It's the simple gifts that leave lasting impressions. Never was a truer statement made. Yesterday I enjoyed simple gifts all day long, every time I stepped outside.
Mother Nature can be cruel at times, but when she dishes out a seasonal smorgasboard of stunning scenes like we've enjoyed the past few days, I'd say the ol' gal deserves a pat on the back.
The highlight of my day filled with simple gifts came in the afternoon when three of my six siblings who are here in Sandpoint, picked me up, and we headed toward toward snowy Gold Creek with our cameras.
We stopped on the Upper Gold Creek Road where a touch of nostalgic family history added to the breath-taking winter scenes.
We had parked not too far from where Grandma Iva Tibbs taught in the one-room Gold Creek school house for at least four years (we know that because our longtime family friend Virginia Wood had Mrs. Tibbs as a teacher from 4th-8th grade).
A brisk, cold wind blowing through the huge meadows just beyond Western Pleasure Ranch and a slippery road meant a rather abbreviated stop for us.
Still we snapped some fun photos, including the one above of the ranch where Bob and Bernice Wood raised their two boys, Delbert and Bert.
We moved on and talked about the beloved and much-respected Fitchetts, through Fitchettville, eventually turning west on Rapid Lightning Creek Road, which did not disappoint a bunch of photographers looking for some wintry images.
We made two stops alongside the road. At the first, where a metal bridge crossed the creek, I rushed to the the bridge to snap a photo and soon realized that walking was a bit tricky, cuz beneath the snow, I saw openings.
I told my younger siblings to be careful cuz there were holes in the bridge, but Barbara, after announcing three times that she was very wet from falling, refused to believe that I had, indeed, warned them. Jim fell down too, about one second from Barbara's fall.
That did not stop the picture taking, though. Nor did it stop the impish perversity to throw snowballs at Big Sister. Fortunately, the aim wasn't that great, and my camera lens survived. I didn't care about myself.
We moved on and then pulled off the left side of the road, parked and walked through deep snow to the wild, rushing falls of Rapid Lightning Creek, the same place where several weeks ago very little water ran over the boulders.
Jim immediately started down the steep trail with his camera, and Laurie followed. That's when she fell down, quickly picking herself up. They made it to a decent point for taking photos, so I decided to follow them while Barbara with the wet legs stayed atop the hill.
That was good for her because she had a bird's eye view when I tumbled on my posterior and just sat there laughing. Suddenly the cameras all pointed my direction, and soon thereafter, I decided to get up because, after all we were stopping at Pack River General Store, and I had a wet seat.
Fortunately, the crew at Pack River General Store took the lady with the wet butt in stride as I picked up some items for dinner.
Twas a great sibling outing, filled with a sumptuous supply of images and a healthy dose of child-like fun. We all fell down at different times during our adventure, but even those moments added to the fun. I'm sure we'll do more similar outings before this Christmas season passes.
And, the entire day, as I mentioned earlier, offered a myriad of lovely scenes, some of which include the gorgeous drive from my sister's house to home and the area south of our house where our dogs now enjoy romping through the woods.
Thank you, Mother Nature, for providing these wonderful and pure distractions from the craziness of the outside world.
Maybe some of those unhappy people who resort to killing or flinging nasty comments at one another ought to join us sometime.
Maybe they'd have such a great time their whole perspective would change and the world would be a happier place.
Happy Wednesday. GO ZAGS!!!
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