It was a beautiful day and I accomplished two things on my list: take a ton of broken-down boxes to the recyclable bin at the landfill and get a photo, or two, of Col. Deeds at The Deeds Family mausoleum at Woodland Cemetery.

The day’s weather, following several days of rainy cold surroundings, could not have been more accommodating. I threw a large bath towel onto the front seat and the little fellow sat, looking out the window. The cemetery was busy with hikers, cyclists, walks, and several burial ceremonies. We wound through the spacious, manicured lawns to the southeast section and parked before the impressive monument of Col. Edward Deeds and Edith Walton Deeds.

In November 2000, I took my new puppy, Flyer, to The Wright Family gravesite and she immediately scampered to Wilbur Wright’s grave where she plopped herself down. I later learned that Wilbur, in 1908-1909, while demonstrating their new flying machine in France, adopted a little mut which he named, “Flyer.”

Deeds, who has not been trained on the leash, was very cooperative and quickly made his way up to the monument without any resistance. I took several photos of him and then he became more interested in, and eager to investigate the balloons and crowd gathered across the road at the children’s burial portion.

I got Deeds into the car and we drove to the tallest point in Woodland Cemetery to catch the breathtaking view of Dayton.

We opted to not get photographs at gravesites of The Wright Family, Erma Bombeck, and Johnny Moorehouse, who is depicted in a sculpture with his dog who rescued his body after drowning in the canal.

And we’re making it a great day!