Timmi's Birthday Pie

Jenny's third in from the left

Guest post by the awesome Jenny Jones

It’s approaching mid August, and I was coming up on the last 2 days of my summer vacation. The first five days were spent at our off grid retreat in Eastern Arizona. It’s 30 miles from anywhere and, at 6200 feet, it’s provides a welcome respite from the Phoenix summer heat and the hustle and bustle of the city.  My husband and I cherish the small amount of time we get to spend up there -- it’s a  four and a half hour drive each way.

John needed to get back to his business (Ed. note: Turtles Treasures is a consignment shop with the most amazing vintage furniture and way more. If you’re in the Phoenix area, you just HAVE to visit!) and there were things we needed to do around the house.

Too soon we had bid our little retreat good-bye and head back to the city.  It was now Friday. I had spent the past two days cleaning and organizing, and planned to do the same on Saturday.  Until  I received an invitation from a FaceBook friend to go on a Saturday hike.  It’s Friday 9 pm, mind you.  I’m getting ready to go to bed and this invitation just pops up.  The carpool leaves at seven am sharp from a meeting place that is 45 minutes from my home.

No, can’t do it. Too short a notice, and I’ve got stuff to do.

Well, it just so happened that Saturday would have been my mother’s 90th birthday, had she still been here. This is just the sort of thing she loved to do in her younger years. What better way to honor her memory, right?

I thought my friend, who I had never met in person, would be there and I'd get to meet him.  That’s another good reason to go, right? Turns out he can’t hike anymore, due to a medical condition.  So, I wouldn't know anyone in the hiking group.

I should just stay home and work, like I'd planned, right?

Except, in the three years since my Mom passed away, I have discovered, why she loved the Unitarian Universalist faith so much.  And the group I would be traveling and hiking with would be a sister UU congregation’s Outdoor group. I have found, in my UU brethren, a community of people I can feel comfortable and at ease with. So, I’d be spending the day riding in a car and enjoying nature’s beauty with a group of UU’s. 

Again, how could I better honor my mother’s memory?  So I got a lunch together, threw some stuff into my backpack, and went to bed, looking forward to the grand finale for my summer vacation. The things we do for our mothers, right?

As expected, it was a wonderful group of people, and I now have five new friends.  It was a gorgeous day.  We hiked a trail up to the lookout tower on Bill Williams Mountain, near Williams, Arizona. The trailhead, at about 6900 feet altitude, was a mixture of Ponderosa pine and junipers, dotted with colorful wildflowers and Cliff Rose. It was not too terribly hot, and the trail was very well shaded.  A gorgeous day. 

Are you having fun, Mom?

As we ascended the trail, the junipers turned to aspen, and the birds provided the musical backdrop for some breathless conversation. The trail culminated at a lookout tower with astounding vistas that went for miles and miles before dissolving into the sunny blue sky.

By the time we got back to the parking area, we were all feeling the effects of several  hours of a moderately strenuous hike in our legs, and were famished.  Williams  has a nice assortment of restaurants along their old Route 66 downtown area. Should we go to the Mexican place, or the Italian place, or one of the diners? I was leaning toward Mexican or Italian. But Roger and Barry were drooling over the sign by the Pine Country Café, touting home made pie.  Well, no one makes as good a pie as my Mom used to make, so I wasn’t so taken with the idea of pie, but hey, I’m sure I can find something on the menu to fill my empty tummy.  My huevos rancheros were excellent (yeah I got my Mexican food).

 I decided to bring a piece of that home made pie back for my pie-loving hubby.  They must have had 50 varieties.  When I saw the peach/apple/cherry, my mouth started watering.  And that crust did look really good. Yeah, I came home with two pieces -- which I warmed up for breakfast this morning.  Now, like I said, no one bakes a pie like my Mom (except maybe my sister).  She set the bar way up there for me.  But the crust on this pie was every bit as good as my Mom’s.

Yeah, I think my Mom must have been in that kitchen, directing the baking of the pies, as I was playing in the woods. 

Happy Birthday, Mom.  And thank you.  For everything. This bite’s for you.
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Jenny Jones is a wife, mother, grandmother, daughter, full time job working citizen and a fabulous friend.