Andrew Percy Nyborg and Rhoda Ann Foote

Andrew Percy and Rhoda Ann in front of home on Conant Creek

This history was included in a Nyborg Family Cookbook and Memories booklet collected and compiled by Keith and Raija Nyborg for a family reunion at the "Ranch" on Conant Creek in 1997.  It appears to have been written by their son, Keith Foote Nyborg.  Keith is my uncle and Percy and Rhoda were my maternal grandparents.

Andrew Percy Nyborg, more commonly know as Percy or A. P., was born in Mt. Pleasant, Utah on February 16, 1896, the son of Andrew Ephriam and Laura Hansen Nyborg.

In 1900, the family moved from Mr. Pleasant, Utah to Twin Groves, Idaho, arriving on July 2, 1900.  They moved into a small log house in Twin Groves until a home could be constructed on the land his father had purchased.

Percy attended school in the Twin Groves church house until a school was built, which his father helped construct and later he, his father, and brothers helped in the construction of the Yellowstone Stake Tabernacle.

In 1902, his father and two of his friends, who had also moved up from Utah, took up 200 acres of land in the Squirrel area which later became part of the Drummond District.  They used the land to run their cattle on in the summer.

Percy made his first trip up to the ranch in the fall of 1905 at the age of 9.  They stayed overnight at the S. O. Peterson ranch on Conant Creek and he met their son, Blaine Peterson, for the first time.  They later became close neighbors when Percy purchased land on Conant Creek adjoining the Peterson ranch.

A couple of years later, Percy's father and his friends sold the 200 acres and his father purchased an adjoining 40 acres which was being cultivated.  So from the age of 12 on, Percy spent the summers there farming that land and also helping his father run the farm in Twin Groves.  He started hauling bundles to the threshing machine at the age of 12 and by the age of 14 was placed in charge of running the threshing machine by Clay Harshbarger.  They threshed grain up the north side of Conant Creek from Drummond to the Luebben ranch and back down the south side finishing at the Frank Christensen ranch.

In 1910, Percy's father purchased an adjoining 120 acres and Percy moved up and spent full time at the ranch during the summer.  In the summer of 1912, his mother passed away and then he had to divide his time between farming the ranch at Drummond and helping his father farm the ranch at Twin Groves and raise younger brothers and sisters.

Rhoda Ann Foote was born in Glendale, Utah, on March 28, 1896, the daughter of David and Sarah Rebecca Hall Foote.  She grew up in Orderville, Utah, where she attended school.  She came to Idaho in the summer of 1917, to cook and keep house for two of her brothers who were farming a ranch for Fred Bailey, which was located approximately a half mile from the Nyborg ranch.  She became acquainted with Dad the summer.  Mother always told us that she first met Dad at a Saturday night dance at the Squirrel Dance Hall.  She returned to Utah in the fall of 1817.

Nyborg descendants in front of the dance hall where it all began

In September of that same year, Percy was drafted into the U. S. Army and left St. Anthony in late October for Camp Lewis, Washington, now know as Fort Lewis, where after nine months of training was sent overseas to France to fight in World War I.  He served as a scout in his unit and was sent out to scout enemy positions.  On September 29, 1918, he was wounded in action when a bullet penetrated the brim of his steel helmet, split his ear lobe and entered his neck, lodging in the tissue of his lung.  The bullet was never removed and he carried it with him throughout his life.  He spent the next three months in the hospital and a convalescent camp.  Three days after he was wounded in France, his father passed away at a hospital in Salt Lake City, but he didn't find out about it until six weeks later.

He returned to the United States in April of 1919, and was discharged from the Army at Camp Russell, Wyoming.  He returned to the ranch in Drummond, which he brother, Eleel, was now farming.  Percy took what money he had saved and what he had received from his father's estate and bought horses and a scraper and went to work for Fremont County constructing roads in the area that summer.

 

Percy and Rhoda had continued to correspond while he was in the Army, so in December of 1919, he took the train to Orderville, "to see," as he put it, "what his chances were with her."  Evidently they were very good for they were married on January 7, 1920 in Orderville, just a few days after his arrival.  They came back to Idaho and Percy bought his brothers and sisters interest in the property in the Drummond area and they made their home there.

In 1926, they purchased property on Conant Creek, which became the family home, and where they raised their children.  They were the parents of nine children, however, their first child, a baby girl, was stillborn so there were eight living children, 5 boys and 3 girls.

Elden Percy was born on December 30, 1922 in Ashton, Idaho.  He married Wilda Craven and they had two children, Gayla Lyn who is married to Ric Otto and David Craig, deceased.

Velva Ruth was born on July 7, 1924 in the Bob Franz house, where Dad and Mother were living at the time, and which is located about one mile north of the place on Conant Creek which they later purchased and where the family was raised. She was the only one of the children not born in Ashton.  She married Gary 'R' Ostler, who is deceased, and they had six children.  Laurel Ann who is married to Glen Jensen, Farrell Lynn who is married to Eveline Kung, Janis Ruth who is married to Monty Palmer, Lynette Deon who is married to Lowell Bunker, Rebecca Jean who is married to Donald Ray, and Jolene Nyborg  who is married to Steve Wolfley.

Lowell David was born on January 7, 1926 in Ashton and he never married.  He passed away on May 14, 1996 at the Veteran's Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah.

Gerald Wendell was born on April 18, 1928 in Ashton.  He married Juanita Stoddard and they had three children.  Debra who is married to Paul Tikalsky, Linda who is married Jed Wayment, and Ronald.

Keith Foote was born on March 4, 1830 in Ashton.  He married Raija Itkonen and they had three children.  Phillip Michael who is married to Kathryn Hoffman, Bruce David who is married to Debi Gaume, and Maija-Liisa who is married Brad Adams.

Elna Irene was born on March 16, 1931 in Ashton.  She married Roger Sullivan and they had six children.  Karen who was married to Paul Hackman, Keith who is married to Terri Barbee, Dianne who is married to Ron Baxter, Gloria who is married to Kirk Summers, Robin who is married to Scott Packer, and Heidi who is married to Steven Weatherston.

Nola LaRue was born on November 7, 1936 in Ashton.  She was married to Sherman Goulding, who is deceased, and they had five children.  Lowell Blake, Kristine who is married to Duane Mothershead, Shawna who is married to Vance Bronson, Brenda, and Troy.

Milton Hargis, who was named after Dr. Hargis who was the family doctor in Ashton, was born on June 26, 1939.  He is married to Beatrice Souza and they have one daughter, Vanessa.

 

The children attended a one room log school house in France, a small farming community located between Drummond and Lamont.  It was a whistle stop on the railroad, with a grain elevator, and was called France Siding.  The children jokingly tell people they were raised and educated in France, which sounds very prestigious.

The France School was the center of community activity, especially during the long winter months.  In addition to being the school, with its attendant programs and activities, it was also the center for community activities, programs, and dances, as well as serving for many years as a meeting place for a branch Sunday School of the Farnum Ward, Yellowstone Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, during the winter months when it was impossible to get down to Farnum to attend church due to the snow, the distances involved, and the mode of transportation at the time.

The family were members of the Farnum Ward and attended church there until it was merged into the Marysville Ward, at which time they had built a home in Ashton and became members of the Ashton Ward.

They attended Sunday meetings and participated in Relief Society, MIA, and scouting in the Farnum Ward and Percy served in several callings in the ward, including Ward Teacher, Scout Troop Committeeman, Counselor in the Sunday School, Sunday School Superintendent, and as a Counselor in the Bishopric.  Keith was the only one of the children who had an opportunity to serve a full time mission for the church, serving in Finland from March 1950 to October 1952.

Percy passed away on December 26, 1959 and Rhoda passed away on September 20, 1979.

 Photo taken on BYU Campus at graduation of their daugther, Velva Ruth, my mother

Large gathering of Nyborgs (or Sanpete Days Event) in mid to late 1940's.

Percy is at the top left and Rhoda stands between Elna and man in hat center top row.

Percy with his sons

Rhoda with her daughters

Most of Percy's and Rhoda's grandchildren on the ranch in late summer 1969

Poems my mother told me

 

I was a lucky little girl because I had a mother who read to me.  Every night before bed, she would gather her little brood on the sofa and read aloud to us.  She did this even though she was tired for her day began often before dawn as she helped with the farm chores before her children were up.  There were eggs to clean and milk to place in cans before deliveries could be made.  I remember her dozing off in the middle of the page and we would gently nudge her awake so she could finish the story.  She didn't just read picture books.  We also were introduced to Black Beauty and Robinson Caruso and other big books.  A love of reading was a special gift she gave us.

She also had a repertoire of memorized poems which she would share as we worked together.  I've been thinking about that lately and so I found the two I remember most to share.

 Little Orphant Annie

by James Whitcomb Riley

Little Orphant Annie’s come to our house to stay,
An’ wash the cups an’ saucers up, an’ brush the crumbs away,
An’ shoo the chickens off the porch, an’ d ust the hearth, an’ sweep,
An’ make the fire, an’ bake the bread, an’earn her board-an’-keep;
An’ all us other children, when the supper things is done,
We set around the kitchen fire an’ has the mostest fun
A-list’nin’ to the witch-tales ‘at Annie tells about,
An’ the Gobble-uns ‘at gits you
             Ef you
                Don’t
                   Watch
                      Out!
        
Onc’t they was a little boy wouldn’t say his prayers,--
So when he went to bed at night, away up stairs,
His Mammy heerd him holler, an’ his Daddy heerd him bawl,
An’ when they turn’t the kivvers down, he wasn’t there at all!
An’ they seeked him in the rafter-room, an’ cubby-hole, an’ press,
An’ seeked him up the chimbly-flue, an’ ever’wheres, I guess;
But all they ever found was thist his pants an’ roundabout--
An’ the Gobble-uns’ll git you
             Ef you
                Don’t
                   Watch
                      Out!
        
An’ one time a little girl ‘ud allus laugh an’ grin,
An’ make fun of ever’one, an’ all her blood an’ kin;
An’ onc’t, when they was “company," an’ ole folks was there,
She mocked ‘em an’ shocked ‘em, an’ said she didn’t care!
An’ thist as she kicked her heels, an’ turn’t to run an’ hide,
They was two great big Black Things a-standin’ by her side,
An’snatched her through the ceilin’fore she knowed what she's about!
An’ the Gobble-uns’ll git you
             Ef you
                Don’t
                   Watch
                      Out!
        
An’ little Orphant Annie says when the blaze is blue,
An’ the lamp-wick sputters, an’ the wind goes woo-oo!
An’ you hear the crickets quit, an’ the moon is gray,
An’ the lightnin’-bugs in dew is all squenched away,--
You better mind yer parents, an’ yer teachers fond an’ dear,
An’ churish them ‘at loves you, an’ dry the orphant’s tear,
An’ he’p the pore an’ needy ones ‘at clusters all about,
Er the Gobble-uns’ll git you
             Ef you
                Don’t
                   Watch
                      Out!

I Love You, Mother

“I love you, Mother,” said little John,
Then forgetting his work, his cap went on
And off to the garden he went to the swing,
Forgetting the coal and wood to bring.
“I love you, Mother,” said little Nell,
“I love you better than tongue can tell.”
Then she teased and pouted full half the day
So her mother rejoiced when she went out to play.
“I love you, Mother,” said little Fan,
“Today I’ll help you all I can;
How glad I am that school doesn’t keep,”
And she rocked the baby ’til it fell asleep.
Then stepping softly she took the broom,
And swept the floor and dusted the room.
Happy and busy all day was she,
As helpful and busy as a child could be.
“I love you, Mother,” again they said,
Three little children going to bed.
How do you think that mother guessed
Which one of them really loved her best?
                                        (Author Unknown)

Doughnuts for Christmas

This family Christmas tradition was born over 50 years ago.  I grew up outside Rexburg, Idaho on a dairy farm which had been in my father’s family since the late 1800’s.  It was not uncommon to get “snowed in” during cold Idaho winters,  but one year it happened on Christmas Day.  There would be no visits from grandparents or a trip to Rexburg to see what the cousins had received for Christmas.  My mother looked at our sad faces and declared, “Let’s make doughnuts!”  And so it all began.  When we moved to sunny Arizona for my father’s health in the mid 1960s, this became the treat we would make for our friends and neighbors at Christmas time.  Sometimes they were delivered as part of a caroling party, other times they were secretly delivered, and the year I became engaged to Glen, my mother hosted an “engagement party” and invited everyone over for doughnuts and hot cocoa and to meet Glen. Back when all of our children lived at home and helped with this project, we would make as many as seven batches of the following recipe.  It was a day long project (usually on Christmas Eve) and as our children’s world expanded, so did the doughnut deliveries.  Each of my sisters and their families also make doughnuts most years.  Now the tradition has moved on to the next generation.  Today was Doughnut Day 2012 and was held at my oldest son's home.

Grandpa Glen had his oldest grandson, TJ, help him with the frying.  My oldest granddaughter, Heather, helped me mix up the dough in the Bosch mixer.  She practiced cracking eggs, measuring, checking the temperature of the water, adding the right amount of flour, and rechecking the recipe for any missing ingredients.  Of the five batches of dough made today, she was solely responsible for one.  Then she moved on to mixing up the maple glaze and glazing doughnuts.  She will be a pro.  Little brother, Toby, and little sister, Julianna, rolled a few doughnuts out but really shined in counting out and placing the doughnuts in decorative bags for delivery. Here is the recipe that we have used for many years.

Raised Doughnuts
(makes about 8 dozen doughnuts)

2 Tablespoons active dry yeast
4 cups warm water (110 degree F)
2/3 cup powdered milk
2 cubes butter, softened
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 Tablespoon salt
12 – 14 cups white flour  (I add until dough pulls away from side of my Bosch mixer)

Add warm water to Bosch bowl.  Add yeast and ¼ cup of the sugar.  Let stand for five minutes.  Add powdered milk, butter, sugar, salt, and eggs.  Mix slightly.  Add three cups flour, mix. Then while Bosch is on slow speed, slowly add remaining flour until dough begins to leave the side of the mixer.  Let Bosch knead dough for 2 - 3 minutes.

Place in large bowl and let rise until a finger leaves an indention.  Punch down and take about ¼ of the dough and roll out until ½ inch thick.  Cut with doughnut cutter (in a pinch, we have used a glass and the top off of the salt shaker for the middle.)  Place on sheet pans and let rise until light.  Continue cutting doughnuts adding new dough to the left over scraps.

Fry the raised doughnuts in deep hot oil (375 degrees F) until browned, turning just once.  We use an electric fry pan for this part.  Test the oil with a doughnut hole to make sure temperature is right.  If you try to fry too many at one time, the oil cools down too quickly.  We usually fry outside to keep that fried oil smell out of the house.  Drain on paper towels.  While still warm, dip in glaze.

Glaze
(we start with a 2 pound bag of powdered sugar)

Use 1 cup water to each pound of powdered sugar.  Place in a deep pan and heat until dissolved.  Add 1 teaspoon vanilla and 1 teaspoon Mapleline flavoring.  Glaze doughnuts on both sides and place on a cooling rack over sheet pans to drain.  ENJOY!

When I first felt my world shift

This is a picture of my mother's brother's family.  When my grandfather, their father, passed away from a heart attack the day after Christmas in 1959 my uncle took over the family ranch and farmlands.  This land is on the west side of the Tetons and is the most beautiful farmland I have ever seen.  It consists of rolling hills interspersed with clumps of trees which are mostly aspens.  This picture shows Keith's family standing at the end of the lane leading to their home.

I loved going to visit them at the ranch.  Raiija was from Finland and a wonderful hostess.  I loved the food, the hospitality, and the beauty of the setting.  On snowy days like the one pictured, there was a special kind of serenity.  Sometimes in winter there was so much snow we would drive the two lane highway leading east through snow tunnels created by snow plows with each side higher than our vehicle.

One of our visits forever changed me and my perspective of my world.  We were having such a good time that we ignored the snow beginning to fall outside the windows on each side of the fireplace.  It was near dark before we finally packed up and headed back home to Sugar City.  When driving in off the main highway there is a very steep long descent leading to Conant Creek and the house overlooking it.  To go home we had to climb up that hill.  It was slippery and we were stuck, not moving forward.  We were in my father's red pickup truck so there was fishtailing.  My mother exited the truck to help push it forward and provide traction.  In the process, she fell and injured her mouth.

I was so puzzled.  Why was my mother on the outside pushing the truck instead of my father?  Who was the real strong one in my family?  It was then I realized that my mother was indeed the physically stronger of my parents.  I knew that my father had medical issues, but now I realized that those issues compromised his ability to be the father I imagined him to be.  It lessened my feelings of security and heightened my already prone to be worrier personality.

Indeed, by the time we moved to Arizona in 1964, just a few of years later, my father was unable to hold a job, drive a car, or provide for his family.  That was when I truly recognized all the strengths of my mother and knew how fortunate we all were to have her.

Velva's Chocolate Chip Dessert

While in Kansas, I was reminded of my mother's great refrigerator dessert.  Nephew Gary had made a pan of Velva's chocolate chip dessert for his mom on Mother's Day.  Because I arrived late in the evening of that same day, there was a serving or two left for me.  I kept thinking about it when I got home, so made a pan of my own.  It really is a perfect summertime dessert, no baking required nor the hot oven.  Now that I look at my pictures I realize that this dessert is a bit like glorified s'mores!

Soften marshmallows in milk over low heat, then add chocolate chips and continue stirring until marshmallows and chips are melted.  Set aside and cool until slightly congealed.

Place graham crackers in a ziploc baggie and crush with a rolling pin.  Place a generous layer of crumbs in the bottom of a 9 x 9 inch pan..

Whip cream in a clean glass bowl just until peaks form not butter.

Gently fold whipped cream and walnuts into cooled chocolate mixture.  Pour carefully over graham cracker layer.

Sprinkle leftover cracker crumbs over the top then place in refrigerator for several hours to firm things up.  Mom would make this for us on special occasions.  My guess is that she found it in a magazine sometime in the early 60's or late 50's.  I do remember having it when we still lived on the farm in Idaho.  Maybe she first served it when it was her turn to have the ladies club at our home.  Those club meetings also initiated a whole house cleaning.  Miss you Mom!

Chocolate Chip Dessert
recipe of Velva Ostler
of Sugar City, Idaho

32 large marshmallows
1/2 cup milk
1 six ounce package chocolate chips
1 cup heavy cream, whipped
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup of graham cracker crumbs

Soften marshmallows in milk over low heat. Add chocolate chips and stir until all is melted.  Remove from heat and let cool until mixture congeals.  Fold in whipped cream and walnuts.  Spread 1 cup of cracker crumbs in bottom of a 9 x 9 inch pan.  Pour chocolate mixture into pan and cover with the remaining crumbs.  Chill several hours or overnight.  Serve with additional whipped cream and garnish with maraschino cherries if desired.

Serves 6 - 8

Two quilts and a view

We just returned from Utah where the hubby taught two seminars and visited with many, many clients. What did I do? Why I gazed intermittently at this beautiful view out of the windows of the townhouse while I worked on two quilts and visited with many family members.

The Civil War quilt is now on my mom's frame. I have stored it in Utah for almost 9 years always planning to have a quilt on that I could stitch while in Provo. Finally my dream has come true.

This is the hard wood frame that my mother purchased when she retired. She had 9 hand pieced quilt tops that had been given to her by her mother. Her goal was to hand quilt them all which she accomplished. Before I left I had the quilting done through the first row of blocks and sashing.

Shortly after I was married, I fell in love with a Grandmother's Flower Garden quilt featured in Better Homes and Garden. I already had received one of Grandmother Rhoda's Double Wedding Ring quilts as a wedding gift. Greedy person that I am, I asked Grandma if she would make me a Flower Garden quilt if I purchased the material. She said "yes" and I did. I had the hand pieced quilt top in no time at all and my mother helped me quilt it on the old rickety quilt frames we used before she bought the above frame. You know, the ones with 4 soft pine boards and stands with a slot to hold the boards held together with c-clamps. And then came time to bind it. I was over whelmed and then discovered I was pregnant with #2. Time slipped away as I mothered.

Flash forward 35 years and picture a quilted top with untrimmed backing and batting sitting in linen closet after linen closet as we moved and grew as a family. I still couldn't decide what to do about the binding. Then I decided that it needed to be Nathan's. I looked at post after DIY post. Finally I came across something so simple and 1930's that I felt was just right. So I also took this quilt to Utah where I trimmed the back and batt even with the top.

Then I turned each edge in 1/4 inch and hand stitched them together reinforcing at the "v's." Each little hexagon will get a turn.

It is going to take a while to go all the way around but I am now one fourth of the way there. It has been a pleasure to work on this quilt. Every time I turn an edge, there are my grandmother's pencil marks where she had traced and then cut with scissors every one of those hexagons for me.

I saw this quote on another blog and it so aptly expresses how I have felt this week.

“A quilt is an object of peculiar intimacy. By virtue of the way it is created, every inch of the fabric is touched. Each scrap absorbs the quilter’s scent and the invisible oils of her skin, the smell of her household and, thanks to the constant pinning and stitching, her blood in the tiniest of quantities. And tears, though she might be loath to admit it.”

- from “The Goodbye Quilt” by Susan Wiggs

Idaho, Days 7 & 8, Ashton and the Ranch

Tuesday morning, sister Lynette and I left for our own side trip to Idaho. We stopped at West Jordan, Salt Lake Valley, to pick up Lynette's friend from college days, Annette, as well. She grew up in Rexburg and wanted to visit with family and interview our Uncle Keith who had served with her father when there was a LTM at Ricks College. She is writing a history of those days. She is also a quilter, so our ride north became a "quilt shop hop" as she shared some of her favorites with us. And yes, I purchased a bit of fabric at each stop!

Our first adventure Wednesday morning was a trip to Ashton, place of my birth, and the ranch. As you can see by all the new silos, Ashton is still the railroad hub of southeast Idaho. There were very green wheat fields as far as the eye could see interspersed with potato fields.

Our first stop was the Frostop. I took this picture for Logan of his mother in front of one of his favorite places.

I also took a picture of the mural in the bathroom. Believe it or not, Lynette didn't even notice it when it was her turn! There were lots of tourists stopping for refreshment on their way to Yellowstone Park.

Soon we were headed east to "the Ranch" located about 15 miles east of Ashton near Drummond. Although it has been sold, it still feels like our "homeplace." My grandparents Andrew Percy and Rhoda Nyborg began farming this land in the 1920's and my Uncle Keith continued to work the land when his father passed away in 1959. He finally sold it just a few years ago. This is a picture of Keith and Raija's home from down the hill. Unfortunately, the new owner has not maintained it in the same manner as did Keith and Raija.

Conant Creek was a rushing torrent. Idaho also had a very wet winter. There would have been no wading by the little ones if we were reuniting in the creek bottom this year. See the little island in the upper part of the picture. That was the site of many a bonfire and fireworks display at our family reunions.

And here is the creek from the opposite side of the bridge facing west.

The sauna, a location for many "bathing" memories. Uncle Keith told us at Annette's interview, that the missionaries at the LTM used to try to break the record of the most runs from the sauna to the swimming hole on a visit. One fool did it 17 times.

The birch trees on the south side of the creek and east of the road were lovely as always.

Of course the gates were up, so we could only get this close to the old outbuildings. The grassy patch to the right in the picture is where my grandparents home once stood.

Looking southwest towards Keith and Raija's house.

The cattle pens are still there and I understand that Keith and Gerald still manage to find some fence to mend in the spring.

I'm now looking south to the creek bed from the hill where my mother was born.

Her parents home at that time stood near this old barn. It seemed appropriate that we were here the day before her birthday.

It's also nice to have the barn as a marker for her birth location.

It's also a bit of a landmark as it stands on quite a hill which is not readily shown in these picture.

We next traveled on north and west to the old Squirrel Dance Hall where my grandparents danced as they courted. They had met in Idaho the summer Rhoda came from Orderville, Utah to cook for her brothers.

As you can see, it was established in 1916, so they danced in a brand new building. They met before Andrew Percy served in France during WWI. Upon his mending from a bullet wound and return home, he decided to take the train to southern Utah to see what his chances were with Rhoda Ann. I guess they were pretty good because they were married in Kanab a short time later on January 7, 1920 and she returned to the ranch with him. Their first baby was a stillborn, then Elden was born, and then my mother in 1924, followed by Lowell. These first three children all served during WWII. They went on to have five more children, Keith, Gerald, Elna, Milton, and Nola.

My uncles arranged for us to meet in this building at our family reunion in 1993.

Here is our family group that year. We had lunch inside, Gerald's slide show of the family in the 50's and 60's, and a talent show. Fun times! Notice the Tetons in the distance.


My pictures make the land seem flat, but it is anything but flat. It is a series of beautiful rolling hills, thus just the view of roof tops in the distance.

This is the old general store, now a private home, located across the street from the dance hall.

We came upon these red poppies as we drove back to the bridge at Fall River.

Everything was so pretty and green.

We saw so many wildflowers, including daisies at the ranch, of course. But not red poppies. It made me wonder who might have once lived here who loved red poppies.

It felt good to be home!