Hello, May

 

It's a beautiful May Day with hardly a cloud in the sky and the sun coming up over the Cabinet Mountains. 

Patrick helped me with the new deck shrubs I which I purchased at Home Depot yesterday. 

While accompanying me to the pickup to load the shrubs, he told me that he found Sandpoint while on a road trip from his native Massachusetts. 

He wants to explore more of the area before putting down roots somewhere, but he really likes Montana. 

Johnathan fixed our roof. 

During the three or four hours he was here, I learned that he has horses and has done some back country trail riding with mules. 

He also does some mountain biking. 

Tony, the mechanical wizard, came by after 6 p.m. last night to fix the belt on our Husqvarna lawnmower. 

He also took the damaged front tire from the Toro with him to see if he could find a replacement.  

It was a great day for getting stuff done and fixed yesterday.  Thanks to these individuals who are good at what they do, I can get more stuff done. 

Our roof and ceiling damage from the December wind storm is now fully repair inside and out. 

We hope there are no more wind storms before the dead poplars south of the house are removed in July. 

There's one more repair job to be done on the deck roof.  That may happen today or early next week, according to Tyler who will be doing that job.

The plants that Patrick loaded in the pickup yesterday are now in the ground and hopefully ready to thrive for a long time. 

And, today I'll be on those lawnmower again for my second session of the week.  

Grass and dandelions are having growth spurts with this warmer weather, so I've gotta stay ahead of the game. 

This morning, however, I have to get out of here. 

Bill is participating in an oral history interview for the local library. 

The histories are part of the 250th celebration of the "Declaration of Independence."

I did mine last Friday.  We both agreed that it's best for the spouse to go away during these interviews---as a matter of efficiency. 

So, I'll do my part while he tells his life story. 

Speaking of that 250th year of American Independence, here's an announcement from Sandpoint High grad Luke Mayville whose work is featured in a new book. 

From Luke:   New book alert: In honor of America 250, I contributed an essay to a new book on the political thought of Thomas Jefferson and John Adams:

“Beginning with an introduction by Gordon Wood, this masterful volume includes essays by Luke Mayville, Vincent Phillip Muñoz, Peter Onuf, Richard A. Ryerson, Darren Staloff, Brian Steele, George Thomas, Bradley Thompson, Lee Ward, and Jean Yarbrough. 

The book concludes with a three-act play about the Adams-Jefferson relationship coauthored by Michael Zuckert.”

You can pre-order the book here:

https://www.amazon.com/Jefferson.../dp/0700642706...

~🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮🕮~

Congratulations to you, Luke.  

And, Happy Friday to all. 

This sculpture greeted me in the hallway of the Riverside Building after my hair appointment yesterday. 

Roofer Johnathan Holdeman from North Idaho Flood and Fire. 

This is the first year in 20 that I've seen asparagus spears jetting out of the ground.  

Seems like most natural growth is early this year.

 

Bees, Blossoms; TBT

 

I walked past our huge service berry bush yesterday and heard noise.  Twasn't the robins or the juncos or the finches or any other bird. 

It was a loud chorus of buzzing among the thousands of white blossoms that have burst from buds in the past couple of days. 

I yelled out with glee, "The bees are back." 

They spent the afternoon bouncing from blossom to blossom doing what bees do in the spring. 

In several weeks the tree will be loaded with berries and birds pecking away at the fruit. 

Later, I walked around the young fruit trees in the north lawn.  The bees had not yet arrived there, but one discovery had me almost over the top. 

It's that pink blossom you can see in the photo below. This is our 20th year here at the Lovestead and that plum tree has never blossomed. 

This year is a first, and even if only one plum evolves from that blossom, I'll be thrilled. 

I wondered when Annie gave me the new plum tree last year if the old one would get the idea and start bearing fruit. 

Stay tuned, as we did have some frost last night, and I won't know for a while. 

For now, however, I'm lovin' the bees and the blossoms. 

We are thinking today that at least one roofer may come and do some repairs on our roof. The other said he may be here later in the week, but wasn't sure. 

Still, we've waited a LONG time for that roof action.  Bill and I were noting that a trifecta of professionals would be nice.  

The belt came off the Husqvarna zero turn mower the other day and one tire on the Toro has gone down.  Tony said he'd be coming by today, so if he does and if the both roofers come, two roofers and one lawnmower wizard equals some happy Love's. 

Looks like a beautiful day ahead.  Wishing everyone a happy Thursday.  Enjoy the photos and the TBT's and, of course, the music to go with them. 

Thursday Throwbacks:  images from special moments of yesteryear.  Enjoy. 

A Sad TBT, below

Ray had no idea that I took this and a few other photos of him one day a few years back. 

I think I yelled at him while snapping photos from my car, but he had become hard of hearing, so I just moved on. 

Ray passed away a few days ago. He was a friend and a colleague at Sandpoint High School for several decades. 

Over the years we had lots of interactions, all good. Lo and behold, we even named our daughters (who are the same age) Ann Elizabeth.  The two have remained good friends throughout their lifetime. 

Ray served on the City Council and later as mayor of Sandpoint. 

He and his two brothers Bill and Larry (both longtime local educators) also packed some pistols as part of their leisure-time activities.

I wrote a story for Sandpoint Magazine (below) about them and even followed them out to Spirit Lake one day to take their photo (below). 

That time they knew their picture was being taken. It was a fun gig.  

Sadly, Ray was the youngest and the last of the Miller brothers who have all left us within the past two years. 

They are all gone but memories of what they did as educators, leaders and fun-loving locals will hang around for a long time. 

RIP:  Ray.