Slight disclaimer alert, I have, as a lover of history and a person with a fondness for most humans and their stories, posses an affinity for cemeteries. Well, not so much the overly frou-frou, perfectly manicured ones, rather the places of rest that are a bit more wild, rustic, and off the beaten path.
Grandview cemetery in Bonners Ferry, Idaho is one of those places. To start with, getting there is an unexpected jaunt along the edge of the Kootenai River and through the old part of town with its turn of the century houses and winding old roads. Upon climbing back up out of the river bottom your eyes are greeted with a vista of snow capped mountains and an unbeatable view of the entire river valley below, a breath-stealing scene that goes on for miles.
My friends and I try to meet at least once a week for a hike and meal. Sometimes the hike is snowshoeing, sometimes the meal is a collaborative homemade affair, but the get together is always a good time, and today was no exception.
What was interesting about today is that we had no set destination only a set meeting with some new friends for lunch. We just didn't know the exact time. Spontaneity is one of my favorite things ever, so I was all for this scenario, and when we were discussing where we could go to hike and still get back for our lunch, I piped up,
"Well, have you ever been to the cemetery?"
Both my friends replied with a negative, and when I explained a bit about it, they were all in!
My grandfather was born just up the road from Bonners Ferry in Moyie Springs in a one room cabin, so I have a bit of family history in the area. My great grandma and great aunt are both buried at the cemetery, so I have spent time there before. It's a place that makes me happy. I know that sounds weird, but it's just one of those places on earth where I feel a sense of belonging and serenity.
That said, as we parked, I noticed my friends taking in the place. They loved it too. Off to the north side is the old part of the cemetery with graves from the early part of last century. The snow was mostly melted in that part, so we walked underneath the giant Ponderosa Pines and Red Fir trees, pausing once in a while to admire a headstone or soak in the warm late winter sun.
After perusing the elder resting grounds we went over and promenaded around the newer part of the cemetery. Out in the middle is a pavilion for services and there sure are a lot more headstones up there than the last time I had visited with my grandparents about a decade ago.
Grandma's and auntie's headstones were still hibernating underneath the winter snow, so I didn't get to say hi in the proper, remembrance way, but I don't think they minded. And after wandering around a bit we strolled past the red and white state forest gate and wandered up the side of the mountain for a spell.
Moose, elk, and deer sign were everywhere. The old logging road we were on was a literal wild ruminant freeway, and as I hopped over the frozen crust of snow, my on the tall side friends made fun of my nimbleness, mostly by mocking my age as I am a blistering 4-5 years younger than they are. BAH!
After finishing our hike with a refreshing descent from the hill we had just scaled, we made a bit of a spectacle cleaning our boots in a snow berm. The silt mud that makes up the parking area stuck to us like a cockle-burr in a pony's tail. I got cognitive bonus points for bringing slip on shoes so I could rub my boots in the snow on their sides to get the mud off. I replied by saying that I had lots of experience with getting stuff off of my boots, and for once I was happy that it was just mud!
Once our footwear was an acceptable level of mud-freeness, we rolled back down the hill to the Pizza Factory. They have an all you can eat pizza and salad bar lunch special for $7.99. My frugal soul sang an aria as I paid the kid at the counter, even though I am the worst all you can eat person in the world. Seriously, I just can't stuff myself in the way that I feel would be awesome, but as I hadn't yet eaten, I perform pretty well in the ingesting department!
While sitting at the picnic table-like benches and tables that lined the pizza hall, we met our lunch dates, An amazing couple from Michigan and their two mid twenty-something kids. Their son is a newlywed and he had his wife with him, a glorious creature from Manitoba, and it was over lunch that I heard the tale of their coming together as a wedded couple.
They got together right as Covid hit, and had to spend the first seven months of their relationship long distancing it. Later, upon getting engaged and when she got down here (The US) on a fiance visa, they were told she could stay but they had to get married in the next sixty days, which they did, after being engaged for only seven weeks.
I squealed,
"It's a Covid love story!"
And they all laughed at my delight. For I was delighted. Covid wasn't (and still isn't fun) just like the prospect of death isn't, but we all have to face bad things, or not fun inevitable things, and you know what, it's great! Great because even in the bad there is good present. People coming together in love, strolls through the woods with people who get you, and pausing to remember people who mattered to you. There is so much good in this world, so even though things look bad, and are sometimes, there are motes of beauty all around us.
And on that meandering musing note, I'm off to eat a cookie, because they are one of life's good things too!!
And as most of the time, all of the images in this post were taken on the author's silt adorned and pizza sauce accessorized iPhone.