Companionship, Construction & Cemeteries
I accidentally discovered a new way to screenshot Scott during our video calls. I had a whole lot of fun taking photos during a recent conversation, so here are a few of my favorites!
Scott did a random Bill Clinton impression.
We did some singing and dancing over the phone.
We did a LOT of laughing.
And when I sang him some sappy lines from the Carpenters Christmas Special piping loudly from the living room TV, this was his reaction. (Mom and Grandma both love the Carpenters, and I'm sure some of you readers do as well, and I'm sorry for the fact that Scott and I share a fond dislike of the sappiness. Please forgive us, ha ha)
And then, eventually, we ran out of things to talk about.
Scott is my very best friend! I love all the times we talk and laugh, cry and support, lift and care for each other. It makes each day better when I get to talk to him.
The construction chapter of my life here in CA has come to a close. Here are some of the highlights of the last 3 trips up to help my Dad. Thanksgiving week, in lieu of working on the house, we went instead to help a lady in my Dad's ward named Gloria. She recently broke her ankle while on a construction job, but lives out in a very remote place and needed some winterizing around her property before the forecasted rains came in.
She lives about 45 minutes out in the boonies west of Willits, CA. The kind of back roads through the hills where people grow marijuana and don't want to be bothered, and they like to come up with creative names for the roads. There is seriously a road out there called "Boogie Woogie Lane".
Here is Gloria on crutches, with my Dad taking a short rest on her steps.
My dad, his friend Rob, and I all took turns up on the ladder muscling giant tarps over her half-finished construction efforts to extend a workshop.
Then she had me cover up her ginormous woodpile with several tarps. I've never tried climbing up on TOP of a woodpile before, but I had to in order to straighten out the tarps sufficiently. I'm just glad I didn't get injured in the process! (These photos don't really show how much wood she truly has. It was seriously a lot.)
And I did finally ask her before we left, about this little pile of "poop". It was so unique that I had to ask if she knew what kind of animal left it behind. It's bear poop. Yep. Right outside her door. She's seen two sets of mama black bears with cubs roaming around her house.
So I took a picture of it, naturally.
On a different day, I helped my Dad build a half-wall and was invited to try out the nail gun that's about as big as I am.
I got to reload the nail gun with a sleeve of bullets . . . I mean nails.
And the half-wall is now UP.
Yesterday, my final day, was spent marking where to drill, then drilling holes so that we could thread electrical wiring through. This was a nifty laser tool that I used to mark the wood.
My dad took a short 5 second video of me drilling one of the holes -
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bs81p7Trj1FVLq3R8
And then here is a small area with the wiring threaded through the holes.
The construction chapter of my time here with Dad as his humble assistant has come to a close. It's been a good run. It has allowed me an opportunity to conquer my fear of getting off a tall ladder onto a rooftop, and back onto the ladder again. I've learned about all kinds of new tools and gadgets AND tried them out. My dad is great at explaining things to me in a way that is easily understood, and he was kind enough to entrust me with important tasks along the way. It was fun to visit and swap stories in between the work, and to just hang out and be happy together. I will miss both him and the construction work profoundly.
Another item was crossed off my bucket list last week: visiting the local cemetery to pay my respects to my ancestors. It was a most wonderful day!!
After spending way too much time trying to find the gravesites on my own, I enlisted the help of the cemetery secretary. Using the "Find-a-Grave" app, I knew who was buried in the Russian River Cemetery (Ukiah, CA), but their exact locations were not available. *Cue the secretary and some very helpful paper maps!*
As I found each gravesite, I would take a photo of the headstone and upload it to Find-a-Grave, and then link the GPS coordinates to the ancestor's name on the app. That way, the next person will have a much easier time in finding the headstone and they will know what it looks like too! It was SO FUN!! I spent about 4 hours that afternoon finding several family members and adding their information to Find-a-Grave.
I found my grandparents: John A Snider and Zola Rawles Brown Snider
I found my great-grandparents: Eugene C. Rawles and Kate Orr Rawles
John L. Lambert and Mary Elizabeth LeMaster Lambert -
Scott did a random Bill Clinton impression.
And then, eventually, we ran out of things to talk about.
Scott is my very best friend! I love all the times we talk and laugh, cry and support, lift and care for each other. It makes each day better when I get to talk to him.
The construction chapter of my life here in CA has come to a close. Here are some of the highlights of the last 3 trips up to help my Dad. Thanksgiving week, in lieu of working on the house, we went instead to help a lady in my Dad's ward named Gloria. She recently broke her ankle while on a construction job, but lives out in a very remote place and needed some winterizing around her property before the forecasted rains came in.
She lives about 45 minutes out in the boonies west of Willits, CA. The kind of back roads through the hills where people grow marijuana and don't want to be bothered, and they like to come up with creative names for the roads. There is seriously a road out there called "Boogie Woogie Lane".
Here is Gloria on crutches, with my Dad taking a short rest on her steps.
My dad, his friend Rob, and I all took turns up on the ladder muscling giant tarps over her half-finished construction efforts to extend a workshop.
Then she had me cover up her ginormous woodpile with several tarps. I've never tried climbing up on TOP of a woodpile before, but I had to in order to straighten out the tarps sufficiently. I'm just glad I didn't get injured in the process! (These photos don't really show how much wood she truly has. It was seriously a lot.)
And I did finally ask her before we left, about this little pile of "poop". It was so unique that I had to ask if she knew what kind of animal left it behind. It's bear poop. Yep. Right outside her door. She's seen two sets of mama black bears with cubs roaming around her house.
So I took a picture of it, naturally.
On a different day, I helped my Dad build a half-wall and was invited to try out the nail gun that's about as big as I am.
I got to reload the nail gun with a sleeve of bullets . . . I mean nails.
And the half-wall is now UP.
Yesterday, my final day, was spent marking where to drill, then drilling holes so that we could thread electrical wiring through. This was a nifty laser tool that I used to mark the wood.
My dad took a short 5 second video of me drilling one of the holes -
https://photos.app.goo.gl/Bs81p7Trj1FVLq3R8
And then here is a small area with the wiring threaded through the holes.
The construction chapter of my time here with Dad as his humble assistant has come to a close. It's been a good run. It has allowed me an opportunity to conquer my fear of getting off a tall ladder onto a rooftop, and back onto the ladder again. I've learned about all kinds of new tools and gadgets AND tried them out. My dad is great at explaining things to me in a way that is easily understood, and he was kind enough to entrust me with important tasks along the way. It was fun to visit and swap stories in between the work, and to just hang out and be happy together. I will miss both him and the construction work profoundly.
Another item was crossed off my bucket list last week: visiting the local cemetery to pay my respects to my ancestors. It was a most wonderful day!!
After spending way too much time trying to find the gravesites on my own, I enlisted the help of the cemetery secretary. Using the "Find-a-Grave" app, I knew who was buried in the Russian River Cemetery (Ukiah, CA), but their exact locations were not available. *Cue the secretary and some very helpful paper maps!*
As I found each gravesite, I would take a photo of the headstone and upload it to Find-a-Grave, and then link the GPS coordinates to the ancestor's name on the app. That way, the next person will have a much easier time in finding the headstone and they will know what it looks like too! It was SO FUN!! I spent about 4 hours that afternoon finding several family members and adding their information to Find-a-Grave.
I found my grandparents: John A Snider and Zola Rawles Brown Snider
I found my great-grandparents: Eugene C. Rawles and Kate Orr Rawles
I found my great-great grandparents: Thomas D. Orr and Mary Ellen Butts Orr
And I found 3 sets of great-Great-GREAT grandparents:
Francis B. Butts and Sindereller Roberts Butts -
John L. Lambert and Mary Elizabeth LeMaster Lambert -
And Samuel Orr and his 1st wife Urith Murray Orr - Samuel served as the Mendocino County Treasurer for a time and he was the first person to bring grapes to this area!!
I have a story to share about this photo of Urith Murray Orr and the little headstone next to her. Something I did not realize about her until seeing her headstone, is that she must have died during or shortly after childbirth. She died in April 1867 at just 37 years old.
The little headstone next to her is for her son, Murray Orr, who died at just 5 months old in September 1867.
I felt very connected to her, feeling sorrow that she passed away so young, leaving a precious child behind. And I felt sorrow, too, for her little boy that died at such a tender young age shortly thereafter. I'm sure that must have been a very difficult time for the whole family. I can only imagine how they tried to move forward from such a tragic loss. I am just so grateful for all of my ancestors and all that they did and endured to get me to where I am now. My dad's family arrived in this area in the 1850s and have been here ever since.
The next day, I was sharing this story with Grandma's caregiver, Jennifer, and she was so interested in Urith and her baby Murray that she said she really wants to learn about her own people and learn how to do family history. Alas, we were interrupted by Grandma Doris waking up and needing Jennifer, so off she went. As Jennifer entered Grandma's room, I could hear Grandma ask her, "Was that Michele that just walked through here?" Jennifer answered, "No, Michele has not been back here."
Grandma responded, "Hmm. Well, I thought for sure that was her. She walked right past the bed here and she had a little baby on her hip!" That's when I poked my head in and made eye contact with Jennifer. I mouthed the words, "Oh my gosh! Are you serious!?!" We both got chills as we thought about how we had JUST been discussing Urith and her baby, and then Grandma sees someone walking through her room holding a baby. Wow. I wonder if I look like my 3rd great grandmother, Urith. It makes one wonder, doesn't it?
One more thing about the beautiful Ukiah cemetery: they do such a fantastic job of keeping everything looking beautiful and respectable! I think it might be the prettiest cemetery I've ever had the pleasure of visiting in the whole United States. There is a small herd of deer that take up residence within, and it just adds to the peace and tranquility felt while walking around.
The younger ones aren't too shy.
Here's a short video of a cute young one about 20 feet away from me:
The older ones kept their distance from me.
I also had the pleasure of taking my niece, Ana, on a nature walk a few days ago. She wanted to collect some items for a handmade scrapbook with poems, thoughts, and other meaningful contributions. We found a good hour in between all the rains to get out and enjoy a green and lush nature trail. It was a lovely time together!
Whelp. My time here in Northern California has come to an end. I am coming home for Christmas, and then moving on to other parts of the world to visit other family members and pursue even more family history. It has been great to be here. Northern CA is known as part of the "Green Triangle", being the heart and hub of the marijuana industry. It is also home to wildfires and earthquakes. But it is unmistakably beautiful. After all, my family has chosen to call this place home for almost 200 years. There are many good people here doing many good things. I will miss the hills and surrounding mountains, the ocean and the redwoods, the endless grape vineyards all perfectly organized and groomed, and most of all my family. I cherish the time I have spent with each and every one of them. They will forever be in my thoughts, my prayers, and in my heart forever.
Farewell Ukiah. It's been good.
(View looking across the road from my mom's subdivision after many days of rain. This unbroken rainbow covered the entire Ukiah Valley.)
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