I love to visit my sister and brother-in-law on their
beautiful 30-acre ranch in Bend, Oregon. Over the past several years, our
family from Alaska, Oregon, and California has descended on Bend, Oregon to
attend the high school graduations of their four children. This year, my nephew, Lucas,
graduated; in previous years, Sarah, Thea, and Joe graduated.
Not only has it become a tradition for celebrating and launching some great
kids into adulthood, but it has become a wonderful opportunity for some mini
family reunions.
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| Go Cougars - Class of 2017! |
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| Dessert Bar |
This visit the weather was cold, with intermittent sun,
clouds, and rain. This is fitting after a long, cold winter with many feet of
snow that stayed on the ground, nine "snow days" from school, and
blocked driveways (where we got rain in the Bay Area, they got snow)! We heard
many harrowing snow stories about folks getting stranded, staying indoors for
days, and coping with daily life with so much snow.
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| Red tractor |
The ranch looked beautiful and green under the changing, and dramatic skies. Current occupants include one cow,
three dogs, and a cat (recall from past visits cattle, goats, chickens, and a show
llama have resided on the ranch). I love to see all the great gardening ideas (and I know Bend has a challenging climate for gardening)!
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| BLM land under cloudy skies |
The Bureau of Land Management land that borders the property
looked lush and healthy; the frogs and birds seem to be just "waking
up" from the long winter with croaking and chirping. We saw large birds being driven off by smaller,
determined birds protecting their nests, so life is returning.
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| Sunset House |
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| Big sky over the ranch |
Over the graduation weekend, our family had a chance to catch
up on each other's lives. The nieces and nephews are working on higher
education (Sarah just completed her Master of Arts degree in Education – woot
woot). Several spouses, boyfriends, and fiancées
have joined the family and bring a new dimension. We learned more family
history from Ompa, about growing up on the farm in the Netherlands (Holland), World War II, immigration to Nova Scotia to start a new farm, and then to the United States.
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| Irrigation lines |
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| Distant mountains |
More great conversation occurred around the fire pit
that Lucas welded out of an old water compressor. It burned beautifully,
and put off a perfect heat. With a full moon and dramatic clouds overhead,
heavy blankets and coats supplied by my sister, and s'mores and cigars, three generations (soon to be four) shared stories around the fire, as has been done through the ages.
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| Fire pit stories |
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| Comradery |
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| Family ties |
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| Generations |
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