Lou Messmer

Lou was retiring from teahing. Irene (O'Connor's Lochaerie, Lake Quinault) had decided her "little Cousin" from the homestead (Kestner) was going to benefit by association with some of her old friends who had similar passions as she and I. So, finally, three years beyond his retirement because my herbarium was displaced again and Lou was still showing me new last of Washington state biological zones, in a way, he made it clear that it probably was his last year teaching. So, and it might have been the last Saturday field trip of the founding father faculty of Grays Harbor College, he loaded us up in the college van with my best buddy of the time Donald Hurd, one or two others, and couple of ladies from the community who had confided, if Lou was teaching one more year then they were going back to school for the very auspicious moment of botanical Washingtron state ending his career. We had been discussing it at great depth, tall ships was building a heritage ship and my childhood home was becoming a national heritage site which I thoughy would be better as a school of some sort for the elite, like Lou, Irene and "myself" and attached to a lodge just a little more national park than the Lake Quinault one. So Lou drove us to great, great grandma and grandpa's, the ranger station, got out of the van, sat down on the picnic bench and kind of did what my great grandma had "just" done. He said something like "bud wanted to show everyone the giant fir grove at the edge of tof the property but only if you two ladies feel up to it. What is it like Bud? Is it far? Can the ladies make it there and back withouy slipping and falling?" I said I was sure of it but then "they" looked at each other and one said something like "Oh, I'm not as young and limbrer as I used to be and I have a weak ankle" So we sat there and I reviewed watching Rosie die just over there before it was the station and then over there and over there and then another one died upstairs...All family. Then the field trip was over. What was funny is Lou could make you work up a bit of a sweat keeping up and spending time with the nurses, fisheries and wildlife club , student body officers and the art department, the saying that was going around was, "It's not over till the fat lady sings!" Just up the road at Slash F ranch grandma June's Slash Franch trail horse rental newly weds was a big concern stops along the way were of great concern. The fat lady was singing but "Donald" had not put a ring on the finger and Slash F ranch and Kestner in park heritage would be lost along with their presence with my non hitched condition., eventually costing the entire family a fortune in loss revenue and opportunity and somehow my great grandmother, my proponent, 70 at my birth, agreement with me likely would not stand the test of sawdust comes home now that the oldest Kestner finally died. She did somewhere near my 23rd birthday. 80 acres held in cue to keep the dream alive and Messmer's world, his Washington, nearly gone. Irene had sang very well indeed. So had Dr. Bryant who married a cousin and others making sure it was clear my 10 year previous request to have a national heritage title next door to attach to and capitalize on as biggest shareholder left, with a ranch named by me to my credit a sure fire way to guarantee success. L loved, no, adored Lou and am so very, very happy he chose to spend a large part of his last three teaching years with me and what friends would join me. It meant so much. Still working on some very closely attached things but have nearly given up the goat. Just the same I think he should go down in history as one of America's most note worthy educators. Dr, Bud Bishop