Friday, March 28, 2008

Yes, ICAN -- No: NICAN

I must still be in that dream. The sun is shining, and the Bypass is on again. Tomorrow, the next chapter could be more snow but no bypass, so I'm gonna enjoy this while ICAN. After all, we're in the instant news era, and things can change fast; it just always tends to be the same ol' story with the never-ending plot lines.

Yesterday, a Federal judge ruled against the group called NICAN who have worked hard for years to stop the Bypass around Sandpoint. I'm happy but cautious in my glee. Could it be that more than 50 years of wrangling over how to alleviate traffic congestion in downtown Sandpoint has finally reached closure?

I don't think we want "closure" cuz the traffic could still get snarled up, so I won't use that word. Instead, I'll ask, "Could it be that the fight is over? Will the bypass aka byway proponents raise their hands in victory, or will there be overtime?" We have no crystal balls, so we'll have to just wait and see.

As for the sun, I do know that it's showing its face today as just a ploy to make us think the winter will finally end. But we all read the newspapers and listen to the weather reports and hear from folks on the West side of the mountains who are seeing snow fall all over their spring flowers. At least they have spring flowers!

We also hear about the extension of the deadline for removing studded tires in both Washington and Oregon. And, we know the fight with winter over in these parts has at least one more round to go. When they say to expect at least two inches tomorrow in Spokane, that translates into about six here in the snow belt.

But, I'll have some distractions from my eternal loathing of this uncooperative weather. Tonight Annie comes home, and Sunday afternoon we'll see Willie. The Love family will have a few hours to enjoy "family bonding," as we've called it for years. I think Annie coined the term in reference to those occasions the four of us could spend together as a mom, dad, son and daughter.

We might go to Farragut Sunday afternoon. We picked Farragut a couple of weeks ago because we thought surely there would be no snow there, and we could enjoy some time outside. If we go, it may involve snowshoes rather than bicycles and frisbees.

Whatever the situation, we'll make the most of it as we start off "Birthday Week." Tomorrow: Kevin's; the 30th, our cousin Jim's; the 31st Chad's (he's almost like family to me---gosh, Chad, howz it feel to turn 31 on March 31?), April 1, Willie's; April 2, Bill and Margaret's; April 7, Laurie's; April 9 the triplets, and we always remember our dad on April 12.

Thinking about all those occasions always has a spring touch to it. Maybe we can just "will" the weather to finally change. Speaking of which, I'm changing the subject to pontoons.

Yesterday, I went to Sandpoint Outfitters to talk to "Pontoon" Tom Anderson. He's one of the grand poopahs of the local pontoon crowd; in fact, I interviewed him for my Sandpoint Magazine story about pontoons and he gave me some good stuff about all the places he takes his custom-made fishing boat for fly fishing.

Anyway, while we were talking, he told me I could win a fly rod if I just went to (www.sandpointoutfitters.com) and signed up, I could win a $225 Sage, 9 foot long, 7 wt. fly rod on June 30. So, I did that this morning. The site is beautifully done, and the home page features a gorgeous photo of the lake and Schweitzer---looks like it's been taken from Gold Hill.

Tom said the fly rod contest is designed to get folks to the website which tells all about their fly tying and fly fishing classes. So, if you want to see some nice scenery and you like fish photos, check out their site, and sign up for the contest. It's worth the trip. Besides, I'm sure Tom will be happy to send that rod anywhere in the world as well as their merchandise.

Well, with all this talk about fishing and pontoons, I've actually forgotten about snow for a few minutes, but I haven't forgotten about the bypass.

It just puts me in a good mood, knowing that a single bypass around Sandpoint some day could do wonders in relieving many of our blood pressure problems. And, the medical insurance companies will be happy about that.


Yeah, Judge! Yes, ICAN!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

ITD will soon be putting out bids and the work will soon start; hopefully this will be the beginning. Bonners Ferry, Wallace, Coeur d'Alene, to mention a few, all have 'bypasses' so to speak. The core areas of these cities are vibrant, full of people, seemly content that traffic and noise are a piece of the past. No longer will a cattle truck stop at a stoplight while tourists shop or try to cross the street. NICAN, I'm glad you lost. Get over it - try to make Sandpoint a better place to live rather than fight progress when progess is right.