Sometime before the holidays, my grandfather went into a nursing home because he had brain atrophy. After spending a few months there and suffering minor strokes, he died. He was a farmer and welder by trade who lived in Ashton, Idaho for most for his life. He was also a WWII veteran who served in the US Navy and was in Samar during the Christmas Mutany of 1945 (an interesting story we all grew up hearing about). As a young child, I was scared of him because he was a very gruff person and he looked scary to me. However, I eventually figured out that his bark was worse than his bite and I learned to see the humor in his words. One of my favorite things about him to photograph were his hands. They tell such a story to me. In fact, a poem was read at his funeral called
"These Hands" by Eddie Noack which seems to fit one of the last photos of his hands that I took (and I've taken a few over the years).
Originally, I wasn't planning to go to the funeral, but I woke up Sunday morning feeling that I needed to go. I'm glad I did, I knew I would never regret going. My grandma is one of my favorite people in the whole world and spending time with her is a real treat. I've never met a sweeter person in my life.
The Honor Guard was there to pay their respects to a veteran, they did such a good job of honoring my grandpa. I was touched by their serious dedication and attention to details.
The morning after the funeral, I went snowmobiling with my dad. The snow was a couple of feet deep and really crisp so the conditions were perfect. My mom snapped a couple of pictures on my way out. I had a huge puffy snowsuit on and my camera bag on my back. At one point, we were going more than 70 mph so the wind really bit my face, but the photos I got of the old cabins were totally worth it. My dad enjoyed going over a couple of bumps which made me fly up out of my seat on one occasion.... it's a good thing I was holding on.
My dad showed me this piece of farm equipment which was used on their farm years ago, it has retired here in this spot for many years.
Some of these others were taken while I was driving around the countryside. There are so many beautiful things to see in Ashton, it's where I would like to retire to someday.
