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| this is for Kait! |
Friday, July 22, 2011Thursday, Jim, Cathy, Tommy and I ventured out to Elgin Lake to fish. We seemed to take the long way there. It was total back roads through the country and took over an hour to arrive, but it was pretty. We saw a lot of antelope. Which, BTW, are really supposed to be called Prong Horns.
The boys tried and tried and tried but no fish were caught. Cathy and I followed them around the lake like the dutiful wives that we are. Still, no fish! Good thing I had dinner cooking in the crock-pot as backup.
Friday morning Jim and Cathy pulled out of Buffalo. They headed to South Dakota to see Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore. Tommy and I slept in. After a while we went downtown and visited a museum of Johnson County. Which is where Buffalo is located. It was very interesting. I could not take pictures according to their policies - but if you know me, you know that I took several anyway! LOL
After the museum we headed to Crazy Woman Square which is also downtown. There is a Basque Festival taking place here for the next 5 days. Before hitting the square we went to a local movie theater where they had a documentary film called ‘The Last Link’. It was filmed and produced by Jim Kahn and narrated by, the one and only, Willy Nelson. It was extremely well put together and although it was mostly subtitles, we were very glad we saw it. Try to Google it. You’ll enjoy it.
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| Here comes the big one! |
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| Jim |
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| Cathy |
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| this was our favorite one |
(At the celebration they auctioned off hand painted Sheep Wagons. All the proceeds go to the local food bank. It was astonishing how much they went for. The most expensive one, and of course the one we liked best, went for $4000.00. The total amount raised was just over $34K.)
When there was more than one child born, the rest were left to find their way on their own. As a child, at the early age of 5-6 the boys and girls would climb, yes, walk, up the mountains to the sheep, and milk them 2xs a day. They would produce cheese and sell it to the towns surrounding their farms. But if you weren’t the first born, you were, basically, screwed!
Back here in Buffalo, things fell apart. The cheese and the wool prices were worth what they were way back in the 40’s. So the people who migrated here ultimately failed.
There are currently only 5 families left here that actually are true sheep herders -- And they are in debt. They have no other out but to sell off their land piece by piece. It’s very sad!
This week’s celebration is to honor, and remember the Basque community that live here and are very proud to be Basque here in Buffalo. The dancing was amazing. The costumes extraordinary. The music wonderful. And the attitude and community feeling = unbelievable.
When I was a little girl my parents would take us kids to Riverhead, NY every year for the Polish Festival. (My Moms descendants). There were dancers, and music and food and costumes and as kids we hated it. But we went because we had no choice. Tonight, sitting on the lawn watching these young people dance in their native costumes and having a great time doing it, brought me back to Riverhead. Although it took 40 + years to appreciate it, I'm glad, now, that I had to experience the Polish festival. The sense of pride of where you originated from is tremendous.Tomorrow we are heading to Butte, MT. Vicky and JR’s son; Matt lives there, so we will spend some time with him and his new wife, Lucy. Evil Knievel is from Butte, and next week is the celebration of his life, so it will be fun. Thanks for reading and have a good weekend.
Oh, and congratulations to NY for the first same sex marriages happening this weekend. Wahoo!!
