I had an opportunity to show off a bit yesterday. Well, I wasn't showing off myself. I was showing off a segment of the wonderful life I live and the people with whom I interact. This show-off time started and ended at the county fairgrounds. It included drives through my old neighborhood and my new neighborhood, followed by dinner at Slate's.
My guest yesterday hails from New York City. He's a young man who showed up at my Hastings book event in Coeur d'Alene last month. At the time, I thought he was a high school student who had accidentally stumbled in and figured he ought to stay. Later, I learned he was actually 29 and that his visit to the reading was deliberate. I also began to learn a little about this amazing individual, schooled with wonderful manners and blessed with a warm, friendly, engaging personality.
Rich Benjamin should formally be known as Dr. Richard Benjamin, senior fellow at Demos, a New York-based think tank. Rich Benjamin, though, seems perfectly comfortable hanging out with the crowd in cargo pants, tenny runners, polo shirt, and baseball cap, toting along a digital camera and doing a lot of focused listening. Rich got an earful and then some while hanging out with me at the fair.
"Those rich buzzards have come here and raised our taxes," one elderly local told him, while another just kept repeating to any of the hordes of newcomers who keep populating up the place to "Go away, go away!" Though he didn't jot down details, Rich remembered virtually all he heard yesterday. His listening skills and ability to digest specific information is nothing short of phenomenal. I know cuz I quizzed him from time to time. He's also done some pretty thorough homework on the area.
His visit yesterday mirrors many other encounters he's had while temporarily living in North Idaho to study the effects of migration from big cities to some carefully-plotted boom/dream centers across the country. Previous to North Idaho, Rich visited St. George, Utah. He's not sure where the third area will be but will decide after returning to his office in New York. All this information will turn into the text for a book about the migrational phenomena and how they're affecting each area.
My day spent with Rich was invigorating, mainly because I detected a genuine, sincere interest in his quest to learn about our area and its people. And, as the people, like Sen. George Eskridge and Jim Thompson, talked, Rich listened, gaining distinct and unfiltered impressions of each individual's general concerns. He also observed and collected a lot of photographs with that digital camera. He met Todd Book, who suffered a brain injury in a car accident more than 20 years ago. Rich listened as Todd proudly told me that he's now an assistant cubmaster, teaching young boys about using a compass and tying knots.
Rich met Carole and Amy at Keokee Books. He met Osazee (sp) a 12-year-old budding author who, I might say, has a gift. When I get her name spelled right, I'll tell you more about the novel she's writing. She, by the way, is Kiersten Nordgaarden's daughter, Glen and Ruthann's granddaughter. She also won a championship with her sheep. Rich had his picture taken with the sheep. He had his picture taken with Todd.
Later, when he met Lefty and Dusty, he handed the camera to my sister Laurie for another picture with the two babies. He scanned my mother's paintings hanging around her house and told her he liked the seascape with the two men and the boat best. She told him those two men were the most important men in her life, her husband and her brother. He also told me later that my mother looks and acts like a pretty young 86-year-old.
We moved on to the Lovestead, where Kiwi and Annie greeted this dog lover who says if people don't like dogs, he doesn't care to be around them. Bill and Rich connected immediately, and, of course, Bill took him to the Lodgepole tree to sign the log. Rich took a final photo of Bill and me in one of the pastures with Lily and the house in the background. Then, we went to Slate's and talked more.
We dropped him off at his car in the fairgrounds parking lot, hating to say good bye. Bill and I both agreed we'd met someone very special. We had a chance to show off what means so much to us and to our many friends, and I have a feeling Rich went home, feeling a bit of that same passion he saw throughout the day.
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