July 4th...2008

July 4, 2008 was spent with the Tillman family (well 3 of them...Bob, Becky, and Reade) and Gramma Carolyn. I arrived midday to meet the ladies at the grocery store to follow them to the cabin. When we walked out of the store, I think that Reade's words were, "You know you are in Rye when there is a horse when you walk out of the grocery store."

So we took some pictures of ole' Nelly.

Reade and I spent some time down by the creek before talking getting Gramma Carolyn to show us around her old stomping grounds. She taught us so much. Each story was so rich with emotion. Like every word made each memory more and more real. This is just a piece of what we learned:

She moved to Rye from Kansas after her father spent the previous summer building a lodge for their family behind her grandparent home in Rye (though still a 25ish minute drive from the cabin). Apart of Roosevelt's attempt to reboot the economy after the Great Depression this lodge was built to be surrounded by cabins for vacationing. Food would come from the lodge, add on the rent, and that is how Gramma Carolyn's family tried to make end's meet.

She told of how they lived off of the land from a big garden, only making a trip to the nearest big city once a month.

I loved watching her tell stories.

the field behind her grandparents home

the lodge (quite unoccupied by anything but bats)

Gramma Carolyn's playground...on a cliff! she must have been a fearless child.

the outhouse perfectly centered between the lodge and the cabins

reade and gramma at the creek after cooling our feet!

Afterwards we went back, painted, some napped, then had hotdogs and shared stories over a fire. It was such a neat night. A great July 4.

It's been a long time since i've spent the 4th firework-less. I'd recommend it. There's just something about quiet. Something good i'd say.