Just Some "Seen's" in Sandpoint

 

This was the neatest cloud formation late yesterday afternoon. 

We were in the house watching a basketball game and heard a rumble.

"Was that thunder?"  Bill asked.  

I said I thought it sounded like it was. 

Later, when I went outside, it was apparent there had been a weather event happening outside while we were taking it easy inside. 

The sun had come out, but impressive clouds from the little storm were still hanging around and offering some stunning scenes. 

After completing a quick errand in town yesterday, I decided to take my cameras and do some walking around downtown Sandpoint. 

The rain had stopped so it was a pleasant time for walking the sidewalks and the colorful alley. 

Megan Turner

I hate to admit it as a local, but I don't know the names of most of the businesses in downtown anymore.

That's mainly because I don't spend much time in the business district. 

So, after seeing "Cropper" on the name of the barbershop, I wondered if the owners had anything to do with Nate Cropper, who was one of my students in the last years of my teaching career. 

So, I walked in the door and received a warm welcome from local hairdresser Megan Turner (her mom Jacque was both a student and a member of the Ponderettes drill team). 

I've known Megan her entire life.  Once we said our hello's, I asked if anyone in there was related to Nate Cropper.  

Sure enough, the hairdresser cutting a young man's hair told me that her husband was Nate's younger brother.  

And, SHE was a Coldsnow. I know both her mother and her grandmother, so that revelation was a nice surprise.  

Well into our visit Megan introduced me to the new barber in town.  Can't remember her name, but she's a very nice lady who came to Sandpoint from Austin, Tex.  

She said the move here was not in her plans but "when I came across that bridge," she said, she knew this was where she wanted to stay.  She's definitely a happy camper in her new home and in her new professional setting.  

Except for the barbershop, I simply walked around town and thought about how much the town has changed in my lifetime. 

Most of the buildings still have a sense of the old, but the signs out front reveal the extent of the new replacing the old. 

The locals haven't changed, though, and that was very apparent with the warmth and friendliness I felt while visiting Cropper and Co. 

I hope we never lose that touch of Sandpoint. 

We may still have to search for it, but yesterday's experience proved that the old and beloved Sandpoint spirit is alive and well. 

All the more reason to spend some time walking the sidewalks, observing change but always seeking out pockets of local charm. 

Happy Friday. Enjoy the photos.

This building on First and Church used to be known as the Rowlands Hotel.  It was across the street from the Pastime Cafe. 

The Rowlands served as my mother and older brother Mike's home for a month or so after she moved to Sandpoint from Michigan. 

After living for a while at the stone house on Lake across from the Sandpoint Events Center, she bought a home around the corner at 214 Euclid and lived there until 1950 when we moved to the North Boyer Farm. 

In later years, my Grandmother Brown would come to Sandpoint, stay at the Rowlands Hotel and take us to dinner at the Pastime Cafe. 

So, there are always some distant memories when I see that building.