#46 My Tree--Aprilus Fagus sylvatica

I love the language, that soft bastard Latin,
Which melts like kisses from a female mouth,
And sounds as if it should be writ on satin
With syllables which breathe of the sweet South.
- George Gordon Noel Byron

Chopsticks, Flying Bugs and Maggots…Remembering Summers in Orofino

This week’s sibling writing assignment, given to Inland Empire Girl and myself by our brother Raymond Pert has us using the phrase Orofino in August three times.

From the time I was a baby, until I was in high school, we would take a family vacation to the same place…Orofino, Idaho.

My mom grew up in Orofino, and she is darn proud of it, too. I love hearing her stories of her early years on “the ranch” along the Clearwater River, then, when they moved into town after her father left their family, and Grandma West was a single mother, faced with raising three children on her own.

Each summer we would return to Grandma’s house on Michigan Ave. and spend the week. Each summer we usually were in Orofino in August, the first week of August…probably the hottest week of the year.

With that many summers, there are bound to be some memories.

As I have been writing about family memories, I realize I remember a lot of things about growing up through my senses. Orofino memories are no different. I experienced many things through my senses.

The feel of the hot sand at Zan’s Beach along the Clearwater River where we often went to swim on those hot days in August in Orofino. Most summers we got to spend at least one day at the beach. I do remember one summer, in the mid 70’s, when I went to the beach but wouldn’t venture out into the water, because I swore “Jaws” lived in the Clearwater River that summer.

One summer stands out as the one and only time I ever had to go to the emergency room. It was evening, and I was standing on my grandma’s front porch waiting for someone or something, I can’t remember. All of a sudden I had a strange sensation in my ear. A bug had flown into my ear, and I could feel the wings flapping inside my ear. My mom and Auntie Ronnie drove me to the hospital and I remember the doctor used a syringe of water to remove the bug, which was a mayfly I believe. The feel of the flapping and buzzing of the insects wings, followed by the swooshing of the water being forced into my ear. I’ll never forget that feeling.

My Aunt and Uncle were the owners of “West’s Gun and Tackle Shop” a local sporting goods store in Orofino. If you drove into town you couldn’t miss it. With the building of the Dworshak Dam, fishing really took off in the area. One summer I got to work down at this store. One of my duties that I took very seriously was showing customers their fishing bait. If they wanted to buy worms, you needed to take them out of the refrigerator and pour them in the sawed off gallon bleach bottle so the customer could see they were alive and squirming around.

They also sold another kind of bait at my aunt and uncle’s shop…maggots. Yes, I also had to open up the container of maggots to show the potential customers that the maggots were a viable means to catch a fish. I think that is when I found out some guys like to take the maggots and put them in their lower lip to warm them up and get them wiggling so the fish like the better. Ugh!

One of the highlights of spending at week at Grandma’s house was her piano. (No, it wasn't really Grandma’s piano, as my mother explained every summer. It was Mom’s piano, but we didn’t have enough room for it at our house, so Grandma was just keeping it for her.) I would spend hours sitting at the piano, learning to play the right hand of chopsticks, then another summer mastering the left hand and being able to play both parts together. I figured out the mod version of “The Lord’s Prayer” that some nun had recorded it in the early to mid 70’s. (Anyone remember her name?) I played “Heart and Soul”, “Peter, Peter Pumpkin Eater” and various other tunes that don’t have names. Every summer I wished we could take the piano back home with us so I could learn. Well, 30 some years later it happened. I finally ended up with the piano in my own home.

Orofino was a logging town, and a family by the name of Konkol began a lumber mill in what is now referred to at “Konkolville”. One cool thing about driving up to Konkolville on one of the Hot August Evenings in Orofino was seeing the lighted up fountain on the front lawn of the Konkol house. Sadly, the fountain is now gone.

As my memory takes me back to those hot August summers in Orofino, I see Dworshak Dam towering in the distance, a sure sign we were almost to Grandma’s house.

I hear the whir of the fan in Grandma’s living room keeping things cool in the middle of the day.

I taste the cucumbers covered in real cream served at the back table at Grandma’s house.

I touch the dark, fertile soil in Grandma’s garden.

And I smell the forest fires in the air that were a common occurrence each summer as we traveled to Orofino in August for our family vacation.

#45 My Tree--Evening Dazzle

The truth must dazzle gradually

Or every man be blind.

- Emily Dickinson

Easter Morning Egg Hunt in the Silver Valley

#44 My Tree--Easter Egg Hiding Tree

HAPPY RESSURECTION!!!

Thank you for the cross, Lord

Thank you for the price You paid

Bearing all my sin and shame

In love You came

And gave amazing grace

Thank you for this love, Lord

Thank you for the nail pierced hands

Washed me in Your cleansing flow

Now all I know

Your forgiveness and embrace

Worthy is the Lamb

Seated on the throne

Crown You now with many crowns

You reign victorious

High and lifted up

Jesus Son of God

The Darling of Heaven crucified

Worthy is the Lamb

Worthy is the Lamb

Decorating Easter Eggs...A Family Tradition

Kiki Aru, Z2 and their friend CD spent some time in a yearly Easter tradition around our house...coloring Easter eggs. My family arrived around noon today after driving back from Meridian, and, when the girls heard their grandma had hard boiled some eggs for them, they were ready to color some eggs.

I'm glad they don't think they are too old to participate in this fun activity. Then tomorrow the Easter bunny will hide them out in the yard, and they will go on an Easter egg hunt.

Stay tuned............

#43 My Tree--Lifting My Face To Heaven

Jesus said, "Bring them here." Then he had the people sit on the grass. He took the five loaves and two fish, lifted his face to heaven in prayer, blessed, broke, and gave the bread to the disciples. The disciples then gave the food to the congregation. They all ate their fill. They gathered twelve baskets of leftovers. About five thousand were fed.

--Matthew 4: 18-20

Barefoot Tour of My Backyard

I toured my backyard today in my bare feet. Oh, the grass feels good!! So soft and warm. What a beautiful day today.

I wanted to see what progress was happening around the yard. And I wasn't disappointed.


I saw some daffodils about ready to bloom. They have come up among the Bishop's Weed, which will soon take over the flower bed with their green and yellow variegated leaves. Maybe the daffodils will open in time for Easter on Sunday. That would be very appropriate. I love yellow flowers. They are so happy and sunny and give you such a boost. Thank you, Lord, for these beautful flower in my backyard.



There are also some irises coming up among the Bishop's Weed and the holly. I think I may have to dig up my iris bulbs this year and transplant them to a sunnier place. It seems like last summer they didn't bloom very well because they are under the shade of some trees and bushes and didn't get much sun. I'll keep an eye on them this summer and see how they do, and maybe get them in some more sun this fall.

H-m-m. What is this? Some kind of rare white spring bloom? Ah, just a dirty sock found out in the flower bed. My two younger daughters like to jump on the trampoline barefoot, so this is a common occurance once trampoline season comes, finding discarded socks close by that have been forgotten by the jumpers. They have been gone this week for spring break, and just finding that small sock made we wish they were home. I can't wait to see them all tomorrow. I'm getting very lonely.

Here is one of my lavender bushes that is growing in the flower bed next to the house. Lavender is my favorite flower. I can't wait until they bloom. Lavendar does okay here in Kellogg, but when I lived in Meridian, I had so much lavender, because that arid desert is just right for lavender. Oh, I can't wait to see those beautiful purple blooms.



My sister, Inland Empire Girl, planted a flower garden beneath my clematis last spring as a housewarming gift. I see some new growth on some of the perrenials she planted. This garden is full of beautiful blue and purple flowers to match the clematis that watches over it all summer. I can't wait until they all bloom again.




Even my rose bushes are starting to see some growth. This is my "Jessie Rose", because our cat Jessie is buried underneath it. We have three different rose bushes for three cats that we have lost over the years. There is a Lynx rose, and a Mikey rose. This rose garden is a very special place to honor the pets we have loved and lost, and as they bring us beauty each summer, it reminds us of the beauty these friends brought to our lives when they were here.

Ah, the raspberry canes are also beginning to bud. I love to pick raspberries when the berries are warm and juicy and sit and eat them one after another. Picking raspberries and eating them tastes like summer to me. Yum! Yum!

Thanks for joining me on this barefoot tour through my backyard to check out the progress. I'll give you updates from time to time as the garden comes to life so you can check enjoy the beautiful flowers as much as I do. We moved in this house a little over a year ago, and were blessed with a lovely, established yard with beautiful plants, trees, bushes and flowers, as well as bringing some of our own.

My backyard is a very special place, and I look forward to enjoying it and sharing it with you.

#42 My Tree--Crystal Blue Persuasion

CRYSTAL BLUE PERSUASION

Look over yonder what do you see

The sun is a-risin' most definitely

A new day is comin' people are changin'

Ain't it beautiful crystal blue persuasion

Better get ready gonna see the light

Love, love is the answer and that's all right

So don't you give up now so easy to find

Just look to your soul and open your mind

Crystal blue persuasion, mm-hmm

It's a new vibration

Crystal blue persuasion, crystal

Blue persuasion

Maybe tomorrow when He looks down

Every green field and every town

All of his children every nation

There'll be peace and good brotherhood

Crystal blue persuasion

Crystal blue persuasion.....

#41 My Tree--Seasons may change, winter to spring...but I love you until the end of time.

Come What May

Never knew I could feel like this,
Like I've never seen the sky before.
Want to vanish inside your kiss;
Every day I love you more and more.
Listen to my heart, can you hear it sing?
--Telling me to give you everything.
Seasons may change, winter to spring;
But I love you until the end of time.
Come what may, come what may,
I will love you until my dying day.
Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place,
Suddenly it moves with such a perfect grace.
Suddenly my life doesn't seem such a waste;
It all revolves around you.
And there's no mountain too high,
No river too wide.
Sing out this song and I'll be there by your side,
Storm clouds may gather and stars may collide,
But I love you until the end of time.
Come what may, come what may,
I will love you until my dying day.
Oh, come what may,
Come what may,
I will love you, I will love you.
Suddenly the world seems such a perfect place.
Come what may, come what may,
I will love you until my dying day

The Deepest and Darkest Silver Valley Story

On May 2, 1972 a fire broke out in the Sunshine Mine east of Kellogg. As my daughter quotes in her script for History Day, “That morning, on May 2, 1972, 172 miners entered the Sunshine Mine to go to work. That afternoon only eighty-one miners came out. Ninety-three were missing.”

A few fleeting memories as an 8-year-old included images of charred and burned bodies in a mine shaft, body bags being stored across the street in a newly constructed, but not yet open nursing home, and many funerals being held at the church across the street from our home.

The year 2002 marked the 30th anniversary of the disaster, and I came up with an idea at work to design and publish a booklet listing a small write up of the 91 men who died in the fire, and also include some pictures and stories from the time. We also asked locals to submit pictures and stories of family members who had died in the fire.

For weeks I poured over newspaper, reading the obituaries of the men who died in the fire. This was a very moving experience. Ad I read the stories of men who liked to hunt, and ride motorcycles, and the wives and children that were left behind, I felt like I started to get to know each of them as I read their stories.

And I was surprised at how many kids I went to school with whose dads died in the fire. When I was in third grade at Sunnyside School, not many students at that school had dads who worked in the Sunshine Mine. And by the time I entered 7th grade at Kellogg Junior High School, and students from Canyon School, Pinehurst Elementary, Silver King School, Sunnyside Elementary, and Elk Creek all combined, kids didn’t talk much about the fact that they had lost their father in the fire.

But many had, and it made me look at some of my classmates in a different light when I saw their names listed as the surviving children on the final lines of the obituaries.

Some of the men were not buried in the valley, so their obituaries were not written in the local newspaper. Even though the Sunshine Mine was closed at the time, I was fortunate to have a connection with the then current manager of the mine, Harry Cougher, who gave me access to the employment records of the men who died in the fire. From the 9 or 10 men who died in the fire who didn’t have obits in the paper, I was able to look at their records and find enough information to write up a decent write up on each of them.

One of the most interesting things I kept dealing with in the process of writing this publication was the inconsistencies of the spelling of the men’s names. I remember having to ask the daughter of one of the men who died the correct spelling of their last name, because I found so many inconsistencies.

As I mentioned earlier, we had locals submit pictures and articles about their family members who died in the fire. One of the most interesting articles was written by a woman who was four years older than me at the time of the fire. She had a sister who was my age. Her name is Cindy Byington Faraca, and her story centered on the fact that the fire happened right around the time of her 12th birthday, and that each year when her birthday rolls around, she can’t forget all the memories of that time in 1972 each year her birthday rolls around.

So many lives lost. So many lives changed. Mothers without sons. Wives without husbands. Children without fathers.

This truly was one of the deepest, darkest periods in the Silver Valley, and in the lives of the families who lost the men to this tragedy.

#40 My Tree--I'm Really "Lichen" This Tree

The lichen on the rocks is a rude and simple shield

which beginning and imperfect Nature suspended there.

Still hangs her wrinkled trophy.

- Henry David Thoreau

The Sandpoint Tree

My brother-in-law Kent recently took a trip to Sandpoint and snapped this picture of this tree.

#39--My Tree--Blanket of Spring Snow

Last night you lay a-sleeping? No!
The room was thirty-five below;
The sheets and blankets turned to snow.
MHe’d got in: Dirty Dinky.
- Theodore Roethke

Terminator 3 Mad TV

My brother-in-law (and former pastor) and his wife shared this hilarious clip with us whie they were here for a visit. I often think Christian parody skits are not funny and poorly written, but this is an exception, in my humble Christian opinion. I think this is very clever and well written, and I hope you get a good laugh as I did. Happy Easter!! Don't worry...HE'LL BE BACK!!

Top Ten Things To Accomplish While My Family Is Gone For Spring Break

10. Work on writing at least three more chapters on the book I am writing about the Silver Valley.












9. Type up a months worth of dinner menus so we can maybe have a few more home cooked meals around here.

8. Type up a Master Grocery List.







7. Pray and seek God’s Wisdom on a variety of issues in my life.









6. Weed the flower beds outside (weather permitting…this is the Silver Valley).





5. Make chore lists for the family so I can see if someone other than me will tackle scooping the cat litter boxes.








4. Make use of the new exercise equipment in the basement every day. My new rule…I can’t blog until I exercise.




3. Do my taxes. Ugh!






2. Tackle some spring cleaning projects inside the house.






1. Take the plastic off the fifth season of Gilmore Girls on DVD that I have been hiding from my daughters in my lingerie drawer and watch it uninterrupted.