The Reunion Is A Done Deal

Yesterday was a fast paced, busy day right up until we arrived home after 9pm and crashed.  The skies were vivid blue and the temps were way warm for Montana but we all survived.   Arriving in town about noon I dropped Michael at Ullman’s Lumber, the site for their gathering, so he could assist in setting up tables and chairs, etc.  (I’m thinking a bit of beer drinking went along with the work, too! )

As we were going to be gone far too long to leave Emmi alone, she got to stay with Nat for the afternoon and evening.  Some people are comfortable leaving their dogs for hours and hours, Michael and I just can’t—the longest we’ve ever left her alone is about 7 hours. 

I ran a few errands then found a spot to have some lunch, dining with friends Jill and Terry.  The vendors providing food were outstanding—I had something called “cowboy tacos” which were delicious!

 

By then it was time to find a shady spot to watch the parade—I tried calling a couple friends trying to find their locations but something was wrong with the cell phone system in our area—everyone was complaining about calls which wouldn’t go through.  But when you sit on a street corner in a small town you get lots of company—I got to see and visit with folks we haven’t seen in a long time!  And this group was also looking for a shady spot, joining me to watch the parade—our friend Geoff, Nancy and their dog Shine plus their daughter Beth and her baby Della.

  Our parade in Big Timber is perfect, lots of noise, color and just the right length, about thirty minutes—no time to get bored.  Fire engines, horses, floats, little kids scurrying to get the candy thrown from the vehicles—some of the best of small town living.

Isn’t this the most awesome team of horses!!  This rig belongs to horse shoe pitching friends of Nat’s—Steve is doing a great job of driving that team!

After the parade everyone gathered back at the lumber yard—the Ullman family has owned this extremely busy business for three generations here in Big Timber.  Sox was so gracious to allow the class the use of one of the big bays for the gathering on Saturday.  The large garage doors at either end allowed cooling breezes and we had plenty of room.

Dinner was a catered affair and was delicious.  There was lots of talking, laughter and reminiscing.  There were 56 members of Michael’s graduating class, nine have died since 1963 leaving 45 surviving members with probably about THIRTY-ONE of those 45 showing up for this reunion! 

Michael’s good friend Sarge is a spray pilot and owns his own plane—he flew the plane from northern Montana where he had been spraying crops down to the Big Timber airport on Friday afternoon.  As the dark clouds began to brew in late afternoon, Sarge became VERY concerned about his plane sitting out in the open up at the airport.  He and Sarah made one trip up to the airport to check on the plane tying it down more securely but when the clouds really began to look ugly more drastic measures were called for—Sarge called the local guy who operates the airport who then met them at the airport, planes were moved around in the hangers and Sarge rolled his plane under cover—whew!  Now he could enjoy the party!

And the skies did open—oh, my—did they ever open.  We experienced one of the worst storms I think I’ve ever seen!  The winds were almost tornado force, the rain came in sheets—this storm lasted for over thirty minutes—we were in a metal building with a metal roof—the noise was deafening!!!  There was flooding in the areas around Big Timber but surprisingly not much wind damage.  At our house we got some rain but not as much as fell in Big Timber. 

The classmates finally ran out of things to talk about, we retrieved Emmi and headed up the Boulder getting to see the most spectacular double rainbow—one of those which makes a full arc across the sky!