Good bye, Politics; Hello, Pumpkins and Huckleberries

My candidate won.  I'm ecstatic!  Period.  Or, should I say "Exclamation mark"?

Idaho voters defeated education Propositions 1, 2, and 3.

I'm ecstatic!  Exclamation mark.

Now, it's time to move on, and my pumpkins are calling.

I hauled a few to the storage shed the other day.  

Probably won't use them all, so if someone's desperate for a pumpkin to make the "Best Damn Pumpkin Dessert, Period"---or should that be an exclamation mark?---I'll be glad to hand out a few---first-come, first serve.

Send me a note or give me a call.  I AM answering the phone again, starting today. 

Today I'll also start with one of Bill's small branch-cutting saws, sectioning off a few pumpkin chunks to bake in the oven.

I'll probably follow that routine for a couple of days AND get started with the pumpkin-bread baking routine.

Can't wait to walk in the house to pumpkin aroma.

Maybe I'll have some bread to share this Friday night when we family members get together to watch the Gonzaga men's season opener.

How fast the pages turn, and thankfully so!  

A good NCAA basketball season will be a nice change from the past several weeks. 

In the next day or so, I also have to plunge in to preparing a short presentation at Southside School Nov. 15.  It's part of Literacy week, and I'm supposed to read to the students. 

Don't know if I'll have wear a Dr. Seuss hat, but I do know that the presentation will include a few excepts from my books and maybe even an unpublished story I wrote a few years ago called "Huckleberry Sundays." 

After all, Southside students lobbied the Idaho Legislature a few years ago to name the huckleberry as Idaho's official state fruit.

I'll end today's post with a nice story, written for the Bonner County Daily Bee, about these students' efforts.  Good things do happen in politics.

Have a nice Wednesday.  IZ there a "Best Damn Huckleberry Dessert, Period"?

Boise Idaho-Senate unanimously picks huckleberry bill for passage  By: DAVID GOINS - Political correspondent 3/25/2000 BOISE - A legislative proposal to pick the huckleberry as Idaho's state fruit is no joke, Sen. Clyde Boatright, R-Rathdrum, told his Senate colleagues on Friday. Huckleberries are the staple for a serious business in the Gem State, Boatright said during a debate. To lawmakers who may have thought otherwise, Boatright called the huckleberry matter "not frivolous," and supported that statement by reading a letter from Dr. Danny L. Barney of the University of Idaho's Cooperative (agricultural) Extension office in Sandpoint. The huckleberry industry in Idaho annually generates millions of dollars in sales, Barney said, adding that exact sales numbers are unavailable. "This is probably an underestimate since there is no formal means of collecting data," Barney wrote. "In recent years, commercial demand for the berries has outstripped supply, sending processors' prices in excess of $30 per gallon." All 35 senators voted to send back to the House an amended version of the legislation, originally the idea of a group of fourth and fifth graders at Southside Elementary School in Bonner County. The late Jim Stoicheff - a Democratic lawmaker from Sandpoint - was the principal at Southside Elementary at one time.   The technical amendment to House Bill 566 entirely deletes the scientific name of the huckleberry that grows in some areas of Idaho. During a recent hearing, Sen. Jim Risch, R-Boise, pointed out that the scientific name for Idaho's brand of huckleberry is actually Vaccinium instead of Gaylussacia - as it was labeled in the original bill. For HB566 to become law, the House would have to concur with the amendment. Then the legislation must be signed or allowed to pass into law by Gov. Dirk Kempthorne.  The House approved HB566 on a 48-19 March 1 vote. Via telephone speaker connection, students at Cocolalla's Southside Elementary listened to the Friday Senate huckleberry bill debate, Boatright said. Boatright later talked to Southside Elementary teacher Rick Price about the students' reaction. "He said that, golly, the kids were just jumping up and down all over the school," Boatright said. "They were very happy." During debate, Sen. Jack Riggs, R-Coeur d'Alene, said he had hoped that huckleberry samples would have been made available to legislators. Boatright responded, "Senator, we did try to get some huckleberry ice cream for the lunchroom, but they're just not in season right now."