Xtreme Thursday

Since everything in Sandpoint is extreme this week, I'll jump on the band wagon and say my day ahead is definitely Xtreme. I've gotta hurry through this morning's posting because of a Historical Society meeting at 8 a.m. Then, I'll probably go visit the Xtreme home site again and take a few more of my share of the gazillion photos that must have been snapped up there this week.

I did spot one of the stars yesterday. He's the tall, good-looking one. I don't even know his name, but he seemed friendly enough as he waved to the crowd while they were setting up a quick shoot in front of the home.

I almost got run over by that big front-end loader in one of the pictures I've posted. The operator must've known the fence was there, but he was moving quickly and using every possible inch of space inside it. Suddenly, I was looking straight on at the rear end of the front ender and making a quick decision to step back a bit.

People are surprised when I tell them I thought I might have seen Ty Pennington in the tree-limbing bucket the other day, but that I wasn't sure. I don't go up there for star gazing; instead, I get my kicks from meeting other spectators and hearing their stories. Yesterday didn't disappoint. I met K.C. Potter and her daughter who live east of Clark Fork. They've been driving into town to document all this action.

K.C. and I really hit it off when I asked if she knew my friend Myra Lewis. Sure enough, she rides horses with Myra, who's one of the most down-to-earth, true-blue friends a person could have. After talking horses, we agreed to get together sometime for lunch with Myra.

The nice man with the saddle shoes wore boots over his shoes yesterday. Lots of mud to trudge through. He's just as friendly as ever while picking up and cleaning up the area between front-end loader runs. He's also getting pretty hoarse after three days of chatting with so many gawkers on the other side of the fence.

The crowd is starting to become more cosmopolitan and eclectic as the week wears on. A man from Post Falls rode with us yesterday. He'd pulled his kids out of school to see the action. When we arrived back at the LP lot, another bus was packed with senior citizens and moms with more kids.

Meanwhile, on the home front out here, I attended the Urban Renewal meeting last night, where the City Council held its first hearing on passage of the ordinance to create two impact districts in Sandpoint. Most people at last night's meeting spoke in favor of it, while a few said they'd like to see the City wait and study the issue more thoroughly. The first reading of both districts passed by a vote of 3-2. The Council comes together again Nov. 30 for the next reading.

Bill gave an impassioned speech to the Council about this being our longtime, much-loved home and hoping the Council will look kindly on us as non-profit residents just wanting to live our lives without facing the threat of an added LID (Local Improvement District) tax. We've been assured through emails and verbal responses to this concern at last night's taped meeting that the City is not really looking at imposing LIDs as an financing option---yet. We'll not sit back in comfort, but it is reassuring to hear this claim repeated and repeated often.

Gotta go feed those horses and get to that meeting. Hope everyone has an EXTREMELY wonderful day.