COUNTRY CLAY

Rain is forecasted for Memorial Day Weekend, so I decided to get the Plot Bouquets made up this morning … and ferry them to the Eden Valley Cemetery.

Bob by Eden Valley Cemetery entrance when I was placing bouquets on Grandpa & Grandma Smalley’s Plot; May 25^th, 2009. Now, what’s left of Bob is there, permanently.

Grandpa & Grandma Smalley's Bouquet - L; & Bob's w-solar lamp - R

Dad Hargand's Bouquet - L; & Bob's - R

Snugly packed for safe transport.

Eden Valley Cemetery from Heron Pointe; via Ocean Beach Highway - 53 mins.

Driving the Eden Valley Road, I was crowded to the side of the road by 2 bicyclists on those fat-tired bikes … I was content to follow them at a comfortable distance, but the man seemed nervous about his wife as she wobbled ahead of him, and with a thin-lipped grimace, waved me around them. I knew I should have stayed where I was, but I could see how nervous he was that I was even there, behind them as they wobbled along on those silly looking bikes; so, I drove around them v.e.r.y.s.l.o.w.l.y. and totally mudded my car out going through the wet patch I had been crowded into. I was not happy when I arrived at the cemetery and saw the Highlander. It would need washing when I got back home ☹

I had been listening to the Tracey Byrd CD Bob had burned off a few years ago; maybe that’s why I cried after I slipped Bob’s bouquet arrangement into the wrought iron marker, at out Plot.

Tracey Byrd – ‘Trying Not To Love You’ song:(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=quEK8uoJT5c)

I’m not really trying not to love Bob … but I am actively rebuilding a New Life. It’s hard – the intense love I had for Bob is still very much alive. I know my heart will always belong to Bob. It was always his; his physical death does not change how my heart still feels.

But the tears, today, did surprise me. I’ve been able to visit the cemetery for a while now, without tears – I wasn’t expecting them to roll down my face today.

But they showed up: and slowed me up for a few minutes.

I didn’t dilly-dally around getting back home like I normally would do: at $5+ for a gallon of gas, I just drove straight there, and back; I am not a rich widow. Since the obama-biden coup, my dilly-dallying has been sharply curtailed. When I parked the car at home, I got the car washing stuff out of the shed and got busy washing the gunky clay spray off the Highlander.

Mud-splashed car needed washed when I got home.

Front, sides, undercarriage, tire wells ... e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. needed to be sprayed down before washing could begin.

Half of a hatched bird's egg; it matched today's sky color.

A black hawk helicopter flew overhead – and was so low in the sky, its bulk shadowed the car as I hosing off the front end.

Clumps of wet clay was littering the carport pavement. Those would have to be hosed away before the warmth of the sun hardened them in place, making them difficult to remove.

I had just finished washing the car, and was preparing to back it up further into the carport so I could clear up the muddy clay clumps mess, when Coal Creek friends called and invited me over for a chat session followed by Supper. I said I needed to hose the mud clumps off the carport pavement, and I’d be there in about half an hour: I didn’t bother changing my clothes – I just slipped my feet out of my soaked sneakers and into flip-flops: we’re country folks, and knew they’d understand if I showed up ‘as is’ 😉

WHITE TAIL TRAIL~Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge

I was up at 5 A.M. this morning.

By 6 A.M., I was cataloguing the Daytrips I’d made Solo Lobo; by the time I got to the last Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge walk of 2021, around 9 A.M., I was in the mood to drive there and stretch my legs a bit 😉

So, I did 😊

There was a lull in the rainfall – and because I have a cold sore on my lip, I didn’t want to be around people: the Wildlife Refuge Trail was perfect for a house escape.

I’ve always had cold sores on my lip – same place, all my life. They usually appear sporadically in the winter time and disappear completely in the Spring: sometimes a stressful situation will cause them to show up; but I haven’t had one in years. Until now. These past 9 days, there’s been a lot going on, and though none of it personally applies to me – it does apply to the lives of five of my friends, thereby applying to my life, indirectly. Hence the lip blister.

Cold sores are reported to be contagious, but Bob never got one … and we kissed. A lot; we were married for 44 years, and Bob never suffered a lip blister – or any other type of blister (me neither; only on my lip, right side). Stacey never got one either – if she ever gets one now, it’s not my fault. I was extra careful when I could feel a blister building up to a full-fledged appearance: I carefully hugged Bob and Stacey, but never kissed them until it disappeared. And I applied a liquid Campho-Phenique to the blister, which burned like hell, until the gelled stuff came along: it smells the same, but doesn’t make my lips sting, or my eyes water. I am thankful.

But people are weird about lip blisters, and I didn’t want to feel like a leper today – so, to Skamokawa, I went 😊

I topped the gas tank off before I got out of Dodge, and noticed that there had been a 51-cent price hike since I topped the tank off on May 4^th: The Highlander has barely left the carport this month due to all the rainfall.

Julia Butler Hansen Wildlife Refuge from Heron Pointe; 25 mins.

A 51-cent price hike; right on schedule: the political games never end – they just take a 6 month hiatus >:-P

Steamboat Slough White Tail Trail Hike: https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/washington/steamboat-slough-and-white-tail-trail-loop

Driving to the Trailhead, I was happy to note that the dangerously leaning tree hovering over Steamboat Slough Road, has been removed; thank God. That thing scared me every time I drove under it to get to the trailhead; I kept expecting it to fall all the way over and crush the Highlander, and me. I’m glad it has been removed.

Leaning tree; August 14^th, 2021. Gone, today.

When I stepped out of the Highlander, the first thing I noticed was a striking red clover patch just to the side of the trail entrance – I learned today that the Name of this trail I’ve been walking solo lobo for at least 2 years on a fairly regular basis, is called White Tail Trail. I’ve been calling it The Center Trail; but that’s misleading because a Center Trail Road already exists with that name.

I stand corrected, and I will used the correct Name from now on 😊

A patch of brilliant red clover.

Tommy James & The Shondells – ‘Crimson and Clover’ song

(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i2GGz_O0eZ4)

The pink clover is the red clover at maturity.

It made me smile, remembering my niece telling me during a phone conversation, “You and Uncle Bob always liked that Crimson and Clover Song, didn’t you, Aunt Val?”

Yes, we did 😊

The song fit our young life, our lifelong passion, and our marital bliss.

Bob and me; 1976 – married 20 months & rolling in clover.

I was the only person on the trail today – I usually am, but sometimes an occasional bicyclist will breeze past me, and motorists will drive the main road that is still intact to fish off Hornstra’s Beach (Hornstra was a farmer that owned this piece of land before the State forced him to sell to make way for the Refuge; he was paid a pittance for his property – including the beachfront that carries his Name).

I thought long and hard about that when I saw the scattered feathers on the trail. There was a large red fox colony on Hornstra’s property – when the school bus would drive past, they would come out of their dens and watch it lumber down the roadway. They were so cute. I hope some escape the hunt to eradicate them. And if they are still around, I hope they stay hidden 😉

Purple wild vetch.

Natural dried Teasel heads - very hard & prickly Teasel:

(https://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/identifying-weeds-teasel-dipsacus-fullonum)

Online pic of teasel head.

Teasel; flowering.

Health Benefits of Teasel:

(https://www.healthbenefitstimes.com/teasel/)

Red-headed-pearl type grassy lower along the trail ...

Lilac& White lupine.

Bicolor blue Lupine in forefront, yellow Scotch Bloom, & purple lupine in background.

Lupine with lilac and pink blossoms.

Trail kill ...

Out-going geese; flew right over my head; they fly FAST!

In-coming geese - again, flew right over my head; I must have been standing on the goose runway. LOL

Geese in forefront - Mallard in the background.

The greedy Columbia River is still eroding the riverfront acreage.

Even though I walk the trail solo lobo now, I remember Bob walking it with me in 2017. Bob’s presence will always be with me. No matter what I do, or where I go: 44 years is a long time to share a life together. We did e.v.e.r.y.t.h.i.n.g. together. It is impossible to separate the past from the present – it dovetails: its dovetailing is carrying me into the future with confidence.

Bob in January 2017; we had no idea he'd be in Heaven by January 2019.

Birdsong was all around me.

It was soothing.

It’s been a week; soothing is necessary.

Yellow flag lilies peeking out through the marshy tangle of swamp grasses & driftwoods.

An Egret on the mud flats.

St. John's Wort; another patch of yellow ... it sure brightens up the gray day.

A bit of raindrops; between a misting and an actual raining.

Had to escape the coop; hopefully the stress blister will settle down and go away.

The death hit hard. There was no sign at all that the Grim Reaper was hanging around Linda, waiting to pounce.

Turning the car towards home, I decided to take the Brook’s Road - a jump road - that exits the Refuge land. I was hoping I could get all the way through without any handicapping snafu’s 😉

I was pleasantly surprised to see that the road has been tended to  – not perfectly, but enough that it was no longer a hazardous minefield. Joy and jubilation! Last time I drove it, it was a mine field of deep potholes, blacktop worn away to the gravel road foundation, and grass growing up through the road cracks that whisked along the car’s undercarriage: it was more a goat trail, than the road it used to be: but, it’s a passable road again, now 😊

Brooks Slough Road has been tended to. YAY!

(https://jeastofeden.blogspot.com/2020/07/convergence.html)

I crossed over Ocean Beach Highway onto Risk Road, intending to merge with the Elochoman Road which would take me over Beaver Creek Road – depositing me onto Ocean Beach Highway again further up the road towards home.

Plus, it’s a nice country drive 😉

But, Risk Road was closed! I hailed some locals and asked, “What gives with the road closure?” I was told there’s a project underway: no elaboration … I found the explanation later on at home – online.

This side road looped me right back to the Game Refuge Entrance.

Closures for the Ferry & for Risk Road: https://www.waheagle.com/story/2022/05/05/news/closures-ahead-for-ferry-risk-road/20778.html

When I got back home, I saw that the herb transplants I’d ordered finally arrived. I was glad … but I was also peeved; I have been home for weeks – and the one day I finally decide to break out of Dodge, Territorial Seeds decides to engage with UPS! Thank God they hadn’t been lifted by light fingers while I was gone. Because candy scott (the Park manager, here) does not do her job efficiently (like background checks, as she’s supposed to do for those wishing to live here), there has been an increase in thefts by bold thieves that troll carports where cars are missing, to lift and make away with anything and everything not nailed down (including cars – in broad daylight).

French Tarragon - VERY pungent and can cause my lungs to seize up; but I like the flavor in meals

My fuchsia bloomed! I hope it thrives & over-winters excellently. 

The Park, once a nice little neighborhood (That’s why we moved here in 2017: before candy became ‘manager’ and half the Park packed up and fled), is filling up with questionable characters – the main one being the current “Park Manager”. Murder and mayhem: that is candy’s MO.

I did not want to dwell on candy’s ineptitude. Dwelling on her rotten character and her slipshod way of doing business, would only lead to why I am now a widow ☹ I did not want to dwell on thoughts concerning candy scott.

Instead, I redirected my thoughts, and got busy busting my ass. Literally 😊

10-minute Core Workout for Seniors: Blast Away Belly Fat (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3gBaZupuqwc)