This and That Thursday

Seems like no single subject is pressing on my publishing button today, so since it's Thursday with a "th" day, a "This and That" heading seems appropriate.

I could talk about the garden, which finally seems to be complete in the outdoor cooker. Just one little patch beneath Manure-pile Row on the west side of the barn still begs for activity.

I thought I'd cut up a bunch of potato sprouts, lay 'em out and cover them with the flakes of ruined hay sitting in the barn. Our tarp in the hayshed leaked in a few spots, so that hay has been sitting there idle and ugly for the past few months.

No reason for moldy hay to go to waste, and I've been told it doesn't take much overhead protection for potatoes to grow. Plus, it will make that area look much better, especially if the potatoes come up.

This: just in, or as he was going out the door. Bill said, "What if I barbecue some chicken breasts tonight?

To which I said, "We're gonna start the barbecue season, huh?" Of course, there was no argument. We've got some gargantuan Foster Farms breasts in the freezer---from Costco, of course.

That: That reminds me that Cassie Tauber on Gold Creek Road is raising fryers and I've ordered about five, supposedly to pick up in late June or July. I've always been told how homegrown chickens are much better than anything you can buy in the store, even from Costco, so I'm anxious to give them a try.

This: Back to the Costco stuff. Bill was in Coeur d'Alene yesterday. The only way I knew he had gone there was by seeing a sack of that kettle corn, from the kettle-corn man outside Sportsman's Warehouse, was sitting on the counter when I returned from my nightly bike ride.

"Oh ya got kettle corn, I said, and it's from Sportsman's Warehouse. Why didn't you tell me you were going to Coeur d'Alene . . . I would have asked you to get me a big block of cheese."

You see, Costco is right across the parking lot from Sportsman's Warehouse. Bill said he was in a state rig with other state workers, and that it wouldn't be ethical to go shopping at Costco.

To which I said, "You bought something to eat while in the state rig . . . what's the difference with buying a block of cheese?" Bill didn't have a lot to say to that query, but he knew I understood his dilemma.

That: That means Willie, if you're reading, I'm gonna give you a Costco list for when you pass through Coeur d'Alene on your way home Monday. Don't worry, I'll reimburse. I sure am in need of Tillamook cheese, so that's a given. Maybe some more of those chicken breasts too, and how about some tri-tips, since Bill's gonna have the grill running.

This: I told Willie that since he has to take week's furlough rather than a pink slip with his newspaper job, he could spend furlough in Sandpoint and I could feed him. Not a bad deal for either of us if you ask me. We're all thankful that he's still employed, unlike a lot of other journalists I know.

That: I saw Dan Wood last night on my bike ride. He's been working long hours trying to get his house up the road ready for occupancy.

Dan and I talked about family, old times and history. He was telling me how, in the past few years, he's learned oodles about his folks and the Wood family's early 1940s move to North Idaho. We both agreed that, as young people, that information kinda rolls right by us cuz we've got so much other stuff on our minds.

He also talked about how he and Terri have boxes of stuff that have moved with them over the years whenever they've taken up a new residence and how some of it might as well be thrown away cuz it's been in boxes through several moves.

When he said he still had something he'd written in third or fourth grade, I said, "Don't ever throw that away. It will mean a lot to your kids and grandkids, etc." He agreed.

That's when I told him the story about my mother mentioning that our real father worked in that huge building we saw along the Chicago River a couple of weeks ago.

Well, later I learned that she really had meant my grandfather. Then, she got to telling stories about our Grandfather Brown and how he came to Spokane to follow an insurance job during the Depression and then died of a massive heart attack while living at the Davenport Hotel.

That story led her to a recollection about my great-uncle George. I met him once, and my memories include visions of Uncle George in his fancy suit and his wife in her mink stoll and our standing out on Boyer just beyond driveway posing for pictures with our great-uncle from Chicago. I was about 4. 5 at the time.

Mother told me last week that he had come out to see about getting two railroad cars full of white pine with no knots. Uncle George was an entrepreneur who started a company called Brown Wood Products, which manufactured small wood items.

After hearing that story, I came home and googled Brown Wood Products (http://www.brownwoodinc.com/) and found that it still exists, with the webpage featuring a little snippet about how our uncle started the company back in 1927.

Seeing that, I wrote an email to the present CEO Terry Gross. He was nice enough to answer and said he wished he knew more about the company's early history, but he also offered to send me copies of documents hanging in the office vestibule, signed by our great-uncle. Of course, I said I'd love to have them.

The other weird aspect of this story is that we could very well have driven past Brown Wood Products because it's located near Wrigley Field, where we did some touring while in Chicago.

So, long story short, one never knows about those things of ours and in our time that we take for granted. Years later, what seems mundane to us will turn into true treasures for those who follow.

That: And, that's enough for today. Have a great Thursday, doing this and that---and them things.