I woke up this morning thinking I needed to
get out of the house, and get some fresh air. My first thought was to drive to
Fishhawk Falls; Bob and I had gone there every February and March for
decades. We had taken our grandchildren there too when they were with us …
Bob. 2015
The trillium's would still be blooming. I love this forest flower.
… but then I remembered Pam, (when she and
Cheryl were here Thursday), telling me that a gravel trail for walking had
been laid down out at Willow Grove Park on the banks of the Columbia River; so
I decided to go there instead and check it out.
I’m glad I did :-D
As I was leaving the house, and locking the
door, I noticed that a folded letter had been taped to the inside of the door
jamb – had to be early this morning, because it wasn’t there last night when I
put the garbage out around 8 PM. I opened it, and read it on my way to the car …
Important to know; and I’ve edited the private phone numbers that were included …
Willow Grove is only a hop, skip, and a jump
from my castle ;-)
The graveled trail began just this side of
the main roadway; the weather was cool, with a brisk river wind – but it wasn’t
unpleasant, so I started walking:
Halfway up the upriver end of the new trail,
I spotted a kite hopelessly stuck in a tree; where it will no doubt remain
until the river winds whip it into tattered bits.
I also chatted briefly with other walkers;
and spotted some unusual trees at the edge of the trail (at first glance, I
thought they were overgrown rhododendrons – but the leaves threw me: then I
noticed the red trunks), where it curved to wind along the river side of
the Park …
“A snow white kite to
say ‘I love you’ for all to read”:
After admiring the bleeding trees (and
remembering all the things Bob told me about Yew trees); I picked my coffee
mug up off the sand I’d sunk it into while studying the trees and taking
pictures … and hailed a fella walking the trail; and asked him if the trail
looped the Park. He was friendly and said, ‘Yes, the trail loops the Park
just before the Boat Launch area and winds back.’ I thanked him, and we
went our opposite ways.
As I was crossing the parking lot to walk the
other side of the trail, my ears caught the sound of a coughing jet ski. It
seemed to me to be a bit too chilly to be in the water on a jet ski, but then I
am a 63-year-old woman … not a 17-year-old male:
I’m thinking I may make this trail a weekly
{thing}: and that surprised me because I am not a beachy type of
person – I prefer the mountains and rural farmlands. But things change.
A LOT has changed since Bob
graduated to life beyond the clouds.
And it all takes getting used to.
It kinda makes me a little skittish the way my sleeping pattern has morphed into Bob’s sleeping
pattern; and now, I’m starting to feel a connection and comfort with the river.
It’s a weird feeling to me.
I could get used to walking this trail quite
a bit; I never really liked walking around Lake Sacajawea. Bob did – and I
would go with him, but I prefer more laid back places with a naturalistic vibe
to it.
And I saw the snowy spine of a mountain range
in the distance. That made me happy :-D
Halfway down the downriver trail, I came to
the Park area Bob & I, and our grandson last spent time together here. I
had to steel myself to walk past it without breaking down …
LOTS of memories in this spot – my ears could almost hear Bob’s laughter, and encouraging words to our grandson … on the wind that blew past me.
Bob & I, and our grandson; at Willow Grove. July 27th, 2018. Talking with Bob's niece, Michelle, and her son Nicky Bobby. Our grandson is the only child Bob never taught to swim - Bob was called Home to Heaven before that could take place.
I was walking so fast with my head down, that
I failed to notice I had seriously overshot the return loop curve.
When I looked up, I saw that I had reached
the upper end of the entire Park:
The view of Mt. St. Helen’s, & the distant mountain range, will make this walk enjoyable for my mountain starved eyes, and psyche.
Headed back upriver – and to my parked car –
I spotted a clump of punky tree trunks: it was clear, even from a distance, that
the removal of those trees had been necessary; and of course, I had to go
off-trail to get a closer look ;-)
A bit further along, I saw another Yew tree …
Yew Trees are reported to be poisonous trees.
Walking and lifting my coffee mug to my mouth, I spotted
a couple setting up their RV.
And I remembered that Pam had mentioned too,
that her husband Frank & their son Shaun, who fish out at Willow Grove,
told her that it looked like there may be an RV area being considered out there.
My curiosity was aroused:
So, because I’m not shy – and I was curious –
I went over to talk to the campers; and asked them if the Park is allowing RVr’s
now. They said, no; RVr’s are not allowed, but they are Park Hosts … employed
to make sure Park rules are obeyed. They will be on site for 2 years; then
someone else will replace them. They also said that around 3 PM, Security will
also be on site. All that made me feel good about walking solo out at Willow Grove.
The whole trail loop was about 45 minutes
long … it took me an hour to complete, because I overshot one end of the loop,
stopped to inspect leaves and dead stumps; and chit-chat with other walkers,
and Park Hosts, along the trail ;-)
I really did enjoy my Sunday~Funday today;
even if it was quite close to home.
When I got back home, I got Bob’s carved
ball-n-chain out, and fingered it … remembering the day he brought it home
from work to show me, and to tell me that his grandfather had taught him how to
carve this interesting thing. Henry had given Bob his carving tools – and Bob
carried them to work with him, and carved on his lunch hour, and when there was
a lull in activity on the landing. Bob’s family has artistic flair, from his
mother to his youngest brother; and Bob was artistic in his own right.
Bob – about 2 or 3 years old, with his Grandfather, Henry Smalley.
Rosburg, WA. 1951-52 guesstimate.
Bob. 1974
Bob. 1976
This work is Bob’s first Ball-n-Chain. He did it by memory of what his grandfather had explained to him and showed him. Yew trees shed their bark, leaving a brilliant red trunk and limbs that make the tree appear to be bleeding. The wood is tough, strong, rot resistant, and it is also resistant to insect attack. It is reported that all parts of Yew trees are poisonous and will cause irritation to eyes, skin, and respiratory issues. The tree is supposed to cause nausea, headache, and cardiac effects. It is said that one should exercise care when working with this wood species – but as you saw in the video I posted, where I touched the leaves … and you can see in this video that my husband touched the wood quite a bit while carving it (and I have touched this thing for 44 years), yew wood was not “toxic” to us …
Bob carved this Ball-n-Chain from a solid piece of yew wood; starting with the interlocking chains first. The process is not as simple as it looks.
Around 3 PM, I received a text from my niece Sara:
“FYI. All my loads are canceled at work. We aren’t getting anything in. So if
you need stuff, get what you can now.”
So, I got back into my car and went after
water, coffee, and eggs. And bleach because I wipe my sinks and countertops with
a 50-50 solution of bleach and water; I’ve done this ever since Stacey was
hospitalized at 3 with an autoimmune defect: she’s 45 now, so it’s been a
long time I’ve been doing this. It’s habit.
I met our great-niece, Haley (Bob's nephew, Kasey's pretty daughter), and her friend, as I was entering Winco,
and they were exiting – I hugged her, and she hugged me back before the thought
kicked in that we should bump elbows or toes. We both laughed as we ended the
hug. Some habits are hard to break even under dire circumstances.
Walking into the stores was like
walking into stores after the Apocalypse!
No kidding.
Good thing I did not need meat,
toilet paper, or paper towels … THERE WERE NONE (paper napkins were scarce); baby
wipes were gone. Milk gone. Juices gone. Potatoes were gone too. I was favored to find eggs and bleach. Water and coffee were
still in plentiful supply when I left the stores.
It was almost eerie walking through stores
that echoed with the emptiness.
And spiked summertime price is to be paid at
the gas pump.
While I was uploading my videos and pics in
preparation for this post; I glanced at the settling dusk, and saw an alligator
swimming across the sky ;-)
7.10 PM. I glanced out the right side window in my livingroom, and this cloud with dangling ‘feet’ caught my eye.
I like watching the nighttime sky; I wish it
were dark enough here to see the Milky Way – but it’s not. The skyline is so
lit up with street lamps when full dark comes on, that even seeing stars is a
hit and miss event.
Aside from the swimming alligator cloud, tonight’s
sky was full of pink tinged clouds - the skyscape had many different looks to it when viewed from different angles. Pretty cool:
7.20 PM. Over Tiffany's house. Straight across windows
7.20 PM. Looking towards the Lewis and Clark Bridge spanning the Columbia River between Longview, WA & Rainier, OR. area. Left side windows
7.21 PM. The ‘alligator’ had – in the span of 11 minutes – morphed into a regular cloud again, as the sun slipped over the river’s horizon; looking towards Willow grove area
From start to finish, this Sunday~Funday
has been f.u.n. Even doomsday pandemic hysteria couldn’t tamp down the joy
I found in simple things that buoyed my spirit :-D
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