My classmates gave me a gift certificate at last fall's reunion, and I used it to purchase this apple tree.
Well, actually I picked out another variety, but this one arrived at our pickup. While putting the tree in the ground, we noticed that it was NOT the Gala apple tree I had selected.
But, oh well, Granny Smith would be okay and she would stay.
Anyway, I noticed yesterday that the tree has beautiful blossoms in every place possible.
So, it could be a great apple year, as my big older tree is filled with blossoms also.
First lettuce of the season. I fixed a bag of salad yesterday, and Bill sampled it last night.
He says the lettuce is good.
Lots more where that came from so, for the next several weeks, we'll be saving on some salad items at the grocery store.
YAY!
The area is filled with beautiful blossoms of all colors and varieties.
Wish they could hang around longer.
When you're driving down country roads, you never can predict what you're might see.
Someone had fun putting this ghoulish farm stand together.
I so agree with the letter-to-the-editor below.
The only change I would make is to broaden the message to "'Country' needs . . . . "
Some of the tactics used in this primary election locally clearly demonstrate desperation rather than leadership.
Their campaign efforts are very disturbing.
Same is true at the national level.
I would wager that most of the voters in this country yearn, for a return to what Jeralyn suggests below, regardless of party affiliation.
It's the human being who does the work, not the party. We need reputable and respectful human beings at all levels.
Jeralyn is a former student who rises to the top every time I think of the thousands of wonderful young people whom I was blessed to teach.
I hope voters will follow her guidance with their votes on May 19. She's a topnotch school counselor who knows and demonstrates what's most important.
Community needs leaders who model integrity, respect
In a time when political discourse so often turns negative, it is
refreshing to see candidates who choose a more respectful path.
Chuck
Lowman, Mark Sauter and Jim Woodward are running campaigns focused on
their own ideas, their plans for our community and what they hope to
accomplish, rather than criticizing their opponents.
As a school
counselor, I see every day how important it is to model positive
behavior.
It takes more character and courage to stand on your own
principles than to tear others down.
Unfortunately, negativity is often
the easier route, but it should not be what we reward.
Our community deserves leaders who reflect integrity,
respect and a focus on solutions.
I encourage voters to support
candidates who lead with those values: Chuck Lowman, Mark Sauter and Jim
Woodward.
Jeralyn (Lewis) Mire,
Sagle
With luck, our house will look a lot better by the end of the day.
Roofers are supposed to come this morning to replace the bent-up tin on the deck roof.
The damage resulted from ice dams under the snow a few years ago.
Finally, if they show up as promised, we'll have the fix and I won't have to cringe at that bent metal every time I come in the driveway.
With that job, all the major fix-its are done----until ??
We've been blessed with another gorgeous May day for all to enjoy.
Onward to the sun and blue sky and warmth and spring beauty!
I saw the following question on today's New York Times morning newsletter.
It's definitely one I would never have thought to ask because of no awareness of how the two activities could be related in any way.
Is eating meat as harmful for the environment as using ChatGPT or other A.I. tools? | Emily Osborn | Salt Lake City, Utah
Evan Gorelick, a reporter for The Morning, writes:
This is a little like comparing apples to oranges, so the numbers won’t be perfect. But let me try:
Asking a medium-length question on ChatGPT can use 20 to 30 watt-hours of energy, according to recent estimates. (That’s enough to toast a slice of bread!)
The carbon footprint depends
where the data centers are and where their electricity comes from —
though it’s mostly from fossil fuels, which emit lots of carbon.
Researchers estimate that a chatbot query can emit the equivalent of
between seven and 15 grams of carbon dioxide. Call it 11 grams. So in 30
minutes, you might spew something like 110 grams.
Beef, the most carbon-intensive meat, emits the equivalent of around 6,040 grams of carbon dioxide per serving — a lot more than an A.I. prompt.
But
prompting isn’t the only way A.I. affects the environment. There’s also
the water it drains and the energy that goes into training new models.
OpenAI’s older model consumed about 50 gigawatt-hours during its
training. (That’s enough to toast nearly two billion slices of bread!)
Newer and bigger models could consume significantly more. On a
per-person level, the carbon output is still probably less than cow
farming, but it’s rising quickly.
HMMMM!
Guess I'll pick and choose when to eat meat and how often to use AI from now on.
Right now, AI seems to be less expensive for me than meat.
And, below another item suggests that teachers are now doing their part to limit energy drain from AI and promote more human brain energy.
Seems like a good idea.
~~~~~~
Take-home
writing assignments, once inescapable in your English and history
classes, are on the way out.
It’s too easy for students to cheat with
artificial intelligence.
Chatbots can generate polished essays in
seconds — analyzing Supreme Court cases, parsing symbolism in “The Great
Gatsby,” explaining the science behind the Artemis mission.
But teachers have a fix:
They’re making students write inside
the classroom, where they can be observed. The assignments have changed
too.
Some educators ask students to reflect on their personal reactions
to what they’ve read — the type of writing A.I. struggles to produce.
Will Love, Portland Fire coach Alex Sarama and Debbie Love, this past weekend.
Willie and Debbie made a quick trip to Portland this weekend to observe a practice with the new WNBA team, the Portland Fire.
The team's coach Alex Sarama became their friend after he visited Sandpoint a few years ago to conduct a clinic with the Sandpoint and Lake City High girls baskeball teams.
Alex was named Portland Fire head coach after serving as assistant coach for the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers.
Willie recounts the weekend practice experience in his informative substack.
The woman below is a hoot (look for the video of her cheering her horse on) as well as a talented racehorse trainer.
Her story and her historical achievement were definitely among the many bright spots of the weekend.
It was fun to see her graduate from exuberant and understandable insanity into a state of much-deserved ecstasy as she watched the horse she trained win the Kentucky Derby.
First woman ever to know that feeling.
This year's was an amazing Derby.
Speaking of horses: once again, yesterday, it was the student instructing his teacher.
Monty told me a long-forgotten (in my mind but not his) story during my lesson yesterday.
About 50 years ago, he was riding my sister's Appaloosa mare Sassy and getting red ribbons at a 4-H horse show.
Apparently, I pulled him aside and told him to ride the rail and stay out of the pack, assuring him that he'd do better.
"The next class I won a blue," he said.
It was a monumental moment for him and just another slice of advice in my mind. Lots of tidbits given go under the bridge and are forgotten when one is a teacher.
Such gestures, however, are momentous to young people trying to learn.
Well, the tables have turned.
I'm no longer Monty's 4-H leader or English teacher.
I am now HIS student.
Besides his knack for telling hilarious stories about his years of training and riding horses, Monty shares valuable information with spot-on timing as a riding instructor.
These days, it may not seem a big deal to him or my sister Laurie who has been helping with my regaining confidence on the back of a horse, but the nuggets issued and brief lessons about specific moves on my part while aboard CB are momentous to me.
Those two "coerced" me into loping CB again yesterday.
This time, knowing that last week's session where I loped a horse for the first time in 15 years did not result in death or painful leg muscles, I submitted rather quickly and without protest to the announcement: "now, you are going to lope."
I stayed on that horse through two loping sessions, and, yes, I look like a sack of potatoes with absolutely no finesse, but I stayed on and managed the controls without any disasters.
That is momentous for me, and once again my confidence increased.
It's fun when tables turn and the same respect given you as a teacher is exchanged when that student becomes your teacher.
Plus, I love my horse and especially love what he has learned, thanks to his "teachers" along the way.
I took a trip to The Flower Farm yesterday.
Today a bunch of purty posies will go into their spring, summer and fall homes.
This stretch in May is always one of my favorites every year because of endorphins and flowers and a general feeling of outdoor euphoria.
My sister Laurie has a new set of wheels, and she is beaming.
The Ford diesel has plenty of power for pulling their new horse trailer with living quarters.
So, if all goes right the white truck will pull horses and accommodations to a Moses Lake horse show this next week.
Of course, as is customary, we all inspected the new purchase and were blown away with its features, including steps AND a ladder leading into the pickup bed.
That's my brother Kevin, who helped Laurie decide on the truck.
From my friend Pat Gunter with whom I totally agree about what he has to say in this letter to the editor.
|May 3, 2026 1:00 AM
I am 72 years old and have lived in Bonner County all my
life. I have watched a lot of politicians come and go and I know the
difference between a public servant and a self-promoter.
I have
been a Jim Woodward supporter since he first ran. When I saw the claims
in Herndon’s fundraising letter, postmarked from Virginia, I will be
honest — it gave me pause.
That is not the Jim Woodward I know. So I did
what most people apparently do not do anymore. I picked up the phone
and called Jim.
Jim picked up and we talked through the
claims in the letter. He walked me through Herndon’s claims and set the
record straight.
He was calm and direct and did not raise his voice. He
just explained the facts and let me draw my own conclusions.
That conversation told me everything I needed to know — not just
about the claims, but about the character of the man I have been
supporting.
A few days later the “Official Republican Voter Guide”
arrived in my mailbox. I read it cover to cover. Then I used it to
start a bonfire. It served its highest purpose.
I have seen four
Woodward vs. Herndon campaigns now. Herndon’s tactics do not change.
Jim
Woodward does not change — steady, honest, and willing to pick up the
phone when a 72-year-old constituent has a question.
That is the kind of senator North Idaho deserves to keep.
Vote May 19.
PAT GUNTER
Sagle
The 2026 Derby has come and gone.
Although So Happy did not win, it was neat to see history with the first woman trainer to win a Kentucky Derby.
Now, I'll be pulling for Golden Tempo to win The Preakness.
I loved seeing the museum history note (below) in today's Daily Bee. Lots of treasured memories associated with our trips to Wenatchee.
We looked forward to and loved experience. One year, we hired tour buses and stayed overnight in Salmon Arm, British Columbia, on our way to Wenatchee.
We chose Salmon Arm because Dean Fredlund, who had taught biology at Sandpoint High School, had moved to Salmon Arm.
He helped with the coordination, and after staying overnight with families, the students performed for the Salmon Arm student body.
Today's note featured the year before our son Willie was born, so I can remember confidently that we bedded down on a gym floor in one of the Wenatchee schools.
I say "bedded down" because I don't remember sleeping. When you're the adviser keeping track of students on an overnight trip, you don't get much sleep.
In this case, I think it was more the hard floor than the kids that kept me awake.
The next year, when it came time for the trip, Willie was just a month old. He went along on the bus with 40 Ponderettes who passed him from seat to seat on the bus and doted on him the entire trip.
As I recall, someone even gave him a sucker, which wasn't exactly the best for a month old child, but he survived.
Bill followed the bus in the car so we had a hotel room while some friends took overnight chaperoning duties.
By the time we arrived in Wenatchee (about a five-six hour trip), Willie had had enough. He screamed and screamed, enough so that I had to take him outside while everyone else was having dinner.
I don't think Willie remembers the experience, but I do.
Nowadays, as a coach, Willie endures similar bus trips with his teams. He gained his yellow school bus experience very early on, so he's up for the trips.
from the Bonner County Daily Bee:
BAND, DRILL TEAM TO BE IN PARADE
About 90 SHS students will travel to Wenatchee, Wash. for the annual Apple Blossom Festival.
The SHS Ponderettes Drill Team, led by captains Sue Self and Marla Spielman, will wear uniforms promoting the parade’s Bicentennial theme.
Providing the music for the Ponderettes will be the 60-member German-clad Bulldog band in their green lederhosen, white shirts, suspenders and Tyrolian hats, led by drum major Rick Franck.
Junior Miss Cheryl Wooden and princesses Karen Holm and Mindi McCormick will grace the Sandpoint Community Float, which has a showboat theme.
Above: some of the seven "Sisters" in the Selkirk Mountain Range.
Bill, the dogs and I decided that last night was a perfect occasion to take our annual evening driving up Pack River in the Caribou Creek drainage.
It was the earliest trip we've taken up that way, so no wild flowers except for some trilium.
Sadly, no sightings of the usual snowshoe hare running and hopping about on the road. Same was true with the mosquitoes, so that was a plus.
When we set off with the dogs on a walk in an area that offers views of the Selkirk Mountains, we met Cody.
A few sentences later, I was telling Cody that I had taught both his mom and dad, Chenoa and Brian, at Sandpoint High School.
Cody is a senior at Priest River High School. He appears to be a very self-directed and mature.
I told Bill he seemed like 18 going on 25.
We enjoyed our brief visit and then Cody, who seems to know the Bonner County back country very well, went on his way.
