Space & Time
I'm still out west, still "helping" with calving (seriously, there are moments when I doubt my usefulness), and I'm trying to take every opportunity to enjoy the space.
By all accounts, I've raved enough about this place that both of my regular readers are probably rolling their eyes. But it bears repeating -- there are things about this particular area of the country that just can't be found anywhere else, and it is wonderful.
My personal history has almost all of its roots here. All of my grandparents are from the general area; my dad's mom grew up right here and my dad's dad a bit east of here. My mom's parents both grew up straight south of here -- on the very same road, a few miles apart -- although twenty years earlier than the grandparents I'm visiting now. (My mom's dad worked for my dad's granddad at one point. It gets confusing.) My mom's siblings are both within an hour of here, one of them just fourteen miles away on the ranch where she grew up.
The ground I've been covering every day is steeped in stories about family from all directions, and the longer I'm here the more I'm learning them. Lineage of people as well as land -- who bought what sections from who, which relatives moved into town, who expanded to take in someone else's pastureland, where people from both sides got married and homesteaded.
The connections are intense.
Today I took advantage of the fantastic weather and took my camera for a trip on the wheeler. Not far from my grandparents' driveway, there's this old house -- a spot that used to be occupied by my great-uncle's family but has been empty for decades.
This is one of those spots where I can stand and marvel at the space.
By all accounts, I've raved enough about this place that both of my regular readers are probably rolling their eyes. But it bears repeating -- there are things about this particular area of the country that just can't be found anywhere else, and it is wonderful.
My personal history has almost all of its roots here. All of my grandparents are from the general area; my dad's mom grew up right here and my dad's dad a bit east of here. My mom's parents both grew up straight south of here -- on the very same road, a few miles apart -- although twenty years earlier than the grandparents I'm visiting now. (My mom's dad worked for my dad's granddad at one point. It gets confusing.) My mom's siblings are both within an hour of here, one of them just fourteen miles away on the ranch where she grew up.
The ground I've been covering every day is steeped in stories about family from all directions, and the longer I'm here the more I'm learning them. Lineage of people as well as land -- who bought what sections from who, which relatives moved into town, who expanded to take in someone else's pastureland, where people from both sides got married and homesteaded.
The connections are intense.
Today I took advantage of the fantastic weather and took my camera for a trip on the wheeler. Not far from my grandparents' driveway, there's this old house -- a spot that used to be occupied by my great-uncle's family but has been empty for decades.
This is one of those spots where I can stand and marvel at the space.
So good.
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