April showers bring — well, just about every kind of weather

Whether you love it or hate it, April weather seems to cover all bases — sunshine and warmth, rain, frost and cold, this month seems to be one of the most various of the year. Here at home, we had Spring: rhodendrons, forsythia, crocus and daffodils blooming. We spent a few days in Bellingham and it was back to Winter! Cold winds, frost, some rain and just before we arrived and just after we left, snow!

Needless to say, we were pleased to come home and find Spring again.

Now the forecast says much warmer for awhile!

The big highlight for our family this month was Hubby turning 90! A well achieved goal, and it seemed we had a week of chocolate cake to enjoy. Age hasn’t slowed him down much, and he sleeps well!

We recently had a visitor — one of Frank’s former students from Hoquiam. He’d had to retire early from a stressful job, and has become a successful guide for hunting, fishing, new adventures.

He’d asked permission to cross our family property at Quinault for fishing in the Quinault River – when it’s open. He does his hunting, processes the fish and game and sells the products. He brought some of his specialties to share with us.

Those of us who were teachers often never know what becomes of our students unless we and they stay in the same vicinity, but our kids do keep in touch with their friends, and now and then, hear about others they knew from school.

When we moved here— to my growing-up area — not only did I connect with schoolmates from Peninsula High School, but with several of the teachers still living. We were able to celebrate Dorothy Bouvia Lusby’s birthdays for many years past 100! She is still the oldest person I’ve ever known personally.

I love working on my ancestry, and just received a message about finding who lived in the houses you live in or have lived in. My first response was to laugh. The house I spent most of my growing up years in was built by my grandfather and his father.

Other houses in the area had been built by local families, and although I didn’t know it at the time, have since learned some — Ella Davidson’s house across the bay from me these days, the Coblentz (previously Van Slyke) house when I was born.

Then there’s Hubby’s parents’ home on Lake Quinault, which his dad built after the original family-built building was lost to fire. Then perhaps three or four others where we didn’t stay long and I have no clue about their origins.

And back to Vaughn, where we lived with Aunt Elsie, whose home was built for them, and our current home built by Hubby!

So I know much of the history of houses I’ve lived in! My best friend in Darrington may be able to give me some more info on that house. I started school there, we walked to school with my brother’s friend and his brothers (my classmates) and my friends across the street. I was sure it was a long way, but going back not too many years ago, it was perhaps a block and a half! My brother met a man once who had also lived in Darrington and they figured out it was the same house. The man said he’d left something in the closet under the stairs, and my brother said he found it and used it! The man’s family were the former renters!

It’s fun to find “it’s a small world,” isn’t it?