Mini-Profile
Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not unto they own understanding.
I was born, literally, in the jungles of the Philippines during World War II, to Weyman and Rose McGuire. They married a year to the day after Pearl Harbor. Now you ask me, why was I born in the Philippines when my father was from East Texas, and my mother had an American father?
My father couldn’t find work during the Depression. He finally was able to join the Army, and was stationed in Fort Sill, OK. He was sent to the Philippines just before the War started. The Japanese bombed Clark Field out of the war, and he, along with many other soldiers, wound up on the southern-most island of Mindanao. MacArthur went to Australia; he stayed.
My grandfather was sent to the Philippines during the Spanish-American War. He returned after the war, married, bought land, grew fruit, vegetables, and six children. My mother, Rose, was number four. The good life ended when my grandfather died of cancer, and the Japanese invaded the Philippines.
Guerrilla bands began to form to resist the Japanese invasion. My mother and father (to be) were in the same camp. They fell in love and married. Then I appeared. I will never know how hard it was for my parents to raise me, and survive under war conditions. Dad got out of the Army after the War, but he rejoined four years later. He was sent to Fort Sill, OK again. They bought their first house in Lawton. My brother, and sisters, and I grew up there. Mom still lives there. We joined the nearby Lawton Heights Methodist Church.In my senior in Lawton High School, I meet my husband who was stationed at Fort Sill from Missouri. We fell in love and have been married for almost 44 years. We had three children. We have had a good life.
When my husband retired after 33 years in military and civil service, he wanted to move the country.
Our LandWelcome to Weed Acres. We are still trying to civilize our 10 acres just east of Lawton. If dandelions, poison oak, or sand burrs ever become valuable, WE WILL BE RICH! Ten acres may not seem like much, but I can testify that it looks MUCH larger from behind a mower or weedeater! We have a tree lined wet weather creek (it’s called a “ditch” in dry times) meandering through the place. We have planted at least 500 small trees and shrubs on the place. Someday, we will have lots of shade, blooming shrubs, and plenty of apples, peaches, pears, and pecans. My husband and I were city folks, so we made some mistakes.
The pond we had dug leaks badly (but the catfish we stocked the pond with are getting huge). The well we had dug for watering the garden, trees and flowers has plenty of water–in wet weather (we are happy to have city water). The area around the bridge is washing out. Other projects turned out great. We had a pier built. We have about 1200 feet of plastic pipe connecting 7 yard faucets to the well. We put in many flower beds around the house and yard.
We had a greenhouse built. It isn’t heated, but it has water and electricity (and now a water garden). I started at least ten zillion seeds last year. I hauled in many a load of cow chips from the rodeo barn next door, and had it plowed under. Then my husband hauled in grass clippings from town to completely cover the garden area (for mulch) every summer, all summer long. The garden has produced abundently.
I have gotten interested in bird watching. I have hummingbird feeders (filled with sugar water), and bird feeders all around the house. I was told quite awhile ago by a seed salesman that I had joined an exclusive group–The One Ton Club! Yes, I had purchased one ton of bird feed! This year I am going to raise Guineas.
“Lazyness is the mother of invention” to paraphase a phase. When we had the bulldozer man come out to work on the pond, I had him also push over some dead or dying trees and tree stumps. It’s ever so much easier to turn them into firewood, and fill in the stump holes afterwards.
I can tell you our land now looks prettier that any city park. The only sad thing is that the pond is dry, just waiting to be filled with rain water.