Traveling Moon Pass from Wallace to Avery

Since PKR and I have been immersed in the 1910 fire commemoration in one way or another this summer, I have wanted to drive to Avery over Moon Pass.  This week I got my wish.

On Tuesday, we didn't have anything planned during the day, so I suggested to Paul we drive to Avery.  He was up to it, so off we went.

I was awestruck by the beauty of the drive, and also the surprises in store that I didn't know existed.  Here are some pictures of our trip.

The Post Office and Museum in Avery.

The Milwaukee Road train car in Avery.

Inside the train car.

Who knew you drove inside of train tunnels on the road from Wallace to Avery.

Here is another.

And another.

This one was a little longer.

You see the bottom of the start of the Hiawatha Bike Trail on your way.

The Beautiful North Fork of the St. Joe River.

Burned snags from the 1910  fire.

Snags along the water.

Look at the burned and charred inside of this snag.

The snags have a beauty of their own.

Beautiful water.

Another snag.

On top of the pass.  Breathtakingly beautiful.

One more shot from up on top.

Embracing August

This week I gave the sibling assignment, which, to put it simply, is What do you like, and what do you dislike about August.

Here you can read about IEG's last days of August.

Traditionally, August has never been my favorite month.  Either it is too hot, or the evenings and mornings are too cold, and it goes by too fast, because school begins, which in our house signals the end of summer.

But this year, I decided to embrace August, and consciously enjoy the eighth month this year, and be in the moment during each part of August.

As I toured my yard this week, I realized August brought with it much beauty and the beginning of harvest.  I'm going to take you on a tour of my lovely August yard and garden.

String beans growing up the teepee poles.  The beans grow overnight I swear.

Still picking pea pods.

Cilantro, lettuce and Sweet Million tomatoes.

Yellow and green zucchini.

Lots of green tomatoes.  I hope they get enough hot weather to ripen before it frosts.

Goliath grillers.

Goliath grillers and banana peppers.

Yummy carrots.

I got a blossom, but I fear no pumpkins this year.

I've enjoyed picking raspberries all summer.

Sweet peas climbing the rusty bed springs.

My absolute favorite perennial...Moonbeam Coreopsis.

My wagon wheel herb garden...that needs some grass removal!!

My house plants are thriving outside.....I wish I could keep them out all winter long!!

My favorite tree....the Tri-Color Beech Tree.

One of my new rose plants.

Another lovely rose.

I love this shade of pink.

Almost ready to bloom.

I keep

Despite the fact I have quite a few projects going this summer, I have to say it has been one of the most relaxing summers I have ever experienced since moving back to the Silver Valley.  Partly because most of the things PKR and I have been involved in take place in the late afternoon or evening.  So I have had my mornings to putter around the yard, and enjoy the beauty of the backyard.  It has been wonderful.  I wish I could have this schedule year round.

As August winds down, I am embracing the cooler evenings, and cooler mornings.  I am enjoying the harvest from my backyard garden.  I am enjoying the peaches my sister brought me from the orchard near her home.  I'm embracing the final days of vacation before I officially return to work on August 31st.  I'm enjoying the last week of all our 1910 Fire projects coming to an end, where I have dressed as Emma Pulaski and hosted the Trailing the 1910 Fire Trolley around the town of Wallace.  I also helped direct the show at the Sixth Street Melodrama this month, which PKR wrote about his grandpa's birth, called "Rustler's at the Ranch, or...How Swift Can the Taylor's Run?"  And PKR and I have also been presenting "Voices of the Big Burn" a historical presentation on the 1910 Fire where we share first hand accounts from the fire, newspaper stories, and photographs taken by the Forest Service after the fire.  We continue this presentation through the end of the month. 

Soon my schedule will change.  I will be back on the school schedule, and back at Kellogg High School working with ninth, tenth and eleventh graders in the Gear Up program.  School begins September 7th.

But until then, I will continue to enjoy and embrace the month of August, with the slower pace, and days filled with no obligations.

Coeur d'Alene Lake

Inland Empire Girl gave us the next sibling assignment:

Coeur d'Alene Lake



One of my first recollections and memories of this lake involved a speed boat and a flying saucer. Yes, interestingly enough I have this memory of being in a speed boat on the lake when I was about 3 or 4, and I was hanging over the edge of the boat in Beauty Bay, and there was a silver flying saucer in the air. Not sure if I actually did encounter a UFO, but I sure do have a memory about this incident.

I often like to try and imagine what the lake was like back when the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, or the Schitsu'Umsh freely roamed this land, and were the only inhabitants of the lake. I picture tribal members quietly canoeing across the lake, calling to the birds on a cool, misty morning as the fog settled on the lake, and then, all of a sudden, the sun bursts through. What a peaceful, quiet time on the lake that must have been.

I like the lake better when it was filled with rustic cabins. Some of the "cabins" on the lake now don't seem to fit. They are million dollar homes that don't quite fit in their wooded setting.

It is still a beautiful lake, despite the onslaught of tourism that has taken over parts of the lake, but you can still find the quiet, peaceful parts that don't have as much traffic, and perhaps, in these places, if you listen carefully, you will hear the Schitsu'Umsh voices of long ago.

The Fourth Commandment: Refreshment of God's Creation

Raymond Pert gave us this sibling assignment:

I woke up this morning with the words "Remember the Sabbath. Keep it Holy." (my paraphrase) repeating in my head.

Reflect however you'd like upon the idea of the sabbath and your practice of it.

We had recently been talking about this one afternoon at my Mom's house when RP was there, because he had taken a Sunday afternoon nap, and I told him, that was a good thing, because our pastor at church had just talked about the fourth commandment in the Bible.

These are some of the notes I took from that sermon that Pastor David Langer gave on July 18, 201o at Mountain View Congregational Church in Kellogg.

God built into His commandments a day of rest.

Working seven days a week breaks people's spirit. If they do work this hard, they can find ways to repair their spirit, such as drinking, drugs, illicit relationships, etc.

God realized people needed a day of rest.

If we over burden ourselves with work, we shouldn't pretend that we are doing this our of obedience to God.

God wants us not to overwork, but to refresh.

We must labor not for our own good, but for the labor of others.

Our fortunes and well being are not in our own hands, but they are in the hands of God.

We need rest!! God's purpose for the day of rest is to recreate us and refresh us.

God wants us to experience the blessings He has given us in life.

The Sabbath Day is a special gift of God to people.

God in His abundant grace wanted a time of joy and rest for all of creation.

Christ's love is meant to unite...God's Sabbath is meant to unite God's people in refreshment.

Concepts like a weekend or a five day work week came from the heart of God.

I know I feel much more rested if I get a nap on Sunday afternoon. Especially when things are really busy at work, and hectic and I'm working lots of hours, that day of rest is so important. I like being refreshed. I like slowing down the pace, and taking it easy.

I'm glad God steers us toward that time of refreshment.

Clearwater River Fears

It is interesting as I read over my siblings writings about the Clearwater River here and here, and read about the fears of the Clearwater River, mostly passed on by our mother.

Mom's fears must have been all absorbed by Raymond Pert and Inland Empire Girl before I came along, because I have no memory of Mom being so afraid of the river.

In fact, I never remember being at the river with my mom.

Many of my sibling's memories of the river were at Beaver Dam. This was before my time. This was before Dworshak Dam and the reservoir became a reality. And because of that reality, Beaver Dam was covered up.

My memories of the Clearwater River all happened at Zann's Beach.

And I only remember being at the river with my dad. And I remember being amazed Dad could swim across the river and back, because I had never seen him swim at home, even when we would visit friend's river places up the North Fork of the Coeur d'Alene River.

I did have a fear of the river one summer, though. It was the summer of 1975. I would have been 12-years-old. That summer I had gone to The Rena Theater, and watched a movie called "Jaws".

That summer when we went to Zann's Beach with my family, I refused to go out into the water very deep, because I was convinced a great white shark would come and attack me.

Seriously!

Thank goodness, 35 years later, my fears of sharks in the water are gone. I was able to go to Zann's beach with my own daughters and husband and niece, and enjoy the water, and remember the white sand on the beach that was hard to get off, the volcanic rocks on the beach, and the memories of times gone by.

Here are some pictures of our family at Zann's Beach a few weeks ago when our family attended the "Last Cousin Standing Hootenanny" family reunion in Orofino, Idaho.

Our niece and three daughters...the bathing beauties in the Clearwater River.
Peaches swimming in the Clearwater River.

PKR, my own muscle man on the beach.
More beauties on the beach.
PKR with Juliet.
Sadie sunning herself on the beach.

Stories to hear, stories to tell....it's family reunion time!!

For this week's sibling assignment Raymond Pert asked Inland Empire Girl and myself what we are looking forward to when we have our reunion in Orofino.

Here is what RP is looking forward to, and IEG will write about hers after she returns home from the Twin Cities.

Growing up, Orofino was our vacation spot. Every summer we would load up the car, and drive to my mother's home town to visit Grandma West and Auntie Lila and Uncle Ted, Uncle Bob and Auntie Ronnie, Cousin Lura and Lyle, and her boys, Derrick and Mark, and Cousin John and his kids Paul, Matt and Summer.

Sometimes the Coomer cousins from Boise would be in Orofino as well. This was always fun, because they were around my age and it was fun having cousins to be with that were close to the same age.

Here are the Coomer cousins and myself.

Often the week in Orofino included playing the piano at Grandma West's house, going swimming at Zan's Beach, on the Clearwater River, enjoying lots of good food from the many gardens my relatives grew in the dark, rich volcanic soil, and one summer highlight was working at my Aunt and Uncles business, "West's Gun and Tackle Shop" for a few days.

The last time the cousins were all together.

I am looking forward to being with my West family as we gather in Orofino in a few weeks. It will be a joy to sit and visit with cousins face to face I haven't seen in decades, but have seen their face on Facebook. It will be nice to reminisce about Grandma West, and Uncle Ted, and Cousin John and Auntie Ronnie, and all the other people who have left us, and fondly remember, through our stories, the stories that will bring them to life during out brief time together, and realize once again that they were all a part in shaping who I am today.


Yes, it is the story telling I am most anticipating. Learning things I never knew. Hearing things again to remind me of memories long gone.

I also look forward to watching my mom return to her roots, and be surrounded by the family she loves, and the people who have always adored her. I look forward to her beaming all weekend long as she shares and listens to stories being told.



Stories are the creative conversion of life itself into a more powerful, clearer, more meaningful experience. They are the currency of human contact. ---Robert McKee



This quote sums up what I am thinking about for this reunion weekend. I want to gather as much currency as I can during this time. No, RP, not from the casinos, but from the interaction with my family, and the treasures I will gain by listening to their stories.


Okay, gaining some currency at the casinos wouldn't be that bad!!

Getting Lost in the Garden

What a joy to finally get out in my yard yesterday and work in the garden.  Because of the abundance of rain over the past month, the grass in my flower beds, as well as other various weeds, had taken over.  Yesterday was my chance to tackle the grass.

I feel like I get involved in a task such as weed pulling, and time stands still.  I get lost in my task, take time to let my mind wander, and it is such a wonderful experience.  Not to mention the benefits of just being outside and watching life go on around me.

We have had some cowbirds chirping around the yard for a few weeks, and taunting the cats.  I believe they have nest around here, and, on Friday, PKR saw a baby bird in one of the trees that the other birds were protecting.  Unfortunately, they didn't protect the baby enough from Toby, the mighty three-legged hunter.  Yes, our cat Toby (who is missing one of his front legs) hunted down and captured the poor baby bird in our backyard.  It felt as if I was watching an episode of Wild Kingdom.  Of course, he felt so proud.  Poor bird.

My veggies are coming up, and I love to watch their progress.  The tomatoes are looking much better, now that they are in soil.  The radishes are bursting forth, and I see signs of peas and carrots.  Various types of lettuce are also emerging.  I'm waiting to see signs of beets, zucchini, and cilantro.

I finally got my pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds planted yesterday.  I got one little pumpkin last year, so we'll see how they do this year.

Later today I have some roses I need to plant.  I've been scouting out my yard, trying to find the best location to grow them.  I think I have found the place, but I need to get the ground ready for planting.

As I look out at the yard this morning, Toby is again being taunted by the cowbirds.  I think he is also digging up some flower seeds I planted yesterday out by the raspberries.  That cat can be so destructive in my yard.  That is why my raised beds have fencing on top of them, so he doesn't use them as one big little box.

T.C., one of our other cats, just came up to say good morning, rubbing her head on the side of the laptop. 

Off to make breakfast before we go to church this morning.  It is amazing how sunshine boosts the spirits, and energizes me for the day.

"This is the day that the Lord hath made.   I will rejoice and be glad in it."  Psalm 118:24

Schools Out For Summer!!!

School is out for the year, and I'm so glad.  Z2 is going to be a junior next year, and was elected Junior Class president.

Kiki Aru completed 8th grade at KMS, and now will be a freshman at Kellogg High School. 

I head off to KHS myself.  I will no longer work at KMS, and will be at KHS all the time now.  So PKR, Z2, Kiki Aru and myself will all be at KHS next  year. 

Soon PKR and I will be immersing ourselves in the history of the 1910 fire.  We are involved in many projects this summer helping to tell the story of the very prominent event in Silver Valley history.  We are going to be doing some historical tours in Wallace, directing a melodrama, and writing and performing an historical production called "Voice of the Big Burn".  We are also going to work with some kids on some street theater stuff.  I'm really looking forward to this summer.

If you are in the Wallace area, come and see a show.  More information can be found at www.sixthstreetmelodrama.com.

I Found It! I Found It!

After some quiet prayer and meditation, I think my mind has been partially restored....I think I still have some on the loose somewhere.  If you see it, direct it my way.

I look forward to driving to Sandpoint this afternoon with my friend SB to the KMS Track Meet.  Kiki Aru will be participating in High Jump, the 400 and the 4x400 relay.  I hope the weather holds, but we are taking umbrellas just in case.    

Lots of excitement over the weekend.  The Princess participated in the Silver Valley Karaoke Showcase here in Kellogg and got second place, singing Tracy Chapman's "Give Me One Reason".  Here she is, belting out the song....

And here she is with her trophy.

I did tape it, and hope to have video of the performance soon.

If You Have Found My Mind, Could You Please Return It...It Seems To Be Lost

Maybe that is why I haven't been writing here in a while.  It is rather hard to concentrate when your mind is missing.  If you happen to come across it, please leave me a message, and I'll come and get it.

Thanks.  Silver Valley Girl

Bless Be The Ties That Bind...Our Hearts in Christian Love

 After meeting 27 years ago, we grow more and more in love every day.

Well, I'm a little behind on my sibling assignments, so I hope to get caught up during this week of spring break.

Let us hearken back to February 14, Valentine's Day, when this assignment was due.

The assignment, which I assigned throughout the month of February, with the theme "Ties", is as follows:

"Write about the ties that bind you to your husband or wife."

PKR and I joke about the first two times we met. I didn't make much of an impression on him, because he didn't remember me until we met the third time...I guess third times a charm.

The one he remembers is me coming over to his parent's house to deliver his sister's high school graduation present. I had just finished my first year at the University of Idaho, and he was home from Western Montana College. His sister and I were friends.

It was first the ties of Christian love that brought us together. There was a group of young people that summer that hung out together, and did different activities all summer. Yes, I thought PKR was very attractive, but I thought he was way out of my league. After all, I remember him from being a freshman at Kellogg Junior High School as the senior who was the quarterback on the football team, one of the start basketball players, and a state track champion. Those kind of guys weren't interested in girls like me.

Summer culminated with a trip to Church Camp during the first week, of August. PKR was attending, as was most of the kids who we hung out with that summer. We arrived at camp, and one of the girls from Kellogg made a comment about PKR and I making a "good couple". I was genuinely surprised by this comment...again, he was way out of my league.

But I guess PKR had other plans. When I went to church camp, it was popular for the boys to ask the girls to the Thursday night Bonfire. Well, by Wednesday night, PKR asked me to go to the bonfire. I was quite pleased, and I guess that was our first date.

While at camp, our hearts were tied, first with Christian love, and then that focus also started changing beyond being "a brother and sister in Christ", so something a bit more romantic. When we returned to Kellogg after camp, we spent the night before I left for college walking around town, and talking alot. Then I returned to Moscow, and, later, he returned to Dillon.

We started dating in August of 1982. Between that time, and July 1986, when we got married, we were only in the same town about 18 months of those four years...so it was letter writing that tied us together at that point. And I think it helped us get to know one another on a different level...especially because we both like to write.

Marriage wasn't something I took lightly at all. I wanted to make sure that PKR was the man I was suppose to marry, and that I had not doubt whatsoever he was the man for me. During the summer of 1984 I moved to San Bernardino, California and worked at the International Headquarters for Campus Crusade for Christ. The question I wanted answered that summer was this..."Is PKR the man I am suppose to marry?"

By the end of the summer, after much prayer, the answer was yes. If PKR asked me to marry him, I knew without any reservations, that he was the man I wanted to spend the rest of my life.

During the spring of 1984, PKR told my best friend CE that he was going to ask me to marry him, and that he wanted her help. But God knew I needed some time over the summer to have peace about the decision.

On December 10, 1984, PKR asked me to marry him in front of a room full of sorority sisters at the TriDelt house at U of I. By then, I could with confidence say, "Of Course!!"

Once that decision was made, and I committed myself to PKR, and he to me, that is what has kept us tied together. Because we knew if was right, because we are committed (as he puts it, divorce is not a word we use), we are forever tied to one another, through the good times and the bad. And, for us, it was that time of deliberate seeking after God to give us the answer and patiently waiting for Him to say, "Yes", this is the one for you.

And since that time, I have never regretted my decision.

Life Continues, Despite the Drought

Despite the drought in my blog writing, life continues.

March has brought with it many pleasant surprises, much spiritual growth, and beautiful spring weather.

I survived my big project at work, Career Day last week.  I believe it went really well, and it was nice to read the comment of one of the students who said listening to one of the speakers made her really think about going to college.  To me, that is what Career Day is all about.
 
We have started a home group at our house on Sunday evenings through our church, Mountain Valley Congregation Church, and it has been such a blessing.  We are doing Rick Warren's "Forty Days of Community" which challenges us to share and pray with one another, encourage and serve one another at church, and do a project in the community.  We have the wonderful opportunity to help a woman who runs a local daycare fix up her yard, a task she is unable to do.  We are also going to relieve the workers at another church in the valley who do a soup kitchen once a week.

I have found I have needed this group to help me focus on the needs of others.  I tend to isolate myself, and focus on my own needs so much, that I don't look at the world around me and what God wants me to do for others in my community.  This group is helping me do that, and I am so thankful that my focus is changing.

 I had a wonderful weekend.  Friday night Paul and I entertained at a dinner at the Shoshone Golf Course, and had a wonderful time.  Then I got up early Saturday morning, picked up my mom and drove to Lewiston for Kiki Aru's basketball tournament.  My cousin LM picked Mom up in Lewiston and drove her to Orofino to spend the night with her sister.

On Sunday, Kiki Aru and I drove to Orofino and had a wonderful lunch at my cousin's house, and then headed back to Kellogg.  After a little detour that wasn't planned, we made it home.  I think the detour was planned by my Grandma West (who has been deceased almost 20 years), because the road we traveled on took us to the place where she was born.  We traveled along Cedar Creek Ridge Road, and ended up at Gold Hill.  Very interesting, because we had just been talking about this area at lunch with my cousin.

This summer all the Orofino family is planning a reunion, and hopefully we will take a road trip to Grandma's birthplace, as well as "The Ranch" where Mom lived until she moved into Orofino.

Z2 went to the District Speech Competition this weekend, participating in Duo Interpretation.  Her and her friend RC got third place, and will be going to State Competition in Pocatello next month.  I am so proud of her!!  PKR had six of his students qualify for state, which he is very excited about.

Spring break starts at the end of the week.  I hope to get a lot of organizing done and possibly even a garage sale at the end of the week.  That would be a big accomplishment!!

I hope to use spring break to get caught up on my sibling assignments.  I think I am behind by about a month and a half.

Hope to write again sooner, rather than later.

Here, There and Everywhere

That is what I have felt lately.  I've been here, there and everywhere.

Except writing on my blog.

Except reading others blogs.

But, since the first of the year, I have been to Post Falls, Coeur d'Alene, Wallace, Mullan, Houston, Las Vegas, Denver, Salt Lake City, Spokane, Moscow, St. Maries, and Bonners Ferry.

I feel like I could write my own version of the song "I've Been Everywhere, Man".

Now that I have settled back home for a while, I hope to share some stories soon.