Friday, April 28, 2017

Hot 'n Flashies on a Rainy Day




Blah, blah, blah #^$**&@?? rain, blah, blah, blah more ^#@>??!%* rain. 

Okay, I have that discussion out of the way.  I know that some readers have heard enough, so let me attempt to stick with the bright spots in yesterday's $#@@#$?><&& rainy day.  

Good news from yesterday.  

* Last year's oregano stems have all been pruned back.  Lots of oregano stems here at the Lovestead, so that's an accomplishment.  Such a project can be done in the drizzle. 

* Horse trailer----from the last time I used it in July----cleaned out.  It sat in the same spot with a pile of horse apples and a bag of hay from last July 27 when my sisters, my brother and some family friends rode the trails at the Wyman property at Naples. 

Seems I didn't get a lot of horseback riding done after that, and I'm sure I forgot about that pile at the time, figuring I'd be using the horse trailer again soon.  Have I ever mentioned that during the month when I do the most riding--October---it rained every day??

More than likely I've brought that up at time or two.

Okay back to the good stuff. 

I bought a new weed eater at South Fork Hardware, formerly Merwins.  I bought the weed eater from the same person who sold me my last weed eater at formerly Merwins.  That would be Ray Yaw, Jr.  

Most folks who've lived in Sandpoint for 70-plus years probably haven't known a time when a Yaw wasn't working at formerly Merwins, now South Fork Hardware.  I taught Ray as a sophomore English student way back when.  

I also taught his son Doug and his daughter Tammi way back a little sooner. Ray's wife Terri is gonna have to remind me if I taught her.  It's possible. She's a Bergstrom, for all who know local genealogy.

Ray told me yesterday that even when he retires, he'll probably still work part-time at the hardware store. 

Back to the weed eater.  He sold me a Poulin a few years back, and it's been the best and most cooperative weed eater I can ever remember.  And, I've owned a LOT of weed eaters. It's time for a new model.  

Ray assures me that my newest weed eater does not involve wrapping a bunch of string around a spool only to have it get loose and fly all over the place.  With this newer model, I'll just use short strands of string, and when they get down to the bud, simply pull 'em out and thread in a new one.

As I walked out of the store and was crossing the street with weed eater in hand, I stopped for a pickup coming my way.  The driver motioned me on across the street and then parked.  Turned out it was Grant Merwin of the "formerly Merwin's."  

Like Ray, Grant is also a former student.  He's now working in yard maintenance.  Did Grant have some grousing and moaning to do?  Yup, he did, and as he reviewed all the days he'd gotten up, ready for spring yard work only to look out the window at more rain, he has said a word or two that may have been frowned upon in Mrs. Love's senior English class.

Yesterday, however, Grant and I were on the same plain (that one in Spain, ya know) where cuss words referring to continual rain, rain, rain were deemed acceptable by both parties. 

Think of the farmers, I said to Grant, even through my empathy.  

Well, Grant knew of a few fields out south of town with downward slopes where the rain could flow to one spot instead of standing (water) all over the field.  He thought some of those farmers might have gotten some work done.

Anyway, we talked weed eaters and then went our separate ways. 

As I drove home, another collection of dark rain clouds was coming over and shielding off part of the mountains.  I remembered that Bill had said he was going to try to hike up part of the Mickinnick Trail, and I wondered how successful he had been. 

Seeing those clouds, I figured Starbucks looked as good as any place while they moved over and dropped their contents.  So, I bought a cup of coffee and one of their toffee doodle cookies (very good) and sat back checking out my favorite Internet stops. 

Later, when I arrived home, Bill was in the living room.  No, he hadn't even tried Mickinnick cuz of that black cloud hovering directly over Greenhorn Mountain. 

So, I told him the tales of wet woe for the day and then went outside to the shop to cut up pieces of weed eater string----all in hopes, that is, that some day I might use that new weed eater. 

Later, I went for a walk and caught a nice rainbow adding a neat touch to my favorite tree scene in Taylor's field.  The Meserve Preserve, including their historic barn,  provided me a few more cool shots. 

Just as I arrived at the driveway, the 15-minute rain break had ended, so I hot-footed it to the house where Bill met me in the kitchen and asked, "Would you like to go out to Ice House Pizza just for something different?"
"YES!"

So, off we went, and as we arrived at Hope, leaves were budded out, the countryside was relatively dry and a huge black cloud was hovering over all of Sandpoint. 

WE HAD ESCAPED, at least temporarily, and what a lovely escape it was with great pizza, a good beer, a nice view of Lake Pend Oreille out the window and a wonderful group of ladies who had gathered at the table next to us. 

We eventually figured out that they were a book club, and what a book club they are. All tennis players who also like books.  They mentioned their friend Mary Jo, as in Lambert, who also plays tennis and who used to be our neighbor. 

They proudly call themselves the Hot 'n Flashies. I know another book club serving the west side of the county with an equally catchy name:   Refined Ladies Book Club and Terrorist Society. 

I don't know which group is more dangerous or who has more fun, but I do know that there's more than books that gets discussed with both groups. 

As we had all become "new best friends," which meant a group shot taken by Bill, one of the ladies asked, "Did your daughter walk the Camino?"

Well, of course, that question gave us both a shot of adrenalin, wondering how the heck this lady knew about Annie.  Turns out one of her friends who knew that she and her hubby were planning to walk the Camino last September, recommended Annie's blog https://adventuregirlannie.com/  

She told us that she followed the blog religiously.  Note:  I just now discovered, after looking up her link, that Annie has added a reflection of her experience almost a year later. 

Anywho, the news of this lady following Annie's blog thrilled both Bill and me to no end, and eventually even more when the same lady told Bill he had been out to their place to advise them on their trees.

Love, love, love small worlds, and yesterday's rainy day directed us to a particularly fun "small world" experience.  Great way to end what could otherwise been just another rainy day in North Idaho. 

If we can't really enjoy the beauty of the land, we can always enjoy the beauty and the common bonds of the people who inhabit it. 

Happy Friday.  
















1 comment:

Debb Nusbaum said...

Such fun seeing you too Maryann!! You fit right into our Hot-n-flashy group!!