to see how plantation slaves lived at Middleton. On one wall of Liza’s house is a registry of several hundred slaves who had been listed as Middleton’s “property” and the prices paid for them. It is as sobering as “The Wall” on the mall in Washington.

 

Riley shows her prowess at milking a cow 14 years her senior
Riley shows her prowess at milking a cow 14 years her senior

Independent research

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So. We had decided some time ago that we would DRIVE to Houston for my August appointment at MD Anderson and then drive back by way of Austin so that we could take in the annual meeting of the Texas Association of Broadcasters.

Then Texas Monthly published this article titled “The 50 Greatest Burgers in Texas.” Well, you have to eat when you are on the road, yes? So Nancy comes up with this research project:

Let’s replicate the study done by Texas Monthly, and see if we get the same results!

Dutch's main dining room with Kay Greenlee greeting clients.
Dutch's main dining room with Kay Greenlee greeting clients.

All 50 burgers? Well, no, just a convenience sample … just top burgers that happen to be “in our way,” along our pre-determined path. So if we get an early enough start on Monday, we should be able to make Fort Worth for lunch. There, on University Drive just two miles south of I-30 and on the edge of the TCU campus is Dutch’s, home of Burger #8, Dutch’s Bacon and Bleu Cheese Burger.

We ordered a couple burgers and some onion rings and then sat down to wait for our order. Up comes this blonde woman wearing a red-and-white striped sleeveless dress, saying “I see you’re from Texas Tech.” “Oh boy,” I thought, here we are in Horned Frog Heaven, all dripping with purple and white and I’m wearing black and red with an embroidered double tee on my shirt.

While I am wondering what kind of fight I just started and considering a diplomatic response, Kay Greenlee – the blonde, who just happens to be Dutch’s general manager – wistfully announces  “I just left my baby there this weekend.” So that started a wonderful conversation about Texas Tech and Lubbock, and her son who is planing to major in sports medicine. It wasn’t long before the conversation turned to burgers and Texas Monthly. And presto! Our burgers were ready.

Verdict? A burger worthy of Top 10 designation, and better than burger #10, a designation belonging to the Cheeseburger in Paradise served up by Orlando’s in Lubbock.

The bacon cheeseburger served at Beck's Prime in Houston.
The bacon cheeseburger served at Beck's Prime in Houston.

Beck’s Prime

After our experience at Dutch’s we were ready for burger #9, the bacon cheeseburger at Beck’s Prime in Houston. Beck’s Prime is actually a short order café at the golf course clubhouse in Memorial Park just south of I-10. Tuesday’s experience echoed Monday’s: Another burger, worthy of top 10 designation, and probably better than Orlando’s. But choosing between Beck’s and Dutch’s was more than we could do.

We had planned to try burger #12 in Austin (Chop-House Burger), but frankly, it was so hot in Austin (103-105 each day), and the humidity so high that we just wanted to stay close to the hotel. However, on the way home we stopped in Buffalo Gap, south of Abilene. There, at Perini’s Steakhouse, was another top burger, #7. We felt it was not good enough to dislodge Dutch’s or Beck’s in our minds, but it was worth the trip off the beaten path.