Blasting Back from the Past

Reunions always seem to last a little longer than the scheduled two days. In my experience with our 50th, the action started Wednesday and ran through late yesterday afternoon. 

We had classmates (in yesterday's case Rick and Janet Anthony, Gary Finney and George Massing) here at the Lovestead both before and after the scheduled activities.

I must say that during that time, a huge chunk of my past and the grand tapestry of many faces who molded us and who participated with us in mischief, rose from the recesses.

It was good over the past few days to stir up and savor vignettes of times at the University of Idaho, of Carter Hall, of old Forest Service days, of the local ham radio world, including Charlie Spealman and Don LaMoreaux, of Annie Brunsell telling Gary Finney that studying law was a waste of a good mind and, yes, even some mention of present-day Ducks---Oregon style.  

Sorry Janet, that was  tough loss last night! Chris Pietsch, who accompanied the team to Michigan and photographed the action, posted in the wee hours that he was one tired Duck.  

On occasion, during our extended reunion, I had a difficulty separating out the fascinating facts of a few stories because this tends to be a time in life when folks tend to all talk at the same time. 

If only we could train our ears to multi-task, I'd have a whole lot more twice-or third-time tales to chuckle about as our reunion fun gradually becomes a distant but treasured memory.

Of course, one mission on George's carefully calculated reunion-related bucket list was to walk to the Lodgepole pasture and become a member of our storied society.  

Bill also gave him a geocoin for "Love" to take along with him back to Maryland where he has lived for a few decades.

Many times throughout our visit, I sat in total amazement at the brilliance.  George carries with him a vast repository of personal memories and precise details for past events, especially car models and their features.  Yes, Helen, he's very aware of Cal Method and his drag-racing prowess. 

I told the group yesterday how much fun it would be to seat George and Mike Parkins side by side in a "memories" marathon to see who could come out on top as champ.  Later, I thought two Gary's should probably be added to the competition----Gary Finney and Gary Johnson. 

If the local museum wanted to fill in the blanks on local history from our parents' era through the recent past, I think these four guys could provide the facts.  Absolutely amazing the information they pack around with them. 

Again, some multi-tasking would be necessary to separate out the details cuz they probably would all talk at the same time. 

Anyway, after four days of high-speed reunion activity, I'm looking forward to a relative lull and to a somewhat normal routine of keeping track of the Seahawks or watching the daily activities of the stellar jay which arrived at our bird feeder yesterday. 

Plus, there are a couple of horses out there in the pasture with new shoes, so I'm hoping to do some riding, along with the usual lawn and garden details. 

I'm also looking forward to getting sick and tired of the craziness of politics and, on a brighter note, driving in to Spokane to pick up Annie in a few days for her weekend visit. 

The reunion was spectacular, the memories long lasting and the satisfaction of seeing so many happy faces with two-thumbs-up reunion reviews-----sublime.

Back to the present to tend to future life adventures.  After all, we've gotta have something to talk about when we meet again in five years!

Happy Sunday.