Middle School kids sporting their life jackets walk toward the river.
Terri Webster Schrandt

June Is Great Outdoors Month—Visit A Community Park

Welcome back to the Sunday Stills Photo Challenge! I’ve missed engaging with you all while I’ve taken this abbreviated break. Thank you for hanging in there with me while we said our final goodbyes to my father in Arizona. I’ll share a few thoughts toward the end of this post.

Mountains, lake Montana
Central Montana Last on the Card

Visit a Community Park

We’re kicking off “June is Great Outdoors Month” for the entire month of June. Each week, there will be sub-challenges related to celebrating the great outdoors. This week, we’re looking at the various types of community and public parks found in local neighborhoods.

Balboa Park Koy Pond
San Diego’s Balboa Park
Pacific Park Spokane, WA
Pacific Park Spokane, WA
Swimming lessons for youth are inexpensive and necessary!
Teaching Swim lessons
Dad walking Bride
Dad walking the Bride in Flinn Springs County Park
Concrete Span over Spokane's Riverfront Park
Concrete Span over Spokane’s Riverfront Park

In the US, local taxes and special levies pay for neighborhood parks. Amenities range from playgrounds to wedding and event venues, aquatic facilities, wildlife sanctuaries, and public gardens.

Duncan Gardens, Manito Park, Spokane
Manito Park in Spokane

We spent most of May 2025 in the Fountain Hills area of Arizona. The picture showcases the park’s beauty when the fountain lifts off every hour. This is the 4th largest freshwater fountain in the world, which sprays as high as 560 feet.

lavender and fountain
Fountain Hills Park
Fountain Park
Blue Heron enjoys the park

The Fountain Hills community also boasts its Centennial Pavilion, which includes a Planetarium, a library, and shaded gathering spaces. The 8-foot-tall Arizona State Donor Puzzle memorial plaque was recently constructed. We bought a piece to honor my dad, and it was added a few days before his memorial service.

FH Centennial Pavilion Memorial

Some of our family stopped by the night before the service to see it.

loving memory

You can also take a look at the variety of state and local parks in this 2024 post.

“In the presence of nature, a wild delight runs through the man, in spite of real sorrows.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

A Final Goodbye

Weeks of planning and emotions went into our design of Dad’s service. Planning a service is like planning a wedding. So. Many. Details.

Because he was a Navy veteran, the Funeral Home arranged an Honor Guard. It was a moving service, made even more poignant when the Navy officers marched in at the beginning of the service, carrying the flag to TAPS. Then they presented the flag to my step-mom. Not a dry eye in the room.

Naval honor guard memorial service
Presentation of the Flag to My Step-Mom

Although we had a small gathering of 25 family members there, God’s spirit was felt in every message and prayer.

people in chapel
My Brother and I Sharing Memories

“Dad, Mom, and later Linda, laid the foundation of our their leisure legacy with their desire to explore the outdoors, experience camping, fishing, and hiking, visit national parks, and simply spend time as a family.” – Terri Webster Schrandt

People on a hike
Dad and his family hiking in Tuolumne Meadows (Yosemite)
graphic

Sunday Stills Photo Challenge Reminders

The Sunday Stills weekly-themed photo challenge is easy to join. You have all week to share and link your post. Please use your own original images, whether new or from your archives.

  • Remember to title your blog post a little differently from mine.
  • Please create a new post for the theme or link to a recent one.
  • Entries for this theme can be posted all week.
  • Tag your post “Sunday Stills.”
  • Don’t forget to create a pingback to this post so that other participants can read your post.
  • I also recommend adding your post’s URL to the comments.

Sharing for Brian’s Last on the Card, Dawn’s Spring Festival, and Johnbo’s Cellpic Sunday.

two men on bridge

“Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in a while, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean.” – John Muir

For my southern hemisphere friends who are enjoying winter, I know you have many ways to enjoy the outdoors this time of year. Tell us more, or show us your favorite summer outdoor places.

Creativity is encouraged, so if you participate in the photo challenges, please share your own photographs (old or new), poems, original short stories, and music inspired by the theme.

June 1 Kicking off June is National Outdoors Month with PARKS
June 8 Monthly Color Challenge: Anything Pink
June 15 Paths and Trails
June 22 Sunrises and Sunsets, celebrating the Solstice
June 29 Patriotic–Show us your country’s flag, images of flags

I can’t wait to see how you interpret this week’s theme! Join me next week as we explore more of the great outdoors…in PINK!

graphic

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91 comments

  1. Thankful to your father for his service in protecting our country and our freedom. Salute.

    The puzzle piece is a wonderful tribute to your dad. That Fountain Hills is such a lovely space. I think you probably had the perfect number of folks and the perfect folks there for your dad’s service. I am sure the presentation of the flag was extremely moving. We have attended funeral services for servicemen here in El Paso who have no known family and the color guard and presentation of the flag brings everyone to tears.

    Thank you for sharing a little of your dad and no doubt, your hero with us. So glad he imparted a love of nature in you and now you do the same for all of us.

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  7. What lovely memories you shared with your dad, Terri. He taught you well to enjoy the outdoors. My father and mother both took us to lots of state parks when we were kids. Those can be lots of fun for different reasons. Was that you and your dad in the wedding picture? He lost a ton of weight! I revised my Over a Cuppa to include some pictures of Miller Brown Park in Woodlake where we have our enormous July 3rd Blast. https://alwayswrite.blog/2025/06/04/embracing-marketing-my-book-on-the-first-wednesday-in-june-over-a-cuppa/

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    • Thank you, Marsha. I’m eternally grateful to Dad and mom and her parents for instilling the love of the outdoors in us and subsequent generations. I think state parks are amazing. We have many here in Washington and the annual pass is the right price.
      Yes, dad lost a lot of weight and shrunk to shorter than me! He was always tall and lean. I inherited the tall side 😉

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  8. It looks like you had a meaningful service for your father. We also had a military (in this case, Army) Honor Guard as part of my dad’s service too. Not a dry eye after the last note of TAPS faded away.

    I really like the Donor Puzzle plaque. What a fabulous way to honor your father. I think he would have liked that very much.

    Hugs.

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  9. So many gorgeous parks to enjoy! I’d love to see that giant fountain in Arizona! And another special tribute to your dear dad. Military funerals are especially touching, I’m reminded of my father-in-law’s service many years ago, when the flag was presented to my mother-in-law.

    I was inspired to post about two of my favorite Seattle Parks. Celebrating Two Seattle Parks for the #Great Outdoors Month of June – Cats and Trails and Garden Tales

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  17. What a beautiful post, paying a lovely tribute to your Dad, and featuring the loveliness of those gorgeous outdoor spaces. How very special a piece was added to the 8-foot-tall Arizona State Donor Puzzle memorial plaque in honor of your Dad before his memorial service. 💗

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  18. Terri, that freshwater fountain reminded me of the only one I’ve seen, but it was in Switzerland (many years ago). It must be an amazing site to see.

    I love the idea of the  jigsaw piece memorial. To think that the piece you got to remember your dad will be there until the end of time. What a great way to honour and remember someone. Here in the UK, many people buy and dedicate park benches to loved ones who are no longer with us.

    I’m pleased that everything went well with your dad’s memorial. It’s an emotional time but these things do help us with getting over the loss of a loved one.

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    • Thank you, Hugh! More people opt for cremation so these plaques, benches, bricks etc are an excellent memorial spot. Makes one think, huh? Fountain Hills is a lovely community. I can see myself living there in 20 years…maybe the heat won’t bother me when I’m 85 😆

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  21. Your park photos are beautiful Terri. Arizona is as pretty as Washington. We had a beautiful day today, although hazy up until about noon due to the Canadian wildfires. I understand it will be worse the next few days. But we are only dealing with haze, nothing like the destruction from the actual fires.

    That looks like a beautiful memorial service for your dad, filled with lots of memories and the tendering of the flag to your stepmom. I like that your father had a proper military sendoff as well as tributes from those who love him.

    My post is below. I didn’t get back from the same park I wrote about until late afternoon and been scrambling around ever since, but we have some rainy weather again, so getting out as much as possible while the sun shines. And I did a lot of Duo so I can go back to Obsidian – right now I am no. 1 in Pearl, so will advance after languishing from lack of many practice sessions.

    I saw a deer, up close and personal today. I hope the pics turn out. I always carry my small camera as it is “fiddle-proof” and better for on-the-fly shots. I was looking at something else and felt a “presence”. It was ME, not the deer with the deer-in-the-headlights look. 🙂

    On the road again …

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    • Thank you, Linda. I’m glad we could honor my dad as he deserved. Going through this was a balm to my soul and was able to relax and move on the very next day. “Tendering the flag…” what an eloquent way to say that. So emotional.
      Its nice to be home among our amazing weather (sorry to brag), sorry to read about the smoke from the fires.
      Congrats on launching back into Duo. I don’t feel like the last 3 weeks stuck much in my head. I can get through a unit in 2-3 days, and now I’m in another tournament. Sigh…I’m too competitive. Now that we’re home, I can relax now. Take care and off to read your post!

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      • That’s good you had the emotional day and were ready to move on Terri … you had a lot of time to think about the service beforehand, so some of the shock of the suddenness of his death had also worn off. I believe you said it was not totally unexpected. Well, they said it would be a smokey sky today and it was clear as a bell – tomorrow and Wednesday not so much as we will be hot. I’ve got to get back to lessons after taking that pause during art lessons … but I will claw my way back up to Diamond if possible next week. I didn’t help us much on our last Friends Quest – oops!

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  24. A lovely send off for Dad and the military part was very special. I like the jigsaw piece memorial as well.
    That fountain is rather spectacular. I like the Heron just walking by like “I see that all the time” attitude.
    It’s a good prompt Terri. I find it amusing as I live in the outdoors 😁

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    • Thank you, Brian! Everything about his service was truly remarkable. I believe it helped to be staying with my brother so we could confer face to face in every detail. I curated 60 images for a slideshow which was quite emotional.
      The heron seemed tame and was nonchalant about his domain. Good catch 👏 I almost live in the outdoors with our huge patio cover.

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  29. Terri,

    Community Parks are second only to National Parks in being among the greatest gifts we give to ourselves. You certainly featured some good ones. We have a splendid Community Park (Lakeshore) which borders the Tennessee River. We use one of the Pavilions for our exercise class in the summer.

    I know it was tough to say goodbye to your Father. I’ve been to a great military funerals, and I always get emotional when the Honor Guard plays TAPS. Have a great week! Joe

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    • Thank you, Joe. I’m grateful to our country’s leaders who set aside lands for public use, and how each state and community did the same. How cool you live close to a community with great amenities! The pic shows a very nice room for exercise!
      I’d never been to a military service. The funeral home did an amazing job setting things up.

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  32. I love the photos of your dad enjoying the great outdoors, Terri. What a wonderful experience he shared with his family. And beautiful pics of state parks. We have a lot of them in Oregon that I’ll be exploring this summer as we stay close to home. Have a beautiful June!

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  36. The jigsaw piece is a lovely idea, Terri, and what a beautiful park is Fountain Hills. Love that photo of the heron. Your Dad had a very special send off, and now it’s down to you and your family to carry on the love of the outdoors xxx

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  37. A wonderful tribute to your dad, Terri. I’m so sorry for your loss. It’s so difficult to lose your parents. God bless your dad and family. 🙏🏻❤️✝️

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  38. I thought it was fitting to pair your two topics in this one post. As difficult as it was to say good-bye to your Dad, your post paired him with beautiful images of nature and the great outdoors. What a fitting send off!

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    • Thank you, Anne! A few days before the service, I woke up early and wrote the eulogy, based on my parents’ love of the outdoors. Two more generations in our family are affected by our outdoor legacy. The connection has always been there. ❤️

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  39. Terri, this is a beautiful collection of parks and public gardens. I will dig through the archives to see if I have something to contribute. It’s too hot to wander outside for any length of time. How wonderful to have the Honor Guard at your Dad’s service. Take care.

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    • Thank you, Suzanne! It was getting hot in AZ when we left. We got to 90 here at home yesterday.
      I had never seen an Honor Guard at a service. It really set a welcomed but emotional tone to the service.

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  40. Terri, so sorry for your loss, but you have a beautiful tribute to your father in this post.
    On the subject of May in Arizona, we once spent May there. We were lucky in that temperatures remained relatively temperate, but the last week was a bit of a challenge. 🙂

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  41. What a lovely tribute for your father. I enjoyed hearing about the puzzle pieces. Yours is pretty special.
    I am sorry to say we have never seen the fountain in Fountain Hills. We keep saying we need to get over there. Your pictures of it are gorgeous!
    Thanks for a lovely post.
    Happy Sunday!

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  42. Gorgeous outdoor spaces, Terri. That fountain is amazing! Not much beats spending time outdoors, it’s my favourite thing to do.

    You’re so right, the amount of planning and emotions that go into arranging a service is immense. Hope you’re ok.

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    • Thank you, Cathy! We loved spending May in Arizona but it was getting hot fast.
      I am doing very well. The service and reception really helped with my acceptance of finally being able to say goodbye. We played It is Well with My Soul near the end.

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