It was a first---not for a lifetime but for what to many of us has seemed like a lifetime since the last time---lunch with a friend AND yesterday even with a brand new friend.
My friend Becky told me that she had not gone to lunch with friends since her birthday in March, 2020.
It may have been even longer for me. So, we were both pretty thrilled to meet at Pack River General Store yesterday.
I had time to be seated and to do some people watching before seeing Becky roll in to the parking lot.
I also had time to do some chuckling as I watched both Becky and another friend, Cory Moon, standing in wonderment at the old entrance to the facility.
They figured it out, and then the three of us had a nice visit before Cory went on her way.
Another revelation if you haven't been to this popular rural eating place in a while: the bathroom is now inside, whereas patrons used to have to walk outside and cross through the laundromat to do their duty.
Tables are also arranged differently with an aisle down the middle, where food displays used to be.
Anyway, we wasted no time getting into GABBING 101.
After all, there was plenty of news to share after 15 months of just social media communication.
I'm wondering if this going-to-lunch thing is gonna be a windfall for local restaurants IF they can stay open with enough help.
After all, Becky and I just scratched the surface with our visiting. So, we'll need to go again and maybe even again.
Multiply that----lots of lunch dates ahead which means lots of food to serve.
As mentioned earlier, we met a new friend. With the table set-up, it's easy to carry on conversations with your dining neighbors, and we had a nice young man sitting next to us.
So, Becky and Russell and I rounded off our lunch experience getting acquainted and soon feeling like three old friends.
He's from Naples, graduated from Bonners Ferry High School, and he has quite a story, making his way through life with polio.
Russell seems like an amazing human being. Polio is a part of his story, but it's obvious from our discussions that he has embraced life and the opportunities that come with broadening one's mind.
And, so yesterday, a return to lunch with friends turned out to be a great success in our maiden voyage of re-entering and socializing in the world outside our homes.
Fun day. Looking forward to many more such experiences as the world continues to open up.
BTW: the food at Pack River General Store is still superb.
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In the United States, there is now an excellent chance that the retreat
is permanent. Victory over Covid has not yet arrived, but it is growing
close. After almost a year and a half of sickness, death, grieving and
isolation, the progress is cause for genuine joy.
---New York Times Newsletter
It's nice to be reading paragraphs like the one above.
In context, though, the overall story points out that parts of the United States where vaccination rates are not so good, there may be a wait for such statements.
Interesting that this morning's Bonner County report for the last day indicated 12 new cases when we have been averaging three or four.
The Times piece also noted that the world situation with the Pandemic is far from easing.
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Also, some good and wise reading in the link below.
I totally concur with Ben Olson's column in this week's Sandpoint Reader. He's offered a valid point that newbies need to find their way while enjoying this beautiful area.
Firsthand discovery is definitely half the fun of enjoying the world around us.
https://sandpointreader.com/back-roads-point-the-way/
We have a mystery to solve here at the Lovestead.
Three times in the past couple of weeks Liam has started a barking chorus around 3 a.m. Foster has quickly joined in.
The canine chorus doesn't last too long.
Three times in the past couple of weeks, I've found a dispatched bird feeder which I propped against the house, torn apart with the roof separated from the main house. Parts are strewn across the yard a few feet from the bird feeder stand.
The other day I almost mowed big sharp rocks, initially mistaking them for clumps of dead leaves. Thank goodness I took a second look and stopped the mower in time to avoid catastrophe.
Upon closer observation, I determined that the rocks had been removed from the Christmas tree stand base which supports the bird feeders.
They're there to keep the stand stable.
Well, this morning there was barking, the rocks are once again displaced from their home. Something came once again in the night.
We've been thinking it might be a bear because it takes some strength to remove those rocks from their spot.
Could be a bear or maybe another of my discoveries while driving through the neighborhood.
I saw it for the first time yesterday in full daylight sauntering along a neighbor's fenceline not far from where we live.
BIGFOOT.
So knowing there's such a creature right here in our Selle Valley neighborhood, I'm wondering if I had a rush to judgment in blaming the bears for pilfering and destruction at our bird feeder.
We're gonna keep a watch out; maybe even put up a game camera and solve this mystery. And, when we do, maybe the dogs and peeps inside the house can sleep through the night.
Life goes on in Selle Valley----often in a mysterious nature.
Happy Friday.
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