She and Bridie got along fairly well, with Mo fetching the ball and Bridie eyeing her every move as only a Border Collie could do.
Mo is an Australian Shepherd. She's just a year old and comes to work with her owner Dave who was part of the Rival Roofing crew who repaired our deck roof.
It was fun having Mo around as the crew worked efficiently and with impressive precision to finish the job in a couple of hours.
All very nice and especially fun visiting with Tyler, the crew boss.
In our conversation, I learned that Tyler had my sister Laurie as a teacher when he attended Farmin-Stidwell Elementary. He also knew Willie when he was attending Sandpoint High School.
Those connections are always fun.
Kalab and Tyler assessing the roof damage.
Zach and Kaleb did the work on the roof while down below Tyler and Dave prepared the metal.
Thanks, guys AND Mo.
You did a great job, and it was a pure pleasure meeting you all.
Special thanks to Rival Roofing owner Joe Jones.
Bill and I are very appreciative of your gesture.
Mark your calendars for one month from today and plan to attend a fun event designed to help maintain what has been a beloved meeting place for nearly 100 years.
My friend and editor Cherry, who has devoted a good part of her life to the Oden Grange Hall, sent me the information below last night.
If you've never been to the Oden Hall, June 6 would be a great time to get acquainted with the facility, help with the cause and meet some of the people who have kept it going all these years.
That would include the Oden Busy Bees (almost 100 years old), which you'll learn about with the AI generated information below the flier.
Oden Busy Bees Hall and Club
The Oden Busy Bees Hall is an historic community building in Oden, Bonner County, Idaho, originally built in 1931
by the Oden Busy Bees, a local women’s group formed in 1927.
The idea for a central gathering place
came from Mrs. John Lloyd, who presented the concept to the group. Matt
Schmidt donated the land, others contributed lumber and materials, and
volunteers provided labor — all despite the challenges of the Great Depression.
The hall, located at 143 Sunnyside
Road, Sandpoint, ID 83864, has served as a hub for community activities for
decades.
It was used for meetings, social
events, and educational gatherings, reflecting the Oden Busy Bees’
long-standing role in promoting civic engagement, education, and charity.
Historical
Context
Formation: Feb. 17, 1927, in the home of Mr. and Mrs. A.F. Shields.
Charter Members: Marie Shields, Genia McGhee, Ameila Zaklan, Vera Fournier, Anna
Nohel, Hazel Palmer, with longtime members like Kittie Long, Meta Kluver,
and Vera Meeker present at later events.
Purpose: The group evolved from agricultural extension efforts to support
farmers and homemakers, later becoming a social and charitable
organization.
Community
Role
The Oden Busy Bees Hall has hosted
events such as tea ceremonies to honor charter members and has been a meeting
place for other local clubs like the Selle Ladies Extension Club. It remains a
symbol of community spirit and cooperation in the Sandpoint area.
If you’re visiting, the hall is still
in use for community gatherings, and its history is preserved by the Idaho
Heritage Trust.
My classmates gave me a gift certificate at last fall's reunion, and I used it to purchase this apple tree.
Well, actually I picked out another variety, but this one arrived at our pickup. While putting the tree in the ground, we noticed that it was NOT the Gala apple tree I had selected.
But, oh well, Granny Smith would be okay and she would stay.
Anyway, I noticed yesterday that the tree has beautiful blossoms in every place possible.
So, it could be a great apple year, as my big older tree is filled with blossoms also.
First lettuce of the season. I fixed a bag of salad yesterday, and Bill sampled it last night.
He says the lettuce is good.
Lots more where that came from so, for the next several weeks, we'll be saving on some salad items at the grocery store.
YAY!
The area is filled with beautiful blossoms of all colors and varieties.
Wish they could hang around longer.
When you're driving down country roads, you never can predict what you're might see.
Someone had fun putting this ghoulish farm stand together.
I so agree with the letter-to-the-editor below.
The only change I would make is to broaden the message to "'Country' needs . . . . "
Some of the tactics used in this primary election locally clearly demonstrate desperation rather than leadership.
Their campaign efforts are very disturbing.
Same is true at the national level.
I would wager that most of the voters in this country yearn, for a return to what Jeralyn suggests below, regardless of party affiliation.
It's the human being who does the work, not the party. We need reputable and respectful human beings at all levels.
Jeralyn is a former student who rises to the top every time I think of the thousands of wonderful young people whom I was blessed to teach.
I hope voters will follow her guidance with their votes on May 19. She's a topnotch school counselor who knows and demonstrates what's most important.
Community needs leaders who model integrity, respect
In a time when political discourse so often turns negative, it is
refreshing to see candidates who choose a more respectful path.
Chuck
Lowman, Mark Sauter and Jim Woodward are running campaigns focused on
their own ideas, their plans for our community and what they hope to
accomplish, rather than criticizing their opponents.
As a school
counselor, I see every day how important it is to model positive
behavior.
It takes more character and courage to stand on your own
principles than to tear others down.
Unfortunately, negativity is often
the easier route, but it should not be what we reward.
Our community deserves leaders who reflect integrity,
respect and a focus on solutions.
I encourage voters to support
candidates who lead with those values: Chuck Lowman, Mark Sauter and Jim
Woodward.
Jeralyn (Lewis) Mire,
Sagle
With luck, our house will look a lot better by the end of the day.
Roofers are supposed to come this morning to replace the bent-up tin on the deck roof.
The damage resulted from ice dams under the snow a few years ago.
Finally, if they show up as promised, we'll have the fix and I won't have to cringe at that bent metal every time I come in the driveway.
With that job, all the major fix-its are done----until ??
We've been blessed with another gorgeous May day for all to enjoy.
Onward to the sun and blue sky and warmth and spring beauty!
I saw the following question on today's New York Times morning newsletter.
It's definitely one I would never have thought to ask because of no awareness of how the two activities could be related in any way.
Is eating meat as harmful for the environment as using ChatGPT or other A.I. tools? | Emily Osborn | Salt Lake City, Utah
Evan Gorelick, a reporter for The Morning, writes:
This is a little like comparing apples to oranges, so the numbers won’t be perfect. But let me try:
Asking a medium-length question on ChatGPT can use 20 to 30 watt-hours of energy, according to recent estimates. (That’s enough to toast a slice of bread!)
The carbon footprint depends
where the data centers are and where their electricity comes from —
though it’s mostly from fossil fuels, which emit lots of carbon.
Researchers estimate that a chatbot query can emit the equivalent of
between seven and 15 grams of carbon dioxide. Call it 11 grams. So in 30
minutes, you might spew something like 110 grams.
Beef, the most carbon-intensive meat, emits the equivalent of around 6,040 grams of carbon dioxide per serving — a lot more than an A.I. prompt.
But
prompting isn’t the only way A.I. affects the environment. There’s also
the water it drains and the energy that goes into training new models.
OpenAI’s older model consumed about 50 gigawatt-hours during its
training. (That’s enough to toast nearly two billion slices of bread!)
Newer and bigger models could consume significantly more. On a
per-person level, the carbon output is still probably less than cow
farming, but it’s rising quickly.
HMMMM!
Guess I'll pick and choose when to eat meat and how often to use AI from now on.
Right now, AI seems to be less expensive for me than meat.
And, below another item suggests that teachers are now doing their part to limit energy drain from AI and promote more human brain energy.
Seems like a good idea.
~~~~~~
Take-home
writing assignments, once inescapable in your English and history
classes, are on the way out.
It’s too easy for students to cheat with
artificial intelligence.
Chatbots can generate polished essays in
seconds — analyzing Supreme Court cases, parsing symbolism in “The Great
Gatsby,” explaining the science behind the Artemis mission.
But teachers have a fix:
They’re making students write inside
the classroom, where they can be observed. The assignments have changed
too.
Some educators ask students to reflect on their personal reactions
to what they’ve read — the type of writing A.I. struggles to produce.
Will Love, Portland Fire coach Alex Sarama and Debbie Love, this past weekend.
Willie and Debbie made a quick trip to Portland this weekend to observe a practice with the new WNBA team, the Portland Fire.
The team's coach Alex Sarama became their friend after he visited Sandpoint a few years ago to conduct a clinic with the Sandpoint and Lake City High girls baskeball teams.
Alex was named Portland Fire head coach after serving as assistant coach for the NBA Cleveland Cavaliers.
Willie recounts the weekend practice experience in his informative substack.
The woman below is a hoot (look for the video of her cheering her horse on) as well as a talented racehorse trainer.
Her story and her historical achievement were definitely among the many bright spots of the weekend.
It was fun to see her graduate from exuberant and understandable insanity into a state of much-deserved ecstasy as she watched the horse she trained win the Kentucky Derby.
First woman ever to know that feeling.
This year's was an amazing Derby.
Speaking of horses: once again, yesterday, it was the student instructing his teacher.
Monty told me a long-forgotten (in my mind but not his) story during my lesson yesterday.
About 50 years ago, he was riding my sister's Appaloosa mare Sassy and getting red ribbons at a 4-H horse show.
Apparently, I pulled him aside and told him to ride the rail and stay out of the pack, assuring him that he'd do better.
"The next class I won a blue," he said.
It was a monumental moment for him and just another slice of advice in my mind. Lots of tidbits given go under the bridge and are forgotten when one is a teacher.
Such gestures, however, are momentous to young people trying to learn.
Well, the tables have turned.
I'm no longer Monty's 4-H leader or English teacher.
I am now HIS student.
Besides his knack for telling hilarious stories about his years of training and riding horses, Monty shares valuable information with spot-on timing as a riding instructor.
These days, it may not seem a big deal to him or my sister Laurie who has been helping with my regaining confidence on the back of a horse, but the nuggets issued and brief lessons about specific moves on my part while aboard CB are momentous to me.
Those two "coerced" me into loping CB again yesterday.
This time, knowing that last week's session where I loped a horse for the first time in 15 years did not result in death or painful leg muscles, I submitted rather quickly and without protest to the announcement: "now, you are going to lope."
I stayed on that horse through two loping sessions, and, yes, I look like a sack of potatoes with absolutely no finesse, but I stayed on and managed the controls without any disasters.
That is momentous for me, and once again my confidence increased.
It's fun when tables turn and the same respect given you as a teacher is exchanged when that student becomes your teacher.
Plus, I love my horse and especially love what he has learned, thanks to his "teachers" along the way.
I took a trip to The Flower Farm yesterday.
Today a bunch of purty posies will go into their spring, summer and fall homes.
This stretch in May is always one of my favorites every year because of endorphins and flowers and a general feeling of outdoor euphoria.
