Hot off the presses: The Bee is coming

What's a person to do when the paper boxes are empty in the morning---and, it's already 6:30 a.m. ??? Such a scene sure upsets my apple cart, I'll tell ya! Having no paper to read meant more yakking with Bill this morning.

We talked about the Farmer's Market and how I'm gonna go down there today and scope out the procedures one has to follow should one wish to sell a leaf of lettuce or two. I might even bake some of my Appaloosa cookies (used to be Cedar Post cookies but I deal with a different publication now and those spots seem perfect for the Polka-Dot folks, as my cousin Patti calls 'em.) And, it might be a good idea to take some books to the market.

My premier at the Farmer's Market will come only after thorough study, so today's visit will get the ball rolling. Remind me not to take any money cuz I'm sure those loaves of homemade bread or Bear's Greek pastry will tempt me---and I need to stay away from that stuff. My ultimate goal is to produce garden goodies good enough to sell at the market, and, right now, I've got some Romaine lettuce that might just fit the quality standard.

Back to no newspaper. Well, one did eventually show up here about 6:40. Brandina, the paper deliverer, brought the Spokesman-Review and said the Bee will come later. Seems they installed some new press equipment in Coeur d'Alene, and it just hasn't been working right. So, Brandina, who delivers normally for four hours a day in the rural area north of Sandpoint, will put in eight today, going back to town whenever the Bee shows up and making her run all over again.

So, if you're downright anxious to see what's new on the bypass or which of the three moose who hang around Sandpoint star in the latest portrait while eating potted plants off from someone's deck, you're going to have to wait and watch. Eventually those presses may roll, and eventually the paper will show up. I certainly hope when those presses roll, they figure out how to avoid all those off-register color photos that make folks look like they came from Uranus or New Mexico.

Speaking of newspapers and bloopers, my cousin Rita (she's Rita Waltho, Jr.) wrote to me and told me that over the weekend she read a nice article about my book Lessons with Love: Tales of teaching and learning in a small-town high school. The piece appeared in the Tri-City Herald, which covers Kennewick, Pasco and Richland, Washington.

Rita, who's reading the book, said the article was very complimentary but that I might want to contact the paper if I wanted to sell more than one or two books. She likes the book a lot, but she's not so sure many readers will want to fork over $268 per copy as listed in the newspaper. Now, I don't mind if someone does, but I did tell my publicist Amie Wolf that we might want to take advantage of this opportunity to get more coverage----demand a retraction.

Well, Amie will surely be nicer than that, but she is going to ask if they'll print a correction, stating that the book really sells for $16 plus tax. Hopefully, discerning readers will pick up on that and figure it's a bargain to run right down to their favorite bookstore and grab a copy before the price increases again.

So, that's it for the newspaper front today. I'm figuring it's at least five hours before my "enquiring mind" gets to know what's new in Sandpoint today, according to our local "moosepaper." So, join with me in the window watch, and who knows, maybe while watching for the paper, you'll see a moose, knocking down your garden fence and eating your lettuce.

You can snap a picture and send it directly to the Bee so they can print some "breaking moose."