Guentzel.Org

It was a cold Saturday at the cemetery

Saturday morning was full of surprises. Surprise number 1 was it was quite a bit colder at the cemetery than it was in town. The actual temperature was probably in the low 50s or upper 40s, but a stiff north wind kept the chill in the air. I was contemplating wearing shorts and a t-shirt, but I decided against it because I didn’t want to have an unwanted encounter with poison ivy (I’m super allergic).

Richard (again) thinks about why he married into the Guentzel family - Jen must be worth it.

Richard and Jen came from Houston where it was (apparently) quite warmer. Richard insisted on helping not just because he’s a nice guy; he wanted to stay warm!

BEFORE - Can you guess it was a rainy year?

Surprise number 2? The grass was very tall this year. The natural grass that graces the cemetery benefited from an unusually rainy year in central Texas. We had 3 lawnmowers going for most of the time and it still took a couple of hours.

AFTER - It looks like the cemetery got a haircut

As usual, our clan was able to tame the brush and grass and we got the place looking respectable again. My uncle Glen thought we should come out twice a year instead of once a year because of how unruly the grass was this year. He said he’s too old for working this hard.

Now normally, we have a picnic in the cemetery after we finish clearing the place (crazy, I know), but yesterday we came back to our house for our customary Elgin Hot Sausage feast. It was great to have everyone over even if our house was a little less than ready for guests (we have a picnic table as our only place to eat - remember?).

While we were at our place, Glen and I went over some family history together. Based on what we looked at, there’s a good chance the first Guentzel arrived in Galveston in 1846 aboard the Timoleon. 1846! That’s the last year Texas was a republic and the first year it was a state.