Well I'm back after a 3 day 2 night stay in the beautiful Shenandoah Valley area and back to Mountain Falls the small community where I grew up. It was sad occasion at times as we remember the life of one of my first cousins Richard who passed unexpectantly last Monday while operating a piece of heavy equipment. He was a rogue to say the least but very well remembered and loved by those who knew and it showed at all those who came for the viewing and funeral. I remember him as a small child and then again much later in life when we would visit yearly at the Gravel Springs picnic. He resembled Grizzly Adams with his unkept appearance but quite the difference within. The preacher mentioned you should not judge a book by its cover and Richard was just that.
We had a great meal at the local community building associated with the church where lots of my folks including my bio mom is buried along with by grand mother. Richards mom was the younger sister to my bio mom and her family is buried there as well. It was such a reunion for me as I missed the first reunion featuring all of the first cousins this summer and I'm the oldest of all the first cousins, so it was a tearful yet joyous occasion for our being there. We met some relatives who I did not remember from my early years and reunited with some locals from way back when. The day was rather chilly with the wind but the sunshine was beautiful and the vistas was breath taking from the Mountain View Church. All of my three sisters(cousins) and Paw Paw(uncle) was there along with uncle Frankie and his two daughters. I also saw some old classmates from when we rode the local school bus back in the days.
Mike and Dee treated us to a steak supper with all the fixins on Saturday at the Woodstock Fire Hall which was a fund raiser; the meat was delicious grilled on a huge outdoor pit along with taters, beans salad and dessert, yeow what a meal. We retuned the favor on Sunday morning at Cracker Barrel before leaving for the trip down the valley or should I say up the valley as Winchester is around 900 ft whereas we are around 3000 ft above sea level. The leaves are starting to show some color from this cold snap which had freeze warning posted for Sunday night here on the mountains. The wind has died down which helps but the temps were in the 30's this AM. It was cold all weekend here at the cabin and when we got in around 2'ish the cabin was ice cold and it took several hours for it to warm up. We even put on the flannel sheets which are awesome for warmth and sleeping. We also put on some extra around our middle with all of the fine country eatin' this past weekend especially home made breads by sister Dee and desserts.
Nancy put together a huge pot of vegetable beef soup which fit the bill for our supper on this cold evening, yeow so very delicious and it helped to warm up the place as well. The new heater/ac unit works very well and after a couple hours the cabin became quite comfortable. I broke down and watched a little of the NFL games despite not supporting any of the players who disrespect the flag and our Potus until it was shower time and then some horizontal lab. It was a great time but so good to get back on the mountain where we only have a few days until we leave for warm sunny Florida. It's still quite warm there and I'm looking forward to family, pickle ball daily, gardening and warm temps, LATER.
