Five, Four, Three.....

And the count down starts. Yes,
parents, school..only 6 days left to
go.

For you homeschoolers, you probably
already have classes going. And I hope it
is going well.

But for you mothers with multi-children.
Your freedom is near. Get the party hats
out, get ready to pop the champagne. (saw
that in a Reader's Digest book years ago).

Of what little I remember as a kid, the High
School was the worse. Good old Rogers
High School of Newport, R.I. It was built
like a prison. 3 stories high. And you knew
you would never have a class near the last
one. If you were on the first floor, then you
next one was on the 3rd floor in the second
wing.

No wonder we had tough legs. Up and
down those stairs. The one elevator never
worked, except for one particular teacher.
Who we suspected was using it for his
drinking breaks.

The building was in a C shape. 3 stories
high and built some where at the turn of
the century. My mother went there. My
Dad did too, but he only went to drop off
the girls, as he worked for his father garage.
And had the latest car, which meant lots of
girlfriends.

The first year was the worse. Seniors telling
you where the bathrooms where, but always
sending you to the wrong gender bathroom,
which they removed the name off the door.
If you wanted a certain room, they would
send you to the opposite end. And any
other pranks they could pull.

Ah, yes, School Days.... glad I am not a parent
anymore of a school age child. All those supplies.
Getting the list from the teacher..(now the stores
have them). All those supplies times each child.

All my mother had to worry about was pencils.
Rest the school provided.
Until High School that is. Then we had to buy
our own gym suit. Blue shirt with bloomers
attached. Gosh, awful looking things. And why,
oh, why did they always have the fire drill while I was
in gym. Yes, we paraded out into the sidewalks
for all to see us in those dumb suits. Like mailmen,
thru sleet, snow, rain and the heat of the day.

Such fond memories.... really... life was so
much simpler then. Eisenhower was President.

The Big Storms

Looks like the hurricane Ernesto has
been down graded to a tropical storm again.

By this time last year, they were getting
their 11th hurricane. This seems to be the
first one, and they aren't even sure that it
is a hurricane.

As a person who grew up in hurricane lane,
I can tell you, you never can tell what to expect.

Every year is different. There is no such thing
as normal year. And the one's that scare the daylights
out of you, can come ashore and wimp out with
just rain. Heavy rain granted... but just rain.
And others come up as a tropical storm and
skirt around Cuba, and gather speed and hit
Florida hard and heavy.

R.I. hasn't gotten any real bad hurricanes lately.
They have gotten a few over the years.
But nothing compared to the one of 1938
and 1954.

1954, I was alive, and got to see it first hand,
as my mother and I went down to the dock to
secure our boat. Watched the trees falling behind
us as we went down the roads. Watch the
water raise up the dock feet at a time.

And then sat and watched the things fly, then
some ships and boats break loose from the docks.
Luckily not ours.

When I was in Florida for 9 months, I was lucky
enough not to see any. Most Florida people
take it in stride. It is the new comers that get
upset. Just like it is here with our snow storms.

We talk about the last big one (snow storms).
1996 I believe. The really big one was 1968.
But the old timers will tell you of others, where
you walk across the roofs of the buildings.

The more it changes, the more it is the same.

Hey, aren't we due for a big one here this
winter?

Summer Projects, Did we get them all Done?

As Summer starts to wind down, we wonder
did we get all the projects done?

1. Put in new window in living room...
check

2. Paint the house house
check

3. Put in the new vents
check

4. Go to Clark Fork for the 4th of July
check

5. Redo the garden on the side of the
house
check

6. Go fishing often..
half way check..

7. Start on the 47 Ford Pick Up...
nope... maybe this winter. We
can do some of it.

Not bad, 6 out of 7 projects we set
up for our goal for this summer.
And we still have time left to have
fun.

546

546.......posts..

546 full of words mostly.
Granted about 40 or 50
of those are pictures. So
Making over 500 pages of
words.

I can't believe I had that
much to say. Thankfully
most of it was in humor.
But a few soapbox days
too.

And the amazing
part is that there are
still people out there who
are interested enough
to see what I have to
write about.

I started to print out for
a friend,my blog as she
doesn't have a computer.
When I first started I sent
her almost a years worth.

I was flabbergasted how
many pages that prints
out to be. So now I only
do it monthly so it isn't
overwhelming. And she
and her friend still read it.

546 posting... who would
have known... I pray the
words still come, I pray the
ideas don't fall the wayside.

And thank you all for reading.

A day at the fair with family

At the Bonner County Fair ... 

Looking over the tractors 

Stuffed Wild Life  

flying high over the town of Kootenai 

Grandma of Many Colors

As I looked down at myself today,
I saw blue shorts with white pin stripes.
Purple and beige, with white plaid shirt.
and brown sandals. I am surely becoming
a colorful person.

See, I have a general dress code...
It is like Gilda Ratner... it mainly
depends clothes that don't itch.

If it is comfortable, then that is it.
Color really isn't important to me.
Oh, I try to match when I go some
where with the grandson or the King.
Don't want to embarrass them.

Don't know where I get this.. as I wasn't
raised this way. My mother's ashes must
be bouncing thru the air.

See when I was raised, you couldn't wear
pink with purple...kids do it all the time now.
Bathing suits and etc.

Also green and blue were a no no. Only
ones who could wear that was Italians,
or was it Portuguese? Some thing about
it being in their home land flag. But surely
mix breed like myself, of English, German
and Swedish could not wear it.

And plains and stripes together?
Heaven forbid... Yep, Mom's ashes
are bouncing.

I guess that is why one of my favorite poems
is .....
"WHEN I GET OLD, I SHALL WEAR PURPLE."
Maybe I should find a red baseball cap for
starters...

Fools and Wheels

I was going to call this,
Fools behinds wheels,
but then a guy on a bike
pulled amazing thing.

And Fools behind wheels
and handlebars, is too long.

Or maybe I could call it,
Fools behind and over
wheels.

Going into Sandpoint to
get my grandson at night,
there was traffic weaving
back and forth, like it was
California, LA traffic. Some
I wondered how they missed
each other, as they exchanged
lanes.

Then leaving Sandpoint by
the way of Cedar Street,
heading on to 5th Ave. I was
amazed at what a fool this
bicycle rider was.

He came along the right side
of me. We are all going to
turn left after the change of
the light. And he comes
to the first car in line, and
goes across that car. Which
was not a real big deal, as
the light was still red.

BUT this 20'ish, male, then
defies life and limb. He continues
across the street thru the red
light, crossing all of the traffic
in that intersection. Between
moving cars. And never slowed
down a bit.

As I am leaving glorious
downtown Sandpoint heading
out towards Ponderay, there
is a truck in front of me, but to my
right. This is where the road
starts to have a single lane on
the left. Which I am in.

I can see his face in the mirror.
And his eyes. Looking straight
out his front window. Not once did
the whites of his eyes look in
that mirror as he swung over
in front of me. Good thing I was
watching him.

Then he barrels up the highway of
200, which is 45 miles per hour.
I am doing 45 miles per hour. He,
on the other hand, is leaving me in the
dust.

UNTIL, he comes to the construction
area. And see the sign saying BUMP.
Of which as he hits it, it dawns on him,
that they really do mean it. As I see the
brake lights come on, and the things in
back of the truck leap at least a foot.

I only wish I could have see the look on
his face, or see his head hit the roof of
his truck...

Fools and wheels.

Is it the End?

In all my years of running around
thru this earth, I don't believe I have
heard as much depressing, negative
talking about our country and the world.
And the end of one or both.


It is scary for many reasons. But the
part that scares me the most is, the kids.


I hear the negative in the shows on
television. On the radio, talk shows.
People talk it over dinner, in restaurants.
On blogs, the media, of all kinds.


The Christians seem to think that the
end is near. That Jesus will be coming
soon. That they are waiting to hear
what happens in the Mid-East.


So why do I fear for the children?


Because what do adult do when they
get scared? What has history shown?
From a radio show of Martians landing,
to stock market falling in the 20's......

What have the really far out, some times
simpled minded people done with this
doom talk?


They have committed suicide and killed
their children, to protect them from
what they preceive as the world ending.


NOW THAT SCARES ME.

To Be Fair...

I posted that I would like a good
local newspaper and I criticized
the one we have.

But to be fair, maybe I should say what
I want to have in a local paper.

I want the local news. I want it accurate.
I don't want the names mixed up.
I also would like it to be current.

I want the news in the police blotter
section to be more factual. Not
necessarily names. But "there was
a disturbance on Lake street" just
doesn't cut it. What kind of disturbance?
Was it criminal? Is it something I should
be aware of for my safety sake if I live
on that street? I can live with what happen
and it happen in the 100 block of Lake. So
I don't need names and direct address.
And I don't want it 4 to 6 days old report.
If I heard sirens in my neighborhood last
night, I want to read about it in the paper
the next day. Or the following at the latest.

It is the old newspaper code. Who, What,
Where, How, and When? That is the news,
I want in the rest of the paper. Honestly.
Accurate. Current.

I would like information. Like what is
going on at council meetings. Not just
in Sandpoint. The local paper should
have all of the county. It is suppose to
cover the whole county, so let's hear
about the governments of the county.
I don't care if the town only has 200 or
400 people in it. It doesn't have to be a
word for word accounting. Just the high
points. And no the city clerk should not
have to send it into the paper for the
report, they have enough to do as it is.
This is the papers job.

There should be sports, Obits, and etc.
as most papers have. But this is still
an active area, for fishing, hunting, so
it would be nice to have a column once
a week with what is going on there. Who
is getting what kind of fish. Where to take
your visitors who like to fish? Where to get
that out of town license (in case you, yourself
are not a fisherman).

Maybe a person of the week. Some one
who has done things special for the town,
or someone.Some one from the past, who
still is here, but they weren't a big mover of
building the town.

In our local paper, we do have
"what's it, and where is this" column,
which is nice to read. So maybe they
can add a person type one too.

Also I like to have email address to contact
the reporter. So if I have something to say to
that reporter about their story, I can.

And lastly, a online version of the printed
paper. The full paper. Yes, I would pay for
it. They could charge about half of what they
charge for the printed one. After all, they save
on the paper, and the delivery of it. Ok, maybe
I would settle for paying two thirds of it. But it
has to have everything that is in the printed one.
That includes pictures.

So that is what I would like to see in a
local paper here.

There, that is a little more fair.
After all, it isn't nice to criticize
if you don't have some ideas,for
solution.

Never under Estimate the Power of a Woman

Over the weekend, a good friend
of ours came from Portland. He brought
a gift. A 32 inch television.


What a wonderful gift and it took two
men (no boy) to get it out of the car,
and into the house on a large end table.


We watched it the first night. But it
bugged me that it would not fit in our
entertainment center. So the wheels
were turning.


On Saturday, the guys went for a
ride to Priest Lake to see the King's
sister. And I stood there looking at
the television and the wheels were
spinning.


If I were to move the entertainment
center to the left. And moved the
heavy table that my son made in
wood shop years ago, behind the
table the television was on... well.


Ok, I got my trusty little circles out,
and put them under the entertainment
center. Disconnect everything. And
pushed. Yep, over to the corner.

Put the circles under the heavy table
and slide it behind the table the TV is
on. Lift television on to heavy table. Not
easy but doable.


Take satellite box out of E.C. and put
it along side of TV. Video player, under
that. Reconnect everything. Check out
each and they all work. So connected it
right, which is a miracle in itself. Because
wires and I don't necessarily mix well.


Ok, now slide end table next to heavy,
table. Put stereo on that table with too
dang many cds and cassettes. It works
too, after putting speaker wires back in.

Now I have one E.C. (entertainment
center) empty. And in the way. Hummm.


Out to the garage, get dolly. Slide E.C.
with round circles under it, to the door.
Lay E.C. on dolly, move dolly, E.C. flops.
Not good. Take strap out and around half
of E.C. Tilt dolly, and up goes E.C., out
the door, clear screen door with new
screen. (King would kill me for putting
holes in that). And clump, clump,
clump, clump down the stairs, out to
the driveway, towards the road...
Got to get FREE sign made.


I went yard saling with daughter,
King and friend come home, E.C.
out in the driveway, and they are
wondering how the heck did that
happen.


Moral of the story, don't mess with
the wife.

ASLEEP! 

Rokon in the shade 

Sounds like a Plan to Me

I was wondering...we have been
looking for Bin Laden for years.
Why are we wasting our time looking
for him?


You know that if we were to find him,
and kill him, or worse yet... have a trial,
like we are having for a year in Iraq,
they will replace him.


He is like the tip of the ice berg.
Chop him off, and the ice berg
come ups a little higher, making
another peak. Another leader.
There are millions of them.


BUT, if we were to go after all
those who are below, like say,
hummm... maybe his 5th in
command and below. We could
use the old picture cards again.


Just go in and blow up each
little place they have for meetings.
After all, they have to meet some
where. The big honcho's have to
let the peons know what to do and
when. Or if that is a little drastic, then
round them up in prisons.


So you check out these meeting.
Our CIA seem to know who the
one's in command are. So follow
them to the meetings and you got
a group.Then they go to another
meeting, then you take them out,
in any fashion. Keeping the first
group for your spy pigeons. After
all they have to keep going to the
second group. So you catch the
second group each time.

But keep the media out of it. After all
they have TV's too. So mum is the word.

As you get rid of each of these groups,
well there is nothing for the top 4 to
command over. Bin Laden isn't a
martyr because he is still alive, but
he has no one to command over.


What good is a General if you have
no army?

Wanted: A Good Local Daily Paper

The local paper's online addition,
is the most pathetic paper site I
have seen.

Now granted, I haven't seen a lot.
And not a lot of small town paper
on line sites. But this town isn't
some 300 residents... This is what
would be called a medium size town.

On August 16th, I check with the site.
On there was yesterday's news. Everything
was yesterday's news. The same front page
picture of Commissioner Dye with the boxes.
All of it was in the 15th of August paper!!
(I read it at the local restaurant.)

Yes, the date at the top was today's. But
that is automatic. And it is bad enough,
that when you click on a story that a lot of
them take you to the Mother paper, the
CDA Press. Sad. Which by the way, does
a far better job than the Bee. Maybe they
should send someone down here to show
how it is done at the Mother paper. Which still
not as good as the major paper of the area, the
Spokesman's Review. But then again, Spokane
Washington is bigger and has a branch in CDA.

Sandpoint has a great resource. Surely
there is someone they can hire to bring
their paper on line to par. This is a disgrace.
It must be an embarrassment to the locals,
if a family or friend would like to look into
the local paper from afar.

It probably reassures the former residents,
that they left Sandpoint for a good reason,
when they see this is the best their former
town has to offer.

Like the paper, I keep hoping that it will
improve. There is so much more the paper
and online site could offer, yet it lacks
input, it lacks...well, everything.

The high school paper does a better job.

Recently a church had a picture and a
article on the picture. They mention the
former Pastor, whose new first
name is Save, thanks to the Bee.
We looked and laughed and said..
"that's the Bee, for you".
Their blunders are notorious.

It Just Taint Right

I must lead a sheltered life..

As I read this morning's paper,
it related that the people who
went to see the OCC motorcycle
show.. not only had to pay the big
bucks for the tickets to get in..but
also had to pay $10 a car, and $5
for a motorcycle to park.

So you bought your ticket for $39
and then add on to that $10 making
a grand total of $49.

Not me.

The producer of the event said
he paid $20 for valet parking
at the local Spokane hotel.

And he quoted a parking fee in
New York was $56!!!.

He was quoted, that the people could
park for free on the street near the
fair grounds. Right! Anyone who has
been around that area knows that is
an impossible thing.

Outrageous to have to pay that kind
of money, when you have to pay to
get into the event, that you are going
to. I know, I know, there are a lot of
you out there who pay it all the time
and think nothing of it.

I guess this country girl is going to
stay in the country where parking is
free. Or if there is a $1 or $2 parking
fee, and the event is free, then I will
see how bad I want to go.

But it just isn't right.

Old building still standing.

Buildings

As I leaned against the building
waiting for my grandson's self
defense class to start, I saw an
old building and wondered.

As Sandpoint progresses thru its changes,
I wondered how long before Foster's Crossing
will be torn or burnt down to make room for
new.

As it is, they have built a 8 foot
fence from the ballet class room to the
old train that is used with Foster Crossing.

I don't know why, as we all have used it
for years to leave the Foster's Crossing
parking lot. I have used it with other parents
to drop off the kids for their classes. No one
has ever been hurt there. No one has run into
anyone. If anything it gives the kids a place to
hide from whoever, doing what ever. Using
the alleys to come to it.

I would think it would be a fire hazard, as it
would prevent the fire dept. from coming
down thru there to fight a fire. Not the best of
ideas.

As I travel thru Sandpoint, I look and see how
many buildings are going down. Pine and 5th Ave.
has been wiped out. I am sure there will be bigger
and better (?) buildings to come..

This wasn't a ticket to ride 

Some weekends are good and some are.....

When does it cost $25 for an hour
of parking at Sandpoint Beach?

When you park between two cars and
leave. And come back to a police
officer putting a ticket on your car.
And telling you, there where no parking
lines. Who was looking at lines? I saw a
space between two vehicles, that makes
a parking space to me.

I said I parked between two other
cars, I thought it was a parking spot.
He said they got tickets too. Like that
makes me feel better...lol

Told him ok, well, it is only $10 .....
and he replies back, "no... it is $25.
$10 is for those who over stay their
time in a legal parking spot. All the
rest are $25."

Thankfully the King took it well,
when I told him. He said, "oh, well,
you can't take it with you..".
(meaning the money).

Arts and Crafts show was really nice.
My gal pal and I had a good time, with
the exception of the ticket.

Needless to say, Sunday turn
out a lot better. Cheaper....
and less stress.

Sunday's pictures, are from
the King and I going to Brush
Lake and fishing. 6 wonderful
peaceful hours, most of it to
ourselves, as a few people were
in and out.

Yes, a day of fishing is ALWAYS
good, even if you don't catch fish.
And we caught 7 trout between the
two of us. And 10 pumpkin seed fish,
which turns out to be wormy.. (be
good in the compost pile.)

Yes, life is good in Idaho

Why I Love living in Idaho

On the 13th day of August I post 13 pictures (you might have to click on the left side...August to see them all) of why I love living in Idaho......
A day fishing, is worth so much more than a day in downtown Sandpoint. And cheaper too.


The early morning fog slides across the lake

As the early morning sun comes over the hill 

The view from the shore 

Watch the ducks, while waiting for the wife. 

The fisherman baiting his hook 

With the bushes, it looks like two men's sides. the bushes cover the wo... 

looking to the left 

Across Brush Lake from the dock 

Another couple enjoying the lake with their dog for a lookout for fish 

At the throat of Brush Lake 

Farmer's field and Bonners Ferry Valley in background 

Bonners Ferry Valley 

Elk Farm in Bonner's Ferry 

Day at the Arts and Craft Show in Sandpoint

When does it cost you $25 for parking..for an hour?

See Monday's blog

And the drums and rain sticks..started the music