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The 2019 Allen Family Reunion has come and gone again, like flood waters flowing under a bridge. This year was a particularly hectic experience for me. About six weeks prior to the event I spoke to Karren about the meal assigned to Norma's family and was told, "Don't worry about--it has been taken care of--we'll send you a bill for your part." Three days before the event I was informed, "We are having tacos--nothing else has been done--and by the way, you are in charge. In the old days, I could have handled that assignment without breathing hard but, given my cerebral ossification, things became a bit dicy. In spite of all my planning, list making, and double checking I departed my residence lacking a couple of key ingredients. Fortunately, Karren and Symantha came to my rescue and the meal we served, while perhaps not spectacular, was certainly adequate.
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Kylie contemplated not attending the reunion this year. She had a bit of a adventure, reputedly involving a horse and a tree, but that is her story and I'll let her tell it...
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Symantha was kind enough to allow me the use of her guest bedroom for a couple of nights. We rode together to the reunion on Saturday.
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As is evidenced here, Abbie took time off from rock collecting to play a hand of cards, and eat goldfish. She showed me a couple of nice pieces of petrified wood she found. Unfortunately, they didn't make it home with her.
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Fred brought a soft ice cream maker and ruined the dinner appetite of quite a few of the younger set by cranking it up after lunch on Saturday. The machine was powered by a 220 volt generator. The soft serve product was enthusiastically received by almost all, including myself. What a great idea.
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This reunion didn't seem to me to be as well attended as in some previous years, leading me to wonder how long it will continue after Joan's gentle guidance is no longer extant.Sam, Dan, And Dell have performed prodigious amounts of work on the two houses, shoring up the foundations and rectifying drainage issues. I feel guilty not helping them but, for me, that ship has sailed.
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Due to chronometer inattentiveness on my part (possibly induced by excessive ice cream consumption), I was a little late starting preparations for our meal. Fortunately most of the other members of Norma's family were not, and by the time I finally wandered into the kitchen, most of the hard parts were either complete or well underway.
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During the business meeting last year, it was agreed that this year we would include a dish from Grandma's favorite recipes with each meal. I, along with everyone else who prepared a meal, forgot about that agreement until last year's minutes were read in this year's meeting. Maybe next year.
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The Monday following the reunion, I went to Bisbee with Lindella and Jared. There are a number of Arizona mining towns built on steep slopes and Bisbee is definitely one of them. I'm pretty sure I would find living in those environs to be quite disagreeable.
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We took the mine tour at the Queen mine there and found it to be both enjoyable and informative. 1500 feet into the mountain the temperature was a cool 68°F. If you lived close, pumping air from there might be an efficient method to cool your house in the summer.
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We also stopped at the pit overlook and played the part of the tourist, taking a plethora of photographs.
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Reading the signs at the overlook, I learned a bit of trivia. This hole in the ground is named, "The Lavender Pit." I had always assumed that name resulted from the purplish hue of the rock comprising the walls. In fact, the surname belonging to one of the three gentlemen who started this mining operation was, "Lavender" and from that source comes the moniker.
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