August 29, 2009 – Canyonville

Wow! What a great day! I can’t remember the last time I had this much fun. It didn’t look too promising to start with, when it became obvious that I wasn’t going to get my normal morning walk, and Don was loading up the truck with chairs and grills and ice chests, with no room for me. When he drove off without me, I was kinda glum. But he was back very shortly, and he loaded me into the truck. Geri wasn’t ready to go yet, so we took off and went to the park where the reunion was being held. It was just on the other side of the highway from our RV Park, and didn’t take long to get there. When we arrived, there were already a lot of people there, all Yokums with their mates and kids. Don got me out of the truck, and I immediately went into meet and greet mode, going from one person to the next and letting them know how much I liked them, even if I didn’t remember them from last year. They all seemed to remember me, and I’m glad that I seem to have left a good impression on them. I got a lot of petting and quite a few treats, all of which were very good. Don was busy talking to some of his relatives that he hadn’t seen for a year, and gave me free rein to make my rounds. And I was the only dog there! No competition! This kind of gathering is just the kind of thing I love, lots of people to admire and pet me, give me goodies to eat, and nobody yelling at me. Don had brought the laptop, and was showing one of his aunts (Helen, I think) the photos that he had taken at the Yoakum Cemetery in Tennessee. I understand that she’s the genealogy maven of the family, and she was very pleased to get a copy of the headstone information he compiled there. More people kept arriving, and I had to greet each one of them with a big smile and a wagging tail. This is what I was born to do! I was lovin’ it! Don got his grill going, and started cooking hot dogs for the gang. Everyone else had brought some kind of food, fried chicken, baked beans, salads and slaws, pies and cakes, chips and dips, a little of everything. What a feast! We had to break from the festivities for a little bit to go back to the rig and pick up Geri, but we weren’t gone very long. The eating had commence for real by the time we got back, and Don felt the need to tether me a little ways away from the tables, for fear of my becoming a serial moocher. He was probably right, but I wasn’t that hungry anyway, after all the goodies I had been given by the generous Yokums.


Once the feeding had ended, I got let loose again to schmooze my way through the party, and get a few leavings from the folks. Geri was making the rounds of her favorite people, and Don was hanging with Aunt Helen and Cousin Joyce talking genealogy, while I was making the rounds of everyone. I got so much attention and loving from this gang that it wore me out! I hadn’t even thought of napping! After a while, people started packing up and leaving for their homes; we were among the last to leave, and we went back to the rig stuffed and happy. Don had to make two trips, one for our gear and one for Geri and me. When we got home, Geri and I went straight for nap time, while Don doodled on the computer. He was kind enough to fix my dinner at the regular time (at Geri’s insistence), and then we got back in the truck and headed up to Winston for a visit at Aunt Dorothy’s place. I was initially offended when I was parked out on the deck while all my people were in the living room, but Aunt Dorothy persuaded Geri to let me come in, and I was back in the game. Right after my entry, I saw that Don was raising a little ruckus with Aunt Dorothy by asking her if she was familiar with the name of a certain lady from the past. She had never heard the name before. Don expressed surprise that she had never heard the name of her father’s first wife! Pandemonium ensued, as Aunt Helen verified Don’s statement. Aunt Emogene, Dorothy and Helen’s younger sister, claimed that her relative youth excused her ignorance of this matter. Geri vilified Don for creating chaos, and Don was chuckling perceptibly. This is his idea of fun.


Aunt Helen had brought a video tape of some past reunions, and Joyce put them on the VCR. When the tape started showing a series of cemetery visits, Geri took me out for a little recreation. We were walking in Aunt Dorothy’s back yard, which has a lovely view of the hills, when we encountered the enclave of Willard, who is a goat. He seemed like a very nice goat, as goats go, and I had a recollection of meeting him last year when we were here. So I did a playful little dance for him, hoping to entice him to play a bit with me. Well, I knew he was in a pen, and we couldn’t really chase each other, but I wanted him to know that I would be happy to do so if he were free. He looked at me like I was a fool. Good thing my feelings are not easily hurt. When we went back in the house, the tape was showing the Reunion from 1988. Geri and Don were in it, along with Don’s mom. Don was wearing a red and white tee shirt that was too small for him, and Geri had really black hair. They looked weird. Don said that he was about to ask who the hottie in the front row of a group shot was, before he realized it was his cousin Janice. When the video was over, the party broke up and we headed back to the rig. Don and I put the blog together, and we all crashed. What a day! It was great! Hope yours was as good, but I don’t see how it could have been!