"What's there to see in Elko?" Val quizzed.

The email last week from Sue began,
"Hopefully, you remember the group of teachers
you took on the mountain tour last year.
We all enjoyed the trip so much that Val
returned with her friend Celeste later for another tour."

"I have sad news…Val had a series of strokes…
surgery…did not go as well as we hoped…
massive stroke…paralyzed…ended life support
…deep coma…memorial service."
Sue.

John and I do remember.

In early fall the call came from six Wisconsin
teachers, Catherine, Sue, Patti, Betty, Val, and Ane,
visiting northern Nevada.

"What’s there to see in Elko?" Val quizzed.

A few health problems had persuaded her to retire
from teaching, but that hadn’t slowed her down much.
Instead she took the title, "ring leader" and organized
adventure trips for teacher friends.

John queried back, "What do you want to see?"
That was no help; they were ready to see everything!

So, John overwhelmed them with high granite
peaks tipped in white, sunbeams shining through
vintage Tiffany windows in the country church,
dusty wagon tracks on the old California Trail, golden
brown wildflowers foreshadoming autumn, and a freezing
cold, crystal stream at the top of Thomas Canyon.
It was hard for Val to walk, but even she went wading!
In short, they were excited and enthusiastic about it all.

Val sat in the front passenger seat, and she and the others
peppered John with questions about the Great Basin,
birds, geology, ghost mining towns, the California trail,
and wild mustang horses, wild goats, and sheep.

After a famous mushroom burger at O'Carrolls in Lamoille
below the Ruby Mountains, the group tried to get a
handle on some of what they had seen: Nevada's
natural beauty, the open vistas, the quiet, the clear
blue sky. After a drive around town to watch local
deer and shop at the antique store they headed back
to Elko.

Val brought Celeste on the second Elko tour, later that year.
The weather was chancy that trip, though, with clouds and
snow, so when it cleared a bit, John went right downtown
and searched for them in the casino.

"We need to go today! Tomorrow won’t be good."

It turned into a perfect day as the sun parted clouds
to turn canyon walls golden. Val wanted one of her special
friends, Celeste, to see what the group before had seen.

Val had had a minor stroke just before they’d come, but
she never let health stop her from exploring. She not only
looked for the next adventure trip, but loved sharing
excitement and beauty she found.

According to Sue, "Val loved her western adventure and
was still trying to find a way to get to the Cowboy Poetry
Gathering. She didn’t make it this year because apparently
there was something else planned, the biggest adventure
of her life. The group made a pact, though, to come next
year in her memory."


Catherine, Sue, Patti, Betty, Val, and Ane






We remember you, Val, and love you for your great spirit
of Adventure!

See "the girls" in Thomas Canyon, Ruby Mtns.
From left to right: Sue, Patti, Catherine, Val, Ane, Betty:

Poetry and Music, from the Australian drawl to Columbian intensity!

Cowboy Poetry. What a curious thing!

I remember twenty years ago when John came
home from a business trip to Elko (we were living in
Reno, Nevada, then) and told me he'd heard
cowboy poetry I was mystified.

Why would anyone listen to cowboys reciting poetry?
Visions of sing-songy verses, one after another,
didn't seem like anything John would enjoy.

Now that we live in Elko we're immersed in poetry and
culture gathering up to our eyeballs at the Cowboy
Poetry Gathering in January. I've found the
poetry introspective, funny--a window into
people's souls. They're like me, full of hope, fear,
and struggling with the future.

Paul Zarzyski and Randy Reiman are two of my
favorite poets. Linda Haselstrom and Teresa Jordan,
women weaving stories to build community, gifted
writers.

And music--it's entertwined with the words.

A Columbian band last Monday--Llaneros musica,
music of the plains. Their music what I thought South
American would be. It was more European with guitar-like
instruments and a harp! Really driving, energetic,
and, intense.
Last year, Mongolian guitar and throat singing
which is amazing and other-worldly.

And, a few years ago, I fell in love with Celtic, Irish,
and Scot music. Every year I love to hear the familiar
cowboy music from our own West.

Thursday we'll hear Tom Russell and Andrew
Hardin, and Don Edwards will be around with
with his smooth "Eddie Arnold" croon and guitar.

The best thing about the Gathering is talking about
how others are working through problem areas we
all have no matter where each of us calls home.
We have a Japanese family staying with us this
year, and that's been the best thing about their
stay--comparing how they're meeting challenges,
some of which are the same I face.

I love the Blog on the Western Folklife Center webpage
http://www.westernfolklife.org/site/

I check it every so often for new posts. What a
great idea. If you can't join us at the Gathering join
in the conversation on the Blog!

No Fly Fishing or Wild Flowers Hikes. It's winter Poetry Time!

Elko Tours! Cowboy Poetry Gathering Time is the
end of January. John and I have attended most of
the 20 plus Gatherings and this year won’t be any
different. The web page:
http://www.westernfolklife.org/site


Early in the week (Sunday before the Gathering)
John is taking news media and visitors
from Columbia and Australia on a tour. Winners of
the Waltzing Matilda competition in Australia come
every year to Elko. And this year Llanero musicians
from Columbia will be a treat.

They’ll see Glaser’s tack room, I imagine, just a short
drive out of Elko. A real working cattle ranch, their tack
room is authentic with horse stuff, mechanic tools, and
vintage antiques, al la Burma shave, etc.

The second stop just before the drive over the Ruby Mts
to the Wines ranch in Ruby Valley is the Ellison Ranching
Company’s 71 ranch. It’s now a beautiful guest ranch.
A large white wooden house on a grassy hill is surrounded
with a porch that overlooks the mountains, hay meadows, and
quaking aspen and willows. The old barn draws photographers
and artists. It’s right out of the movies.

From the 71 ranch we’ll drive on plowed roads with snow stacked
deep on either side of the van through the mountains to
Ruby Valley which is ranching country. The ranch on tour
is the Wines place, a historical ranch that’s been in the
Wines family for six generations. Micki and Ira Wines
will show us around. Ira’s grandmother, age 103, still lives
on the place by herself, cooks for herself, and does her
own washing.

The Wines ranch is at the far end of the Valley near some of the best
fly fishing for trout and bass in the country (the Ruby Marshes). Great
bird watching here, too, since it’s on the Canadian flyway. But not now.
Wide open space is covered in snow. Wildflowers, trout, bass, and birds
are gone. This is not the time for a fishing or hiking vacation!

We’re getting lots of snow this winter, so the mountains will be dazzling
white against a spectacular blue sky, and many mornings frosty pogonip
will layer the trees. If we’re lucky we might see wild mustang horses,
deer, or elk, or a solitary coyote. I wish you could be here to see it with us.