Sounds

These weeks go by fast when the usual Monday is really a Tuesday. Hard to believe we've already met Hump Day. What's even harder to believe is that yesterday morning I was wearing four layers and still freezing. By afternoon, it was down to one. Both windows in this upstairs room are open as summer has come visiting. I can hear birds singing and cars rolling by on their way to work.

Speaking of hearing things, I've heard that we get to hear loud stuff pretty soon, stuff that might muffle out all moos, bird chirps and barking dogs. The telltale pattern of dug-up dirt that I saw in that field over on Selle Road just west of our place the other day gave me a firm clue that we're in for a change in this neck of the woods. As we drove by the field on our way to town Friday night, I commented to Bill, and he simply reacted, "Yup, we'll get to listen to 'wheeeeeeeirrrrrrrrrr, wheeeirrrrrrrre, wheeirrrrrrrrr' from now on."

Bill's prediction and my assumption were true. I learned from a good source yesterday that the dug-up dirt in that former Selle farm field will soon turn into a dirt track.

"Don't they have to have a permit for something like that?" I asked my source.

"No, they don't," I was told. "They just have to be quiet after 10 p.m. every night."

I guess time will tell how noisy it's going to be in our peaceful Selle sanctuary, but as I said to my neighborhood "Deep Throat," we've heard noise before, living between the train tracks and the airport. Somehow I have a feeling, though, that these upcoming sounds may be a bit more irritating. We'll see.

After reading the paper this morning, even the thought of a dirt track doesn't detract from my continued love affair with this area. Knowing that Boyer Avenue is gonna be closed off for the next month brings back vivid memories of what it was like a couple of years ago when Boyer Avenue was closed off for several weeks. Great Northern Road, with all its bumps, bruises and pock marks, served as on of the main thoroughfares for traffic wanting to get to areas in West Sandpoint.

I won't miss that.

Summer is definitely upon us with all its sounds and nuisances. We bought a second freezer this weekend, and I've heard that the assistant priest at St. Joseph's will soon be the main priest at St. Ann's Parish in Bonners Ferry. So, what connects those two thoughts, readers may ask?

Well, on Sunday mornings, I can drive north on South Center Valley Road, turn west on Center Valley Road and then turn north on HWY 95. From there, it's a straight shot to Bonners Ferry, and a pretty drive on top of that. I can attend Mass, stop off at the Boundary Trading Co. on the way back, stock up on groceries, fill up that freezer and avoid most of the insanity from Selle Road south.

Sounds like a winner and sounds a lot more soothing to the ears than the alternatives.