TBT: Random Nuggets of Times Past

Fuzzy Wuzzy was a beautiful kitty. 

Today’s most trivial act may hold the seed 

Of future fruitfulness, or future dearth; 

Oh, cherish always every word and deed! 

The simplest record of thyself hath worth.

If thou hast ever slighted one old thought,

Beware lest Grief enforce the truth at last;

The time must come wherein thou shalt be taught

The value and the beauty of the Past.

Not merely as a warner and a guide,

“A voice behind thee,” sounding to the strife;

But something never to be put aside,

A part and parcel of thy present life.

A shadowy land, where joy and sorrow kiss,

Each still to each corrective and relief,

Where dim delights are brightened into bliss,

And nothing wholly perishes but Grief.

Ah, me!—not dies—no more than spirit dies;

But in a change like death is clothed with wings;

A serious angel, with entranced eyes,

Looking to far-off and celestial things.

                                                                  from "The Past" by Henry Timrod

                                             

                                                

Two of my beloved cousins, Patti and Sue and Bill leaning against our once magnificent lodgepole, which crashed to the ground a few years ago. 

Classmates Judy and Joan at our 40th reunion. 

Chris explains some forestry tools at a Lovestead forestry gathering a while back. 

Grand-nephews Tanner and Rory create while Bill and Mother visit.  

Schweitzer Guy aka Spencer turned 40 and invited a whole bunch of geocachers to come and help him celebrate at Farragut State Park. 

Annie shows my friend and classmate Janis the technical points of geocaching. 

Twas a retirement party, hosted by my sister Laurie at their farm, highlighted by eats, speeches, horses and square dancing. 

Sister-in-law Mary shows two of her triplet grandchildren Grace and Jacob a magical snow globe. 

In the meantime, Mary needed some primping, so her triplet granddaughter Justine stepped up to the plate with the proper tools. 

Our cat Jonas was a lovely boy. 

Twas a Selle Club meeting at Geneva's (right) home next door.  Nita (seated) was club president at the time. 

Sometimes I like to repeat oldies but goldies, simply because they make me laugh.  These Church Ladies invited me to come and talk about my third book Lessons with Love.

So, we took a segment from the book and gave it a practical application.

Stereofoam cups and tapes were essential classroom tools for me. 

We took a hike to the Scout on the Idaho-Montana border (found no border walls to keep out the Montanans) and we stopped to enjoy lunch and the phenomenal views. 

My sisters, Barbara and Laurie and Bill, along with our canine friends.

Annie looking for a geocache in the California desert as we drove from Palm Springs to Las Vegas. 

Good friends with education connections:  Terri, Shirley and Bev (whom we all miss).  Yours truly and Edna. 

Class Reunion, 40th year where I thought Melanie and Joanne looked an awfully lot alike. 

My dear teaching friend and partner in crime from the 1980s, Merriam. 

One of Sandpoint's classics at one of Sandpoint's classic meeting places:  John Pucci, forever ski patrolman at Schweitzer. 

Those triplets were so dang cute.  I just kept taking pictures of them any chance I had.

Sister Laurie and daughter Annie geocaching on the Mickinnick trail. 

Love this guy, Charleton.  We served on a board together and did a great job talking under our breath when the meeting action got a little boring.

In this photo, Charleton, a local attorney, was attending his wife Regina's retirement party. 

The Baker bros and their driver/assistant/manager Melinda. Bob and Ray biked one summer from coast to coast and spent some down time in Sandpoint. 

During that time, their accommodations:  the new old motorhome out behind our barn. 

Above and below, my sisters Barbara and Laurie on a photo/biking outting at the Kootenai Wildlife Refuge. 

Annie's been going to Seattle Sounders MLS soccer games for ten years and promoting the team all over the world, taking selfies or posing with her Sounder scarf.

This was few years back:  Annie, Willie, Alicia and Debbie. 

My friend and former student Kari and her daughters Kendall and Sage (left) and a friend showed up for a Monticola fundraiser a few years ago:  guess where the horse will drop its plops. 

Kendall now works at the high school and Sage is on an exchange to Italy. 

Another repeat and a photo taken by my mother, probably back in the 1950s. 

Twas a Bonner County Horseman's Association trail ride near Priest River.  Some folks might recognize some Spahr's in this group. 

My blog editor Helen's daughter Pam brought her kids to visit the Lovestead one day. 

Of course, at the time, the big lodgepole in the far pasture was standing, and they joined the Lodgepole Society. 

Some Doverite's at a Dover gathering a while back. 

These folks raised our grandpuppies, Todd and Brooke, through their initial weeks. 

Kiwi was quite happy to be a big sister. 

And, there they are again.  Now, they occasionally help my sisters with their chores. 

True, the past is behind us, filled with a potpourri of good and bad. 

Cling to the good, cast aside the bad.

Keep on moving forward toward the future, and, in so doing, keep on adding to your bag of golden memories.

Just sayin'!