still Blue River

This photo was likely taken in 1926 and is of my mother as a toddler proudly modelling a new dress.
There is always a backdrop to these memories though, a scene beyond, and they are often a story themselves.

I want to talk about the sandbox in this photo.
It is the roof that makes me smile.
The roof was not to keep off the sun as you might suspect.
This was Blue River; a northern rain forest.
The roof kept the sandbox from turning into a very large mud pie when it rained which it often did; to extend the usable days to more than just a handful.
My grandpa cut the logs and built the framework and roof. He hauled up sand from the river.
A wonderful covered sandbox rested invitingly, just a few steps from the front door.
A generation of children happily played in its shelter.
Looking at this picture reminded my that when I was a preschooler, my own father built a sandbox for me to play in and it was covered too.
It was still Blue River.