Love to Love Ya & Delivery is FREE!

     Teresa and I just finished driving about 175-miles within the last 36-hours and we never left Snyder or Scurry county. In fact, we never ventured too far from College Avenue which is Snyder's main drag. You might say; We drive for LOVE!😘😘

The Blossom Bucket/Snyder, TX

     This marks our second year helping to deliver Valentine's Day flowers for our friends Theresa and Rodney Dupree, who own and operate The Blossom Bucket in Snyder America.
     Both years have been a little different, but each year has also had one thing in common and that is.... BUSY!!!! The volume of flowers going out is staggering.
     Theresa & Rodney had two teams delivering the day BEFORE Valentine's and FIVE TEAMS delivering on the big day. Keep in mind that while we, the deliverers of LOVE are pulling up, packing up and driving off with our bounty of bouquets, "The Inside Squad" is working shoulder to shoulder creating arrangement, after arrangement, after arrangement!

The Blossom Bucket/Snyder, TX

     It's not brain surgery delivering LOVE. In fact, it's usually a chance to knock on someone's door or visit them at work or wherever they are and they're actually happy to see you. I think the only few rules are: Don't wreck the van, Don't break the flowers or lose the balloons. And always, smile!
     I gotta admit that sometimes the smiling is forced but probably not why you might think.
     It's easy to smile when you're greeted with a smile. But I guess I'm surprised by how many who get flowers... just take 'em out of my hand without any emotion at all.      
     Sometimes, they look sad. So, the only thing I know to say is, "Aren't they pretty? I hope you enjoy them." Sometimes, they look at me like, "It's about time." All I can say then is, "Enjoy." And believe it or not, there have been times when the look I get is, "Is that it?"
     There are a lot of things I want to say to that reaction but usually none apply to the sender. My reaction is more about the creators who put genuine time and effort into making something pretty for someone they probably don't know. So in these cases, I generally go with a smile and hopefully a mood changer like: "I watched Theresa make 'em. She thought you'd like 'em a lot." It's a lil' lie, but if I said what I really felt like saying, I'd probably get hit and The Blossom Bucket would take a hit, too.
     The good news is that most of the times we're met with giggles and glee. The bad news is no matter how infrequent we get the other responses, it's still sad for everyone from creator to receiver.

The Blossom Bucket/Snyder, TX

     Flower sales are big business at Valentine's Day, duh! I 'googled' it. Each year, about 110-millions roses are sold in the U.S. on February 14th. And, that's just February 14th!
      We started delivering roses on February 13th and it's a very safe bet that Theresa and Rodney began arranging roses and more long before the anniversary of LOVE.
     In fact, I pinned Rodney between the roses, the tulips and the chrysanthemums and asked, "What percentage of your business is Valentine's Day?"

Me: "Just a ballpark. How big is this day?"
Rod: "Umm, big. But we stay busy all year with lots of other events."
Me: "Okay. Can you give me a percentage? Is Valentine's Day the biggest day for y'all?"
Rod: "That and Mother's day. But this is big. Probably 8-10% of our business. Maybe a half months worth of business."

Hot Rod Dupree/The Blossom Bucket

     That's Rodney is the picture to the right. I thought I'd snap a quick pic while he was on the phone, but before I knew it he was off and moving.
     I know the expression is; Off and running. But, Rodney doesn't run. Instead, he's continually moving. If he doesn't have a phone in his ear taking orders, he's writing down orders, or he's counting inventory, or for his deliverers' he's organizing our next outing.
     Watching him reminds me of a traffic jam on the interstate. Of course, we want to go the speed limit of 70-or so. But if we keep moving at 25-40 mph we really feel like we're getting somewhere.
     Rodney's not a drive the speed limit type of guy on these days we help deliver for them. He's more of a 'steady' kind of guy. The funny thing is.. He's not called 'Hot Rod Dupree' for nothin'. His passion is drag racing. You know, the big long snouted cars that go from 0-to-300 in less time than it takes to blink. Still on Valentine's Day and later on Mother's Day, Rodney's the pickup driver who had enough sense to get off the interstate and take the frontage road. Sure, he's not making great time but he's moving and moving ALWAYS means progress.

Theresa Dupree/The Blossom Bucket

 
     That's Theresa Dupree in the picture to the left. I don't know where to begin with Theresa.
     The picture will tell the story if you take a good look. She's on the phone taking an order. Meantime, I count at least four arrangements that she's working on simultaneously.
      Theresa's long time Snyder. She knows absolutely everyone. It's a blessing of a small town. Theresa has an uncanny ability to know who's ordering and for whom and to know what that recipient would like. It's really a tremendous peace of mind knowing  that when you're handing off something as important as love to grief that Theresa knows what would make the recipient joyful.
     Our conversations usually begins with Rodney and usually by text message...

      Us: "Hey Rod. Would y'all put together or send something to so-in-so.?"
      Rod: "Sure"
     Us: "Our price range is ____. Please just ask Theresa to work her magic."
     Rod: "👍"

     Every time, Theresa puts together something that without fail ends with us receiving a phone call from the recipient saying a big thank you.
   
     As usual, we had a great time delivering for The Blossom Bucket. It's a nice feeling delivering smiles. Thanks y'all.
    If you'd like to see more of The Blossom Bucket please check out the following link.. https://www.facebook.com/Blossom-Bucket-1686775421545326/

Bill Robertson
(Great working with Dedra Driggers, Susan Scott, David & Denise Brown, Mrs. Ann Everett's team and Dana Munkres' team)
Dedra: Hold onto the BALLOONS!!!
   

Herding Jackasses with Cat Food & Calling Hulk Hogan

     Donkeys, Jackasses or Mules... We're not sure, but we had two unexpected long-eared equine visitors at the ranch.

Bonnie or Clyde?/Windmill Ranch

     The duo dubbed "Bonnie & Clyde" showed up while we were on our west coast adventure. Our neighbor, who happens to be the area's Game Warden, texted me. I've included the actual text.

Do You Have Donkeys?

     The text is dated January 20th around 7:44pm. I think at that time we were doing anything, absolutely anything, but thinking about a conversation that would include animals, much less donkeys.

     What do you do when your 1,444.6 miles from home and your neighbor texts you to ask if you have donkeys? Of course, you begin to wonder... what?!!!!!!!!!

     I'll spare you another text stream, but suffice it to say our electronic conversation continued with our Game Warden neighbor. Ultimately, we found out that Bonnie & Clyde belong to another neighbor, who it so happens is a younger, less hulkier Hulk Hogan look-a-like. Business in front---Party in the back.

Here Donkey, Donkey/Windmill Ranch

     Wondering animals aren't that strange out here in west Texas. Bonnie and Clyde's appearance wouldn't be that unusual if they were cows or dogs, but they're donkeys. Who has stray donkeys?!
     Apparently, Bonnie & Clyde went on a 'walk-a-bout.' First, they wondered onto our busy highway. Then, the Game Warden herded them to a third neighbor's property. Then, the donkeys either jumped our fence or squeezed through the wire to our property.
     After that, it became a search for their owner and an effort to get them back home. The problem at the time was, everybody from the Game Warden to the donkeys' owner to our deer hunters said, "We can't find them."

They're They Are!/Near Josie's Tank, WRP

     Guess they weren't looking too hard because Teresa and I found Bonnie & Clyde. We drove to 'Josie's Tank.' A tank is a pond in west Texas. They came to us like puppies at dinner time.
     T & I weren't prepared for such success, so quickly. We didn't know what to do. We drove off, but the Long-Eared couple followed. I had to speed up to out run them. It's not everyday that you come face to face with a couple friendly, curious donkeys.
     It took us about 24-hours to re-group and re-plan our 'donkey removal plan.'

     Here's what happened the next day. First, we addressed the 'cute issue.'

Teresa: "They're cute. I don't mind them. What harm are they doing if "Hulk" doesn't want them?"
Me: "I like 'em too. But let's see how they affect cows, deer, and other stuff"

     If you know nothing else about Teresa you should know that she makes Colombo, Kojak and Castle look like amateurs. Within minutes, T googled... "Donkeys affect on ranch/farm livestock & wildlife."
     Teresa found out that the bottom line is/was: Donkeys run off hogs and predators but don't really have a harmful affect on cows, horses or deer. The rub is, our deer lease friend, who pays a pretty penny, debated donkeys potential harmful affects on a property's deer population.

Me: "We don't need any donkeys. They could affect our deer population. We don't want to upset that relationship. Let's clean out the stock trailer, put 'em in it and haul 'em back to "Hulk. I'll tie 'em  up to his front porch with a note that says... Hello human! We're home! We missed you."
Teresa: "No you won't! I bet they'll just follow us to the corrals. Really, get some cat food in a bag. Shake it. Drive slow and they'll follow us."
Me: "Uh... okay, but I'd rather leave 'em on Hulk's front porch."

C'mon Lil' Fella/WRP

     I'll be danged if she wasn't right. We found Bonnie & Clyde. We clicked and cooed to get their attention. They immediately came to us.

     I slowly drove west on the ranch. Teresa dangled the cat food out her passenger side window. Every now and again, she'd shake it to make that sound every animals knows as supper.... Shish, shish, shish.

    Bonnie & Clyde walked, trotted and even lopped behind us. At one point, Bonnie or maybe it was Clyde, stopped. He or she put their nose in the dirt, dipped down and took a good hearty roll in the dust. Then, he or she got up and caught up with us.

     I don't know how far it was that they followed us. But when we drove into our west corrals, all the while rattling cat food into the pen, Bonnie & Clyde followed. A stray heifer inside the pens gave us fits for a bit, but eventually Bonnie & Clyde were safely pinned with water and feed at their snouts.

     Hulk the neighbor came for them and he even bladed our roads. So, we're down two donkeys but our roads are a lot smoother. Gotta love the country!

Bill Robertson