Essence of Memorial Weekend

 

The lawn still looked presentable, a little rough around the edges but not quite ready to be mowed again. 

My sister Laurie and I had enjoyed a nice visit while taking home-picked flowers and placing them at family graves in the two cemeteries.  

Mother and Harold are buried at Pack River Cemetery, while our sister Jeanne Marie, who died at about two months of age in 1950 is buried at Pinecrest.

With this solemn task completed and with more than half the day left, I asked Bill if he wanted to go for a drive. 

"Where do you want to go?" he asked, then suggesting Boulder Meadows. 

Too many mosquitoes, I said.

It took me a while to decide where I wanted to go, but after throwing some hay to the horses an idea came to mind. 

I suggested that we drive a portion of the high drive which goes through the mountains along Lake Pend Oreille south of Clark Fork.

We hadn't taken that road in at least 15 years. There was a time back in the '70s when my friend Chris and I drove the route and other roads all around the lake twice weekly.  

We put out traffic counters for the Forest Service Engineers and conducted two-day traffic surveys at Johnson Creek near Clark Fork and on Bunco Road on the south end of the lake. 

We knew the roads very well, but I must say that a 15-year break has allowed significant tree and vegetation growth.  

Most dramatic for us was driving to the vista, on a side road about four miles up the road,  which overlooks the lake to the west and the south along the Green Monarchs. 

A travel trailer was parked in the official vista itself, and trees have grown tall, blocking some of the wide-open dramatic view of the lake we used to enjoy. 

Some areas still allow an abbreviated view so we enjoyed the moment but not the mosquitoes.  They were pretty thick, and I wasted no time breaking down and showering myself with spray. 

We passed by the ultimate of Memorial Day recreation while on that trip---, busy convenience stores with bags of ice and beverages purchased, boats on the river, 4-wheelers aplenty, travel trailers, motorcycles, pickups with campers and tent camps.

Like us, most folks brought their dogs along for the fun.  In one case, we chuckled as a 4-wheeler passed us.  

In the passenger seat, a little dog sat in a lady's lap while a small trailer behind carried a doggie crate with its canine inhabitant having to tolerate the dust blowing up from the mountain road.

With the delightful weather, overall, it was a perfect day for summer to begin, and peeps took advantage.  

Bill and I called the five-hour our brief staycation, and we enjoyed it so much that we're thinking of using another segment of this Sunday to drive to a spot with a big, wide view and, if we're lucky, a hillside of alive with magnificent wildflowers.  

It should be fun.  

So far, this weekend has offered  both solemnity and a summerlike sense of escape and freedom. 

Hope everyone else is enjoying the weekend also. 

Happy Sunday. 

Saturday Slight

Could a woolly worm interpreter tell me what this means for winter and why am I seeing woolly worms in May?

           Interesting factoid I read this morning.  

 If Memorial Day is the unofficial beginning of summer and Labor Day the unofficial end, then I am pleased to inform you that we are embarking on the longest unofficial summer: From Monday, May 25 to Monday, Sept. 7, this year delivers the earliest and latest possible dates for both holidays.

So, I guess we have a looooong summer ahead.

I am wondering, however, if the early Memorial Day date is going to cause problems with putting out garden starts prematurely. 

Guess we'll just have to gamble with the holiday weekend and stick those 'maters in the ground. 

Actually, I've had a tomato plant (a tester) out in my garden for two weeks, and it's doing just fine.

In other news, Bill, Laurie and I went to Friday-night dinner last night.  Seems that everyone else in the family is on some sort of vacation. 

Annie is in Kansas for a geocaching event.  Willie and Debbie headed for Southern Idaho, and my sister Barbara is competing at a regional horse show in Eugene, Ore.   

So, we had a comparatively quiet and quick dinner. We noticed the usually bustling restaurant had tables available when we walked inside. 

Seems like a lot of folks have left town for the holiday weekend. 

The fact that they all left us is okay cuz it's mighty pretty outside and plenty out there to do. 

Part of today will be spent visiting graves at the cemeteries and the other time will involve the usual stuff around the place, including leading horses back and forth to pasture and lots of watering. 

We have an area south of the house and yard where I dumped leaves and lawn residue for about 20 years.  A beautiful spruce has grown up in the middle of it, so this spring Bill started the process of removing all the piles of stuff. 

It involved bonfires and hauling downed branches further into the woods. 

Most of the area has been cleared out so that we can enjoy the beauty of the spruce tree.  

Yesterday I mowed clumps of tall grass, raked and then planted grass seed.  It needs watering so that project has added to the usual hose dragging. 

Work, yes, but all good work that I enjoy, so it should be a good and productive weekend.  

✈🚙🚙🚙🚙🚗🚗🚗✈

Below:  My sister-in-law Joyce created this beaded butterfly, and it was particularly stunning with the late afternoon sun. 

   

Thank you, Lynne Thompson, for the painted cone idea which you posted on Facebook. 

Lynne paints hers, puts stems on them and makes beautiful pine-cone bouquets.

I just paint and find neat containers for the loose cones. 

A nice way to add color and not have to water. 

When I snap photos of scenes like this, I get a little sad because after the Fourth of July those trees will come down because they are dying and becoming dangerous to the house. .

  Just hoping we can save the periwinkle patch. 

The squirrels are going to have to find other places to play. 

I'll miss the trees but won't miss picking up their millions of leaves. 

For now, the trees are pretty, as always. 

Guardians of the Graves

 

Janice Schoonover said, "It takes five of us to do what Eva did."  

Well, that might be a slight stretch but it's close. 

On a couple of occasions over the years, I did see Eva Whitehead's sister helping her place flags on the graves at Pack River Cemetery prior to Memorial Day.

https://www.bizapedia.com/id/pack-river-cemetery-association-the.html

Eva passed away last year, and  the cemetery at the corner of Selle and Colburn-Culver Roads now serves as her resting place. 

Eva's Torch has been passed, as have the flags. 

Yesterday I learned from Liz Wood (after teasing her in a telephone conversation that her cows were out next door) that she would be traveling to the cemetery later in the afternoon to join other board members in placing flags on the graves of veterans. 

Liz told me that, as has been done for years, the Gold n' Grouse 4-H Club had completed a cemetery cleanup this past weekend. 

So, now it was time for American flags to decorate the hallowed spot where gravestones include names like Wood, Schoonover, Albertson, McNall, Fitchett, Neely and, yes, even Tibbs.

I can say that I have known the group who help serve as guardians of the graves for most of my life. 

I knew many when they were members of the Gold n' Grouse 4-H Club and more than likely participated in clean-up day. Some were former students. 

Now, their generation has taken on the responsibility of managing the cemetery. 

From the looks of the area yesterday, both 4-H'ers and board members have taken an abundance of pride in its appearance for the upcoming Memorial Day weekend and for their loved ones residing there. 

It's a nice and important civic tradition, often an unseen aspect of community. 

The Pack River Cemetery community is fortunate, to say the least. 

Thanks, Liz, for this opportunity to document your group's activities yesterday and thanks to all who maintain this special place where we can remember those who came before us. 

Yesterday I had the pleasure of tagging along with Roley and Janice Wood Schoonover, Liz Wood, Tom Albertson, Linda Palmen Fitchett, 

 

Happy Friday.