Slight Detour: A Tuesday Potpourri

Lots of robins out and about yesterday, along with an assortment of other birds.

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Yesterday turned out to be a busy day, starting off with the frustration of someone driving their rig through our front lawn and then vamoosing out our driveway as fast as the pickup that left its tire tracks could go.

We talked to a sheriff's deputy. We also have a witness who was driving by at the time and wondering why WE were driving through our snowy and soggy yard.

We're hoping for two things: that the person has a conscience and decency enough to come by, admit to their mistake and take responsibility or that the sheriff's deputy will track them down.

Time will tell, and if no information comes today, we'll post a complete description of the rig tomorrow.

After the deputy's visit, we were able to get back into some sort of routine.

One of my projects for the day involved going to the library to see the second portion of a display which its creators are calling storied futures.

The group involves avid historians, writers and an architect. Their mission is to influence local developers into considering preservation of history while removing and replacing remnants of the past.

The group has used the Racicot home which once stood on North Boyer near the airport as an example.

Anyone who has driven that road for years knows that, like our farm, no hint of the Racicot's existence there for decades is to be found.

Thankfully, the local museum has preserved some of that history.

We knew Fats and Ardis Racicot very well. Their home was about half a mile from ours.

That brings me to this significant date a long time ago when my mother gave me a dollar bill.

Seventy years ago today, when she handed me that dollar bill to carry with me to school for hot lunch, I thought I had truly arrived as a responsible human.

Money in my pocket was very unfamiliar as a first grader, so it was a big moment in my life.

Twas a bigger one, though, for our mother and all three of us Brown kids.

Mother was heading off to Montana to marry Harold Tibbs, who, up until that day, had lived at the Racicot farm down the road for a number of years.

Fats was his boss at the City of Sandpoint. Harold worked for the city water department.

We had gotten some good opportunities to know our new stepdad. Most memorable were the times they'd go to the Motor Movie on HWY 95 to watch movies with three kids in the back.

Quite the date nights!

So, on March 12, 1954, I had my dollar bill, Mother would soon have her new husband and we kids would all have a new dad.

Mother and Harold were married in Thompson Falls, Mont.

While they were on their brief honeymoon, driving around Montana, I stayed with the Crockett family in town while Mike and Kevin stayed with the Clarence Best family who owned a Holstein dairy across the road from us.

"Bestville" has long since turned into a high density housing development. Our farm is owned by folks who have fancy planes and big hangars, and the last time I looked two new houses had gone up on the Racicot property.

Hard to believe it's been 70 years since that day, but time does fly.

Check out the exhibit at the library. Maybe you'll be inspired to do your part in lobbying for history to be preserved in the most feasible way possible.

Join us on June 13th, 2024 at OMSI Oregon museum of science for our annual Miss Indian Northwest pageant.

Support our contestants representing Oregon,Washington & California Tribes as they vie for the prestigious & Elite cultural title that began 54 years ago in 1969.

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Our family members are enthusiatically supporting Jade Mokry of Coeur d'Alene Tribe in this pageant. We have watched her grow up right alongside our family triplets from Plummer.

We are all very proud to know Jade. She is an amazing young woman and definitely a rising star within the Coeur d'Alene Tribe.

As you'll see below, Jade and my Appaloosa mare Lily spent some quality time together while preparing for, participating in and winning a Heritage class at a local horse show a few years ago.

Jade wore Coeur d'Alene regalia while Lily's trappings came from the Nez Perce Tribe.

These days, as a junior at the University of Idaho, Jade is studying ecology and ecosystem sciences with an aquatic focus.

If you would like to support Jade's efforts in this pageant, you can purchase raffle tickets for prizes to be awarded at the pageant.

Simply contact Jade through the contact information listed on the poster. I know she'll appreciate your help.

Good Luck, Jade. We are proud of you.