The Deer Club...

When I was dating Scott, and I came to California, one of the places he took me to, was "The Deer Club". It was a place that he spent a lot of time at as a kid. He would spend his summers there with his "Grandad" and "Nana". (I never met "Nana", as she passed away about 10 years before I was even in the Allred family.) The Deer Club, I came to learn was a magical place, where special memories were made. Kids could be kids! They could roam the outdoors and hike the trails. They'd make lizard catchers. It was a place without electricity, or telephones, so you could just enjoy being with family and friends, and have each others undivided attention. When Grandad was a live, you would hear his radio going during an Oakland Warrior game, but that was about it. So much fun was had there. The memories are so numerous.......but let me name a few since I came into the family: Family Reunions (one when I was pregnant with our first child), children learning to drive the old red jeep, shotgun shooting (Yes, even I can hit clay pigeons! I found that out when I was dating Scott! Grandad was impressed!), Thanksgivings with extended family, playing games, visiting around the fire, families sleeping in the cabins, Children laughing and telling stories, night time jeep rides and spot lighting-looking for the animals eyes, chasing jack rabbits, chasing wild baby pigs, looking for steelhead in the creek, looking for arrowheads, "booney bouncing" in the jeep, quad riding up the hills, deer hunting, playing in the cave, jumping into the pool under the waterfall, dirty hands, smiling faces, teeter totter rides, target practice, hugs, love of outdoors, running, feeding pet deer, singing folk songs, listening to poems....the list could go on.

The Deer Club truly was a magical place.....This cabin was a home away from home, where, even though Grandad has been gone for a while now, when we would drive out there and see it, happiness would fill my soul because of the memories that had been made there. It was a place filled with memories of love and gladness.

Unfortunately, there was a fire......Grandad's cabin is gone, as well as some other cabins, a skinning shed, an outdoor eating area, and some storage cabins.

A part of my heart is gone, too.

My heart aches to have the cabin back. The photo albums that were in there. The smell of the fireplace burning. The pictures of grandad and loved ones on the walls. The old bottles on the shelf above the table. The can of pictures on top of the refrigerator. The books of poems on the shelves. The table in the corner. The gun rack behind the couch with a hole, where someone wasn't careful and brought in a gun with a round still in the chamber. (Yes, no one got hurt and a lesson was learned!) The old vintage stove. The gas refrigerator. The victrola in the bedroom. The leaky kitchen faucet. The pink toilet in the bathroom. Grandads old bed and his dresser. The beds where my boys made up stories as they played with their cousins. The smell of pies baking in the oven. I even miss, the musty smell and the sound of mice in the back porch. So many things, but most importantly, the memories they represent in my families lives. I have shed tears from heartache, knowing that the cabin, and all of it's belongings, are gone. Fortunately, memories, stay in the heart and mind, and that's what we have to cherish.

I am so grateful that Scott, and the boys and Sage and Dallin were able to be out there a few weeks before the fire. More memories were made, and even our grandkids got to make some!

To the Deer Club:

"Thanks for all the wonderful memories for Scott, myself, our children and those that we shared it with. Your memory will stay in our hearts forever." :'(