Visit to JMe's Gravesite

October 18, 2006

It was noon before we pulled out of our nightspot at the Kmart. We enjoyed a leisurely morning watching some TV, having breakfast, puzzling and relaxing. Back on I25 the view is open space, blue skies, golden trees, mountains and an open road. Too soon the cloud ceiling covered us once again. Caught a hotspot in Las Vegas, NM so did some internetting. Thanks everybody for checking our blog! We drove a little on historic route66 on our way into Pecos. We stopped at the store that carries everything from groceries to hardware and picked up wood pieces to a birdhouse to put up at JMe’s gravesite. Then, began the long slow ride on a dirt road into Cow Creek Ranch. The main gate has a metal Cow Creek logo of a fish; we entered. The ranch now extends to this gate; the cabin on the hill is where Lanier and her parents live when at the ranch. We drove up the valley. The grass that Will and Forrest had planted in the fields and around the ponds was all grown tall and rich. We met Matt, one of the head ranch hands who was coming back from one of the upper ponds on the backhoe and introduced ourselves. He knew where JMe’s site was and told us we would be able to drive the roadtrek right up there, unlike last time when the stream had flooded. There were four large puddles filling the roadway that we forded, but made it up to Soldiers Creek where Jme is buried. Kathy brought flowers and feathers and put them against the marker stone. She read the bone shaped plaque “JMe 1990-2003”. Wildflowers, yellow daisy like Mexican Hats, and bluebonnets were still blooming next to her grave. We pulled out the grass between the pink granite rocks and planted some pine seeds we had collected near the AuSable River in Michigan. The clouds were moving in. Little clear spots let a brightness glow across the valley. The scorched bare sticks all around have begun to crack and fall. Two large ones fell just in front of the grave site. Beyond the site is a ravine and across an outcropping of pink granite. Will found sticks to put around the three pine trees and newly planted seeds so the horses wouldn’t trample them. We decided to have dinner; Will set out the chairs and table while Kathy warmed our chicken and rice and sliced a cucumber. We sat under a pine tree with the wind at our back; JMe’s site was just beyond. It was getting colder we cleaned up, said our goodbyes for the evening and drove back to the lodge. Lanier had just pulled in; we said our hello and worked out the details of parking the roadtrek near the barn; she said we could use the suv or 4-wheeler for driving around the ranch. It was dark now and we parked the roadtrek at the barn, plugged in, put heat lights under to warm the exposed water pipes and tank and prayed for no snow. We drove up to Lanier’s and got a tour of her new place; it has a great room, which is kitchen, living and dining rooms combined. The laundry is in a hall closet and there are two bedrooms, hers and a guest room, which her parents use when they come up. Both have their own private bath. The guest room has a private entrance and the door can be locked from the rest of the house giving guests their own space, but not access to the house. Carmine that is just what you now have downstairs only without the bath. The furniture and fittings from the house near the lodge fills the new cabin making it homey; the woodstove was brought up and keeps it warm. Lanier and her mom did the decorating. Matt and Leroy, the assistant cook and ranch hand arrived. We talked about the staff. Seems the first cook gave them some problems and the second was accident-prone. We talked about the projects. RC, the old ranch hand, had built a generator house, Matt built two bridges across the lower streams, and lots of willows were removed from the front streams so they could be fishable. We arrived at the roadtrek around 10:00ish. Will stayed up running the engine to warm things up; Kathy went right to sleep.