Stranded

Whilst at the recent family reunion, I applied one of the adaptive behaviors I developed growing up in a family of ten kids with one bathroom:
The early bird gets the shower.
I figure if I take my turn at 5:00 am, there won't be anyone pounding on the door--only a crazy person gets up that early on a summer morning.
I am the crazy person.
So the last morning I was there, I stepped out of the shower and realized I had forgotten to grab my towel off the clothesline. I was faced with the choice of using the same towel that had been hanging there in the bathroom throughout the entire reunion--
the towel used to dry the hands and possibly faces and who knows what else of all my closest relations on my Mother's side.
Or, I could think of something else.
I figured there were clean towels somewhere in the house, but where?
The pink towel looked big enough to wrap around me while I looked in the cupboards right outside the bathroom door. It was still pitch dark outside and I didn't hear a sound of anyone stirring, so I wrapped up and did a fast open and look-see in the four cupboards.
Toilet paper.
Soap.
Shampoo.
I don't remember.
But I didn't see any towels.

My next option was to get my towel off the clothesline. It was only a few steps to the back door, and then a quick grab and I could get back in with my dignity intact and dry off with my own towel. There was just one problem, well, two problems.
First, the back door.

The concrete that was poured to be the threshold is a little less than level which makes it difficult to open the door under ideal circumstances, let alone when one hand is occupied holding onto one's dignity by holding tightly to a towel. I pushed and kicked and wiggled the door--all while trying not to wake the dead.
Just as I got it open, I saw my cousin step out of the tent trailer.
There would only be one place she was headed and that was the one place I had to be in order to not be left standing in my bare essentials in the hall wrapped in a towel.
You would have been amazed at how fast I grabbed my towel and dashed back into the bathroom and slammed the door shut. If the ten yard sprint while holding a towel around you to beat your cousin to the bathroom were an Olympic Sport I would have won the
GOLD MEDAL!

Overheard

At the recent Family Reunion:
Marshall: Hey Andy could you turn off the water for me.
Andy: Where is the spigot?
Marshall: Ummmm, just follow the hose...

Everyone waking up in the nearby tent trailer:
Hysterical laughter

Back to My Roots

During my growing up years, I was uprooted many times. I was a resilent child and adapted to the many changes in location, friends, and schools. But through all the changes in my life, there was one constant:
Ramah.
Ramah is the home of the forebears on my Mother's side. Those hardy Pioneers were sent out to colonize and to tame the wilderness. To give you an idea just how hardy they were--
after drought, famine, pestilence and a smallpox epidemic, many of the settlers packed it in and headed back to Utah.
But not my relations.
Some would call that stubborn and maybe a little crazy.
I like to call it Faith and Gumption.
They stayed and built up a little community. Not as showy as Salt Lake City maybe, and they don't have their own Temple yet. And the current citizens only recently got the streets paved. But it's my Mecca. I return there every few years to remind myself where I came from.
And it turns out, I came from the dirt.
So, I go back to the dirt and pitch a tent.
And I spend some quality time with some of the descendants of those stubborn Pioneers.
This is the first gathering since my Grandmother Idelle passed away last year.
We gathered at her house for our reunion just like we always have.
But she wasn't there and we had to carry on without her.

This is the home my Grandparents built-it started out as a two-room cabin and was added upon over the years as their family grew. My Aunt and her family bought the house and have worked hard to clean and repair it while keeping the essence of the home we all love and remember.

This bookcase was always filled with good books. Many of them have been passed along to family members as mementos.

My Grandmother's "Easy-Read" large number phone--with the numbers upside down.
It takes a little getting used to. You have to use this phone because there is NO cell phone coverage out in the middle of nowhere, which is where Ramah happens to be located.

I was happy to see the hollyhocks still growing in the very spot where my Grandmother showed my cousins and me how to make dolls out of the flowers when we were little girls. We amused ourselves for many a pleasant hour playing with our Hollyhock dolls.

The chicken coop where I learned to gather eggs and
I also learned to stay away from the mean old rooster.

The barn has been transformed into our family reunion Bistro--we took our meals al fresco out in the country air.

One of the contributors to the "country air"
Indoor plumbing is a luxury I don't take for granted!

I wrote a little skit about the "Courtship of Joe and Idelle". Our Grandparents' love story is sweet and funny. Here you see the climactic scene where Joe (AKA my nephew Spencer) is proposing to Idelle (AKA my cousin Tonya).

The other cast members were my niece, Alyssa and my cousin's daughter.
Their costumes were actually clothes that belonged to our Grandparents.
When we were going through the clothes to choose the ones we would use, I held a dress up and it smelled just like my Grandmother. And I spilled over with tears of sweet memories of a loving, feminine, strong, faithful woman who is my Grandmother. And my sister and my cousins and I all cried together as they comforted me and we were happy that we had such a Grandmother in our lives and we were all assured in our hearts that we will see her again.

Our reunion was held the weekend of Pioneer Day. Trust me, it's a big deal in Ramah. In Utah, it's a state holiday and in Ramah, New Mexico it's the biggest happening of the year.

Our contribution to the parade was a float showing our patriotism--something our Grandparents ingrained in us. The theme of the celebration was "All is Well"
Andy asked how big the parade was.
My cousin Colleen said: "We signed up late to have a float in the parade and we were second on the list."

But, in spite of our joking about it being the shortest parade in history, there were actually 4 floats (2 more even later entries than ours!), a huge tractor, a few horse-drawn carts, a little boy on a John Deere power wheel, and the entire fire and rescue squad. And the biggest crowd of people I have ever seen in Ramah. I was so stunned, I just kept looking and looking at the crowd of people lining the road and almost forgot to watch the parade.

After the parade there was a street fair that included all kinds interesting offerings. Including my cousin's pie stand with the above sign. I don't know about the cowpies but the cherry pie I bought was delicious.

Upcoming Events: Angel's Rest

Shayla and I have been previewing hikes for the upcoming
First Annual Gale Family reunion
We set out yesterday in search of
"Angel's Rest".
We did a bit of wandering as we tried to find the trail head.
But anywhere you wander in the Gorge is beautiful...
(Why is everything underlined and bold? I have no idea--and I don't have time to figure it out, so it stays!)
Here is Horsetail Falls:

We did eventually find it--so it will be much easier next time!

This isn't something you like to see at the beginning of a hike in the wilderness!

I asked the Deputy if there was a problem or if we could go ahead
and hike...he said, "Oh, there are about 20 bears on the trail, but don't worry about it.
Hahahaha."
Yes, he was quite the comedian.
He then said that it was a hiker with an injured knee.
Comforting.
I'm getting to the age where knees can betray you at any moment.
But, we set out anyway.

This little creek feeds a waterfall that you can barely see because of all the foliage.

A little taste of the beautiful views:

This is where the second set of EMTs passed us.

The guy's knee injury was a big gash--we came upon the blood after we had passed him with a crowd of Paramedics and his hiking companions. His knee had been bandaged but was still dripping blood and his sock was soaked as well.
But don't worry--It's a great hike and we'll all keep our balance and be just fine!

We crossed this ridge of rocks very carefully:

You might want to ask Shayla's opinion about the hike. About 1/3 of the way up she was murmuring. I tried to buck up her spirits with:
"Shayla, this is about the point we feel like quitting on every hike."
To which she replied:
"This is about the point where I feel like killing you on every hike."
To which I replied:
"I'll just step it up and stay a few paces out of your reach for now."

This makes it all worthwhile:

The hike back:

Almost done--
When we got to the car the temperature was 103 degrees!
We will pick a cooler day for the reunion hike.

Upcoming Events

Preparations are underway here at the cabin for the

First Annual Gale Family Reunion

We enjoy the untamed beauty out here in the wild, but my guy has a need to rearrange nature so that it is more to his liking. This required a lot of heavy equipment, chainsaws and big bonfires when we were living here last year.
All that rearranging left the meadow pretty torn up and full of deep ruts.
Not the safest place for running unless you like a good sprain.

So Grampa Gale saved the day with his tractor and meadow leveling skills.
Now I think we are ready for the SACK RACES!
Game On!

White Trash

There are some things about cabin living that are more convenient than others. Case in point is the trash. Out here in the wild, there isn't a local Garbage Man--or rather --"Waste Management" service to pick up the garbage and smash it into their big truck. So it tends to pile up until someone does something about it.

When we lived here, that someone was my guy, Andy. But he's busy earning a living in California so that leaves me with the "Waste Management" job while we're here on extended holiday. So, today I loaded up the garbage into our trailer. Well, technically Seth loaded the garbage because he is such a helpful, obedient son.
And because he wanted me to take him into town to see a movie with his friends.


He took some time tying everything down and strapping the trash cans in and then we headed for the dump--or rather--"Transfer Station".
Not long after we turned onto the main road, I noticed we were being followed rather closely by an older model white car. I could tell it was an older model because of the dents and rust. I was worried about keeping the trailer on the road and was probably going a little slower than they would have liked but the road is too narrow and twisty (I was going to say "windy" but that could be construed as "the wind was blowing" which we all know doesn't usually have any effect on one's ability to pass another vehicle. The English language is so interesting. But I digress...) to pass.
Then I noticed they had their flashers on. I couldn't see that before because they were hugging so tight to the rear of my trailer. Then, the passenger started waving what appeared to be a white flag out his window.
"Is he surrendering?" I wondered out loud.
"Huh?", said Seth.
As I mentioned before, the road was narrow and twisty and there really wasn't any place to pull over. But I slowed down and pulled off as much as I could in a wide spot on the shoulder.
They pulled up beside me and I observed that the passenger had most of his teeth and a rather jaunty leather cap pulled tightly onto his skull. The driver was charming in her numerous tattoos which were displayed to best effect by the tube top she was sporting. Or rather the tube top that was clinging rather precariously to her ample bosom. She leaned across her passenger to shout:
"A bag of trash flew out of your trailer back there and landed on the side of the road--it burst open and there is trash everywhere!"
"Yeah!" Said her passenger.
"We would have picked it up, but I don't have anything to put it in."
So, in this scenario, I'M the WHITE TRASH! My garbage is flying out as I drive along oblivious to the havoc I'm wreaking out here in the untainted beauty of our natural resources.
While this nice couple had actually considered picking it up for me.

All I needed was an Indian--or rather--"Native American"
standing there next to our trash with a tear
running down his cheek.

Upcoming Events

In anticipation of the

First Annual Gale Family Reunion,
I've been keeping my eye out for fun activities we can all enjoy together.
Whilst perusing the local paper, I came across this little gem:


Oregon Coast Aquarium: The art exhibit installed in the aquarium's
"Passages of the Deep" area features original gyotaku art prints by
Mr. Somebodyorother. Gyataku involves the application of paint directly
onto a fish and transferring it onto rice paper. The pieces will be on
display for a year and are for sale."

I'm thinking this would not only make a great outing but also would
be a fun idea for a little craft project when we got back to the cabin--
There will be all those salmon swimming upriver about then!

Matchmaker, Matchmaker

Have you ever been driving down the road and seen a shoe on the side of the road?
Or perhaps a solitary shoe all alone in a parking lot?
Or maybe the odd shoe kicked aside next to a gas pump at an isolated gas station next to a well-traveled freeway?
I have.
And my first thought upon witnessing this lonely shoe phenomenon is:
"Some Mom somewhere is asking her child what happened to their other shoe."

And you know the child is giving her the usual reply:
"I don't know."
And that Mom is thinking:
"It has to be somewhere--if we've got one shoe, the other has to be in the same vicinity!"
And the child stands there hopelessly holding their one shoe as the Mom instructs them to go look in the place where they found the solitary shoe.
And when he or she doesn't come back with the AWOL shoe, she goes into
Mom overdrive:
"Where did you have them last?"
"How can you lose one shoe and not the other?"
"Surely it must be around here somewhere!"

I bring this up because Seth started out from California with two shoes and arrived in Washington with only one.
What happened to the other one?
Was it tired of the sibling unrest that was going on in the backseats?
Just looking for a chance to jump ship and leave all its troubles behind?
Feeling a sudden case of wanderlust and went looking for adventure?
Was it maybe "irreconcilable differences" with its mate?

We'll never know because the shoe just disappeared without an explanation.
And Seth was left with one shoe. Which is not useful when you have two feet.
So, I'm thinking, someone needs to start a match-making website for lost shoes.
If you find an odd, lonely shoe, pick it up and take a picture of it.
It could be posted on a website for long-lost shoes.
Then, those of us with lonely, single shoes could look there to see if a match was found!

I'm thinking a good name for it would be:
Sole Mates

Morning Constitutional

My favorite morning workout here in Washington is a good brisk walk up the road
by our cabin.

Come along and I'll show you why I love it!

This is the gate that leads to our road, I don't think it has ever been closed--hopefully
the sign will keep the scofflaws out.

It's hard to keep a brisk pace when there is so much to look at...

The road is VERY steep!

This place is for sale--we could be sometimes neighbors.

Looks like the blackberries will be coming on soon.

This sign is to discourage the unauthorized partiers from trying to get to the river from here.

There actually is access, but SHHHHH, don't tell anyone.

Right about here, my calves are really feeling it.
Also right about here, I often see deer--but never when I
have the camera with me.

The road ascends so quickly that I come out of the trees to views like this.

Soon, I'm up where the farmland begins--these grapes are part of
what was once a tidy, well-kept farm. The owner is now
elderly and things are getting overgrown.

Back past the farms and down the road. It's just as
hard a workout going down because it's hard to
keep from tumbling forward on the steep road!

And home again, home again, jiggety jog!