Surviving the Silverwood Fifth Grade Field Trip

Assignment: Help Chaperone Group of Fifth Grade Students
Destination: Silverwood Theme Park, Athol, Idaho
Mission: To Make It Through the Day With Sanity


Start off the day cruising "Thunder Canyon" with your daughter and her friends.Next time, share your tried and true Silverwood wisdom with fellow chaperones. DON'T WEAR JEANS TO SILVERWOOD, especially on the water rides. One word...CHAFING!!!
Check out the water bumper boats from above from the Parasailer.

More great views from the Parasailer, except for the evil roller coaster.
Visit the main attraction to the park, Roller Coaster Alley.
Be patient when your daughter says she wants to ride on the Skydiver "one more time".
Okay, I'm sorry if you are a ferris wheel fan. But, as you see, I am not riding on this ride. Roller coasters scare me to death. The rocking on the top when you have stopped is the WORST.

Okay, kids, please DO NOT MAKE ANY OBSCENE GESTURES at the camera while riding on the roller coaster.

I passed this test. It was close, but I refrained from being an idiot and standing up on the roller coaster. The seat belt and secure bar were also a bit of a deterrent. Make sure you read the stats on the roller coaster AFTER you ride it. Did you know that this roller coaster is named Timber Terror. (It was previously called Grizzly and changed to Timber Terror in 1996 so as not to conflict with Paramount's Great America and Paramount's King's Dominions Grizzly coasters.) It is a wood, sit down coaster that is 2700' long, and is 85' high. Riders reach a speed of 55 mph and it lasts 1:32. I survived this coaster by keeping my eyes closed for the majority of the ride.

According to ultimaterollercoaster.com, If you were to take a wild twister and shake it up with the airtime of an "out and back" coaster, the result would be Tremors, designed by Custom Coasters. Its very first drop plunges deep into an underground tunnel, crashing back above ground through the floor and ceiling of one of the park's gift shops. Four underground tunnels swallow riders as they traverse the path of Tremors reaching speeds of 50 mph. This coaster is 3158 feet long, and 85 feet high. Tremors has a 99 foot drop, and riders reach a top speed of 50 mph. The ride is 1 minute 40 second, and the G-Force is 2.5 G's. I was more familiar with this coaster, so my eyes weren't shut quite as much.
The Log Flume is a fun water ride. See how much fun the girls are having.
Up, up, up we go to make the plunge on the log ride.

Here is another plunge at the park...The Panic Plunge. I didn't get a chance at this ride. But it was fun talking to kids who did, and how thrilled and excited they were to experience the 140 foot drop from the top.Fifth graders feast on "elephant ears" at the end of the day.
Chaperones need funnel cakes.

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Mission Accomplished. Kids were great. A perfect weather day for a day at Silverwood.

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Sanity Still Here. (Well, to some that may be debatable.)

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Just standing by for my next assignment.

A Little Bit of This...A Little Bit of That

Here is my dog Peaches. She is a Keeshond. She is very good natured and seems to always have a smile. (Especially when there is cheese around...then she gets crazy cheese eyes.)

Why can't people at work be more like Peaches...it would sure make life less complicated.


Human resource management can suck the life right out of you.


This is the part of my job that isn't that fun. Dealing with employee issues can be a bit draining.


Hearing the complaints and concerns. Talking to all sides. Praying to God for wisdom to handle the situation. Having the meeting.


It just takes time, and energy, and it often can be a productive time, but working up to the meeting can be exhausting.


I hope after our talk she becomes a better employee.


Because that is part of my job. To help our employees work as a team, and for each of them to be successful, productive employees.


And most of the time it works great...but every so often there is a hitch. Today I dealt with one of the hitches. Let's hope progress was made today.

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I also went to the dentist for a check up. He told me my back top tooth on the right hand side was missing part of the tooth. It had chipped off. I'm going in next week to get it fixed. Dentists don't really bother me. I practically fell asleep during my cleaning. I've never needed laughing gas. Just extra novacaine as I grow older, to get my teeth area good and numb.

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I got a call from the editor of the local newspaper today. She is getting married on Saturday, and leaving for her honeymoon, and will be gone for about two weeks. She is a little concerned because she is understaffed. She wondered if I could make some contributions to the paper over the next few weeks. Poor thing. She doesn't need to be worrying about all of this the week of her wedding. I wish Icould help her more, but the last few weeks of school are crammed full of school activities. I will probably try and take pics at the school events, and send her what I can. I wish I could help more.
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I wrote a melodrama at the beginning of the year, and it is being produced by the local theater here in the Silver Valley. PKR is directing it, and he, myself, The Princess and three others will be performing it at the Sixth Street Melodrama this July in Wallace. PKR made the final cast selections today, and we start rehearsals on Monday. The name of the play is "Nightmare at Dream Gulch...or Wake Me When It's Over." It is based on a true story from the Murray Gold Rush I read in the book "Beneath These Mountains." I'll be sharing more on this adventure as it unfolds in the following weeks.
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Tomorrow Kiki Aru's 5th grade class is going to Silverwood Theme Park, and I am chaperoning. I went with the other two daughters, so now it is time to go with my baby girl. Kiki Aru is taking me through lots of endings...the end of Sunnyside Elementary, the last spring music show, and my last Silverwood Field Trip. And I'm sure there will be others.


Well, I'm nodding off as I write this, so maybe I should go to bed.

Goodnight!!

#70--My Tree--A Flourishing Tree

A life devoted to things is a dead life, a stump;

a God-shaped life is a flourishing tree.
Proverbs 11:28

Tributes, Tea, Tomatoes, and Transplanting...A Special Mother's Day

What a special Mother's Day. It began with attending church this morning, where PKR was the substitute worship leader, and it was fun singing together leading worship. Then Mom and Inland Empire Girl came to my house to read the tributes we wrote to Mom, and PKR shared Raymond Perts. These tributes can be found here, here and here. Then we headed up to French Gulch Farms to attend a special Mother's Day Tea. Above is Inland Empire Girl, Mom and myself after we finished our tea.
There were delicious sandwiches, scones, tarts and quiches, with devonshire cream, lemon curd and orange marmalade to spread on our scones. Yum!!
The table was set so nice. I drank Lavendar Earl Grey tea. I remember that from last year's tea. It is delicious.
I purchased some plants from the French Gulch Farms, and put them in pots today. I also bought some last week from the greenhouse at Kellogg Middle School. They have a wonderful program where the Vocational Educational students plant seeds and grow them in the greenhouse, then they have a plant sale each spring. So three of these tomatoes are from the KMS sale. I'm seeing how growing them in pots on my deck works. The water wells around them help keep them warm during the cool Kellogg evenings, until it warms up a bit more.
Here are the herbs I purchased. I want to plant an herb garden in my backyard. There is parsley, sage, rosemary and thyme (No, I'm no going to Scarborough Fair). I also bought some different kinds of mint to plant. Yes, Inland Empire Girl, I will plant them in pots, not in the ground, because they are quite invasive.

I took some of the flowers and plants and put them in pots today. I will put them in the front of the house. Creating these pots each year is quite thearpeutic.

I still have some more flowers and plants, but ran out of potting soil. So, this is left for tomorrow.

Here is one of my geranium hanging baskets that our P.E.O. group sells as a fund-raiser. I have four on my deck, and one by the front porch. I love geraniums!

I just had to share a picture of the flowering cherry trees in my side yard on the south side of the house. This picture really doesn't do them justice. They are covered with light pink blooms, and there are four or five of them lining the side yard.

#69--My Tree--Mother's Day Brilliance

Behold, everyone who quotes proverbs will quote this proverb concerning you,

saying, 'Like mother, like daughter.'

Ezekiel 16:44

Learning How Great My Mom Is Through The Eyes of Others

This week my assignment for my siblings was to write a tribute to our mother for Mother's Day. We will share them with her on Mother's Day. You can find Raymond Pert's here, and Inland Empire Girl's here.

When I was growing up, I think I had a very narrow view of my mother.

She was just Mom. She was a teacher at Silver King School. And she was a wife, married to my dad. Sometimes I saw her as a daughter when we were with my Grandma’s house in Orofino. But in my mind, Mom was just Mom.

But as I grew older, I started discovering the different nuances of my mother. One thing that really helped me see Mom in a new way was having people tell me about her.

When we returned back home to Kellogg to live in 2000, Mom was just finishing up her chemotherapy after being diagnosed with breast cancer.

We moved in August of 2000, and the next summer I was hired as a reporter for our local newspaper. The great thing about this job was it got me out in the community talking to people about a variety of things.

And it amazed me how often I was asked about my mother.

“So, how is your mom doing? I haven’t seen her in a while.”

“She is doing great.”

“Boy, that mom of yours is so funny. She just cracks me up.”

Now this threw me for a loop. My mom….funny? I guess I always thought dad was the funny one, but apparently mom also had her own special type of humor. And apparently this surfaced at her monthly Delta Kappa Gamma meetings. (DKG is a fraternal organization for teachers that my mom is a member of, and has been for as long as I can remember.)

So after this comment, I started watching my mom, and, sure enough, she had a great sense of humor. My girls think Grandma Mary (or Slash, as they fondly refer to her) is really funny.

One of the reasons I knew Mom was a great teacher, was because people would tell me. When I got to junior high, students would fondly speak of Mom and talk about what a great teacher she was, and how much they liked her. I never remember a kid saying they didn’t like Mom as a teacher. And I remember feeling very proud about that fact.

Everyone spoke fondly of my mom. Young and old alike. And I still have people ask me how she is doing.

“How is your mom doing? I haven’t seen her much lately.”

“Well, she doesn’t like driving much in the winter, when the roads are slick. But now that it is spring and the weather is nicer, she will enjoy getting out and working in her garden. You’ll probably see more of her now that the snow is gone.”

Part of it is living in a small community who cares about people.

Part of it is having a person as your mother who people are genuinely fond of and they care about her welfare.

In the last seven years since returning to Kellogg, I have had the good fortune of living just across town from my mother and seeing her on a very regular basis.

And I have gotten to know her, not just as my mom, but as a person.

And this picture came, not just through my own eyes, but through the eyes of those in the community who care deeply for her, and that mom, in some way, has touched their lives.

I am thankful for a mom who is cared for by so many people.

Happy Mother’s Day, Mom.

I love you, and are so proud to have you as my mom!!!!

#68--My Tree--Beautiful Branches

A young branch takes on all the bends that one gives it.
-Chinese Proverb

#67--My Tree--Leafing Out in Red

The poppy that my heart was,

formed to bind all mortals,

made to strike and gather hearts

like flame upon an altar,

fades and shrinks, a red leaf

drenched and torn in the cold rain.

- Hilda Doolittle

Kellogg's Second Chance

This week's Sunday Scribbling's prompt is Second Chance.

Special thanks to my daughter and her partner for the research they did on the reforestation of the Silver Valley that can be viewed here.

My hometown is getting a second chance.

Kellogg, Idaho is part of an area known as the Silver Valley, located in north Idaho along Interstate 90.

This is one of the “final frontiers” to be discovered and pioneered in the United States. For many years it was home to the Schitsu'umsh, the Native American tribe who lived off the land and resided along its many lakes and rivers. See more about the tribe here.

Then the Jesuit Missionaries or “Black Robes” came at the request of the tribe, and built The Cataldo Mission, to help convert the tribe to Christianity. More on the mission and the Black Robes here and here.

From 1858 to 1862, Captain John Mullan constructed a military road from Fort Walla Walla on the Columbia River in Washington to Fort Benton, on the Missouri River, in Montana. This Military Road cut right through what is now the Silver Valley, and went right by the Cataldo Mission.

But it was a rough road to travel, so it didn’t get a lot of traffic, until a prospector named Andrew Pritchard made a discovery of gold on Prichard Creek on the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River, which started the Murray Gold Rush in 1883.

Thousand flocked to the find their riches, including a man named Noah Kellogg. Kellogg decided to due some exploring on his own, and headed over the mountain down to the South Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River where, as rumor has it, his jackass was mesmerized by an outcropping of galena on the side of the hill. Whatever the true story is, Noah Kellogg discovered the Bunker Hill and Sullivan Mining Company in 1885. This discovery eventually made Kellogg a mining boom town.

But with mining booms come some harmful effects to the environment. Trees on the hillsides were cut down to provide logs for homes, and timbers to help support the mine tunnels. Soon, the once green hillsides were barren.

In 1917, Bunker Hill constructed a smelter to help melt down the ore and separate the minerals. Sulfuric acid, zinc oxide, phosphate fertilizers, lead, arsenic, cadmium and zinc were the main contaminants from the smelters. These gases from the smelting process, if released into the air, would cause air that was greatly polluted. Because of the contaminants in the air, over 80 percent of the trees were contaminated and could not grow back, because when the pollution, or “smelter smoke” combined with water and clung to the newly formed cones on the trees, it created a condition similar to pouring car battery acid on the cones, and they could not survive.

In 1973, the Bunker Hill Company hired Ed Pommerening to help revegetate the barren hillsides and return them to their original state. It looked as if Kellogg may get a second chance.

But then Kellogg was dealt a big economic blow in 1981. The Bunker Hill Mining Company was closed down, and over 2100 jobs were lost with a $50 million annual payroll. Things looked bleak for this small town that had always relied on “Uncle Bunker” to see them through.

As part of his revegitation process, Pommerening developed an underground greenhouse in one of the tunnels in the Bunker Hill Mine and grew seedlings what were then planted each spring by high school and college students. During the periods of 1975-1982 and 1991-1993, youth throughout the Silver Valley could be found working hard planting trees in the steep, barren terrain of Shoshone County. In the summer, Pommerening was responsible for hiring thirty 16 to 18 year old youth to plant trees. Each person was responsible for planting 200 trees per day.

The United States Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, moved into the area in 1985. Gulf Resources & Chemical Corp., the last owners of Bunker Hill, were ordered by the EPA to pay for extensive environmental studies. Asarco, Hecla Mining Co., Sunshine Mining Co., and Coeur d' Alene Mines were also charged with the responsibility and costs of replacing contaminated dirt. Kellogg soon became the largest Superfund Site in the United States.

By the end of 1993, Pommerening and his crew were responsible for planting 2.8 million trees amongst 5,000 acres. The hills throughout the Silver Valley that once looked like large dirt mounds have significantly changed. Today there are many species that can be found in the green hills of Kellogg. Ponderosa Pine, White Pine, Quaking Aspen, Ocean Spray, Cyanosis, Snow Berry and grasses flourish throughout the reforested area.

Pommerening’s biggest accomplishment was the survival rate of the trees. When he began the reforestation project he hoped the survival rate of the trees would be 50 percent. What amazed him and others was 80 to 90 percent of the trees survived and are growing healthy today.

The EPA has remediated almost every homeowner’s yard in Kellogg, replacing contaminated dirt with uncontaminated dirt. (Well, some residents wouldn’t agree, because much of the dirt was so contaminated with weeds, that it has been a problem ever since. Our yard is a good example. Our yard was one of the few in the town that didn’t have a high measure of contaminates, so it wasn’t remediated. We hardly have any dandelions in our yard. For most residents in our subdivision, they are infested with them. Most people agree…they were given weedy dirt.)

Kellogg has now been discovered as a year round tourist destination with Silver Mountain Ski Resort in the winter, the Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes for bike riding, as well as many other recreational opportunities.

Because of the reforested hillsides, Kellogg is slowly being restored to the original beauty the Schitsu'umsh once appreciated when the lived along the banks of the Coeur d’Alene River. Wetlands are springing forth on this former marshy area, wildlife is returning to the hills, and fish are now being seen in the once milky white river that flows through town.

I marvel at the hillsides of my youth, and how well the earth can regenerate itself when the pollution and contaminates are gone, and nature can run its course.

It is truly a miracle.

I Live With The Top 7th Grade 400 Runner

Well, I'm back from the District Track Meet held at Timberlake High School. The Kellogg Wildcats had a very good showing, including my daughter Z2.

She placed first in the girls 7th grade 400 run with a time of 69 seconds.

Her 4 x 100 relay team placed second.

She was first in her heat in the 200. She didn't place, but she did have a personal best in that race today with 31.5 I believe.

As far as team stats:

The 7th grade boys placed fourth.
The 7th grade girls placed second.
The 8th grade boys placed second.
The 8th grade girls placed second.

So, track is officially done for the season. But summer training is just around the corner!!

Kent's Kent, Oregon Tree

My brother-in-law Kent sent me another picture of a tree. Here is what he says about this particular tree:

Here's my latest Tree picture. Believe it or not this was taken from the outskirts of a little town called Kent, Oregon; population somewhere in the 30s. OK I admit it, It's actually a cross between a Tree picture and a Snow Capped Peak picture!

Thanks, Kent, for sending me another picture of a tree. Remember, you, too, can send me a picture of a tree...as you can see from my blog, it doesn't even have to be a tree that grows in the ground. Now that spring is upon us, I'm sure there are many lovely trees that could be photographed and could be sent to me so I could share them. Just look over in the left hand column and it will tell you where to email your picture.

Walt Gaby Sends Picture of His Tree

Trees come in many colors, shapes and sizes. And this one is no exception. When my father's childhood friend, Walt Gaby, sent me a picture of a tree, he said this:

Is the attached tree as beautiful as those depicted on your site? I wait with baited breath for your response!

Well, Walt, this tree certainly has its own special beauty. Thanks for sending it and sharing it with me in my search for other trees around the world!

#66--My Tree--First Colors Emerge from Tri-Color Beech

The light is there, and colors surround us.

However, if there were no light nor colors in our own eye,

we wouldn’t perceive such things outside of us.

- Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe

KMS Tracksters Take It Easy in Preparation for Districts

Here is Z2 running the 400 at the track meet in Post Falls today at Post Falls Middle School. The KMS Track Team took it easy today at the meet, since they travel up to Spirit Lake for their district track meet on Thursday. Z2 did a respectable time in the 400, and her 4 x 100 relay team had a new member, because one of the girls hurt her foot. And they did okay for their first time running together. They did get to run against kids from the Wallace team, as well as Post Falls Middle School, River City Middle School, Kootenai, and Lakeside. I think that was all. Z2 didn't run in the 200, because the coaches wanted them to only do 2 events today. Not sure of the overall results for the Wildcats today, but I think they did pretty good. I look forward to the big meet on Thursday.

#65--My Tree--Blackbird in My Tree

Blackbird
(Lennon/McCartney)

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these sunken eyes and learn to see

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to be free.

Blackbird fly Blackbird fly

Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird fly Blackbird fly

Into the light of the dark black night.

Blackbird singing in the dead of night

Take these broken wings and learn to fly

All your life

You were only waiting for this moment to arise

You were only waiting for this moment to arise

You were only waiting for this moment to arise.

My Tree--#64--Morning Has Broken

As sung by Cat Stevens

lyrics by Eleanor Farjeon

Morning has broken, like the first morning
Blackbird has spoken, like the first bird
Praise for the singing, praise for the morning
Praise for the springing fresh from the word
Sweet the rain's new fall, sunlit from heaven
Like the first dewfall, on the first grass
Praise for the sweetness of the wet garden
Sprung in completeness where his feet pass
Mine is the sunlight, mine is the morning
Born of the one light, Eden saw play
Praise with elation, praise every morning
God's recreation of the new day

memes are the cultural counterpart of genes

In a general way, I took the challenge to be “tagged” by Katrina at Notes on a Napkin to participate in a meme.

Here are the rules: Each player starts with 7 random facts/habits about themselves. People who are tagged need to write on their own blog about their seven things, as well as these rules. You need to choose 7 people to get tagged and list their names. Don’t forget to leave them a comment telling them that they have been tagged and to read your blog!

7 Random Facts/Habits About Me

1. I have had at least 14 different careers, roles or jobs since graduating from college in 1985. They are, in chronological order:
1) Director of Admissions and Public Relations at Dawson Community College, Glendive, Montana
2) Radio Announcer at KGLE Radio Station, a Christian/Agriculture Radio Station in Glendive.
3) Pastor’s Wife
4) Youth Group Leader
5) Stay at Home Mom
6) Part-time Day Care Provider
7) Substitute Teacher
8) Cashier in a Flower Shop
9) Reporter/Photographer for Local Newspaper
10) Pampered Chef Kitchen Consultant
11) Actor and Singer for Sixth Street Melodrama in Wallace, Idaho
12) Office Manager for Kellogg Pet Medical Center
13) Counselor for couples preparing to get married
14) Writer—currently writing an historical fiction novel on the Silver Valley. Also completed a melodrama based on a true historical Silver Valley story. It will be produced this July at the Sixth Street Melodrama and my husband is directing.
(The above list is things I was paid for. I’m not even touching the volunteer list.)
2. One of my favorite times of the week is Sunday morning, when I go to church for Worship Band practice, and then worshiping in the church service. We have a very contemporary form of worship in our church, with drums, guitars, keyboard and bass. I provide backup vocals. I love to harmonize and lose myself in worship to Jesus. It works for me, and it is how I bless the Lord. 3. I love to run long distances. My favorite race is the half-marathon, and I have competed in 2 of them. It is a little over 13 miles. I don’t run fast. I just love to run slowly for a long time. I have got out of the habit of running the last few years, but lately I have been walking and hope to get back into running. Long, 10 mile runs are wonderful.
4. I have played the flute for about 33 years. I plan to start playing it again in church as part of our worship.
5. My dream car is an MG Midget convertible.
6. I say the Lord’s Prayer every day.
7. I look forward to Christmas Eve each year, because my family chooses a different country each year, and I prepare a full seven course meal from that country (with some help from other members of the family, and friends.) I love to cook, especially things that I can take my time with, and are a challenge.


SO, now I have to tag some of you people.

Inland Empire Girl – Gathering Around The Table

Raymond Pert—Kellogg Bloggin’

Pinehurst in my Dreams--Ponderosa Pinings

E.H.—Go Figure who "fobbed" it off on Ordinary Janet--Janet's Ordinary Life

Mrs. T—Meet The Taylors

Sam the Reporter—Vandal Sense

MarmiteToasty—TWADDLE everyday rubbish

And anybody else who WANTS to do it!

Gardening Disasters: Evil Lurking In My Flowerbed

This weeks Sibling Assignment comes from Inland Empire Girl. The topic: Gardening Disasters. Here is her post, and here is Raymond Pert’s post.

I have always had fairly good luck at outside gardening. (Now houseplants are a whole other story. If I would water them, it might help!!) But my outside flowers and vegetables have always done pretty well.

But once evil forces enter your gardening area, disaster can happen it the subtlest of ways. It is as if history is repeating itself…the beginning of history.

In the book of Genesis in the Bible, it tells the story of Eve, the first woman God created, being tempted by the serpent to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil. It goes like this:

Genesis 3
The Fall of Man
1 Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made. He said to the woman, "Did God really say, 'You must not eat from any tree in the garden'?"
2 The woman said to the serpent, "We may eat fruit from the trees in the garden, 3 but God did say, 'You must not eat fruit from the tree that is in the middle of the garden, and you must not touch it, or you will die.' "
4 "You will not surely die," the serpent said to the woman. 5 "For God knows that when you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil."
6 When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.

This story began a pattern. At the beginning of Creation, the devil hung out in gardens.

Today is no different.

While living in Meridian, Idaho, I had my own visitation from evil, in the form of this:

Some call it puncture weed. But it is also known as goatshead weed. And I’m sorry, I don’t buy the fact it is called a goatshead weed because of the spiky seeds. They are called goatshead weeds because they are derived from the pit of hell…the goatshead is a popular satanic symbol, and I believe the devil came to earth and spread these seeds to inflict not only damage to our gardens, but also to our feet, shoes and bike tires.

Feel lucky and blessed if you have not encountered this weed. My flowerbed in Meridian was covered with them. They start out innocently enough, but then, before you know it, they take over your flowers, and entwine among everything growing. Then they produce little hard spiky pods that are tracked into the house on the bottom of your shoe, and also puncture bike tires. And, heaven forbid if you walk outside barefoot and step on one of those pods. OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

After this weed overtook my flowerbed, my mom came for a visit and knew something must be done. So she spent days out in the flowerbed in the hot Treasure Valley sun pulling these weeds, pouring salt water on them to kill them, and finally ridding my flower bed of the pesky menace.

They are such a problem worldwide, that they have a whole website devoted to them called www.goatshead.com. You can even buy puncture vine eating weevils now to help destroy this crafty garden interloper.

My little corner of the Silver Valley has not been infested with this evil menace. Here, if I can just get the grass pulled out of my flower beds, I’ll be doing good. But grass is just invasive…not evil.

My Tree--#63--Twilight Tree

The twilight is long fingers and black hair.

- Allen Tate

Silver Valley Sunset

So I can actually see a bit of a sunset if I go in my backyard. From the front of my house, the Silver Mountain condos block the setting sun's view. But today I caught this shot.

#62--My Tree--Leaves and Bark

Leaves and bark, leaves and bark,

To lean against and hear in the dark.

Petals I may have once pursued.

Leaves are all my darker mood.

- Robert Frost

"I" Tower, Sandwich Game and Tonsilectomy...Some of my Earliest Memories

It is interesting to think back to some of my earliest memories. Some I’m not sure how old I was at the time. Other memories, because of what was going on, I know my age. I think when something was really different in my life is when I have a very vivid memory of that occasion.

*One summer my mom attended summer school in Moscow at the University of Idaho. I have a memory of running up to the “I” tower with my brother and sister. I was maybe three.

*I have a very vivid memory of having the mask come over my face, and being asked to count backwards from 10 when I was in the Paulsen Building in Spokane to have my tonsils removed. I was four.

*I remember having a toy iron and a toy toaster, and trying to iron or insert our cat Peter Twinkle Toes in the play toaster. I was three or four.

*I remember my brother and sister used to play “sandwich” where they would put me in between the mattress and box spring on the bed and then lay on the top mattress.

*Another “fun” thing my brother used to do was try and wake me up by blowing his baritone in my ear.

(Yeah, Raymond Pert and Inland Empire Girl SEEM like really wonderful people…can you believe the things they put me through!!!) LOL

*I remember attending a Tupperware Party and meeting a little girl named Tina. I was four. We are still friends today.

*I remember Mary McKenzie’s daughter babysitting me one time. I must have got in trouble, and she put me in my crib, because it was in the room downstairs that later became my brother’s room. If I was still in a crib, I must have been two or three.

*I remember being at Cummings’ house two doors down, because Lynne babysat me. I remember waking up from a nap one time on one of their beds. I was four.

*My dad was a bartender at the Sunshine Inn when I was pretty young, and occasionally we would go to dinner there and sit in the “Noah Kellogg” room. (It was the Noah Kellogg room because there was a large colored picture of Noah and his Jackass on the wall). The highlight of going to dinner at the Sunshine Inn was getting to drink a Shirley Temple.

The memories really began to become vivid when I turned five and started kindergarten.

But those remembrances are for another day.

The Summer of the Bike Gang

I remember the summer of hanging out with the “Bike Gang”.

The “Bike Gang” was a group of boys on the “Sunnyside” area of Kellogg who would ride their bikes around this part of town, and the Kellogg Swimming Pool.

My friend KC and I started hanging out with them one summer. I think this was the summer of 1975, the summer I turned 12 and the summer before starting 7th grade. It is the summer we got a radio that could pick of KHQ-FM from our house, and I spent many days listening to the radio and learning Captain and Tenille’s “Love Will Keep Us Together,” a popular hit from that summer.

I’m not sure we were really welcomed, but we hung out with them anyway. Sometimes I felt like we were kind of the “Gun molls” for this group like the gangs back in Chicago in the early 1900’s. Accept we weren’t really “bad girls”. They were never mean, but I guess they tolerated our presence.

It seemed like our days followed a pattern. As soon as the pool opened, KC and I would jump on our bikes and go to the pool to swim in the afternoon. Inland Empire Girl was a lifeguard this summer, and I think all the “bike gang” had a big crush on her.

In the evenings they would hang out around the Mormon Church. One of the activities the guys did was play with rubber band guns. These are made of wood and clothes pins designed to shoot rubber bands at each other. The bike gang would have rubber band wars in the Mormon Church parking lot while KC and I watched.

Well, not to be outdone, I believe KC and I decided to go home and design our own rubber band guns. But I don’t ever remember bringing them to the Mormon Church and playing in their wars. I think the bike gang looked at that activity as guys only. And I think KC and I felt too stupid to bring our guns to the Mormon Church to play.

From what I remember, the “Bike Gang” was formed of RP, MM, JM, and Mouse and Larry, but I can’t remember their last name. All these boys lived within a block of the Mormon Church, and we had known R, M and J most of our lives. Mouse and Larry were the new kids on the block.

After the summer of the bike gang, I guess we started a new phase of our life, Junior High. Bike gangs and swimming at the pool weren’t as much a part of my summers after that year. I guess I moved on to other types of summer activities.

This summer was “So Kellogg” because of the bond between the guys in the gang, and we girls on the outskirts. That is often how it was growing up. At least with me. I don’t remember having a lot of guy friends. They were around, and we occasionally played together for a nightly game of hide and seek or kick the can, but usually the boys hung with the boys, and girls with girls. That is just the way it seemed growing up in Kellogg.

My Mind is Blank

My mind is blank.

Maybe because it is late.

I want to post in response to Katrina's "Rift" post, but that requires thinking.

I guess I'll do that another day.

Instead, I'll say goodnight, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite.

YAWN!!!

Good Night.

#61 My Tree--Japanese Maple

Here is another "guest" tree. This is the Japanese Maple in my backyard. It is just starting to leaf out. It will continue to fill in, and look really nice this summer. Next to my tri-colored beech, it is my next favorite tree in my yard.