Madison Farm and Trampoline Park

I am not sure that the place that we call home in Texas has a name so I will need to come up with one.

          It has critters, so Farm will be in the name. It is in Brenham, Texas and its address is Aspen Circle, both nice sounding but nothing special. I could use the ever-present Texas monikers, such as: Bluebell, Yellow Rose, or Lone Star, but I am fairly sure that those have been claimed already.

          The one thing that those other places do not have is Madison. Madison (or Maddie) is the four-year-old granddaughter of Paula, daughter of the proprietors, Danny (Paula’s son) and Kaitie (whose full name is Caitlin but prefers Kaitie with a K). Madison’s parents own the place, but it is Maddie who runs it, so let us go with,

Madison Farm and Trampoline Park

          This is one of our three bases of operation, the others being Tomboy Farm in Durango, Colorado (you have already met them) and of course Sussex County, New Jersey. We have a genuinely nice “pad” (in RV terms) or defined space for us here. It is right next to the corral which, at the moment, has two pregnant goats in it. The goat population is destined to explode soon as these ladies are scheduled to drop at least two kids each.

           We shall see.

          Bailey, the canine member of the family, patrols her perimeters with a definite purpose, (she has dispatched more than her share of coyotes, scorpions, snakes, and the like) yet is one of the most easy-going dogs that I have ever met. There were chickens and a horse here, their stories will be told a little later.

          Danny and Kaitie are Ex-Marines. Let me expand on that for a moment and correct myself. The proper term is actually former Marine, not ex-Marine. When I read this post to Danny and Kaitie before I published it, they corrected me on that issue. It seems that you are never an Ex-Marine. Once you are a Marine, you are always a Marine.

          I like that.

          I find it interesting that it seems that no one except the Marines are habitually described as  former or “ex-“. This is not in any way to be construed as anything negative about any of our other fine military branches. It is just something that I have picked up on over the years. It would seem that it, in itself, is a fine tribute to the Corps.

           In the case here in Texas, the service of both Danny and Kaitie proudly comes shining through. Kaitie had a tour in Iraq and Danny had a total of four tours, two in Afghanistan and two in Iraq. They obviously met in the Service, it was in San Diego at Camp Pendleton.

          There is not much that can faze these two.

          Texas is a good State to settle in for Veterans. There are a multitude of advantages for Military Service Members here including something as innocuous as a reduced fee for auto registration and driver’s licenses. It is not that they get a reduced rate, it is that the difference of what they pay, and the full rate is funded by  voluntary donations from their fellow Texans.

          Kind of nice, isn’t it?

          A few years ago, Danny ran for their State Assembly. The field was crowded and at this point he was probably considered an outsider, but his showings at the polls indicated otherwise. The other candidates genuinely liked him and even courted him a bit for alliances as the process continued. He has stayed active in the local politics with the idea of re-surfacing sometime in the future.    

          In the meantime, Danny and Kaitie work on the “Pipeline.” The pipeline is generic term used for any number of projects that are ongoing in the Midwest. They can be in Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, (you get the idea) but not Alaska! Sometimes they are close together, sometimes they are extremely far apart. But the opportunity to stash some cash while Madison was not in school yet was definitely tempting. Even when Maddie goes to school, one of them will still probably take a turn or two on the line. Danny is an electrical inspector, while Kaitie is a welding inspector, those are their specialties. In reality, they both are Code Inspectors and have wide-ranging oversights on the projects that they are assigned to.

          Someone has to make sure that the work is done correctly!

           They work about seven months out of the year and spend the rest (winter) down here in the moderate weather of mid-Texas working on improving Madison Farm and Trampoline Park.

          Over the years, the improvements have been substantial, not that the place needed a ton of work mind you. The house is a 1940’s farmhouse that is solidly constructed of oak, which there is a plethora of around here.  Updated bathroom, appliances, some really nice wooden siding work along with new wall insulation, are just a few of the projects. A barn was added, Danny cleared the land for a corral, dug all the holes and erected the posts for a dandy white fence that surrounds it all.

Anyone whose has lived on a farm will tell you that the chores and up-keep are never ending. Danny has done 95% of the work himself, only hiring a contractor when absolutely necessary. Kaitie is the Animal Husbandry side of the team. Kaitie grew up in Cheyenne, Wyoming probably the most Cowboy (Girl) friendly town in the West. Witness the annual Frontier Days that are a prerequisite if you are any kind of a rider. Kaitie was involved with this, she ran Barrels, Keyhole, and other riding events on her horse, Princess. Princess and Kaitie had each other for company for about 17 years. Sadly, Princess went to that Big Rodeo in the Sky just this past year. But soon there will be some more four-legged animals in the corral because arrangements have been made for two small horses (a mom and her daughter) to come live here. Can Maddie’s riding lessons be far behind? There were some chickens here at one time, but Chicken Hawks, racoons, and other varmints took their turns at ravaging the flock. And besides, they require daily care and when Danny and Kaitie are on the pipeline that is impossible. While Danny and Kaitie are up there, the goats get to go to a Goat Resort (a friend’s farm) where they must have had a good time because they are now expecting their twins.

          Maddie is as effervescent as any four-year-old could be. She goes to Dance, MMA, and Cheering which are all located (thankfully) in the same building as her pre-school which she attends at least two days a week. The trampoline in their back yard provides endless hours of entertainment for her. Unfortunately, Maddie really likes it when someone else (but there are only adults living around here) is in there with her. So far, I have escaped being asked to go jumping around with her in the trampoline.

          As I write this Danny is prepping for some more sidewalk work that will connect the various areas of the farm (and it is headed in this direction!) This helps tremendously with keeping mud, etc. out of the house. I told him that a nice, RV sized, concrete pad with a fire pit would be a great addition over here.

He agreed.

          I wonder…..