It's bullet day again. That means I give myself a break from sticking to one topic. It's kind of fun to touch briefly on several subjects from time to time. So, here goes:
- Bill's working today. He's one of the instructors for a tree-pruning/thinning work shop at the Federal Building and later at Round Lake State Park. He says 45 people signed up so it sounds like there might be a lot of pruning and thinning happening among the forest lots around the area.
- The Sandpoint High School alumni site list is now up to 197. Maybe it will surpass 200 today. I saw Becky Kiebert and Tracey Albertson Roos yesterday, and they planned to spread the word among their families. Full participation from either would add significantly to the list. Also, saw Judy Lines Farmin and Nellie Garrison at the museum They promised to sign up. If Nellie does, she'll break the record for the oldest alum on the list. She graduated from Sandpoint High School in 1946, and she's looking forward to her class's 60th reunion in September.
- We enjoyed our visit to Costco. I noticed a relative calmness there last night. On our past trips there the place has been buzzing, but the crowds just weren't there. Could be that the free hand-out carts were pretty limited, probably in anticipation of a big day today. Bill did his usual looking at things----digital cameras, two-way radios, but we kept our purchases to food and those eye glasses. Turns out they're three for $17, but that still beats Wal-Mart. I received a suggestion to go across the street to the Dollar Store, but we decided to stick to Costco where the quality might be a tad higher. Thank you, though.
- We ate at Moon Time on Sherman Avenue, and, of course, we sat down and immediately spotted a familiar face. Jack Lewis, son of Dave and Mardette, grew up here in the neighborhood, and he served on my Monticola staff back in the '70s. He was there having dinner with his son. Also saw another former student, Naomi Hellen and a former colleague, Carol McPhee. She used to be a Clark Fork Gunderson, and she's taught high school English forever. Definitely no getting away from the locals if you travel anywhere in North Idaho, it seems.
- I might pick lettuce, radishes and spinach from my garden today. These veggies have been ready to pick for about three days now, but I didn't want to sink to China while picking. Actually, two days ago I nearly had a floating vegetable garden. Fortunately, the plants remained rooted, and it's going to be nice to have fresh salads for the rest of the summer. I'll probably have the seed packets ready to go the instant we set foot on the new place so we can have a continuous supply of salad makings. Speaking of which, it's going to be interesting moving my four tomato plants. They're blossoming, and they stand at least four feet now in their big black pot. Gonna have to be tender loving tomato care when they get moved to Selle.
- We received our slick 4-color Tomlinson-Black Real Estate Catalog with today's paper. I noticed a changing trend from the past few catalogs: more million dollar-plus homes and acreages but lower prices on the lower end. Maybe a few regular folks can afford a home here now.
- Speaking of that catalog, there's sadness associated with it. Justin Caswell's photo still appears among the realtors, right next to his mom Mickie. Justin died last week at 24. He was the second young person in our neighborhood to die within a few days. The other was Kip Smith, who was one of Bill's Boy Scouts. Justin and Kip grew up about half a mile from each other. Justin was one of my students and a phenomenal young man. Hearing of his death so soon after Kip's was just about too much to take, especially because I so admired him as a polite, intelligent, engaged and mature young adult. Every time I'd see either of these guys around town, they always flashed big smiles and generous hellos. They both left their positive marks on this community. Both left us much too soon.
- I'll probably pack a few more boxes today and do some refrigerator cleaning, especially the freezer. Since we're leaving all our appliances except the freezer, all that stuff has to look pretty decent when we get out of here, so there's no rest for this wicked soul.
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