Rokon's Staff

I have always loved cats. Dogs are
cool but I like cats better.

I use to have a sweet male cat
that was black. He was a sweet
heart, who greet me as I came home
from work in the morning. He
would hear my vehicle drive up
and jump up on the back of the
couch that was near the door.

He got use to eating at 5 am or 6 am..
Either Sweetie was going to work and
would feed him before I got home.
Or if Sweetie was off, then he ate
when I got home. But on the rare
weekends that I had off, which meant
no one was up at 5 or 6... he would
be ready to eat. He could not get us
to wake with him meowing, so he came
up with another plan. We had touch
tone lamps.. So he would rub back and
forth until it got up to the high beam..
And it is hard to sleep with lights in
your eyes.But then we lost him to
leukemia, about 5 years ago.

At the end of December last year,
I ended up going to the animal shelter
to JUST LOOK at cats. My grandson
had been after me to get another cat.
He has two and loves cats also. So after
quite a bit of persistence, I said I
would go just LOOK.

I had looked at many in several
rooms. Not finding any I really could
get attached to. I went in with the
mind if I got one I would get a male.
In the final room, I saw a smaller cat
...black.. she latched on to me. As I
was petting her, I thought I would like
to have her. So called Sweetie. He was
not receptive to the idea. But he had
gotten a hunting scooter the Sept. before.
I was not crazy about that and told
him so. So I reminded him about the
scooter and that I had not given him as
much of a bad time over that, as he was
over the cat. So he said, fine... but it is
YOUR cat (remember this) and it is
your problem..Get a good liter box. So
went to the counter and signed up for
her. And they were having a discount
on cats.

My grandson held her as I sign up and
drove home. He was thrilled. Now for
a name... When Sweetie came home,
he looked at her and said what did you
call her. And is she fixed. I told him yes,
she was fixed. And her name is ROKON..
Now we both have ROKON'S that the
other isn't fond of. You see that is the brand
name of his hunting scooter.

So here we are now 8 months later. And
Rokon has us trained well. My other cat
was a house cat. Rokon decided that
was not to be for her. She likes to hide in
the grass. She comes and goes as she
pleases. The old screen on the front door
serves her well for going in and out. So we
have to shut the door if we want to keep
her in. And she protests greatly. Never seen
a cat's mouth open so wide.

And at night? Well, she comes
strolling in...if it pleases her. When
it pleases her. She has come up on the
back deck, gets 4 feet from the door
as I call... and looks at me, then as if to
say.....NAH, I don't think so, maybe
later. and walks off. Even with Sweetie
(remember who told me it was MINE
cat?) calls for her... "here baby doll, here
baby".... Some times she comes in for him
and sometimes not.

Now she has decided the other side of
the road has taller grass than we have
and is more fun. I have done everything
possible to discourage this. As I
don't want her to be roadkill. She loves to go
in the culvert under our driveway.

And one night when I decided not to play
her game and left her out ... well, she came
in at 5am telling me what she thought of me..

They say that people own dogs,
but cats have staff... sorry to say..
but in our house... we are Rokon's staff...

I am a Flatlander

Little girls today, know how to walk
in high heels. They have those cute little
silver high heels and crown so they can
play Princess...So by the time they are
teens they are pro's. And when they go
to work in an office, the heels are second
nature to them.

In my day, we didn't have those. Heck,
in the summer we didn't have shoes..
That is why so many of us have wide
feet. I didn't even get to see high heels
on my feet until I was 16. I had a job
and bought a pair of black high heels.
3 inch heel. Everyone, well, women,
anyway, had high heels that were
3 inches heels.

Today, reminded me of that day that
I put those black heels on. See, I
bought from Avon a pair of brown
heels. They have elastic bands that
go across your foot (3 of them) and
one that goes across the back of the heel.
They look like a sandal. But has about a
2 inch heel. I decided today to put them
on and work around in the house so I
could get use to them. I placed them on
my feet. I stood up. All was well, until I
took a step. Just like almost 50 years
ago, the ankles were wobbly. I even
wondered did I really want to do this.
But after about 10 steps I had the hang
of it again. Kind of like riding a bike.

I walked around the house, doing the
house work in heels. Now you got to
understand I haven't wore heels for over
20 years, maybe 30. Western boots,
but those don't count. But not heels.
I really don't know why women torture
themselves. I figured I am going to get
use to these things one way or another.
But after 2 hours, I had enough. Went
barefooted the rest of the afternoon until
I went outside, and put on my leather
sandals. AHHHHHHHHH... comfort..
Maybe I'll give them to my daughter.
Because, I am truly a flat lander...

And the Crowd Roared.....

Standing in the crowd of people in
the middle of Sandpoint on a Sunday
morning, I question my sanity by 9 a. m.

I had been there since 5:30 a.m. After
all I would not stand in line for 3
and half hours for anything. Yet here
I was, standing with 200 people I
didn't know. (that was kind of weird.
not one of my friend, but then my
friends aren't the type who get up
at such an hour). So why was I still
standing there?

Listening to many conversations.
I guess I figured that I had this much
time invested in this, that I hated to
bail out now. Besides, I came to get
pictures. Pictures of the building
falling if I was lucky enough to get a
clear shot. Which was questionable
from time to time. Amazing how
many tall people stand in front of
a short person. So there I was,
waiting like everyone else.

The conversations were to each
other and some times just in
general to everyone who could
hear. We joked about the fact the
pigeons were hanging in there
between yanks on the building.
We joked about how tough the old
girl was and how she wasn't going
to give in easy. We jokes about how
the builders up in heaven must be
laughing their fool heads off. We jokes
about the question of sanity of the
man who was trying to get the building
to fall. Even to the point of when he got
mad and ran his truck into the back end
of the building. And only after 6 tries ..
3 at a time... did the old girl wiggle like
a hula dancer. And the crowd went
OOOOOOHHHHHH.....

And I looked down the empty street
as we were waiting for the next discussion,
and saw the cars going from one end of
Cedar to the other, to be rerouted to
Boyer and then to Larch and back up
on Cedar to head out of town.... and
I pointed at the cars and said...
"Look, we have a Bypass"... at which
everyone laughed. Of course the people
who were snaking thru the town for
those 5 hours were not as amused as
we were. As each stop and go, and stop
for stop signs and lights, the traffic
was backed up to the Chamber of
Commerce buildings on each end of
town. We can only hope that those
who are trying for another lawsuit,
were sitting in those lines, in the heat
of the day and enjoying the traffic.
As they don't seem to think we need
a bypass. But then again, we don't
blow up buildings every day.

The crowds were like at a circus.
We cheered when the water truck
showed up 20 minutes after they
discover they had to have one. We
oh, and ah, thru each breaking of
the cables. And remarks of "this doesn't
look good", when the workers went in
with chainsaws and cut on the beams.
Even talk of why not bring in a terrorist,
and let them blow it up and we would
have the building down and one less terrorist.

And when the police announced they
were going to use dynamite, the crowds
remarks were "about time". "Should
have done it in the first place." And
concern about how much debris was
going to fly. But not enough to stay
back where the police had asked
everyone to be. The request was to
be behind Fir Street (to be in Safeway,
isn't that ironic, parking lot) yet, the
crowd slowly snuck up to Sandpoint
Drug store.

And then the big BANG, the crowd
cheered loudly, as the dust flew thru the air.

It was suppose to go off the week before.
And the interesting thing was... last
week, most of the crowd was over 50.
Talks of working there, father's who
worked there, people who did business
with the owners of long ago. Stories of
being covered with feed dust as they
played, waiting for the folks to get the
feed or chicks, and baby turkeys. But
I guess they must have said their good
byes to the old building that day. As
on the 24th, the crowd was younger...
80% was 30 to 50's with their families.
Teens with cell phones, calling their
friends telling them ..."You got to get
down here, man, they are pulling down
the old building....bring your camera,
and hurry it is going down in a few minutes"
Little did he know it would be 4 plus more hours.

But even though, the people started
showing up slowly at 5:30 a.m. and it
wasn't over until almost 11 a.m. the
crowd stood there, with patience, no nasty
remarks, but talking, joking.. lots of
laughter...People running to get coffee
and donuts for others... Class act Sandpoint....
even heard a few saying... see you at
the downing of the Harold's IGA. The
next old time Sandpoint building that
will be going down.

And the list goes on... CowPaddy, Lakeside
Inn, the Motel next to Wal-Mart is just
about all down, and the Panhandle
Milling Co. Next Harold's IGA.... and
the crowd thought maybe the old Co-op
building would be next... who knows...

So see you at the next demolition.....

They were the best of times...

They were the best of times...
and the worse of times.

The softball games were family
oriented. We would have our husbands
and children cheering us from the side
lines. Our team wasn't the greatest. And
Cle Elum and Easton would beat us bad...
no, I mean really bad....We played I believe
5 innings. We would get beat like ...11
or 15 to 0. I was the pop-up queen. I
could slug that ball like no one's business.
Working at smashing cars gives you
great arm power... BUT... they would just
go back and wait for it to come to them
and catch it 60% of the time. I played
center outfield. Because I had a good
enough arm to get it back in field. Today,
that arm is mush...lol..

The only bad thing that happen to us,
and we were lucky.. Is when we started
our smashing business, there were a few
people who were not happy about it. So
I guess one decided to do something about it.

By the way, we were licensed (which was
not easy in those days) and bonded. Anyway,
we had a load ready to go. The truck was a
1960 GMC semi with a 40 foot trailer. We
would park it in the back and then at 3 am,
my husband would get up and take it to
Renton to a scrap iron place that shredded
cars. That was going over Snoqualmie Pass,
which could be bumpy. When he got there,
he was weighed and then there was a crane
with a huge magnetic that picked the cars
off the trailer and put them on the belt which
took them to the hopper. As my husband was
driving up to the office to collect his money,
there was a loud boom. They had him come
into the main office and sit. The police came
and there was a lot of commotion over the
hopper. Almost an hour, later they sat and
talked to him. It seems there was dynamite
in one of the cars that he had brought in.
Being he had dealt with them for years, they
knew it wasn't him. So they asked him if
anyone would want to kill him. Because as
surely as he was bouncing across the pass,
it could have gone off. The hopper was out
of commission for a week. After that we
always had a large light on the truck and
our dog tied to it . There was rumors it was
one of the junk yards owners, he didn't like
the idea we were getting cars and smashing
them. But we never could prove it and we
never had any trouble again. I think one of
the reasons why, was because some one
told them, that the kids and I rode with
him quite often.

Things that come to mind...wooden
nickles that the tavern gave out. When
someone bought you a beer... I have
a few some where in this house.
Camping out at Bull Frog road next to
the creek in sleeping bags. And my 8
year old son showing me how to start
a camp fire with out matches. The
people there... great people. I even wrote
a good bye letter to the editor of the paper
at the time we left. Thanking them for all
the kindness they did over the years, for
the kids and my husband and I. Especially
when my husband ended up in the Vet's
hospital in Vancouver, Washington.

We moved from Roslyn because the
market went out of scrap iron. My husband
worked for a hay transport and then a
meat transport in Ellensburg. We found
a place out in Cooke Canyon, which was a
wonderful place for the kids. And it was
closer to his job.
.
Both places were the best place to raise
kids. And I think my kids show that.

And this walk down memory lane has
been really nice. Even got an email from
a wonderful young man who growing up
there when we were there and leaving.
And he still lives there. He has help fill
some of the holes in my memory. Thanks,
Ken E. and thank you, Phil for asking.
And yes, thanks to my partner in crime,
Ethel/Shirley...

Fun and Games in Roslyn

Fun things we did in Roslyn.

The adult type playground was playing
pool or baseball for the different bars
in Roslyn. I played for Gil and Peggy of
AJ'S which was just down the street.
Others were King's Tavern, the Brick
and Old #3 from Ronald. They had
men's teams and women teams.
Playing baseballs was the most fun,
as we could bring our kids. Even
tho, we weren't great.
We had fun and so did the kids.

The other thing was snowmobiling.
Everyone one had one. Most of them old.
I had one that was a small one called a Polaris.
I love/hated that thing. It would take up to
20 pulls to get that thing going. I had printed
ILLEGITIMATE NON CARBORDUM on
the dash of it. When it ran.... it was a sweet
machine. Fast, and powerful. Powerful
enough to pull my friend's fancy machine
out of a hole he fell in. BUT when it died...
it died. So it was pull, and pull and pull.....

One time a girlfriend of mine needed a Christmas
tree for her family. So another friend of mine
and I rode the machine out to the trees and
found a dandy. We tied it up on the end and
towed it down to the road. Which it promptly
died. But at least it was on the road. So my
friend went to get his truck and tow me home.
He told me, now when you get near the back of
your place, I will gun it and you steer towards
your place and it will go in. Great plan. and it
worked. Except for the fact the rope was not
quite long enough. So up over the bank it went
into the yard.... and almost as quickly it jerked
back towards his truck, dumping me off in the
snow bank. We took the tree over to my girlfriend.
Do you know trees look smaller out in the woods.
Because we had to cut off 3 feet to get it in her
house. You should have seen those kids when
they got up the next morning and came down
the stairs. It was the biggest tree ever. Big tall,
big around. lol.

We used the snowmobiles for going to the bars
to dance from Roslyn to Ronald.
We would travel up to Ronald's Old #3 Tavern...
it was crazy as we would use the railroad track
and some times we would be up to almost 100 mph.
Where our brains were, I don't know. And that
was sober!!.

My husband has gotten out of the
Vets hospital one year, after being there for
almost 3 months. He had a heart by-pass.
When we got him home, he wanted to go
snowmobiling. But the trouble with that was,
it was under 3 feet of snow. So the kids and
I dug for hours until we got the hole big enough.
First we had to find it. Then we had to get it all
dug out. And then dig and stomp a ramp for him
to run it up to get to the top. Snow in Roslyn got
to 3 to 5 feet. I had pictures of an antenna that
was the only thing showing on a Falcon we owned.
And the 2 ton International dump truck we own,
only had the top of the cab and the bed showing.
But believe it or not... the winters were wonderful
there.

Funny things in Roslyn...
The kids could play all day long. But one day
the neighbor kids and they were playing up on
the slag pile... and the youngest one comes
down crying... the bigger kids sent her home.
So when I went up there to find out what was
going on and why...... I found all the kids passing
a cigrette around. (the oldest being 10 ...out of
10 kids). Well they were all in hot water between
us two mothers. But the funny part, was when
talking about it with the youngest one they sent
home. They said they sent her home because
they were afraid she would squeal. And she told
them, if you let me smoke, I wouldn't have... lol..

The neighbor kids mom was my best friend.
And we seem to get into our own little troubles.
We were Laverne and Shirley or Lucy and Ethel,
depending on how old we felt.
She was a single mom, so we would have
projects. We build her a bookcase that we
screwed together. Both of us had a hole in our
palms because that was the toughest wood we
ever saw. We took turns at it... I think it took us
4 hours to build that thing.
We were building a cupboard shelf in the
back room. We had gotten a lot of nails from
an old building that was falling down. We sat
on her porch for at least 8 hours pounding
those babies straight so we could use them.
Then there was the time we went to see a
gentleman friend of hers, who lived up on the
hill in Cle Elum. It was winter. We had CB's
then. We ended up getting stuck on the side
of the road, as it was icy and I figured if I got
over where the snow was, we could get going.
Nope, stuck. So I called home on the CB
and my husband's friend answered
it. So we told him where we were and to call my
girlfriend's friend. Well, I guess he did. But ... he
called the number and told the man who was on
the other end... "Wildcat (which was my cb handle)
is in your driveway.". Well the man on the other end say...WHAT? ... being it was obivous he had the
wrong number he hung up. But forgot to
explain to the old man who had answered the
phone. So some where was some poor soul
who thought he had a wildcat in his driveway.

We were pretty handy, we even changed her
water pump for her in her car. My husband
was gone hunting, and I said, oh, I have watch
that done many times.... so we can do it. We got
it done, but I found all those cuss words that
guys use when working on their cars, really do
help when the work gets bad.

Seem if we put our minds to it... we could
just about fix anything together. What one
didn't know the other did. Then she met this
guy. Who was worried about her with all these
warp things of Roslyn plumbing and straighten
out nails to work with, and married her and
took her away to Seattle.

Tomorrow the final story about Roslyn.

Panhandle Milling Co. no more

This is July 24th 2005 and the Panhandle
Milling Co. building is no more...

As you can see from the pictures below.
And You will have to go to the side to click
on the rest of them.

I arrived at 5:30am for the 6:30 dimise
of the building. There were people there
(unlike last week) working on the cables
and there were large trucks there.
The people started to gather. And then
the flagger people arrived to have the
crowd that was starting to gather, move
back beyond Mr. Sub's. And the other
end was pushed back to Tilberg's
Conaco gas station.
It was 6:30 am and traffic was getting
lighter, as they were diverting around
the situation. Then it was told to us that
they needed a water truck before they could start.
About a half hour later, Jerry Foote's
water truck showed up on the scene.
And in 15 minutes he was watering down
all the sides of the site.
The traffic was stopped. The ladder went
up on the fire truck so they could tape the
event. The truck raved up its motor and
started to pull. It pulled for about 2 minutes
and the cable snapped. This happen about
8 times. With the crew going into the building
about about 4 times, and taking a chainsaw
to several beams. Which made the crowd
nervous as they didn't want to see any one
get killed. After 14 times in all, the truck driver
took the truck around the other side of the
building. And rammed it into the building
several times. Nothing. He came back and
he pulled about 5 more times.
They had a cable up high on the building,
which was used for tension. They decided
to give that one a try. But it only seem to
start to slice the building in half, until that
cable broke also.
Then return to the back again, and
rammed it again. This time the building
shook like a hula dancer.
All those involved, police, workers, and
owner got together for a discussion. They
decided it was a bad situation and something
had to be done.
The police came by the crowd and announced
they were going to use dynamite to blow the
building up. That the crowd need to back up
to the Safeway parking lot. So the crowd walked
back. Some of them still easing back to the
Sandpoint Drug store parking lot.
The police came by and explain the procedure.
A blast of horn, 10 minutes...all radio's and
cell phones off... a blast and 5 minutes...
then a blast followed by siren sounds and
blast off of dynamite.
All went as planned, and down came the building.

As you can see from the pictures...
It was a 5 hour wait for us early birds.
The Safeway did a good business, but also
had to put up with many using their toilets.
The sad thing about this... is not only that
Sandpoint loses one of its high (no pun
intended) profile building, and many memories
from the residents, but the wood could have
been used in so many ways, if they had taken
the building apart. Who knows many some
of it still can.


As the last sunrise shines on the Panhandle
Milling Co. in Sandpoint, Idaho

As they attempt to pull the building down, the police keep the traffic at bay 

Fireman taping from ladder truck in back ground 

Tammy of Panhandle Flagging Co. Stops the traffic 

The streets are cleared and it is ready to go 

A loud boom and down she goes.. 

as the building crashes to the ground 

As the dust settles 

After the dust clears... what is left  

Living in Roslyn

Slag Piles

Starting off with the slag piles.. For
those who don't know... slag piles is
left over from taking the coal from
the earth. They are huge hills.
My kids called the one behind the
house the HONDA HILL because
the local kids rode their Honda's
there.

First the big ones were taken over
by motorcycle club from Seattle.
This was mom and pop and kids
motorcycle club. There would be up
to 100 families there on holiday weekends.
So we never worked on weekends.

Although we did have the garbage run
for a while for them. We had an
International 2 ton dump truck that we
used in our line of work. My husband
and one of the head club members, Jack
use to go from camp ground area to
camp ground area, and pick up the garbage
cans at the end of the weekend about 3 pm.
They were complaining about how much
work it was. So one time, the club member's
wife, Laura and I decided to go around.
We never had to get out of the truck.
The guys at the camp grounds would
all run and get the can and throw the
garbage in the truck for us. We use to
play the 8 track tapes over the loud
speaker (Simon and Garfunkul being
one of the favorites)on the front of the
truck. And they would have it all ready.
Of course we were dressed in shorts and
halter tops, so that might have had something
to do with it. No, it wasn't that type of
thing, it was a family campground, remember.

The slag piles behind the house were the
love of my kids. They would spend all kinds
of time there. I could see them easily, as I
went along and did my house work.
The winters were great as they sled down
the piles . These piles where as tall as a 2
story house or more. And huge around.

In the summer they would play with their
Tonka toys there.
We would make runs to the dump, which
was the good old times where you took
your truck full of garbage and return with
almost, if not more than what you took with
you. You know the saying one man's treasure etc
.
Well, one trip produced a go-cart type
thing. It was a home made deal. The boys
latched on to that in a hurry. And
scurried around the place looking for
wheels. Loaded up on the truck and home.
It took them two days to get it all fixed up.

Which was amazing. It took them 20
minutes to walk that baby up the hill and
be back down in 2. But they did this often.
One time # 2 son wanted to drive the cart
down. But # 1 son had already decided he
would drive it down each time as the
others were too little to handle it. He was
the driver for #2 and the twins.
But after much badgering, #1 let #2 drive
it down on the condition that #1 got to ride
with him. Not a great idea. As after they
started down about 1/3 of the way, #1 was
complaining about #2's driving abilities.
As it was pretty bouncy, even leaving air
under them. At which time, #2 decided
to take the driving wheel (they had an old
car steering wheel) off and handed it to
#1 and said then you drive. Oh, yes, the
cart hit a slight hole, and it went sideways,
and started to roll, all the way down the hill...
of which the two boys made at least 3 rolls
with it before they decided not to ride it out.

Hunting with a fishing pole

As I told you, there was an area called
Duck Town near by. Just a block away.
My husband was a hunter. But we lived
in the town so, no shooting. So he came
up with this great idea, which he involved
the older son and some of the other kids
went along to watch. Now how do you
shoot ducks in the creek without a gun?
Well, you shoot with a bow and arrow of
course. But he was afraid the ducks may
fly off, so he came up with this great idea.
He would shoot the duck with the bow and
arrow. But the end of the arrow would have
a fish line on it. That was attached to the
fishing pole. Believe it or not, it worked. It
also worked for bringing lost arrows. No
this was not poaching. These were domestic
ducks that were running free and the guys
didn't want them anymore. And they hung
down at the creek under the trees behind
our place.

Monday will be some more of living in Roslyn.

Why We Moved to Roslyn

We moved to Roslyn from Cle Elum.
We had lived in Cle Elum for about 2 years.
Coming from Kelso Washington to work
for Ed Zackovich. Ed and Marv didn't get
along, so Marv decided to strike out on
his own.

But the life of a back yard mechanic
isn't a easy way of life as people don't
pay their bills. We had a really rough
week because of this. So Marv put the
collection in my hands. I went around
knocking on doors and got just about
all of it. Of course I wasn't very popular
when I started my new policy. Which
was no cash, no car... Was up front
about it when they came in. Told them
I had a deal with the banks. They promised
not to do any mechanicing and we
promised not to do any loaning.

Marv had met a man who was known
around the town as Mac the Packer.
He had packed for the Forest Service
for years. He was in a small scrap iron
business. Marv found out there was better
money in smashing cars than repairing
them. So he and Mac started Marv's Repair
(as we already had that name) and
Smashing. They got permission to use
the old slag pile area that was between
Cle Elum and Roslyn.

About that time we found a house to
buy. For $50 down and $50 a month
we could buy this house for $5,000.

It was a tall house, that the main floor
was below the highway that ran thru
town. And the second floor was pretty
close to the highway level. It also had
3/4 of a basement. It sat in the corner
of California Street and the highway.
With a garage at the other end of the
yard. Which was far size. There was
also an old chicken shed.

And at the backstairs of the house,
as you are going down into the yard
was a small shed. This was used in the
old days for the man of the house who
worked in the coal mines to
cleanup before he entered the house.
So the house didn't get the coal dust in it.
It was about 6 by 6 if that. It had hooks to
hang clothes on and there was an old basin
pan, that I took was used there. My kids
turn it into a play house that they named
Mickey Mouse House. Don't ask me why,
as I have not a clue.

I have to say, that raising my kids in
Roslyn in the 1970's was a good thing.
It was a laid back area. The people looked
after each other.

The kids main place to play was on two
old slag piles out just beyond our house.
Beyond that was the woods. Those woods
went into over 400+ acres of hiking, biking,
snowmobling, jeeping, and etc. It had a road
that connected to the big slag piles that was
where we had our business. It also had a road
that went towards back side of town. Coming
out by the foundry that made man hole covers.

The kids had made a slide in the winter that
went from the tiny front yard that was near
the highway,down around the house and out
our back yard thru our driveway. It was a
blast. The adults and kids alike (friends came
with their kids too) and it was not uncommon
for us to be flying down that hill until midnight.
Coming in to warm up with hot chocolate.

So that is the why we were in Roslyn.
Next will be the fun and games of our life that went on

Roslyn the Town

One of my readers said he like to hear
more about the little town that I lived in
during the 70's. I had mention I would
do some about the adventures in Roslyn.
But I think he had mind more about the
town. So while I will do both, I will start
with the town. This will be several blogs.
But first the town of Roslyn 1970's.

Roslyn, Washington is a small town at the
foot of Snoqualmie Pass. It is off the beaten
path of Highway 90. If you blink your eyes,
you will miss the turn for it. So if you do, you
can go to Cle Elum the next town and back
track on the highway (not freeway) between
the two towns. There is a 2 mile straight stretch
between the two of them.

The town at the time I lived there, was a
combination of loggers, retired coal miners,
and hippies. The first one and the third one
had trouble adjusting to each other. Mostly
the loggers had trouble adjusting to the hippies.
There were tales of hippies being harassed
as they would be walking or riding their bikes
to their homes.

The town was made up of very old houses.
Most of them there from the time of the mines.
As Roslyn was a mining town at first. Around
the end of the 1890's and into the 1950's the
main employment was mining and logging.
Definitely a tale of the Jimmy Dean song of
being own by the Company Store. Which took
up about 3 blocks. The company store was own
by another company by the 1970's.

The stores consist of Fab Kuchin's Roslyn
General store. Which was just about like Little
House on the Prairie type of a store. Fab and
his wife ran it for many years. You could go
get your own groceries from the shelves, but
Fab would get the ones on the top shelf. Also
they had charge accounts, where he trusted
your word on when you would be there to pay.
He also did deliveries especially for the elderly.

Then there was Harper's Hardware Store.
Where you had to tell them if your house
was Roslyn plumbed or was it new plumbing.
Roslyn plumbing left a lot to be desired. But
the main way you could tell if it was Roslyn
plumbing was if your hot faucet was on the
right and your cold on your left.

There were about 6 bars in town. And,
of course the post office.

And across the street from the post office
was the building that most of the nation is
aware of. In my days it was called Mary's
Freezer shop. But the nation knows it by a
different name because they saw it in the
beginning of the show called Northern Exposure.
Which was suppose to be Alaska. That is the
shot where the moose strolls down the street.
I never saw a moose in Roslyn. But it would
not have been surprising if an elk or deer
had walked down the street.

Mary's Freezer shop was a restaurant as
well as having freezer lockers for rent.
(Hence, the freezer in the name) Mary
was an old time Roslyn gal. Born and raised
there. And you could take your family there
without any problems. She loved kids. And
had the best food. Especially hamburgers.

Up the hill was the cemetery. The Roslyn
cemetery was known for the glass covered
pictures on the tombstones. The cemetery
was divided in many ways. By nationality,
club groups and a few others. There were
many Italians there. But also Swedish,
Norwegian, and Chechzolvains.


Many of the houses had a little tiny house
just outside of the big house. That was where
the men undress and washed up before coming
in the house. They used this to get the coal off
of them and the clothes, so as not to get the
dust in the house. My kids used ours for a play
house on raining days.


Some times the town got a little rowdy.
There were a lot of horses around the area.
And some of the cowboy types would ride
their horses to town on a weekend. And a
few of them rode their horses inside the bars.

I believe the Brick was the oldest of the
bunch. It also had a very long bar that came
from somewhere far away. It also was
featured in the Northern Exposure show.

The entertainment of the town was playing
pool on one of the bar's teams in the winter
and playing baseball in the summer. And
snowmobiling. Everyone had snowmobiles.
We would snowmobile every where in the town.
There was a back road from our house to the
main part of town. We even snowmobiled down
the railroad tracks (it was used for logs) from
Roslyn to Ronald, the next town up.

And also they had a horse play day at the ring.
Which was at the beginning of town. If you
turn down the street by the ring, and drove
west you would be in the beginning of
Duck Town. Not a real name of the place,
but known by the locals as such.

If you drive down the road going into
Roslyn, going by the horse ring, about
3 blocks I think, there is a road on the right,
that goes down a steep hill.California Street.
Going into Shaft street. We lived at the corner
house. On California, across the street from the
junk yard. But you go down the road, to Shaft Street
and follow it around to the right (the end of
Duck Town) you will see on your right, a hole
in a wall, size of a store. It is called Carek's
Meat Store. It was run by Johnny Carek and
his wife Lenore. Great people. Now it is run
by their daughter Diane. They have the best
jerky and pepperoni in the land. None better.
They have other meats too. But those two
are worth the stop.

I use to send my kids down for a pound
or two of hamburger. And my kid would
come back with two inch piece of pepperoni,
"for being a good boy", Johnny would say.
Needless to say it was a fight of who was
going to go down for me.

The people of Roslyn stuck together. If there
was a fire, everyone was there to help. They
had two police officers and Josh, the police chief.
He only worked during the day, the other
two worked weekends and evenings.until
10 pm. unless called.

For 3 years I was their dispatcher. I had
the police radio, the fire alarm and the bank
alarm in my house. It was great as I could be
home with my kids and get paid for it. My
hours were from 5 at night until 8 in the
morning. (the town clerk did day shift) and
on Fridays I did it from 5 p. m. to 8 am on
Monday. I got the big sum of $35 a month
for this.That is not a typo, that was really
per month. It was fun except one day. The
bank alarm went off. I about had a heart
attack. But some where in my being, I found
the calmness to tell them on the radio what
was going on. They were just approaching
the bank. It seems the bank manager was
going back to check out something and forgot
about the alarm.

Over the years I got to hear some of the
funniest things, on the radio, or in the calls
(after all if they needed a police officer they
would call it in, which was transferred to
the phone at my house). And because it
was a small town, if some one was in an
accident it was kind of hard because we all
knew each other so well. But all those years
when I was asked about the going's on,
I never told anyone. Even though, it only
paid $35, I honored the confidentially of the job.

So there you are the town of Roslyn.... part one?

Match Maker, Not Me...

Over the years from time to time
I have been asked to find some one
suitable for a date for a friend.
Or did I know a friend that this
friend could go out with. I have
refrain from doing so each and every time.

Well, last year I gave it a try. Dumb
and stupid.. I should have stuck
to my guns. I really have no idea
what attracts one human being to
another. I wasn't doing so well
myself over the years.

It was only the last two times that
God shine down on me and gave me
two wonderful men. One who stuck
it out with me for 17 years before
God needed him at home. And then
there is Sweetie, who has hung in there
for 18 years, and after 13 years decided
we should actually make it legal. Being
there is an age difference there, I was
dragging my heels. But he convinced
me that he would want to take care of
me in my old age, and I believed him.

It has been great. While we drive each
other crazy from time to time. Especially
if a project is involved. But he always
has my back and I always have his.
And we love each other, which sounds
simple. But life isn't simple.

So how do you judge how others conceived
another human being. Because it sure
doesn't seem like it works out. My one time
was actually two times... it was my first
and my last time of trying it.

A match maker I never will be.

Doing Roslyn on $2800 a yr. and was Living Good

Doing Roslyn on $2800 and was living good.

Not too long ago, I came across my
Income tax papers for 1973. We had
made $2,800 that year. We smashed
cars for a living for scrap iron.

We would haul them to the coal piles
called slag piles. We had permission to
use the area. As long as we kept it clean.
We would bring cars in from town that
people wanted out of their yards. We also
got cars from wrecking yards where they
were never claimed after they were in
accidents. So when the tow truck owners
had over 3 months on storage, they would
have us come and get them to be smashed.
I think we paid something like $5.00 for
each of them.

We would take them to the slag pile area
and burn them first. (couldn't do that now)
then take out the copper wire from under
the dash. We would remove the generators,
starters and turn them in for reconditioning.

Then we had a truck with a boom and a free
wheeling cable on it. On the end of that was
a flat iron that was about 4 foot by 4 foot and
8 inches thick. My husband would have it go
up to the top of the boom and let it free
wheeling down on top of the car. Moving
around it so he could smash it to the size
of about 2 feet tall. Then it would be placed
on our semi flat bed. After 17 cars were
placed, they were buckled down to the truck
and taken to Renton Washington. This was
done 12 months a year as weather allowed.
Some times losing 2 months in the winter
if we had a bad winter. Which he took in
cars for repair to help out. We had a business
card that said Marv's Repair and Smashing. lol

We did this for 6 years. Got paid $15 a ton.
Then in 1975 the market went out. The last
load we did, we got paid $10 a ton. After
trying to do return trips to make up for the
lesser amounts, with me placing the cars in
line, while he ran the boom, using the
headlights of the pickup, that my husband
decided it wasn't worth the headaches anymore.
So we sold the equipment and he went to
work for a hay outfit, doing mechanic
and welding. 3 years later it went up to $25
and $30 a ton. But we had moved on.

I was wondering how the heck did we live
on $2,800 a year. With 5 of the kids still
with us? Of course we had equipment
deductions... but we were left with the
$2,800 as our income.

Then I thought about household expense.
We were buying our house... which was
$5,000 for a 2 bedroom. It was $50 a
month payments. Our electric cost us
$10 to $15 a month. And stove oil in the
winter which ran about $100 for the winter.
Gas was 19 cents a gallon. Chicken was
22 cents and so was hamburger. We also
hunted so we had venison and elk. We
also fished for fun, but it also helped the
meals.

Funny thing is we never thought of
ourselves as poor. Maybe low income,
but not poor. The kids had clothes, some
I made, (that isn't saying much). We
never were wanting for food. We traveled
to Ellensburg fairly often as that is where
the bigger stores were. (there weren't K-marts,
Wal-Mart's and etc. then). We were happy.
The kids were happy.

And some of the adventures of Roslyn
will wait for another blog time.

The Panhandle Feed Mill Lives for Another Day

Panhandle Feed Mill Co. lives to see another sunrise and set.


Well, I got up at 5am and got dress quickly.
Grabbed my camera and cell phone.
Photographer Cis on the run..lol...

Got down town to see the Panhandle
Feed Mill be towed down. Met a few
people who told stories about the mill.

It started off with 3 of us. The thing
that bother us as we were taking pictures...
was why wasn't there any preparation
work done? No cables attached to the
building, no cones to block the side work.
And if it is going down were is the crew
that should be getting it ready?

By 6:30am the time of the suppose
deconstruction.... there were at least
150 people there including the editor of
the Daily Bee. Everyone milling around
and wondering if this is going to be pulled
off or not.

As some were getting disgusted by the
lack of attention to the building. (even
one person who jokingly asked where
were the SAVE THE PIEGONS signs)
and we all laughed.

Then a police car drives up across the
street. Ah, action!

They walk over to a man who is sitting in
the red truck near the building. Is it Mr.
Buck, the owner who is suppose to be
bringing down the building? We all watch....
waiting... and then the two police officers,
walk to the edge of the street... throw their
hands up in the air and said...

NO PERMIT....HE HAS NO PERMIT..

and they turn around and head back to
the car. The crowd, is disappointed,
but laughing as they head towards their
cars. Overheard is .."This is so Sandpoint...
never on time...one foul up at a time".

But it was interesting. I got up at 5 am to
see this, or rather to not see this. I got to
meet an interesting man who use to play at
the top of the building. How his father
blew the horn when it was time to go, that he
would run down looking like a ghost covered
up with the feed dust. How he left the area
after he got out of school. Became a skyscraper
builder, and returned in the late 70's and
helps his father run the family dairy on Dufort
Road. He talked about how his 80 year old
father has to run off real estate people who
are constantly after him to sell.

There were a lot of people there. Some
even brought their grandchildren to show
them the mighty building demise. There
was even a couple of couples who set up
table and chairs with umbrella's.
They set it all up and sat down to enjoy their
coffee and donuts.

Some one said something about being told
that no one would show up. And she replied
to them... this is Sandpoint, when it is a piece
of old Sandpoint ...everyone ..old Sandpoint
people show up.

So the old Panhandle Feed Mill live for another day.

crowds gather to watch 

Bonding

Bonding....

It seems that bonding, be it men
or women, for the most part is the
same. Even with children. It means
sharing time, and conversation with
each other.

Men it is usually sports. Be it ball
games in the living room or stadium,
or hunting or fishing. Some times in
a bar having a beer together. Doing
something... being together..... talking
and some times not talking much.
While most women think that all men
talk about is sex, I understand that is
a myth. That it is usually about the
sport, or cars, or wives, or kids, or
just life itself. Unless they are political
inclined, then it can be that, which can
unbond them. Or it is the headlines of
the day.

Women it is usually, going to a spa
together. Or a coffee klatch either at
someone's house or at a restaurant.
Some even go to bars, for a night out
with the girls. Men think that women
talk about kids, and clothes and make
up. And that can be true. But most
talk about life, sex, their husbands,
their jobs, and what is unfair about
life. But hardly ever about politics.

There are men and even women who
will take their children to games,
fishing, shopping, camping and talk
with their kids. Mostly letting the kid
talk. Lot of parents don't know how to
talk to their kids about serious stuff.
So the conversation starts around
what ever they are doing.

They say the best way to loosen up
a kid to talk, is to play catch. I wonder,
does the now generation play catch
with their parents? They seem to be
more into computers and games.
Isolating themselves at times at the
computer. Playing games like
Runscape, and the parent is watching
TV.
Wonder what would happen if the
satellites would shut down for a
week or two. But then it would cause
major problems in life, life of commerce.

But the funny bonding is between
two friends of any gender who are
working on a project together. Now
I am talking about really good friends.
One's who can badger back and forth
without taking offense.

You see, I listen to two really good friends
badger as they did a project in the past
week or so. And when I asked my Sweetie
if his feelings get hurt when this is going
on. He was completely surprised at my
remark. He said, we weren't badgering....
"we were bonding".. ....... which makes
me wonder... if some one where to over
hear us working on a project together,
and asked him the same thing.... would
he say we were just bonding? I sure hope
so. As some of our bonding gets kind of
heated. But neither of us are really mad
at the other, just opinionated.

Thank goodness for bonding...
Have a good weekend ....bonding
with some one...
Wonder if Sweetie would like to play catch...

Better Late than Never... I Think...

Boy, am I running behind today.
We got the bathroom all done
yesterday. So today was doing
detail work.

I washed out the window frame
area. And washed the window.
Then decided to wash the outside,
(you know how that goes,) and I
did have the good sense to put down
paper towels folded many times over,
and shut the window.

Best laid plans of mice and men.

As when I got done and came in the
house, to my surprise the water had ran
down the fresh new paint. Oh, horror,
could just see Sweetie's face over that
one. But was able to get it all cleaned up
before he got home from work.

Then the next thing was to get the
curtains up. That went smoothly.

And the worse job of all...
See it took 9 boxes to clear
out the bathroom. Two cabinets,
one undersink area, one drawer,
and the top of the counter. Where
do we get all this stuff? Does it
breed inside those dark areas?

Well, I narrow the 9 boxes down
to 4. Threw a lot away, and shuffled
other junk to other rooms.

Did it scientifically. Got 3 boxes.
And use the couch. One box was
throw away, one is definitely keep.
And the other one was the biggest,
too good to throw away, but what
the heck am I going to do with
this stuff? box. And the couch,
was for I know where this is
going to go. After I got all
this done, I had it all put away,
throw away, except one box.

That one I depatched to ......
Sweetie... it was HIS BOX...

No Walls, No Floor, or Recipe for Remodeling.

NO Walls, No Floor


This is the recipe for remodeling your
bathroom..If you have only one bathroom.

FIRST RULE: DON'T...do it yourself....

SECOND RULE: Knowing you have
already skipped Rule One.... make sure
you have some one who knows that they
are doing, to help you....if you insist on
this being a as a self improvement job. .

So you are insisting on doing this
yourself... Sad, real sad. But here I will
give you the recipe. And for gosh, sakes
don't skip the rest of this.

Check out a book or buy one at Home
Depot. This can be skipped if you paid
attention to Rule Two, and have a
qualified contractor friend/family
member who will help you.

Next, make sure you have all the tools.
As hammer, screwdriver and saw is not
enough. If you have that friend/family
member, they can help you in this
department. They may have all the tools
you need. Or they will take you to Home
Depot or such, to buy or rent what you
and the person don't have.

Next, expect at least two weeks to do this
job, and if you have skipped Rule Two,
well, sorry, wife, but this project will never
be done and you will be lucky enough to
have a toilet in 2 weeks.

Next, look into the possibility of Port-a-
Potties for 2 weeks. Maybe you should
rent a camp trailer or borrow one. You
will need it. For the toilet part. And if it
gets too hot between spouses, one of you
can sleep in there.

Next, and listen really well. Make a list
of good friends. Really good friends. And
how close they are to your house is where
they will rank on this list. These friends are
very important. Because they are the ones
you will hint about using their showers for
the next 2 to 3 weeks. Of course by day 3, you
may not have to hint, the smell will have
them offering, or they will shut their blinds
and turn off the lights at night.

Next, in your budget,...... you are going to
make up a budget of supplies before you
start, aren't you? No? You thought you wing
it as you go along? Oh, boy, this is going to
be worse than I thought, no budget planning.

It won't be any good anyway, I guess. As
when you tear out the walls and floor, you
will find rot. Lots of little spots of rotted
beams. So included at least 6 extra beams
in your list of supplies. But also on this list....
the price of a dozen roses for each one of
your female friends who let you use their
shower, and listen to your tales of woe...
Beer for the guy friends.

Are you scared yet? Be afraid...very afraid.
We did Rule Two, and we are on the down
hill side of the remodel. We are within a day
of having it all done. Oops, should not have
said that... maybe two or three days left.

But boy, is this going to be looking great...
Thanks to one of Sweetie's best friends,
who is helping. And next month, the
remodeling will be just a memory. And
we will have a room of pride, instead
of cringing, when some one ask to use
the room.

Hug your children

These past weeks in Idaho, have been
hard to take and understand.

Why do people do what they do? Why
can't society find answers to end this?
Is it happening more often or is it in
the media more?

I never heard of child abuse, especially
sexual abuse as a child. Even as a teen.
My first knowledge of such things
happening was when I was in my 20's.

I had moved to an area in Washington
State and shortly after, there was a case
of a father accused of sexual abuse of a
daughter. I was horrified. Did I lead a
shelter life until then? And even that was
the only one I had heard of for several years.

Then the next one prove to be false
accused after going to trial. Again it
was the father. Then years later before
I heard about another one. And many
years later to find out an ex, without the
law involved, and the accusers being adults.
And he was dead.

Then in the past several years, it is
become a weekly thing, and over half
of them are predators. Now you don't
dare leave a child unattended even for
a second. Even in their own yard.

The freedom I had as a child is gone.

The freedom my own children had, is gone.

What a sad world this has become.

I pray to God that society can find
a way to keep our children from
being disposable.

SamOwens park of the Past

Sharing.....1995


SamOwens park of the Past


In the past we use to take friends and
family to SamOwen's park to see the
deer. As you can see the deer were really
friendly. And I guess they still are. But
because of abuse by people, there is a
new deal up there.
DO NOT FEEDING THE DEER signs
everywhere. I guess there were people
who feed the deer apples and such, but
there were also people who feed the deer
marshmallows, chips, and what ever
junk food they happen to have. And it
took its toll on the deer. So the Fish and
Game were well in their ream to take action.

But it is sad that people don't use
common sense. As it ruin it for all of
us, and that included the deer. And
maybe our family was almost as bad
as the rest. We gave them apples only.
We would take a bag of apples with us
and quarter them up and hand feed
them. The deer were tame way before
we ever started to come up there. But
from the picture that my husband took
of my grandson above, you can see we
also forgot these are wild animals.

We did use common sense on warning
friends and family who came from far
and wide, that these were wild deer, but
they had became tame because of all the
attention people had paid to them. So we
snap pictures for them to take home to
show others they fed the wild deer up
and personal.

Our last time up there was about 2 or
3 years ago when we took some long
time friends up there. The man use to
hunt, and was feeling good because
this time he was shooting with a camera
instead of a gun. But what struck me
with sadness, was how people were
treating the deer.

In the past, people would feed them
from their cars, or stand beside their
cars (perhaps incase the deer decided
to act like the wild deer they were) and
that was it. This time, people were as
good as chasing the deer in hopes to
feed them. Our friends were happy with
just putting apple bits on a stump and
taking pictures. But there were adults as
well as children walking up to the deer
and after them thru the woods chasing
them in the attempt to pat them. That
seem sad to me. So when I heard the
Fish and Game Dept. took action, I was
secretly glad. It means we can't feed them
apples anymore. But it was getting out of hand.

Staying away from Sandpoint

I have decided I am not going to
Sandpoint anymore, until summer
is over.I have always know that Sandpoint
is horrible in the summer and during
sking season. That is if we get snow.

But I tried to get thru Sandpoint from
the beach area, going up First street
and then Cedar and out of dodge. And
by the time I was rounding on to east on
5th.... I was really wanting to get out of
dodge bad. As my road rage was starting
rear its ugly head.

Sandpoint traffic is bad enough in its self.
But I came across 4... count them 4 trucks
unloading supplies. I came out of the beach
area, and turn in the right lane. I always keep
to the right so I can turn at 5th and Cedar.
But I had no sooner got into the right lane
and there 2 blocks down is a UPS truck.
I check the lanes, as I last minute dodged
around the UPS truck, only to find myself
behind a semi with trailer back into the
sidewalk. Crossing almost 2 lanes.. Is this
legal? So now I have to stop and wait for
some one kind enough to let me thru.
Finally, I get around that one and I am
in the middle because I see a FEDEX truck
ahead at Coldwater Creek area. I get
around the corner and there in the 200
block of Cedar is another truck blocking...
By now I am heating up, and stopped as
the traffic is coming around the bend like
a race track. Who open the gates, Nellie?
Hindsight being always better, I should have
just quit right there, and head down Second
Avenue and take the back roads behind Safeway.

Finally some one felt sorry for me, and let
me thru. I am trying my best to keep myself
in the 25 mph limit, but as I am coming
towards the Larch Street light, I am beginning
to feel like a race horse myself, looking out
the starter gate. Sure enough as I go by the
Shell station I am hitting 35, and 45 by the
time I hit the underpass of the railroad, and
around the corner, thru the green light, and
I am FREE ... FREE AT LAST!!.... around
the corner by the Elks golf course... free.....
and then... a car... doing 30 in a 45!!!. What
the heck are they thinking???? They pull
into the Hoot Owl, ever so slowly....and I am
putting the pedal to metal, I am only 4 minutes
to home and out of this madness.

Yep, it is time to stay the heck out of Sandpoint.
Keep it to the Boyer Street and the back streets.

Validation/Broast

Life’s wonderments..

We are complicated people.. We
think we want one thing, yet it
seems we really want something
else. And then maybe not even that.

One night December 15, 2000, I
could not sleep so I was thinking
(which seems like a dangerous thing
for us humans) why is it when we go
the extra mile for someone or some
people and get very little thought from
others. Or if we do get some thought
and at the time it is enough, yet later
in life you look back and feel like you
didn’t or are not thought enough of.
Now that is a bunch of words...And it
sounds either like a person of an inferior
complex or even the other side of the
coin, concieted.

But I mean... have you ever gone the
extra mile and many times and don’t
feel like people look at you as a person
who did. And if a person came along
and either noticed or you told them..
And they asked you, ok; you did all these
wonderful unselfish thing (that in itself
can be argued, as you would not be
thinking all this if you were not being
selfish) WHAT IS IT WE COULD DO
FOR YOU. Do you want a party and
have everyone say what a great person
you are? Or a letter read to say the same,
or just what is it you think would make
you feel better. And as you contemplate
this question, you think...if I have to be
asked... then what is the point? If you
have to tell them, what is the point?

Yes, we are a different breed all right.
One part wants recognition and yet
when we are asked what kind of
recognization?
We say forget, if I have to tell you...
never mind.

Once I thought of listing the times
that I thought I had gone the extra
mile. And what was I going to do with
this list? Give it to my kids so they would
know I was a good and kind person?
Well, they would either already know
that, or think I was bragging. And this
is not about bragging. So what do you
do with the list? Have it read at your
funeral? She was a good old girl,
because she did all this things? What
good is that after you are dead? . To
kind of say, hey, did you realize I did
this? Did you know I care enough about
all of you at different times to make life
a little nicer? Little easier.

After thinking about this, I have over
the following years and still make it a
policy to tell some one thank you. Not
just thank you and walk off. But to tell
them thank you, I really do appreciate
what you did for us. When it was at work,
I would tell the person who gave up their
day, or came in early to help out our shift,
how much I appreciate them for doing
so. We had agency aides come to our
place. Some of the girls would be short
with them because they didn't know
where things were. Or didn't know the
resident well enough to do them by
themselves. Never thinking that if the
agency person didn't show up, they
would be working by themselves. So I
made sure each one of them knew how
much I appreciate them coming from
Spokane, some times on icy, snowy roads
to help us out. Yes, they did get paid
extra, but they didn't have to come at all,
such a distance.
So when some one goes a little extra,
be sure to let them know sincerely that
you really do appreciate their effort.


You see going to funerals is sad,
especially when they have people stand
up and say nice or funny things about
you. Memories they have of you... Why
do we have to wait until some one dies?

So in 2002, I decided to do something
about it. It was my Sweetie's 50th
birthday. So I had a broast.
I invited his work friends, his long time
friends, his family and each one of them
got a chance at the microphone as I
video taped it. They told funny stories,
lots of them.. and they also told how
they loved him. It was great... he felt
great... it was the best day of his life, he
said that night. So maybe that is the answer...
a broast, to tell funny stories, to tell how
that person made life better for them, to
tell of the little things that meant a lot to
them about him.

I am sure the therapist would have a hay
day with this...but I think......
Maybe that is the answer..
Validation... we need validation...

Just Like the Good Old Days

We are in the mist of changing some
things in our bathroom. Meaning right
now the only working object is the toilet.
Gone is the tub from the room Sink is
useable but under tools. So that means
some inventive measures for healthy body.

So like the old days, when we can't get
to our daughter's house, it is sink
bathing. No, we don't get in the sink.
But you bath like in the old days in
front of the sink (in the old days it was
the wash bowl). Which is not as
satisfying as a shower, but it beats the
other choice. If you want to call it a
choice. As the surrounding friends
and family may take you down to the
river and throw you in. Or as in our
case, the lake.

I have had to do this in the 1970's. At
that time my deceased husband and
I had bought a 2 and half room cabin.
We built on to it a 28x28 addition
which contained 3 bedrooms, a sewing
room (which actually became "throw it
in there for now room, I don't think the
sewing machine ever made it in there).
And we also put in a bathroom.

We had bought the house in October.
We started the addition in April. The
bathroom which I insisted be the first
room of the 5, finished, even if it was
in the rough.

So for those 6+ months we did the
sink bathing, except the younger ones
got to actually get in the sink. And at
first this was a fun thing. Not..As the
cabin had water UP TO the cabin but
not inside. So my husband's first order
was to put the water inside. But of
course we had to go find a sink to have
it hooked up to. Being the kitchen was
the only water supply. Then we had to
heat the water on the stove and pour it
into the sink. Fun, fun, fun.

The good old outhouse was the bathroom
for those 6+ months. Believe me, you
haven't lived until you have to go to the
outhouse in the middle of the night, in
the middle of the winter, with 4 feet of
snow. (and why is it, the last one forgets
to shut the door, and you have a cold
snow seat to sit on?yes, I wiped it off.
But still cold.) And I don't even want to
tell you what my sons contest was out
back of the outhouse.

So I am geared up for this session. And
I do have friends near by who offered
me their shower and our daughter has
been more than willing for us to use hers.
But the real test is today when the toilet
goes out for 24 hours. We do have a back
up for that. We do have a camp trailer. I
thought about a port-potty, but they wanted
$100 or more for a week. And 24 hours
isn't worth their time or mine.

I wish I could fast forward a week and
half, when it will be done. It started out
going right along, until our carpenter found
wedges for additions to 2x4, different size
white board and a few other things, which
I can only imagine it was part of the old
Kootenai contracting of years gone by.
Kind of like Roslyn,Wa. There was New
Roslyn and Old Roslyn plumbing, and
when you went to the hardware store you
had to tell them which so they knew what
parts you needed. First clue you had of old
Roslyn plumbing, was the cold water
faucet was where the hot was suppose to be.

So it is upward and on ward. And soon the
floor rot will be replaced and things will
start going back together. I think I will let
the carpenter have the first shower. He deserves it.

4 of July, a day later....

This is the day that I work, so decided to start early on this.

What beautiful weather. It is great to live in Idaho. (and I have been else where, and I still say this).

The 4th of July parade in downtown
Sandpoint was wonderful. The people
who worked so hard on all of it. The kids
parade and the parents that walked the
6 blocks with the kids and their bikes were
great. The red, white and blue costumes
and decorations.

The main parade was really done well.
A lot of people who worked so hard on it
for the past weeks. The Lions Club, who
has been working on it for months. Only flaw
was who was the Grand Marshall, some woman,
and I am sure she must be important, but the
crowd didn't know, nor did I. (which made me
feel better that I wasn't the only one.)

And my hat really goes off to the bands.
The Sandpoint High School band, was
fabulous! And of course the Bagpipe and
Drum bands were awesome. Both of them.
The Albeni one and the one from St. Joseph's.
Two great bunch of people. They have come
so far from their first time here. And
Honorable mention has to be the Rhythm Pirates.

I usually park way from the madden crowd.
Then walk in to (about 6 blocks)town and find
a good place near the beginning of the parade
to sit or stand. Then when the tail goes by me,
I make a mad dash back to the car, and out of
town I go before the masses start. I am home
by the time the parade end has reached the top
of Cedar Street.

In the afternoon, there is the cookout. The
usual, hot dogs, hamburgers, chips, salads
and etc. In the younger days we would have
big cookouts, because our kids were home
and they usually had a friend with them. So
multiply each kid by 1 to 2 friends and it was
full yard. But always full of laughs and good
food. This year, we are going to our daughter's
as we have for each of the past 5 or 6 years.
We always enjoy ourselves. And this year was no
exception. She and her main squeeze, out did
themselves. The food was great. Smokies,
hamburgers, pork roast sliced and BBQ sauce
and his did a great job on the ribs. The deviled
eggs were great as she always does. There was
so much food. That with 5 adults and a teenager
there was some left over. We sat at the picnic
table as we watched the teenager set off some
noisy fireworks, leaving the light ones for dark.
With way more adult supervision than I am sure
he wanted..but he put up with us anyway. lol.
We left early in the evening, and the 3 of them
headed to the beach for music and fireworks.

Fireworks started several days ago, like most
neighborhoods. And last night was the big
blast, I think... I will find out tonight. It lasted
until midnight, starting at 9. (this is better than
the towns do.) First one neighbor, then another...
then two of them alternating. Maybe if everyone
brought their fireworks to one place in town and
each one gets to step up to an area, and set off
their fireworks we could have a dust to dawn
fireworks. lol.

So hopefully everyone had a safe 4th of July.
Like I have said before ... it is my favorite
holiday. It is warm. (this weekend was
beautiful.) you gets lots to eat, you have
parades, fireworks... and no pressures for
gifts. It is a great holiday.

4 of July

RED, WHITE AND BLUE
4TH OF JULY
Parades.....
Bands playing....
FIREWORKS!!

What American can not have their
hearts pumping with these words
AND these sounds? I know mine
does. But then I am from the state
that has the longest going 4th of
July parade in the U.S.A. Bristol,
R.I. Rumor they skipped 1944, due
to not enough men to have the parade,
as the men were overseas.

I am sure there are people out there
who will disagree with me. But I
hope they stay away from me. And
that is sad. Because of this great
country, they don't seem to understand
their rights are guarded to be able to
disagree. In fact it seems like a lot of
people who come to this country seem
to be offended by our feelings for our
country. I don't understand that.
But I am from the
Love it or Leave it generation.

I stand proudly as God Bless America
is played.
I stand proudly as the flag
goes by me.
I stand proudly as Veterans
march by.
Out of RESPECT for each of them.

I may not like our leader, but I am
proud of my country. And what it stands
for. I may not be proud of some of the
things that have gone on in our country.
But I still stand by her, as the greatest
of all the countries. Just like all the rest
should stand by their countries. We should
be proud of our countries, without being
disrespectful of the others.

So on the 4 of July, my country's anniversary,
I watch the parades, I stand for the flag, and
the Veteran's , and even tho I sing off key, I
sing my country's song.

I wish you all a great holiday. Enjoy all the
festives that go with it. Eat your hot dog,
hamburgers, and apple pie and watermelons.
Enjoy your family.

I will be back Tuesday, as I am going
to enjoy the 3 day weekend as well.

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY, EVERYONE