I have discovered that there's a reason I keep Christmas cards from past years.
I didn't know why until it dawned on me that some of those pictures on Christmas cards are much more upbeat than anything I could take outside during this blah interlude between fall and winter.
When most of the natural beauty turns dormant and rests up for the following year, it's difficult to find many postcard-type pictures in the countryside.
So, ya gotta go elsewhere. I go to stores with their Christmas displays, and I thumb through the old Christmas cards.
And, by golly, I usually find something to brighten up my day, so I hope these collections of mostly inanimate but colorful holiday images help brighten up yours too.
Florine Dooley accepts the second Bill Wassmuth Memorial Volunteer of the Year Award during the Kootenai County Task Force on Human Relations 24th annual banquet Saturday at the Best Western Plus Coeur d'Alene Inn
October 8, 2023
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The screenshot above is the last communication I shared with my friend and former colleague Florine Dooley.
I learned this morning that Florine passed away Nov. 21.
I'm in shock and very sad to learn this news.
Early in my career, Florine and I taught sophomore English at Sandpoint High School. In many of our conversations since those days, I liked to remind Florine how she had intimidated me the first time I met her.
As a total rookie entering my first year of teaching, I, of course, asked her for an overview of what she taught her sophomores. She began by telling me that she taught History of the English language FOR NINE WEEKS.
As one who had never even taken a course on History of the English language, I was ready to turn in my resignation right then and there.
After visiting with Florine, I went to my predecessor, newly retired Ruby Phelps. She generously handed over her lesson plan books. I thumbed through and found no lessons devoted to History of the English Language.
Somehow I made it through that first year and nobody in the upper echelons ever asked me if I was teaching History of the English language to my sophomores.
Over the years, I got to know and appreciate Florine, who later left teaching and became a travel agent in Coeur d'Alene.
And, even after that, when I started my daily blog, I learned a few years into it that Florine was a faithful reader AND a wonderful cheerleader for good causes and for people she admired.
She loved hearing about my kids, Bill and all the animals. She also took an interest in geocaching when she learned of Annie's connection with the sport.
I didn't hear from Florine often, but when I did, her contributions were always appreciated and spot on.
One day, when Florine borrowed a car that she could drive, she came up to Sandpoint and spent the day with Bill and me.
Florine's friendship was appreciated, as were all the contributions she made for the betterment of society.
Never seeking the limelight, always pretty private, I know that deep in her heart, Florine had to be thrilled beyond measure when the Coeur d'Alene community acknowledged her endless good works through the Wassmuth Award last month.
So deserved!
Florine, you were, as my niece Laura just noted, a "force" for so much that is good about this world.
You blended your humor, your flair for cooking, meticulous story telling, love for dramatic arts, your compassion, loyalty, grit and your unique and unconventional ways to touch so many hearts.
Coeur d'Alene lost a wonderful citizen and human being.
You will be deeply missed.
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