Country Living

So I drove from East Grand Forks to my dad's farm (between tiny McGregor and tinier Battleview, ND) this morning. The Aune family (my dad's mom, her sisters, and their offspring) reunion starts tomorrow, and it'll be largely at the farms of my dad and my uncle, who live a half-mile apart. I arrived in time for a noon meal of steak, potatoes, peas, and milk. Such a big meal at noon is not typical of a weekday during my in-town life, but it surely brought me back to my childhood growing up on the farm.

Then I went with my dad to join my aunt and uncle, second cousin, and rural neighbors from the Battleview area to mow and trim the grass at the Bethel Cemetery outside Battleview (where my mom, my grandparents, and other family and friends are buried). The family reunion will end Sunday with a visit to the cemetery, so now it's spic and span, it's spiffy, it's presentable. Caretaking the grounds of a cemetery is a hired-out job in town, but in the country, it's done by volunteers--mostly senior citizens, by the way, who are not as able bodied as the oodles of younger folks who could and probably would do it themselves if they were more active in the churches and realized that grooming cemeteries even is a job that needs to be done.

My dad and stepmother have been busy getting their yard in good shape for all the visitors who will be here over the next few days. All the little kids are invited here for games on Saturday afternoon, so dad had a guy come to spray the yard and trees for bugs today (and to fertilize and lawn and spray it for weeds at the same time). This is a big yard for the two of them to take care of--and they're in their sixties (oops! was that supposed to be a secret, you two? sorry!). It looks very good.

Now I will drive to Williston to pick up my sister Cathy from the train station. She's been on it all night, traveling from Portland, OR. Amtrak is notoriously late. Cathy is scheduled to arrive around 7:00 P.M., so that means closer to 8:00, I'm sure. It takes a lot of driving to get anywhere when you live in the country, but the drives in western North Dakota are usually so pretty. They've gotten a lot of rain recently, so every hill and field is beautifully green, and all the lakes and coulees are full. It's fun to return for a visit--to remember my childhood, to appreciate the details of country living, and to experience a peacefulness that I don't necessarily get in the city.