I hope this works.  I have been experimenting in hope I can publish "Livin' the Dream" and I can only hope it is working.

Today, with my son Tieg and 2 of his children, went to the Ft. Sam Houston Quandrangle.  As some of you know, or even may not no, Ft. Sam Houston, right here in San Antonio is one of, if not the oldest active military installations in the United States.

The Quandrangle built in 1876-77 originally as a supply depot.  In 1917, General Pershing was stationed here as well as General Eisenhower.  Also as a little history of your movie buffs, two scenes from the movie WINGS were filmed in the Quadrangle.  WINGS was the first film to receive the Academy Award for Best Picture.

The tower pictured above was built in the center of the courtyard, is 90 feet tall and was originally used as a watch tower and as a water tank.  The sentries were posted at the 60 level and a clock was installed in 1882 with the faces of the clock changed in 1907.

The Quandrangle, not only was used as a Headquarters, but was the main part of the post.  Inside were the workshops for blacksmith and wheelwrights, stable for the horses and mules.  A Signal Corps shop was added on the north wall along with a telegraph office and supply office in the courtyard.,

Aside from great American heroes being stationed here, the Quandrangle had one more guest in 1886.  And, that was the great Apache war chief Geronimo (Goy-ah-kla.  One Who Yawns). This I didn't know until today, that is his real name and what it meant.

On Sept 1, 1886, after a grueling battle across New Mexico and Arizona, Geronimo surrendered to Gen Mills and was ordered to be sent to Florida as a PoW.  He and 32 other Apaches boarded a train on Sept 8 and headed East, arriving at the Quandrangle on Sept 10.

To make a long story short, Geronimo departed San Antonio on Oct 22, 1886 for Florida. Germino was sent to Ft. Pickens, Florida and the rest of the prisoners , women and children were sent to Ft. Marion, Florida.

After two years at Ft Pickens, Geronimo and his group were transferred to Mt Vernon Barracks, Alabama.  In 1894 they were transferred to Ft. Sill OK with Geronimo dying in 1909.

There was considerable public interest in Geronimo when he was in San Antonio.  Some soldiers took him up in the tower to show him the surrounding countryside.  The bell in the clock struck the hour and, so the story goes, frightened Geronimo such that he jumped out of the tower.  A part of the story is true in as such the he did ascend up the tower, but he was afraid the soldier were going to throw him off the tower so  he did not go out onto the balcony.  Could he have survived a fall from 60 feet and die of natural causes in 1909?  Highly unlikely.  

Presently, in the Quandrangle are offices, it is a tourist destination and located in the courtyard are deer, peacocks, duck, geese and chickens.

The white birds you see here are white peacocks.  I have never seen white peacocks before.

I was sitting in my apartment this morning wondering what I could do today.  What kind of mischief I could get into and what was cheap.  Then it struck me to do something that was meaningful and maybe appropriate.  You see, San Antonio, and more specifically Ft Sam Houston has a very large National Cemetery.

I am somewhat ashamed to say that it has been since the 70's since I have been there.  What is so sad is that so many young soldiers are now there.  So I went over to take a few pictures and thought I would share a few.

What was no nice today was the flag was not flying at half-staff.  That means that no funerals were scheduled for today.  And, I remember as a youngster growing up in So. Illinois and being in the Cub Scouts that every year for Memorial Day we would go to the National Cemetery and place flags at every head stone.  This is still being done by the scouts.  From what I understand. because this cemetery is so large, it took them a couple of days to accomplish this feat.  So my hat is off to the scouting program.

The bells, benches and the above plaque are near the front entrance to the cemetery.  The benches represents Medal of Honor recipients.  These are just three of many.

It has always amazed me just how all headstones are in neat rows and how they all look whether looking straight down, diagonally or left to right.  They are lined up.

These last two pictures are of a husband and wife.  His name and service information is on the front side of the headstone and her's in on the reverse.  For those that don't know, when husband and wife are buried, they are stacked.

Ladies and Gentlemen.  I know that each of you have been anxiously waiting for my next blog and here it is.

I think that I  have mentioned before that "Livin' the Dream" can and be more that just a travel guide.  Even though this is some about my recent travel it is also why I made this trip.  Who would ever think about driving about 1300 miles just to attend a luncheon.  A Girl Scout luncheon at that.  I have done a lot of foolish and stupid things in my 70+ years, but this was not one of them.

The luncheon entitled "Gem of STEM."  STEM in an acronym for S=Science; T=Technology; E=Engineering; M=Mathematics.  This is a nation wide program for the Girl Scout program to encourage young ladies that these areas of studies are not just for boys.  The program recognized women in the local area that have excelled.  I might add that each of these women recognized are also mentors to the young ladies that are wearing the uniforms of the Girl Scouts

There was a second part of the program, and this was the real reason I traveled those 1300 miles.  You see my Mother was also being recognized.  The "Julia Jackson Leader Award" was being presented to a scout leader.  A leader in scouts as with coaches, teachers, etc., are always reaching into their pockets to help their "kids."  The award given to a Girl Scout Leader credit to be used at the Girl Scout Catalog.

Now without further ado, and for those of you that do not remember my Mother, I would like to introduce her to you.  Julia Jackson

Mom and Dad's Wedding Picture 

Dad, Me and Mom

Mom on a cruise ship with her radiant and captive smile.

I went to Florida as a surprise to my sister Sydney.  In fact I brought with me our cousin from Durango CO and her husband and our (much) older sister Jean.  I had coordinated this surprise with Sydney's husband Mel and the Co-Chair of the event and told them that this was to be kept as a secret.

Much to my surprise, there were several people at the event that knew of our arrival, but no one leaked a word about what was going on.  At this time I would like to introduce you to the family and extended family:

Front row from left:  Sister Jean Swift, Stacy Liebman (Geoff's wife), Karen Steele Feller (cuz from Durango CO)

Back row from left:  Sister Sydney Liebman, her husband Mel Liebman, son Geoff Liebman, me and Dave Feller,

(husband of Karen) not pictured is our other sister Joni Eden.

Now you know the reason for the trip and you also know the family.

Now for a little history lesson.  How many are aware that Ft Pierce FL is the home to the Navy Frogman, the predecessor to the Navy SEALS?  Well it was.  All training for the Frogman and for the Underwater Demolition Teams was conducted here.  There is a museum with some pretty neat stuff and it seems to be growing and growing.  In about a year they will be housing a Black Hawk Helicopter.  The life boat that was used by Capt Phillips and his captors is on display along with many other boats that were used by the Frogmen and SEALS.  Here is a smattering of what you can see at the museum:

The next set of pictures are from the beaches at the House Refuge in Stuart FL.  These are the only rocky beaches you will find in Florida.  I only wish that I had been there at high tide to see the waves crashing into the rocks.  I understand that is a sight to see.

While taking pictures of the beach and rocks I noticed some surfers out in the distance.  I have to pat myself on the back on how well the lone surfer came out.  In fact I have it on my desktop.  And, while taking those pictures, lo and behold look what came up walking down the beach.  I will swear on a stack of bibles that I did not see them until they were walking away from me.   I'll have to admit that it made my day.

So there you have it, the latest chapter of "Livin' the Dream."  I hope I haven't bored you all too much.

Been awhile since I have posted on "Livin' the Dream."  In fact, I forgot how to get into this.  Guess I need to right it all down for the next time.

Anyway - with that being said I went back to the San Antonio Botanical Gardens today.  The last time I went and posted a few pictures was last fall.  Not a lot of flowers or not a lot of color.  The worker-bees were busy planting getting ready for the Spring, and boy they did a beautiful job.  The entrance into the building was colorful.  As soon as you walked into the gardens you were met with flowers in full bloom and the smells were WOW!

I would like to share with you all some of the flowers in the garden.  There is no way I can show all the pictures I took (almost 100), but I can show some.  Some of the plants I don;t know what they are.  Others that were labeled, I took a picture of the label, then the flower.

It has been said that beauty is in the eye of the beholder.  Beauty in nature comes in many different format. This is just some of the beauty in and around San Antonio.

The small buds you see on the Prickly Pear Cactus will end up new pieces of cactus.

Above is the George Burns Rose

If you look real close, you will see a honey been in the flower.  He flew off as soon as I snapped the picture.

Dear Friends -

I have realized that "Livin' The Dream" is not just about the places I have gone and the pictures I have taken. It is about friends, old and new.  It is about memories, old and new.

I would like to tell you a story.  This is something that happened to me yesterday.  I kind of question of whether it was meant to be or just a coincidence, though it doesn't make a lot of difference.  What this story does just makes you realize just how small this world can be.

I was shopping in a local grocery story, in the produce department when an elderly gentleman (probably in his 90s) with a walker asked me if I had every tried strawberries straight from the vine.  He then made the comment that they were so much better and sweeter.

We got to talking and one subject led to another.  I had mentioned that I was born and raised in Southern IL and that I used to raid an old farmers strawberry patch every year.  He then asked me where in IL and I told him near Cairo.

Come to find out he was born and raised in Cairo and of course he knew of Mounds.  This is where the story get pretty interesting,

After graduating high school, he joined the Army Air Corps at the onset of WWII.  By now I am really interested in what he has to say.  I asked him just what he did during the war and he told me that he did something that a lot of people have never heard of.  He asked if I had ever heard of "Flying the Hump."  I'll have to admit that until recently (the past year), that I did not know much.  I had heard about the men who flew the "Hump" keeping supply channels open.  The "Hump" refers to flying over the Himalayas.  Very, very dangerous back then.

I told him of an old family friend from Mounds that also flew the "Hump."  He wanted to know who it was and I told him O. T. Wildey.  Almost immediately he got a little teary eyed and said that they flew together. Neither men were pilots, they were crew members.  He asked how O.T. was and I informed him that I had the honor of visiting with him last July and that he died in Aug or Sep.  He then said that there weren't many left any more.  That is so sad.  Real but still sad.

O.T. never talked about what he did in the war.  We, as the Jackson family, did not know until just a few years ago.  I recently found out that O.T. was a "war hero" in every since of the word.  Aside from receiving the Distinguished Flying Cross, he also received the Silver Star.

While this gentleman and were walking and talking, he said that the boss is trying to hurry him along.  He smiled and pointed upward and said not that boss, but his boss of the last 60 years.  I wanted to write this just to show just how small this world really is.  Last summer I posted  picture of O. T.  I would like to re-post.

O. T. Wildey

1923 - 2013

O.T., May you Rest in Peace - I salute you