Eastern tree huggers, ham and cyber twists

Cyberspace caused this. First, came the UPS delivery of Harrison's Vermont meats. Then came note from a friend in Virginia. The gift pack of smoked turkey, cob bacon, smoked ham and sharp cheddar cheese came from my friend Hallie and her forester husband Thom. The note came from my forester friend Pete, who signed off on his career outside of Washington, D.C.

We enjoyed hot ham/cheese and turkey sandwiches last night. My forester husband Bill instructed me to tell Hallie there's nothing beats a smoked ham. He could eat it three times a day; so far he's keeping up that record. More ham for breakfast. More ham for lunch. Apparently, the gift pack came from down the road where Hallie lives.

While he was enjoying his ham sandwich, I announced a bizarre revelation I'd learned from my friend Pete in Virginia. While telling me that he and his wife Gerry would soon be heading West, along with birds, cat, dogs and 30-year-old pony, to live on their North Idaho acreage, Pete told me he'd been surprised to learn from one of my blogs that we share the same birthday: June 25, 1947. I was amazed. Almost 60 years, and I'd never met anyone who shared my exact birthday.

Bill wasn't too amazed.

"My sister and I have the same birthday," he said while munching on his sandwich. I told him being a twin didn't count.

Anyway, I blamed these occurrences on cyberspace. Here's the deal.

A few years ago I received a nice letter from a man named Pete Waas in Virginia. He had seen my books advertised on Sandpoint Online. His wife had grown up on a farm, had been a 4-H member and had continued a lifetime of loving animals.

They had visited Sandpoint and had purchased 20 acres near the Hickey farm at Oden. Pete also told me he was a forester. He ordered my books, and we kept in touch. The next time he came to Sandpoint with Gerri, we met for dinner with our friends, the Iversons. Terry Iverson had agreed to build a cabin for the Waases on their property.

I figured Bill would enjoy this meeting as much as I. After all, Pete was a forester and his wife was a farmgirl and horse lover. Since then, we've kept in touch as Pete and Gerri have waited for the day when they could leave Virginia and live out the rest of their lives in God's Country. That is now happening, and I can't help but think it strange to learn, after all these years, of our birthday connection.

Now, to the ham from Vermont.

I connected with Hallie McEvoy several years ago while doing a story for the Appaloosa Journal about equine careers. After interviewing her (she's an equine journalist), I learned that her husband Thom was a forester who teaches at the University of Vermont. We've kept in touch over the years. I even persuaded one of my students Bryant Jones to go meet Thom while he (Bryant) was a student at the University of Vermont.

This past summer, the Society of American Foresters invited Thom to come and speak at their regional gathering in Colville. Hallie decided to come along. Bill went to the gathering and met the McEvoys. They later came to Sandpoint and stayed over with us as we showed them some of the beauty of the area. We all clicked. Hallie and I talked horses. Thom and Bill talked trees. In fact, Thom went back to Vermont, sure to tell his colleagues about that virgin timber he saw at the Ross Creek Cedars near Montana's Bull River.

Cyberspace did it. We're enjoying bacon, ham, turkey and cheese from Vermont. And, I'm enjoying the fact that I now know another Cancer from Virginia (soon to be from Idaho) who's celebrated a birthday on June 25th every year since 1947. And, mixed in, there's a little forestry and plenty of horsin' around.