Hayter for September 28, 2025
Washington Time
At the moment Kay and I are experiencing our first vacation in, uh…I don’t how long, but it’s been awhile. Rhonda and Curt, my niece and nephew invited us once again visit their home in Washington State. Washington is known as the “Evergreen State” which sounds so much more inviting than Alabama’s “Yellowhammer State.”
“Evergreen” is an appropriate slogan for this northwestern state. The countryside west of the mountain range is green indeed. Yet, the tip of the mountains are higher than the timberline, and mostly covered in snow. So far, our hosts have taken us to see much of the beauty of this of in and around this area. The side east of the mountain range is a vast area of massive grain and vegetable fields.
The best way to get to Washington is to catch a flight. Kay and I drove there the first time we saw the area. We saw some beautiful scenery on the way, but the drive was a task for our aged Highlander. So, for this, our third trip, Kay chose Alaska Airways to get our buns over here. I thought it a great Airline.
However, I wasn’t crazy about the guy who inspected each passenger. He managed to find a few flaws in me. I had forgotten to remove 35 cents from my right pocket and the reading glasses in my shirt pocket. After he discovered that, he owned me. He patted me down in every clothed portion of my anatomy. He even checked my crotch. Before football season, there was always a doctor who checked me down there, but because of the 35 cents in my pocket, he went nuts. Literally. It took me over 15 minutes to gather all of my stuff and return it to the appropriate places on my body. That incident still steams, or I wouldn’t have shared it with you.
Kay and I did land in Seatle, where we got into a smaller plane that flew across the mountains where Curt and Rhonda picked us up at the airport in Pasco and took us to their home in Grandview, Washington to their home on Still Hill. Let me tell you, Rhonda married well. (As did Curt, of course.) Curt Still can fix things better than anyone I’ve ever known. And I’ve known Faris Hayter and Uncle Ray Cross, Kay’s dad. Both men were talented at fixing stuff. But Curt can do more with wire, rope, tools, tractors, or ornery farm animals, than anyone I’ve known.
Tuesday evening Curt asked Kay and me if we wanted to go with him to bale some hay. He had a field of alfalfa that he and his grandsons had mowed and raked with his tractor into rolls. It was now time to bail the alfalfa. He had a bailer that he attached to the back of his tractor, and wanted to bale as much alfalfa as he could that evening.
Before heading out, he asked Kay and me if we cared to go along. I thought he meant for us to watch. When we got there, he said, “Which one of you wants to be the first to bale.” I wanted nothing to do with it. I had never directed a tractor to go anywhere, and was not about to begin with some alfalfa lined up in neat rolls.
But Kay immediately said, “I do!” I thought I knew the woman. I’ve been married to her for 53 years, and never saw anything about her that made me think she was capable of bailing alfalfa. Son-of-a-gun, after a short while, 40 heavy bails of alfalfa were laying in a line. Had it not been so dark at the time, I think Curt would’ve let her bail the entire field.
I’m sure Curt will have two of his grandson’s finish the task. There are some grandchildren here on Still Hill who are quite talented in multiple areas. They have each learned a bunch from their experiences here. Their father/grandfather is also the preacher of a small church in Grandview.
Several years back, Kay and I lived over five months on Still Hill while our current house in Conroe was being constructed. My sister Susan insisted we stay in her previous home on the Hill while here. She’s now living near Seattle with her husband, retired Col. Don Mellor of the U.S. Army. The man served his country well, and is now involved with his church and family.
At the moment, Curt, Rhonda, Susan, the Colonel, Kay and I are in a mountainous area near Port Angeles a northern coastal area with a few more sites than either Conroe or The Woodlands. That’s where Kay and I wouldn’t mind living, but Montgomery County is our home, and we like if fine. Currently our group up here have spent a few days in several places the sights, hearing the sounds, and eating a lot of food. At the moment, the six of us are staying in an Air B and B at a mountainous wooded area located one hour from the Western tip of the 48 States.
Next week I shall share with you the exciting conclusion to this trip, which by then will hopefully be more hysterical than historic.
PS: Concerning what I wrote about Alabama’s slogan, I feel it necessary to tell you that “Yellowhammer State” got its title from a bird out of Asia, that apparently made its way to Alabama. Hopefully that saved me from emails sent by many of my readers from Alabama.
end
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