Road block and new kids

Longtime horse shoer John Fuller told the mail lady, who was taking a detour around the Forest Siding Loop, to tell Marianne he'd be there soon to take care of the horses' feet. Taylors' cows had never seen anything like it. They watched the whole show, running alongside, lining up en masse, mooing a lot.

The tow truck driver from Clyde's towing had been working since 1 a.m. except for a couple of hours when he took some Zee's. One guy had to keep climbing up on the roof with his chainsaw to remove prominent tree limbs. I took lots of photos.

Jim Wood said it needed a little work, while following along slowly in his car with wife Virginia and two of the Wood great-grandkids. By the time John Fuller arrived, I'd gotten his message and my horses were racing around their pasture---tails in the air---snorting and wondering, "What the heck---?"

We had an event here yesterday, and it pumped some adrenalin. Plus, we learned that soon we'll no longer be the New Kids on The Block along South Center Valley Road.

A house came by.

Slowly.

Houses don't move too fast when they're sitting on the back of a truck, especially houses all in one piece, save for the plumbing, the furniture and a few other essentials. I knew this house, had even stood inside it one day while visiting with the Foord family on Schweitzer Cut-off Road behind the LDS church.

I may set foot inside this house in the coming months to welcome Dan and Terri Wood to the neighborhood, cuz it's on their land that the house now sits. Last I saw, it was going to have a backdrop of Cottonwood trees running along a small creek. Nice setting.

Dan is one of the five Wood children, whose parents are Jim and Virginia. I watched Dan grow up through the 4-H program, and he was always good with a horse. His wife Terri (Johnson) was a student in my very first English class when I started my career at Sandpoint High School. Terri was good with knowledge and always a star student in first period sophomore English.

They moved away several years ago and lived in Central Washington, where they managed restaurants. A few years ago, they came home. Terri works down at the Lutheran Church, and the last I heard Dan was working with horses.

They'll be living behind Terri's brother Mark (our preferred excavator man) and his lovely wife Janice ( a former Ponderette). It will be nice to have these new old kids on the block. Well, they AREN'T old, but they've got roots that run deep here in Sandpoint, so it will be like welcoming them home.

I thoroughly enjoyed snapping photos and watching that house move ever so slowly to the tune of mooing Taylor cows, all the time thinking, there are good times ahead with these new neighbors.

On another note today, I want to again remind the locals that there should be some fun tonight down at Vanderford's. Sandy Compton, Patrick F. McManus, Boots Reynolds and I will be autographing books from 6-8 p.m. This is Boots and his wife Becky's wedding anniversary, and, as promised before, I have a special gift for them which I plan to present at the signing.

So, come on down for the fun, and do buy a book or two, cuz with Pat losing his forever gig at Outdoor Life magazine and my losing my longtime gig at the Appaloosa Journal (thanks to the economy), we should qualify as starving authors, right? Remember: in this economy the gift of a book is both inexpensive and long lasting.

Hope to see you there!!!