Sunday morning after PT

I visited with relatives yesterday.  I found myself sinking into a blue mood on the way home. The mood was still with me this morning and as I thought about why I was down in the dumps, I realized it was the melancholy of remembering relatives gone.  Good way to work through that is to write about it so that's gonna' be the topic of my next Town Kid post later this week.

I met up with my cousin Ann (from Tacoma) and her daughter, Katy, at Fat Smitty's in Discovery Bay. While waiting, I took a picture of the large tree stump on display there. Funny that I'd never really noticed it before. 'Course that intersection is a busy one and not a place you can view the scenery unless you're stopped or a passenger in the vehicle.  I thought it was a shame that a large KEEP OUT sign was displayed prominently in the middle of it. I don't have to think hard on who's bossy idea that was!  Sounds just like something he'd say.

I put a few of these pictures on my Facebook page last night but I think you can see them better on my blog when you click on the picture.  I also snapped this photo of a "hippy bus" stopped at the interesection.

I drove my cousins around town to see some of the homes of the aunts and uncles and how much their neighborhoods had changed.  Ann was born in Port Townsend but moved away after her folks divorced when she was about six or seven. She often returned to visit relatives while growing up, however, so she was familiar with many of the sights.

We drove out to Fort Worden and Lee & Elaine Arey had already set up a picnic table for us near the beach.  Arlie and Bette Blankenship planned to launch their new sailboat (which they built) so I got a few pictures of that and a 4-minute video.

 That's Arlie & Bette's son, Todd (who also helped in the construction and made the sails)

                       Todd, Lee, my bro, Dana

 

The boat is named after the Hawaii state fish - humu humu nuku nuku apua'a and has the basic colors of the reef triggerfish as well. Arlie & Bette lived for several years in Hawaii.

 

Our reunion of sorts was a small impromptu gathering and I would have loved to have seen other cousins as well.  It's really hard to collect family members in one place these days as everyone is busy living their lives elsewhere.

 

Here's a group shot of us posing near our picnic table. We made sure to get Arlie's boat in the background.

 

                           Dana, Dale, Ann, Joyce, Lee, Bill



Other relatives in attendance included Ann's daughter, Katy, and Elaine and Teresa Arey.

 

 

 After we left Fort Worden, we drove over to my sister Janie's apartment so Ann could say hello.Janie gave Ann and Katy cloth bags that she makes, and gave me a nice blouse and a book on quilting. (An early birthday present)  We were celebrating Ann and Dana's birthday and Elaine brought a wonderful cake.

 

Lois Venarchick had posted a picture on Facebook a few days prior of her son wearing this t-shirt from Nifty Fiftys where he works.  I decided I needed a new shirt so we made a quick stop down there.

Gees, but downtown was BUSY AND CROWDED. And noisy! And no parking! And no people that I knew. Sigh.....

Seeing a few cousins (and missing even more) made me get the genealogy bug again so I think I'll see about pulling out my family notes and get back to work.
I found a few pictures as I was thinking over the dates of who is the oldest in our "first cousins" line.
Ann was born in 1933; Lee was born in 1935; Arlie was born in 1937; Bill (Ann's bro) was born in 1938.
After that, in consecutive years from 1941 to 1948, it's Bill Arey, Denny, me, Linda, Dale, Janie, Les, and Jimmy.  Dana and Susie bring up the rear with 1950 and 1951.  This will only be of interest to those folks who know me and my cousins.  And then, I suppose the interest will be minimal but oh well, it's my blog and this is what I do.
Here's a picture I took of Ann and Lee, and a second in my collection showing their parents, Arthur and Elva. These photos are about 98 years apart.

I figure this family group picture was taken around 1914 or 1915.

 The older lady in the very center is my gramma Mae's mom, Mary Ellen Weatherly Holt. This photo was taken in Oak Harbor

This section of the photo shows my grandpa, Lew Gene in the back (on the right), his wife, Viola Mae holding George. Aunt Velna standing in front, Elva peeking out on the right and Uncle Arthur in front.

Well, I guess that's enough history for today. Time to get busy on my "to-do list".