Nyel and I have waited for more than a year to transport him to his final resting place. Not that we are in a hurry, you understand. He has been waiting patiently since I brought him home in the Ginger Jar more than a year ago. I'm quite sure...
Oysterville is gearing up for Memorial Day Weekend -- the biggest weekend of the year here in our little village. Traditionally, it has been when families gather together to clean up the cemetery and decorate the graves of our forebears. ...
Finally! The Jean Maries and their Rhodie friends are beginning to bloom. But, except for the Mrs. G. W. Leaks, they are sort of spotty. I'm thinking, "and so far, so has Spring been spotty." Not just "sort of" either. VERY spotty! I guess I...
The recent interest expressed by a relatively new tombstone placed in the Oysterville Cemetery reminded me of an entry in Marie Oesting's 1988 book, Oysterville Cemetery Sketches. "More questions than you could shake a stick at!" my mother said at...
It sometimes appears that we are all about privacy these days. Every time we turn around it seems we run up against HIPAA laws or laws with other ominous initials like FCRA, FERPA, GLBA, ECPA, COPPA, and VPPA. It's hard to know which covers what...
When I saw the newly posted sign by the Oysterville Cemetery Road, I immediately thought of our neighbor, Tucker. Not only is he the current president of the Oysterville Cemetery Association, but he has an abiding interest in signs. This one...
It is a long-standing joke in Oysterville that many of our most productive "meetings" happen in the street. Often, these gatherings occur while we are on our way to or from the Post Office. A neighbor's car slows and stops next to you as you...
Sometimes we play that “if we won the lottery…” game and we go off on wonderful fantasies – like the trips we’d take and the new car we’d buy and the charities we’d donate to. Unfortunately, these wild spending fantasies always end with “but first...
There’s something ironic about not having flowers in the garden ready-for-the-picking on this particular weekend of the year. Today (the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend) is traditionally the day we take flowers to the cemetery. For the first...
In the late 1970s when the village movers and shakers were drawing up the bylaws of the Oysterville Restoration Foundation, they determined that the Saturday of Memorial Day Weekend would be the best day for holding their annual meeting. It was...
WANTED: Interested community volunteers to join the Oysterville Cemetery Association and, perhaps, to serve on the Cemetery Board. It's not the sexiest job in the world. On the other hand, it isn't very demanding either. A concerted search has...
We drove up to the cemetery yesterday to see how it was looking now that the huge spruce tree has been removed. There is still a lot of blowdown, but the north end of the pioneer section looks fabulous – better than it has in many months. Dead...