Slight Detour: Rainy Day Lift

I love the following story because it tells about our family beginnings in Sandpoint.

Twas a gloomy, wet and snowy Christmas night, 1945 when my mother, my brother Mike (a toddler) and her English setter Peggy stepped off the train from Chicago at the Sandpoint depot.

The train was filled with soldiers coming home from World War II.

Mother walked across Cedar Street Bridge (the old one) and down First Avenue to Church Street where she, Mike and Peggy stayed for about a month before she moved to a house near what was then Sandpoint High School (now the Events Center).

In spite of her not-so-glowing first impression of Sandpoint, she stayed here the rest of her life.

So, pretty much any visit to the present Cedar Street Bridge Public Market brings on a tinge of nostalgia.

Yesterday was gloomy, and it was wet.

So, in the afternoon, I decided to find some place that would lift my spirits and provide some positive distractions to the gloom.

I had read in the paper and heard from others that the Bridge Market has become a thriving place. Soon after entering, I learned that there are no vacancies left on the Bridge for commerce and community activities.

It takes no time while strolling through the downstairs to feel the excitement and to enjoy the colorful displays, now accented with Christmas themes.

Actually, I felt like a kid in a candy store, and, indeed, I was tempted while walking past the impressive candy store, which is just one of many alive and ready for customers throughout the market.

While walking into the Fair Trade store, known as Zawzo Nich, I saw my neighbor Alicia. She had told me a while back about working a few days each week in the store.

She seems happy to be there. We did a little visiting, and I went on my way.

Overwhelming with oodles fun stuff---that's my impression of the current state of the Cedar Street Bridge. It will take a second trip on another rainy day for me to get a full grasp of the amazing gift offerings.

I'm sure we'll have another rainy day, and when we do, I'll probably go back and do a little shopping----before the Christmas rush, of course.

Being a bathroom aficionado, I was horrified a while back when I heard that the restrooms had been locked off by previous owners. Obviously, I never took the time to go see because ----well, you can figure it out.

In the past, the women's room at the Bridge had been one of my favorites in downtown Sandpoint because the far stall had a window overlooking Sand Creek.

And, when the creek is filled with water in the summer and fall, the view is amazing. I took a trip upstairs to confirm the view yesterday, and even with the mud flats, it's kind of a pretty place to enjoy relief.

All in all, I had an enjoyable time visiting the Bridge yesterday and am so glad that whoever owns it has brought it back to a flourishing and colorful life.

I was thinking yesterday if Mother could see the place where she took her original steps into a life in Sandpoint, Idaho, she would be very impressed and she'd probably have some of her artwork consigned to one of those stores.