Blue-Ribbon Day

 

When it's Festivus, and you go to pick up your groceries purchased online AND you pull in to see a member of the "Seinfeld Gang," and his family sitting in the car opposite you, of course, it's a blue-ribbon day. 

To set the record straight, soon-to-be Dr. Garrett Strizich never appeared on the TV series, but he and a few friends have modeled certain aspects of their lives after the series.

While Garrett was a student at Sandpoint High School, I was among many recipients of Seinfeld-type episodes, thanks to Garrett and friends. 

Where do I start?  

Maybe the morning they showed up waiting in a car at the end of my driveway around 4 a.m. as I walked  out to retrieve my paper?

  Or, how about the day they came to our Great Northern Road farm to film a segment of me mowing my lawn?

Or, let's consider the time they put a television on a classmate's deck, pulled up a chair and started watching.

I never ever knew when to expect the "Seinfeld Gang" to suddenly appear somewhere around our home.

Upon discovery of their presence, I usually invited them inside and fed them something---anything available at the time in hopes they would leave. 

And, on one occasion when we had to share was dead potato chips, that became the theme food for their appearances.

Once they were fed, I urged them along their way. 

It's been more than 18 years since my last "Seinfeld Gang" invasion.  Since our move to Selle, I have never divulged my location to these lovable, quirky stalkers. 

I probably need not worry, for a while anyway. 

They are now rearing families of their own, and they have moved on to productive, altruistic lives.  

That combination probably doesn't allow much time to go stalk their high school circle of friends or teachers. 

Yes, seeing Garrett and Emily and their two daughters in Yoke's parking lot yesterday inspired a special sense of excitement I hadn't felt for some time.  

After all, as I said, the "Seinfeld Gang and friends" have moved on to positive projects and vocations.

It's neat enough that Garrett is finishing up his regional hospital rotations in the next three months and will soon land somewhere for a three-year residency.

What's really cool, though, and so worth mentioning, especially at this time of year, in these times, is that Garrett and his classmate Luke turned into visionaries. 

That vision led them to found Reclaim Idaho and once Reclaim Idaho became a household word across our state, the voters of our state passed an Initiative to provide Medicaid to thousands of Idaho residents who had fallen in the gap where they could not receive coverage. 

Now, they do. 

A monumental achievement for Luke and Garrett with a whole lot of help from their friends, (including their amazing spouses). 

Thus, a Yoke's parking-lot surprise rendezvous with a former student I had not seen in nearly three years and to have this meeting land on his special Festivus day----it doesn't get any better than that. 

This proud teacher wanted to give her former stalker a great big hug, but both Garrett and I respect the safety guidelines in which we now live. 

So, elbow bumps had to suffice. 

Our family will be joining others across the world in the next 24 hours, opening gifts in a rather unusual fashion, but one of my most meaningful gifts for Christmas in this crazy year has already happened  in a grocery-store parking lot.

Merry Christmas, Garrett, Emily, daughters and to all the original Sandpoint Seinfeld Gang followers and friends.  

You have made a difference in this world, and I'm sure the best is yet to come. 

My blue-ribbon day continued when I drove home where Annie and Debbie were visiting on the deck. 

Soon, Debbie left to run some errands, and then Bill, Annie, Foster and I went for a pleasant hike in one of our favorite spots---the Trout Creek Wildlife Management Area. 

I'm so used to walking in that area on gloomy, gray winter days that yesterday's experience with blue skies and vibrant sunshine made the experience a special treat. 

We walked along Pack River in the southwest part of the WMA and then caught the trail over Trout Creek and along a hillside overlooking the river. 

Memories of last summer's kayaking adventure and Bill's fishing experience kept cropping up in conversation. 

Once again, the hike provided a nice opportunity for visiting while doing what we all love to do---embracing nature at its best. 

The weather is allowing us these outdoor opportunities, and for that we are thankful. 

Happy Thursday.  

Merry Christmas Eve, and do enjoy the brand-new and hauntingly beautiful Andrea Bocelli rendition of "Silent Night," performed in a cave. 

And, one final thing from a succinct Sandpoint sage, as stated in this morning's Daily Bee:

 

 By wearing a mask I’m just flat prettier. 

Reason enough to adorn one.     

                                                                           

                                                 

                                       PAT GOOBY, Sandpoint