Tobias Carlson reflections

I can remember when he used to sit in the back seat of his sophomore honors English class and lean his long body off to the side so I could see his face whenever he had something to say. He stretched a lot taller even after those days, it seems. I'm guessing he must stand about 6 feet, 6 inches by now---or maybe I've gotten shorter. By any means, I have to look up whenever I run into Toby Carlson these days.

And, it's been a while. I heard from him yesterday, though, when he contributed the following comment on my recent posting about "Developing blues."

Marianne, go down and check out our old lake place in the Moran Addition. Someone bought it for $1.8M, tore down the house, barn and corrals (and tore out the apple trees and the Italian prune tree), and they're building six (6) houses on the property. We rode bikes down there the other day, and they've moved fill around and lopped trees so that even the property contours are unidentifiable.

The only thing that remains the same is the wonderful view of the river, the bridge and the mountain. And I suspect the trains sound the same at night rumbling over the bridge (a few minutes after they've shaken the foundations of Seasons at Sandpoint).

I remember admiring that place, where the Carlson family lived, from the days when I used to go visit the Whittaker family who lived in the same neighborhood. Those were the days when everyone talked about the Whittaker "Mansion" down on the river at the edge of the Moran Addition. At the time, we figured it was biggest house in Sandpoint. A rich Californian had moved here, had bought the Pend Oreille Sport Shop and had hired local contractors to build it. Let's see, could that be the McCormick Bros.?

I wonder how many residents of Sandpoint would know what Toby or I speak of when referrring to the "Moran Addition." The Morans are a longtime family here in Sandpoint. If I remember right from the days of listening to Joy O'Donnell doing her sleuthing down at the museum, one of the Moran ancestors served as chief of police here during the early Twentieth Century. I taught Patty Moran, who was one of his descendants. Seems like her dad worked for the postal service.

I'm bettin' anyone who's moved here in the past twenty years wouldn't know where to go if they were sent sight seeing in that "new" part of town where the "rich" folks lived in their fancy homes. It's located south of the Lutheran Church and west of the museum. At the time, we'd also hear people talk about "Mortgage Hill" out there just east of Dover. A doctor or two lived up there. Now, ya have to drive a bit higher than Mortgage Hill to see its present day counterpart, called Ravenwood.

Anyway, back to Toby. I think I'll be seeing him if his class is having a reunion this summer. Thirty years ago he graduated from SHS and went on to college. I don't know where, but he must've done well enough to become a lawyer. He spent several years in Saudi Arabia before moving back to the United States and eventually settling in Spokane.

Seems like he brought a piece of Hadrian's Wall back with him and showed it to Joy, who'd also taught him English when he was a senior. I also remembering sampling one of his crepes during his entrepreneurial days at Northtown Mall. His wife Tani is part of that McCormick Bros. clan who, I think, built that mansion next to his childhood home. I taught Tani too.

Let's say the brain pool between those two is pretty substantial. Tani earned a degree in English and taught for a number of years on the East Coast. Last I heard (cuz I haven't heard directly from Toby until yesterday), he was serving in the Washington State Attorney General's office in Spokane and making a trip or two up here to the Hope area to enjoy the family houseboat.

Toby's kinda special to me cuz he wrote a testimonial on the back of my second book. I didn't even have to pay him to do it, and it was even very nice. Plus, it's a bit haunting when you think of the Sandpoint that Toby describes in his blog posting as compared with what he described for my book just ten years ago. He was living in Arizona at the time:

"Marianne Love's writing is pure escapism: it allows us to escape for a while from the frenzy, cynicism and noise of the 'modern' world into a slower, richer, funnier and altogether more authentic place. Those of us who were fortunate enough to grow up in Mrs. Love's Idaho are able through her writing to recapture the magic of those days."

I guess after rereading his comments for the first time in a few years, I've come to a couple of conclusions. A lot can happen to a place within a decade. I wonder what we'll be observing ten years from now in our hometown. And, I guess I'd better keep on writing, so we all can continue to escape through our memories of better times in our hometown.

Thanks, Toby, for continued inspiration.