Memories that Seep

 

Looking at David’s ancestry and knowing he has ancestors buried in the Paris, Idaho cemetery, we just wanted to go see their graves-just because it’s a way of connecting with our ancestors. The mapping of the cemetery and plots leaves much to be desired-but after an hour we did find our ancestors and true to norm, they were largely buried in very near proximity to each other.

Once Ruth enlightened us about the existence of a ‘man-made’ geyser in Soda Springs, Idaho, we needed to spend a little time there, watch it go off and know a little more about it. Like it was originally discovered as someone was trying to develop a mineral swimming pool, but the silly thing didn’t want to stop gushing. And another interesting tidbit, the Secretary of the Interior had to ask the City, via telegram, to ‘put a cap on it’ as it was throwing off the ‘precise’ eruptions of Old Faithful. FYI: https://www.sodaspringsid.com/recreation/geyser_park/index.php

Sometimes married couples are ‘touched’ by events in their lives and a curiosity about it lingers-not satisfied due to life demands and life priorities. One such thing was the failure of the Teton Dam. We had lived in Rexburg, ID when it was being built. David graduated from Ricks College in April 1975 and on Saturday, June 5, 1976, the Teton Dam broke and emptied in twelve hours-time. When that news broke, we watched the news closely for the next day or two. Of course, the media only report half the information. The fact that the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints had already organized and implemented a relief plan before FEMA came to the ‘rescue’ was never covered on the nightly news. Go figure. A non-news event. A government agency was NOT needed-the people knew how to band together and take care of themselves. 

 Though we had lived in Rexburg, and not all that far from the dam, we had never gone to see it. Side note, where we had been living was never touched by the flooding. We would have been high and dry. Since we were in the area we had to see if we could find the log cabin where I lived for my first semester at Ricks and the meeting house where I attend my Sunday meetings and of course, David’s first apartment there and then our first apartment there. What an amazing transformation Rexburg has been going through. It’s looking more and more like a mini-BYU!

 

We had to stop in to see Idaho Falls, the Temple and how the Falls are looking now. On our way up through Idaho, we noticed the water levels were down in so many of the streams and rivers. One man-made recreation water spot was completely drained. That of course, was shocking. Loss of business, jobs, recreation (for hard working peeps who need the recreation to refill their vases). It was a hard and sad thing to witness. The Idaho Falls River Walk-Greenbelt Trail  park on the east side of the Snake river (with the Temple as the backdrop) was always such a beautiful respite. Knowing that the Teton Dam had caused a deposit of much flotsam and jetsam in the area and what a mess they then had to clean up had always saddened me. Viewing the Temple about half a mile downstream always gave me the appearance of water coming from the Temple. This view reminded me of Living Waters and Living Truth flowing from the Temple.

Post mission and pre-marriage, David worked for Wycoff. He drove from Rexburg to Pocatello, left his car there, picked up a delivery truck, loaded it with cargo for West Yellowstone (and on occasion he ‘had’ to go to into Old Faithful Inn inside the park to make a delivery). He did this in the spring and summer months when tourist season was at its peak. Naturally, after we were married, I got to ride with him. He’d get up around 11 p.m., drive to Pocatello, load his truck, stop back by our place in Rexburg around 6 in the morning and we’d head up to West Yellowstone to make deliveries around town (ask him about the time lightening hit the railroad track just after he had crossed it!). Sometimes, when Joe & Verna couldn’t be there to take care of magazine racks in the stores (trade the old issues out for current issues), we would take care of the magazines. Took us years of walking into a store and past the magazine racks without stopping to put things in order! We came to love Yellowstone; yes, because of the sheer beauty of Mother Earth in that place and for all the tender memories we attached to it (ask David about the loaf of bread in the road and the delivery truck that he could get to backfire on demand-and the bikers who were victims of the shenanigan). Needless to say, we were NOT aware Yellowstone is a giant caldera at the time! In 1988 when the devastating fire of Yellowstone wiped out so very many of the trees (and scarred our memories) we were quite sad. Like most things in Nature, the forest has since recovered. For us, watching its recovery progress, has been healing.

On our way home we came through a part of Idaho we had never traversed before. We saw acres after acres of fields of hay and canola. The canola/rapeseed was in full bloom. We opened the windows. and the fragrance was absolutely heavenly! No, I do NOT like canola/rapeseed as it is a contributor to developing glaucoma.