Sad Times in America

 

It's just a sad day. 

I watched the news events in Minnesota throughout the day yesterday. 

It made me sick to my stomach. 

It also made me angry that our nation has come to this, especially as the day wore on and as we learned more information about Alex Pretti, the VA nurse who was shot and killed in the streets of Minneapolis. 

It made me cry last evening when I read the message from his parents. 

I have many thoughts about yesterday but some are in their infant stages and they are my personal thoughts so I will not share them. 

What I will share, however, is that I believe we are experiencing some of the darkest days I can ever remember in my 78-plus years as a citizen of this country. 

It's difficult to know what to do or what to say to make it better. 

I believe that when these difficult times come, we need to pause and reflect on similar times which we have already experienced. 

What did we do after the initial shock of what had happened?  

What seemed to make it better for those involved and those who felt helpless in their desire to make the situation better.

One time, several years ago, when I was following a  hopeless situation with refugees in another war-torn country and feeling sad about their plight, I thought and thought for a long time. 

Then, I came up with an idea; it was called "Cash for Kosovo." 

Long story short, between our Sandpoint mayor Paul Graves and myself acting as cheerleaders, in about three weeks our community raised $18,000 through donations in jars and collections from students in classrooms throughout the district and from other substantial private donations. 

We saw that the cash went to through the proper channels, and we felt proud that we had done something to help some people thousands of miles away.

The effort not only helped me feel like I had done something of value, but more importantly it helped others who had felt helpless to participate in a good cause.  

Also, at times like these, it's vitally important to turn our focus on what we can control.  

One example that I have seen suggested is to "flood our legislators with our messages of concern." 

Their job is to respond to their constituents, so for us to express our thoughts en masse is vitally important at times like these.

This morning I received this note from my friend Gretchen who lives in Minneapolis:  

Please contact your Senators and representatives.  

Please ask everyone you know to do the same.  It’s hard to express what it’s like to be under siege by the Federal government.

It is absolutely overpowering and there seems to be no resolution possible.

Despite what you might be seeing in the news, the Federal government is not meeting with state and local officials. 

I’m guessing the rest of the country has no idea that the murders of US citizens on the streets of Minneapolis are not being independently investigated.

We must each Demand a peaceful and lawful resolution.

Minnesota is the canary in the coal mine for our fragile democracy. 

It's really hard to wrap one's arms around all these shocking events because there are so many layers and so many perspectives to consider.

Let us hope that in the coming days and weeks, some constructive and productive answers to how we deal with this situation and others like it across this country will rise to the top, and that we can move forward once again as proud Americans. 

For now, it's a sad and frustrating time in our nation.

Let's hope for brighter days. 

 

Saturday Slight

 

Glory Whittaker and Linda Rogers Wiley.  Both are Sandpoint High Class of 1975 graduates and retired educators.  Linda served as a Catholic school principal in the Los Angeles area while Glory spent her career as a speech therapist in Alaska and Sandpoint. 

The final score wasn't exactly what we all wanted at Les Rogers Gym last night, but the rest of the time spent when Willie's players took on the Lewiston Bengals was filled with fast ball action, fun, familiar faces and even an exhilarating moment of family history for one of the fans. 

Linda Rogers Wiley and her longtime friend and classmate Glory Whittaker came to the game. Having known Willie since he was born, they were excited to watch him coach. 

Before the game, while balls were bouncing or flying in the air as the Bulldog varsity warmed up, Glory and Linda braved the action to stand by near some large red letters on the wall, letting everyone who comes to the gym that it's named for Linda's father Les Rogers.

For decades, as he raised his family and managed and owned grocery stores, Les was a well-known,  generous and beloved supporter of Sandpoint athletics.

In fact, this morning I found the speech I wrote a while back when the gym was dedicated to Les. Note:  Disregard the spacing.  Just enjoy the words. 

Les Rogers Gymnasium Dedication

January 28, 2003

by Marianne Love

 

I’ve known the Rogers family since the 1950s when all us little Catholic kids had to go to Sister School for two weeks every summer.  Les’ niece, JoAnn, was one of my classmates at St. Joseph’s where nuns from Coeur d’Alene tried to make angels out of us hooligans.  I’ve also known another niece, Paula Greenleaf, forever because she’s a classmate and friend of my older brother.  Over the years, I’ve known many of Les’ siblings and have enjoyed my occasional visits with his wife Pat.

I’ve even taught Rogers kids.  In fact, Les’ nephew Mike sat in first period English class on my first day as a full-time teacher at Sandpoint High School.  That was a LONG time ago.  His nephew Johnny also occupied a seat in my classroom at school and went through my husband’s Boy Scout troop outside of school.

Over the years came others, including Marty Patrick, another niece, and even some of  Les’ four daughters Carol, Linda, Francie and Leslie.  Just this past year, I worked with another generation of the Rogers clan when, in my last full year of teaching at Sandpoint High School, Mike Rogers’ daughter Katie  sat in my first period English class.  Throughout my lifetime, the Rogers family members have been wonderful citizens and contributors to this community.   Many have served as dedicated educators both in Sandpoint and throughout the West.

To all the Rogers family here tonight, I extend my deepest condolences.

As a teacher and longtime Sandpoint resident, I had the good fortune to know Les through my church, through shopping at his grocery stores, through our dealings in the teacher-parent relationship, through 4-H activities, and especially as an adviser for many SHS organizations.

When you advise youth organizations like 4-H, Drill Team, yearbook, and such, you learn really fast how to become a beggar.  

And as a beggar looking for handouts to support your club’s activities, you learn really quickly where to go and where not to go.  Your short list always includes the folks in town with the softest and the biggest hearts.  You knew they were good for a generous donation.  

Les Rogers was always at the top of my short list. Les was a Bulldog through and through; he knew how to bark at you when you came asking, and he always played a little game of hard to get.  He’d keep on working at whatever he was doing and make you think you were bothering him. 

 “Whaddya up to now?”  or  “Whaddya need?” he’d say.

You’d plead your case, giving all the reasons this was an important project.  When he’d heard enough, he may even cut you off in mid-sentence and send you to whoever wrote the checks.

When I heard that Les had died, I worried that the many new residents in this community would not appreciate what a loss his death was to the Sandpoint humanitarian spirit.  

So, I wrote a letter to the paper, calling him a “giant of generosity.”   In the following days, I found it comforting to learn that everyone who knew Les had the same concerns about keeping this man’s memory alive.  And when I heard about the plan to name Bulldog Gym after this humble local hero, my worries evaporated.  What a magnificent tribute to a truly deserving human being!

In closing, I think when it came to giving, Les Rogers was poorly named because instead of doing “less,” he almost always gave much “more” than anyone could ever be expected to do.   And so, to all of us----especially all the young people who benefit so often from behind-the-scenes support from people like Les---let’s remember this special night and this genuine giant of generosity.  In the future, every time we see his name while walking into this gymnasium, let’s think about his example and do our part to follow his footsteps of quiet giving toward others. 

💚💙💛💜

After the game, I snapped this shot of Glory and Linda with their SHS government teacher, Terry Iverson.

Below:  our group of Willie and Debbie fans.  Some are associated with the food bank, some of "outlaws" and others are just great friends.

A good time was had by all, and I just want to say, as a proud mom, how much the fan support is appreciated.  Thanks to all.   

While we were at the game in Sandpoint, Annie attended a Seahawks rally in Seattle where she met former Seahawk Gary Gilliam.

Annie said that the band and dancers came to the rally on an old ferry. 

"It was pretty cool," she added.  

Bill and Willie enjoying some visiting before the game. 

Below: the SHS dance team at halftime. 

I met and razzed this player from the JV team just briefly last night.

**** 

Below:  when we learned that Jetta, on the right, will be attending the University of Idaho to major in forestry,  I thought a photo of her with the retired forester would be neat. 

Besides, Bill likes to follow Jetta who has played varsity basketball and who is among the highest ranked javelin throwers in the nation. 

Jetta suffered a knee injury in a game before Christmas, and she'll have to put her athletic pursuits on hold for a while.  

Neat young lady AND her proud mom Nikki was one of my students. 

These folks, who grew up in Cody, Wyo., are loving their new community of Sandpoint.  

Below:  some of the SHS cheering squad. 

I always like to snap photos of these scoring table volunteers, Bob Moore, Jr. and his grandson. 

And, they don't seem to mind. 

  The scoreboard is named for Bob's father. Four generations of the Moore family have volunteered at the scoring table over the decades. 

It's Game Day for the ZAGS.  YAY!

Gonzaga (now 20-1)  hosts San Francisco in the Kennel. 

Tip off is at 5 p.m. PST

Game will be telecast on CBS Sports. 

GO, ZAGS!!!

I put seeds in this pot on Sunday or Monday.  

By Wednesday, the zinnias had popped out the soil. 

So, the garden is officially started and somewhat successful. 

It's cold and beautiful outside on this Saturday.  

We don't mind the cold, especially when we know how harsh the winter is to our east. 

Hope everyone stays warm and safe. 

Happy Saturday. 

&%#$J}@$*?%# and Some Good Stuff

 

Our little Foster is ready to show his support for the Seattle Seahawks as they take on Los Angeles this Sunday at 3:30 p.m. for the NFC championship. 

I purchased the jersey for Foster the year Seattle won the Super Bowl.  So, it has been waiting for 12 years in the cupboard for another coming-out party.

Seattle won the Super Bowl in 2014, defeating the Denver Broncos. 

Foster seemed quite happy to wear his jersey when we went for a walk through the woods yesterday.  

My friend Judy and her best friend.  

I stopped by Judy's new home yesterday and left with a grow light which she offered to me for my winter gardening.  

Judy is an amazing artist who does beautiful rural and local scenes, especially old barns.  

Her artwork is available at Northwest Handmade in downtown Sandpoint.  

Thanks again, Judy. 

I didn't sleep well last night. 

In this age of almost total computer dependence, it's not easy to go to sleep when you have opened your laptop to your usual web browser and have discovered that it has a whole new look and even a requirement to decide on a profile before it will open. 

Once you've decided that it's not gonna let you in the door until you pick an "original profile" or create a new one, you play it safe and punch "original profile."

Then a window opens, telling you what's going to happen with your data like bookmarks, passwords, etc. 

Still feeling flummoxed with these new scenes flashing on the screen but, seeing that your bookmarks and passwords seem to have been checked off, you click on something somewhere on that page. (It all becomes murky at this point). 

And, then, my friends, you learn that your bookmarks and passwords for that particular browser, which is where you do most of your work, were not saved.

This all happened so fast and so unexpectedly last night that I am still reeling about my unfortunate choices while navigating this unplanned revelation from Mozilla Firefox that I had entered all new territory. 

With shock and not-at-all-fun awe riveting through my body, partially paralyzing my brain and turning my fragile stomach into one big knot, I switched into desperation mode, thinking about retrieving my most-used sites AND their passwords. 

Gmail came first.  

Over the last year, I have had to change my Gmail password a few times, thanks to unscrupulous gremlins who like to strike from time to time.  

Well, apparently, I could not remember my most recent password because every variety I could think of was rejected. 

AND, I discovered that there is no way with Google was going to allow me to change my password. 

So, I've hit a brick wall there. 

Fortunately, for desperation, I still have Gmail on my phone and my older laptop.  

Over the course of all my efforts, I ran into the same brick walls with every site I use related to Google. 

Long story short, there's trouble in Lovestead City and it ain't fun. 

While trying to sleep last night, I thought of all the reasons my Gmail is very important to me---the addresses, the contacts, the notifications of bills being charged and paid electronically, etc. 

I also run my raw photos through Gmail while preparing blog posts. Fortunately, there are other ways I could still get the photos to the blog. 

One needs organization and ease at calling upon sites to put together blog posts, and right now, some of my sites may be inaccessible for a while. It's not very efficient to have to use three devices to do a blog post.

I was trying to think last night, while trying to get to sleep, if this problem rivals the day in late 2024 when I lost all my data---pictures, written material, etc. Joel, the computer wizard, was around to guide me through that debacle.  Happily but expensively (about $1,000), I was able to have the data recovered. 

This one doesn't seem so easy, and I'm thinking that the onslaught of AI is driving some of these unwelcome surprises for my old brain. 

****

Anyway, I've been outside a couple of times this morning mulling over these new problems since writing the above.  

Last night, in my sleeplessness, I sent a "Help!" note to Debbie and Annie, asking for guidance.  Debbie directed me to my older laptop and said to change the password there. 

I chose, however, to wait until morning for the possibility of a little less disturbing clutter in my mind. Then, I chose to wait some more but finally opened the older HP to Gmail and then to my account.  

Lo and behold!  The password was there!

So, I came back to this computer, typed in the password and instantly came out of my overnight mental distress. Gmail opened, and I will definitely write that password in at least a dozen places. 

Meanwhile, Apple decided to update my phone yesterday.  Like Firefox, the phone has a host of new features and new ways to do old things that I thought were just fine the way they were. 

I discovered on one of my outside trips that taking a picture  on the Iphone has even changed.  So, there's an abundance of tech work for me to do over the next few days to get myself back on track.  

In this Trumpian world where things change by the day, the hour, the minute and sometimes even the millisecond, I don't need these 'puter/phone problems to add to the fun.

I've often prided myself in keeping fairly up-to-date on technology and problem-solving, but the times, they are a-changing.  

 Like Trump, the new challenges are here so I'll just have to grin and bear them and do my best to figure out how things on my devices are going to work. 

Guess that's my soapbox for the morning. 

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

The good news is that Willie has a game tonight, and it's at home.  The Bulldog boys tip off at 5:30 p.m., and the Girls Varsity game follows.  

Which brings to mind another tech nightmare.  

I won't be worrying about Hudl.com streaming tonight, and if I need to leave the game 11 seconds before it ends like Hudl did last time, I'll make that decision on my own. 

It should be a barn burner cuz a tough Lewiston Bengals team is coming to meet the Bulldogs at Les Rogers Court. 

Good luck to both the men's and women's varsity squads.  

GO, BULLDOGS!!!!

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Also, congratulations to the movie Train Dreams for its Best Picture, Cinematography and Best Song Academy Award nominations.  

If you haven't yet seen the movie, which is set in the Bonners Ferry and Eastern Washington areas, it's available on Netflix as well as in theaters. 

Meadow Creek, Idaho, has made the big time!

Happy Friday. 

Horses; Marsha; TBT

I wanted to ask Brad to look at the camera, but I realized that he was focused on loving his horse. 

That seemed more important. 

So, you won't see his face.  Instead, you'll see his love and Firefly's appreciation. 

Brad, a lifelong horse lover,  keeps Firefly at Roxane's stable.

I see him at least a couple of times a week and admire the care and time he takes with his big jumper. 

Brad came yesterday while Laurie was riding CB. When I told Laurie that I might want to climb aboard CB, she said she'd like to see how CB reacts to a horse going over jumps before I rode him. 

We told Brad the plan.  He said he had gone over several jumps with Firefly the day before so he would just work his horse around the arena while I rode CB. 

A very nice man  

His consideration and willingness to help others is always apparent and appreciated. 

I did eventually ride CB after Laurie's workout. 

First horseback ride for 2026.  

Laurie also gave me some quick tips on what to do with my hands, legs and the reins so that CB wouldn't experience too much of a shock from the novice but old rider. 

CB didn't seem to mind having Mom aboard, and Mom was thrilled.    

Everybody's friend and local travel aficionado Marsha Pilgeram writes a food column for the Sandpoint Reader.  

Marsha and the Love family have enjoyed some good times talking about Ireland, where occasionally each even delivers something to an Irish friend.  

One time I carried a substantial amount of Euros to one of her friends in Kenmare who had helped her out when she had to spend extra time there after some of her travelers contracted Covid.  

On another occasion she packed some of my books in her suitcase and mailed them to our friends in Clifden once she arrived in Kenmare.

On our last trip, we delivered Christmas goodies from Marsha to the Finegans in Kenmare.   

Marsha also puts on a great St. Patrick's Day party. 

This week in the Reader she talks about teams and cooking for Super Bowl parties. 

Fun read by a fun lady who's rooting for the right team!

 https://sandpointreader.com/the-sandpoint-eater-super-memories/

💚💙💜💛💙💚💜💛

Thursday Throwbacks:  fun stuff from the foto files. Throwbacks are especially fun because they remind us that it's the moments experienced with those we love or where we like to be that make our lives here on Earth so special. 

Love this song cuz its message about cameras inspires me every day. 

Enjoy the fotos! 

More fun scrolling when you listen to the song. 

Below:  this past week my friend Brittany sent me this clipping which she had found.  Fun 4-H memories. 

I stand with Iceland!😎