After the Rain; Pam

 

Pam arrived around 8:30 last night.  

She had flown up from California yesterday afternoon and then rented a car to drive to the Lovestead. 

She'll be staying through Friday. 

Pam Eimers and me on one of her visits to the Lovestead. 

Pam and I worked together at Sandpoint High School.  She taught home economics from the late '70s through early 1980s.  

Then, she went on her way, working at Sunset Magazine, getting married, becoming a mother and eventually returning to teaching in Northern California. 

Most recently, she has traveled the world with friends and has walked a Camino or two.   

Throughout our 50 years of friendship, Pam, other beloved teaching colleagues and I have enjoyed oodles of wonderful and often wacky memories together. 

She was with us the afternoon of May 18, 1980, after Mt. St. Helens blew and the ash cloud had arrived here in Sandpoint.

  Nobody knew quite what to do at first , so she stayed with us a few hours until we decided it was safe for her to drive home (about a mile away). 

Pam and I have exchanged Christmas cookies for decades----the same cookies in a decorative tin. Neither of us really knows where those cookies are now but I'm sure they're probably not edible.  

Pam and our mutual friend Dana soothed my emotions and attended to Annie--then a toddler---when she sustained acid burns after getting into a chemistry set at a mutual friend's house. 

If I remember correctly, Annie and I met Pam near Davis, Calif., and enjoyed a Whataburger and fries while visiting. 

Pam and I like to do a lot of silly things---most meaningful to both of us and to a few others---taping up our noses (wine helps) and, these days, taking selfies to document our wackiness. 

She's younger, but we're both in our 70s and still, as "golden girls," enjoy a little craziness. We both agree that laughing can be the most effective of medicines, so we'll do our best to keep the funny bones in action during her visit.   

I'm confident that a few new memorable moments will unfold during her stay here at the Lovestead this week.

Thinking about my experiences with Pam over the years once more reminds me of the beauty and the treasures of long-lasting friendships. 

And, as we get older, these relationships mean all the more. 

I'm wondering if, during her stay here, I might be able to find that tin of Christmas cookies.  If so, I'll stuff it into her suitcase, and it can make one more trip to California. 

Stay tuned. 

In other news, it's farrier day, and, in a couple of hours, Steve will be here to trim horses' hooves and nail on some shoes to Lily's front feet. 

Lily has very sensitive hooves, so even if I don't ride her much, she needs the shoes for walking down the lane, which is packed with sharp rocks. 

Meanwhile, Lefty and CB have huge hooves, very much in need of a trim.  Happily, they don't need shoes because, wherever they are ridden, there's no need for shoes. 

It looks like we may get a break from the rain.  It came down all day yesterday and into the evening AND it added an elegant and artful touch to the flowers and shrubs. 

 Enjoy the photos.  

Happy Wednesday. 

Art at The Bridge, etc.

 

                                                                                                       ---Courtesy Photo

That's my friend Garry Bristow. 

He and I share a passion for lawnmowing and growing pumpkins. 

Unfortunately, he has not been able to plant a pumpkin this year, so my pumpkin will be named Garry. 

I've named pumpkins after Garry before, and they've done well. 

Also, while mowing my lawn, I often think of Garry because, when we lived on Great Northern Road, Bill used to claim that Garry had the "mowing program" south of the Long Bridge, and that I had mine north of the Bridge. 

There was a time when we lived over on Great Northern Road, that we thought if I kept adding to my "mowing program" and Garry kept adding to his, we might meet each other some day on our lawnmowers, maybe even on the pedestrian bridge across Lake Pend Oreille. 

Well, we have moved further north, and the pedestrian bridge is closed, so that vision never materialized. 

And, Garry now lives at The Bridge for Assisted Living, so he's not mowing lawn anymore. 

BUT, 

he is enthusiastically promoting an art show at The Bridge, which will include some of his wildlife art. 

Garry tells me that several residents at The Bridge are artists in their own right, including a couple of photographers and a lady from New Zealand who has traveled all over the world 

For those who remember artist Stephen Lyman, his father, a photographer, resides at The Bridge. 

I can tell you that Garry and The Bridge staff are very excited about the upcoming art show. 

Below is some information they have shared with me about what's happening July 3.

Mark the date and time on your calendar, so you can enjoy the art and say hello to Garry and other Bridge residents.  

🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨🎨

The Bridge at Sandpoint is excited to host a community Art Show on July 3rd from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. at 1123 North Division Ave., Sandpoint, Idaho. 

 This special event will feature artwork created by our residents and their families, including paintings, drawings, photography, poetry, stories, quilt work, needlework, and floral arrangements. 

Our goal is to invite the community in to connect with our seniors and celebrate the creativity, passion, and talents they continue to pursue every day. 

 We want people to see that seniors are still active, inspired, and doing what they love. This will be a wonderful opportunity for community members to meet our residents, enjoy meaningful conversations, and experience the incredible artistic gifts within our community. 

 Everyone is welcome, and we would love for the community to join us and connect with The Bridge at Sandpoint.

Thanks so much to Bridge manager Ashley Holden for sharing this information. 

                                                             ---Courtesy Photo

From my sister Barbara Tibbs: 

For those interested in riding trail classes, we'll be holding another practice session. Come join us for fun no pressure practice. 

 Anyone planning to come, if you could send me a message letting me know, that would be great? 

 Next Trail Practice nights in June will be June 9th and 16th with a break on the 23rd and resuming on the 30th. Mark these dates on your calendar. 

 Practices run from from 5-7 p.m.

Note: I also think it's okay to come and watch.  They have chairs.  

This is my first cedar waxwing sighting for the year.

A lone waxwing was flitting and fluttering around in the serviceberry bush yesterday morning. 

I told Bill that it must be the forward observer, and I think I may have been right. 

Last evening half a dozen waxwings showed up at the bush, ready for dinner. 

Bouncing from limb to limb, they were plucking berries---not even ripe berries. 

So, I expect to see and hear them for the next few days. 

They are such beautiful birds. 

Some scenes from my trip to town yesterday.  

It was classmate lunch day, and, as usual, we had a jolly good time.

Already looking forward to the next one cuz we're going to switch for next month to the Idaho Club where one of our classmate's sons is the chef. 

Tis a somewhat rainy day today.  Above is the bathroom window scene. 

We're supposed to have rain off and on through the day. 

I told our guest, who's coming from California, to be sure to wear warm clothes, although I see the temperatures will rise in the next day or so.

I fed the horses hay in the barn today, using the rain as an excuse to give the pastures and myself a welcome break from walking the three of them back and forth from barnyard to pasture on 12 total trips.  

Happy Tuesday. 

 T

This was the scene at the closed railroad crossing on Selle Road yesterday. 

After today's work, the crossing should be much smoother. 

Frosty Monday

 

My phone said the low overnight would be in the 40s. 

The forecast must've been mistaken because we had a significant frost last night. 

Keeping my fingers crossed that most of the transplants outside are hardy enough to have withstood it.  

I do have a dozen cukes still in the greenhouse, so if they suffered, there's back up. 

Crazy weather we've had:  some summer, some spring, some fall and who knows what's to come. 

That's North Idaho: it can be fickle frequently when it comes to weather expectations. 

In other news, my brother Mike posted a photo showing his West Point graduating class throwing up their hats 60 years ago today. 

Congratulations, Mike.  Sixty years later, we're still proud of you. 

My high school graduating class friends are getting together for our monthly lunch today.  

Sixty-one years later, we're still having and fun and very grateful to be doing so. 

They're putting up some new temporary signs along the roadways out here in the Selle Valley. 

In addition to Colburn-Culver Road being closed for bridge work, today and tomorrow, Selle Road at the train crossing will be blocked off. 

I'm sure that everyone who has slowed their vehicles down to 1 or 2 mph to go over the crossing will be cheering if they're fixing that killer bump at the crossing. 

Speed bumps are breeze compared to this one. So, it will be nice to see it fixed. 

Bill and I are predicting a heavier traffic load on our road as drivers find a way to navigate where they're going and how they're going to get there.   

If you see a white horse in a field, you're supposed to make a wish.  Does this scene mean that you get two wishes?

This pretty white horses are out on Hickey Road, if you're in need of a wish granted. 

I've been meaning to post this photo of our next door neighbor Steve. 

He was so proud of his new Kubota, with all its bells and whistles, that he drove it over to our house one day last week just to ask Bill a couple of questions---and maybe to show off the tractor too. 

We live on Kubota corner with four homes (two on Selle Road and two on South Center Valley Road) with various-sized Kubotas. 

Cal Russell, up there at Boundary Tractor, should be a happy guy if he ever drives through our neighborhood.

We can attest from years of experience that they are very good tractors.  

Our Coleman canoe, which has been need of fixing for more than 20 years hasn't moved much in that time, except for the night the wild wind blew three hear in Sept. 2024.  We found it several feet from its usual spot. 

I don't know what we'll ever do with it, but for now it looks kinda neat out there in those waves of thick grass in the hay field. 

Today I'll be taking these horseshoes---some are Lily's; some, Lefty's---over to Cari and Doug Stockdale. 

They have agreed to put together a flower sculpture like the one they donated to the Oden Hall auction. 

That one went for $150, so I sat on my hand for the last bid. 

Later, they told me they'd make me another one WITH a heart in it. 

So, stay tuned. 

Since Victor Webanyama is playing in the NBA finals game tonight and because I love this commercial, I thought it would be fun for today. 

 

Guess that's about it for this cold and clear Monday.  

Some lawnmower work and putting the final touches on the travel trailer for our visitor lead off the "to do's" today. 

Happy Monday.