Riverjournal august2014 web

Because there’s more to life than bad news

A News MAGAZINE Worth Wading Through

Bonner County Gets Railroaded On Behalf of Fossil Fuels

Local News • Environment • Wildlife • Opinion • People • Entertainment • Humor • Politics

August 2014 | FREE | www.RiverJournal.com

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35th Annual Huckleberry Festival Trout Creek, Montana More than 100 craft booths August 8-10, 2014 Friday:

Booths Open 5pm Friday to 4pm Sunday

The Many Talents of Dave Oliver Idaho Puppet Theater Miss Huckleberry Pageant Dance with the Trout Creek Freeloaders

Saturday:

Pancake Breakfast 5K Run for Fun Huckleberry Parade Homesteaders Pentathlon Dog Agility Competition Swing Street Big Band Albeni Falls Pipe & Drum Festival Auction Pie-eating Contest Dance to the Music of the Devon Wade Band Helicopter Rides & Face Painting

Sunday:

Pancake Breakfast Worship Service Dog Agility Demo More Pentathlon The Pinkertons Jam & Jelly Contest Horseshoes “Alice in Wonderland”

by Libby Pitiful Players Dessert Contest

www.huckleberryfestival.com

Admission Free!

out Creek Huckleberry Festival verJournal un July 2014 ...providing its communities with affordable and accessible healthcare.

90.00? s 0RIMARY (EALTH #ARE FOR #HILDREN AND !DULTS KHS - Sandpoint Clinic KHS - Bonners Ferry Clinic 6615 Comanche Street Bonners Ferry Medical/Behavioral: 208-267-1718 Dental: 208-267-3201

l to: uckleberry, Inc. O. Box 1447 KHS - Priest River Clinic out Creek, MT 59874-1447 6509 Hwy. 2 Suite 101

ontact: z Citrino,

Priest River Medical/Behavioral: 208-448-2321

30410 Hwy. 200 Ponderay Medical/Behavioral: 208-263-7101 Dental: 208-255-3459 Veterans Clinic: 208-263-0450

Sliding fee for non-insured & we take Medicaid, Medicare and all insurances.

s 0REVENTATIVE (EALTH #ARE %DUCATION s 7OMEN S (EALTH s 34$ 3CREENING s 3PORTS 0HYSICALS Veterans Clinic s 6ACCINATIONS in Sandpoint s 8 RAYS s -INDFULNESS "ASED 3TRESS 2EDUCTION #LASSES s 0RESCRIPTION !SSISTANCE s #OMMUNITY "ASED /UTREACH #LINIC FOR 6ETERANS s 3ATURDAY #LINIC #ONCUSSION 4ESTING 7ALK IN !PPTS !VAILABLE s -EDICAID 0EDIATRIC $ENTAL !DULT $ENTAL %MERGENCIES

End of Summer

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Week One

Week Two

Thursday, August 7th

Thursday, August 14th

The Head And The Heart With

Mikey & Matty

Microbrew Tasting

Trombone Shorty & Orleans Avenue With Special Guest Galactic Friday, August 15th

Friday, August 8th

Ray LaMontagne

Huey Lewis & The News

With

Miah Kohal Band

The Belle Brigade

All Tickets $64.95

All Tickets $59.95

Saturday, August 16th

Saturday, August 9th

Montgomery Gentry

Nickel Creek

With

Head For The Hills and

Pear

All Tickets $54.95 Sunday, August 10th

Family Concert

“Musical Magic” Youth Orchestra

With Spokane

All Tickets $6.00

sandpoinT, idaho

All Tickets $39.95

All Tickets $39.95

With

FesTival aTsandpoinT augusT 7 - 17, 2014 The

With and

Wade Bowen

Chris Webster & Nina Gerber

All Tickets $54.95 Sunday, August 17th

Grand Finale

“Solo Spotlight” With The Spokane Symphony Complimentary Taste of the Stars Wine Tasting

All Tickets $39.95

For more information and tickets

FestivalAtSandpoint.com q 208.265.4554

ATHE NewsRIVER Magazine Worth JOURNAL Wading Through ~just going with the flow~ P.O. Box 151•Clark Fork, ID 83811 www.RiverJournal. com•208.255.6957

STAFF Calm Center of Tranquility Trish Gannon-trish@riverjournal.com

Ministry of Truth and Propaganda Jody Forest-joe@riverjournal.com

“We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.” Aristotle Proudly printed at Griffin Publishing in Spokane, Wash.

509.534.3625

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3

4. FOLLOWING THE CODE Communities catch up with the urban farming craze.

6. LOST AND FOUND When it gets scary outside, pets often run. A few things to remember about lost - and found - animals.

7. ENDURANCE THROUGH A HEADWIND This July’s storms may have caused you to re-think what’s growing next to your house. GET GROWING 8. MOUNTAIN BLUEBIRD Keep your eyes peeled for what Mike says might be your new favorite species.

A BIRD IN HAND

Contents of the River Journal are 9. IT’S TIME FOR HUCKLEBERRIES copyright 2014. Reproduction of any Matt waxes poetic about this purple material, including original artwork and goodness, but doesn’t share any advertising, is prohibited. The River Journal locations. is published the first week of each month THE GAME TRAIL and is distributed in over 16 communities in Sanders County, Montana, and Bonner, 10. MY MAD MASQUERADE SUMMER Jody remembers a time long ago Boundary and Kootenai counties in Idaho.

The River Journal is printed on 40 that was a harbinger to the DaVinci percent recycled paper with soyCode. based ink. We appreciate your SURREALIST RESEARCH BUREAU efforts to recycle.

9

12. WE NEED TO CHECK OUR FACTS They’re pesky things, but important - and even Gil needs to remember that VETERANS’ NEWS 13. PNWER’S IMPORTANT AGREEMENTS George reports on ongoing agreements between the Pacific Northwest and Canada.

A SEAT IN THE HOUSE 15. THE CALM IN THE STORM Ernie - at least his house - was an early casualty of the storms that blew through this month. THE HAWK’S NEST. 16. THE RAIN WILL FALL For Kathy, asking why bad things happen is asking the wrong question. KATHY’S FAITH WALK 17. NOT ALL THOSE WHO WANDER Sandy often journeys between two extremes on THE SCENIC ROUTE 18. A HULL IN THE WATER Scott figured out a way to get rid of an awful lot of money really quickly.

SCOTT CLAWSON

Cover: Photo: Linda Mitchell, of Lake Pend Oreille Cruises, captured this shot of a coal train crossing over Lake Pend Oreille, shedding part of its load into our atmosphere and water.

Guaranteed by Mother Nature

Cedar Outlet

Fencing • Decking • Siding • Shingles • Panelling 1 mile north of Big R on Hwy. 95 www.CedarsofIdaho.com

CALL TOM! 1-208-263-1208

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August 2014| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 23 No. 04| Page

Is Bonner County Getting Railroaded?

There’s fuel to move, so get out of the way Although used by man for thousands of years, new manufacturing processes developed in the mid Eighteenth century utilized fossil fuels as the driver of the Industrial Revolution, which resulted in an unprecedented increase in the standard of living for much of the ordinary people living in the countries that industrialized. But every silver lining has its cloud, and as we steadily deplete earth resources that developed over millennia, we are learning the full costs involved in our use of coal, oil and natural gas. Anthropogenic climate change might be the worst result to fly out of this Pandora’s box, but our attempts to extract an ever-more-difficult to reach resource have left a legacy that includes environmental degradation, public health risks, and a stomach-churning history littered with the appalling treatment of our fellow man.

With that as a background, Bonner County’s troubles related to fossil fuel (which extend into Sanders County, as well), may seem small. Nonetheless, they are very real, and highlight an uncomfortable fact for this community with a large preference for local control: that we don’t seem to have any control at all.

Around 500 miles to the east of us, for example, lies the Powder River Basin.

Covering about 24,000 square miles and including parts of Montana and Wyoming, the Powder River Basin is rich in coal deposits, which supply approximately 40 percent of the coal used in the United

States.

Go just a little north, and you’ve reached the Williston Basin, home to the Bakken oil fields. This roughly 200,000 square mile formation was rich in oil and heavily drilled; with the increased use of hydrofracturing technology (fracking), which allows access to the harder-toreach oil previously not considered recoverable, the USGS reported in 2013 that there are approximately 7.4 billion barrels of recoverable oil remaining in the Bakken. So much oil is currently being produced in the Bakken that it has outstripped the means available to move the oil out of the area. (While that sounds like a lot, it might be worth remembering that the United States uses almost 19 billion barrels of oil every single day. That means all the oil in the Bakken could fuel the U.S. for just a little over one year.)

But production of fossil fuels means little if they can’t be sent where they’re wanted, and the key to doing that is getting permits for two new export facilities in Washington (Cherry Point, near Bellingham, and Millennium Bulk Terminals near Longview), along with a coal transloading facility near Boardman, Ore. If those facilities are permitted, the only viable way to get there via train goes right smack through Sandpoint, Idaho; we are looking at a potential for train traffic to more than double going through our area. The impact of such an increase could be huge, yet only one entity involved in this permitting process, the Washington

State Dept. of Ecology, involved in the Cherry Point permit, has agreed to look at impacts beyond the immediate port area prior to issuing permits.

Currently, over 50 trains a day pass through Sandpoint, and with 144 railroad crossings in Bonner County, we have all spent time waiting on one to go through.

What is surprising to many in Bonner County, is finding out that the increase in rail traffic through this county is not something they have any say in. Even if Cherry Point is denied a permit due to impacts on waypoint communities, neither MBT nor the facility in Oregon need to consider impacts we might see here caused by their permitting process.

But it’s not just more coal that might pass through our area. An increase in train traffic carrying oil products— trains that opponents call “bomb trains” due to the impact when one derails and explodes when going through a populated area (as happened in Le-Megantic, Quebec last July, killing 42 with another 5 still missing and presumed dead)—increases that number another 60 percent.

Those oil trains were the subject of controversy earlier this year, as states demanded information on how many were traveling over their borders and Burlington Northern Santa Fe refused to provide it, stating there were serious safety concerns in providing the information. An emergency order issued by the U.S. Dept. of Transportation forced BNSF’s hand, and the information was provided to states in July, with the

Demo Derby

at the

Bonner County Fairgrounds

Aug. 23, 2014 • 7 pm August 2014| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 23 No. 04| Page

warning that it should only be shared with “need to know” officials due to the stated safety concerns, and due to the fact that BNSF considered the information to be “proprietary and confidential business trade secret.” The state of Montana disagreed, and released the information, which showed that 0 to 9 oil trains move through Sanders County each week, with another 13 to 16 trains moving through Lincoln County. Although Idaho has not yet released this data from BNSF, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to guess where they go when they leave the Montana counties on our borders.

BNSF moves about 80 percent of the oil from the Bakken, but Montana Rail Link also moves some. They revealed (without an emergency order) that they move about 3 trains each week through Montana, each carrying around 1 million gallons of oil.

According to a report from the Western Organization of Resource Councils, oil train traffic may well increase to 11 trains per day.

You’re probably concerned enough already that we needn’t mention trains carrying other haz/mat materials like chlorine and anhydrous ammonia, so let’s move away from the train tracks, most of which, by the way, are “uncontrolled” (i.e. without crossing gates) in Bonner County.

Early this year, it was announced that a company looking to move an enormous piece of equipment used in the fracking industry from the Port of Wilma near Clarkston, Wash. to Great Falls, Mont. was considering a route that would take it up Highway 95 to Sandpoint, where it would then head east on Scenic Highway 200. As of May, it appeared this idea had been shelved, but in a surprise move in late July, the Idaho Transportation Department issued a permit for just such a move to Mammoet Transportation.

But Mammoet isn’t the one moving the equipment—Bigge Crane & Rigging Co. is, and currently the load is slated to leave the port at some point in the evening of August 10 or early morning of August 11.

Moving at speeds between 5 mph and 35 mph, it should arrive on Sandpoint’s Long Bridge around 2 am on August 14 at the earliest—barring any surprises. (The River Journal’s Scott Clawson has put forward Cocolalla Flats as a potential surprise, given the fill that underlies the road in that area.)

This particular load is what’s called a Mega-load. According to the permit issued to Mammoet (ITD says a new permit will be issued to Bigge), it consists of two pusher trucks and two puller

trucks with a trailer in between. The load is 28 feet wide, 441 feet long, and weighs 802 tons (or 1.6 million pounds). It’s said to be the heaviest thing to ever be hauled in Hwy. 95; the previous record holder only weighed 400,000 pounds, or less than a third of the weight of this August’s haul.

For comparison, a football field is 360 feet long; the average weight of a car is 4,000 pounds; and the minimum lane width for an interstate freeway is 12 feet.

On a trip this weekend to do some measurements of the highway (28 feet did not seem to allow for much clearance in spots, at least to me), I ran into a couple of guys with Bigge Crane, marking out a spot in Hope where a temporary bridge (a “jumper”) will have to be built. Unwilling to be quoted as they are unauthorized to be company spokesmen, they nonetheless assured me that the load Bigge will be bringing through is not as large as the load Mammoet received an ITD permit for. Bigge’s load is slated to be only 20 feet wide, and the portion of the load that includes the trailer and equipment (not the puller/pusher trucks) will “only” weigh around 700,000 pounds (350 tons), which is about half the weight that was estimated for the trailer on the Mammoet permit.

If traveling through Sandpoint and points east seems like a roundabout way of getting from Washington to Great Falls, rest assured there was plenty of opposition to moving the load via other communities, from both the Forest Service and the Nez Perce Tribe. And if the move is successful, rest assured that this might become the go-to mega-load route in the future. The words of Linwood Laughy, founder of FightingGoliath. org and written in an opinion piece for High Country News that opposed the movement of megaloads on Idaho’s Hwy. 12, have resonance here in the communities through which Scenic Byway 200 passes today: “The companies say they must travel this remote route to send gargantuan mining equipment to northern Alberta’s tar sands. We say the corridor is a national treasure, a magnet for tourists and not a safe route for these monster loads.”

In addition, Highway 200 from Kootenai through at least Trestle Creek is currently experiencing “construction season.” Although you can drive on new asphalt within a couple days, it generally takes about a year for asphalt to cure, or fully harden. When temperatures are high (pushing the 100 degree mark as they have been here recently), even old asphalt can soften, and new asphalt

can be remarkably gooey. I don’t think there’s any studies out there that show the impact that something weighing 802 tons has on gooey new asphalt—but I’m betting we’ll have a pretty good idea of what that impact looks like sometime after the middle of the month. And if the result is detrimental? Don’t be surprised if taxpayers have to pony up for road repairs on the ‘new’ road PDQ. The demand for fossil fuels requires that those fuels be moved from their original source, and as a friend of mine likes to point out, if you see that as a problem, then you must recognize that your own use of fossil fuels is a part of that problem. Yet that is not the only issue involved in the increases of this type of movement through Bonner County and our neighboring counties. There is an impact to this movement that never seems to be accounted for by those who benefit the most from doing it. Indeed, an article written by Kate Galbraith for the Texas Tribune, talking about the costs of “super heavy” truck traffic, points out that “trucking companies and the industries they serve rarely shoulder the cost of fixing the damage, which can run in the hundreds of thousands of dollars for a single state road.”

Even worse, however, is that idea that the people who live and work in a community have no say over significant actions that take place in that community.

The lack of legal avenues with which to oppose these types of activities lead some to believe that Bonner County’s borders, and maybe its railroad crossings as well, should feature signs reading, “Welcome to Bend Over County, Idaho.”

Because ITD will not issue the actual permit that will be given to Bigge Crane for movement of this mega-load through our county until right before the load is moved, residents have little opportunity to evaluate and understand what will be coming down the road. The first time this happens, it’s shame on them. If it happens again, however, it will be shame on us.

The blog Sightline Daily features a comprehensive analysis of train crossings from Sandpoint all the way to points west here: bit.ly/1APuOpH) The letter from BNSF to the state of Montana regarding coal trails can be read here: http://bit. ly/UXhC0A. The report from the Western Organization of Resource Councils can be read at http://bit.ly/1s6ElTm The article, “Heavy Loads, Some from Wind and Gas, Damage Texas Roads” can be found here: online at http://bit.ly/XyxRmQ. -Trish Gannon

August 2014| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 23 No. 04| Page

Lost & Found July was a tough month for area pets. Between the annual Independence Day celebrations (which, in many places, lasted a whole week long), and the hot summer storms that blew through the area, leaving a wake of destruction and downed trees, many animals managed to lose their way from home. Dogs and cats, frightened by noise, wind, and flashing light, may run in their panic quite a ways from their place of residence, leaving owners frantic with worry.

When it comes to pets, this is an area of good samaritans, and most animals will be picked up and cared for by a loving human until they find their way home. But how is it we can help those animals actually find their way home.

The shelter (in Bonner County, it’s the Panhandle Animal Shelter), is always an option, but they’re not open 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and they’re not open on holidays. But if you can’t foster a found pet at home yourself, that’s the first place you should call. In fact, you should call them even if you can foster a misplaced animal, because that’s also often the first place a frantic owner will call, to see if their pet has been

found. In fact, it’s the first place a frantic owner should call, as regardless whether you keep a found pet or take it to the shelter, PAS maintains a list of animals both lost and found in an effort to reunite pets and owners.

If you happen to be ‘wired,’ then head on over to Facebook, and check out Sandpoint Pets Lost and Found. This is always worth a try, regardless of whether you have lost a pet or found one. It is an ‘open’ group, so you don’t have to join in order to post.

Given that word of mouth is often your best bet, don’t limit your Facebook post to just the Lost Pets page—go ahead and post information on your own timeline with a request that the information be shared. Make sure your settings for that particular post, however, are set to “public” in order to ensure the widest range of people possible have a chance to match a pet with its rightful owner.

As pets slowly are reunited with owners after this last storm, now is a good time for pet owners to consider what they will do if their pet is ever lost. At minimum, a collar with the animal’s name and your home phone number, particularly for dogs, would be beneficial. For safety, a cat should be fitted with a breakaway collar, given their propensity for sticking their heads into places where they shouldn’t go, so don’t count on this method to return your wayward cat. If you can afford it, consider microchip implantation for both dogs and cats. Anyone who finds an animal can take it to an area vet, or to the Animal Shelter, and the animal can be scanned to see if a microchip containing its owner’s contact information has been implanted.

At the very least, make sure you have a good photo of your pet that can be shared in the event they become lost. The photo should be clear, and show any special identification marks the animal may have. With a dog, it can also be helpful to include some type of scale item, to indicate the dog’s size.

If you find a lost pet—and a huge thank you to the hundreds of people who do so all the time and work to return those pets to their owners—bear in mind that an animal lost from its home may well be frightened, and behave accordingly. Keep any found pet separate from your own animals at home, and from young children. If you have a crate available, the animal may find confinement in the crate to feel safer than being left loose in an unfamiliar room, house or yard.

(The little princess pictured above - the dog, not the baby - has managed to let herself out of an improperly latched gate twice. Thank you to the unknown samaritans who helped ensure her return home.)

“Ernie Hawks has the gift of sharing his wilderness experience and spiritual insight in a way that nourishes the soul of his readers. This is more than a collection of adventures. It is a book of spiritual inspiration.”

Marilyn Muelbach, former Chair of Unity Worldwide Ministries

Every Day is a High Holy Day available on Amazon.com or ask for it at your local bookstore

August 2014| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 23 No. 04| Page

Get Growing!

Nancy Hastings

CRACK…SNAP…Oh NO! If you are like most area residents, these past two wind storms have made at least a bit of a mess of your landscape. Some areas were hit hard along the shores of Lake Pend Oreille and then unexpectedly, even in the shelter of town, during the recent sustained winds. If your landscape has some unexpected holes and too much sun beating down on you… consider planting some hardwood species of trees that should withstand more of a beating and last longer in a landscape.

First instincts lead people to want the fastest growing tree, for instant shade or privacy. This leads many to choose the twitter of the aspen leaf, and large spreading willows and poplar trees that reach heights quickly. These trees do provide quicker relief, but sometimes homeowners overlook that these are very soft woods with a shorter life span than other, slower growing trees.

We are fortunate that one of the oldest living trees on earth, the Bristlecone Pine, could actually grow in our own backyard. This is a lustrous, long-needled, irregular evergreen whose family monarch, “Methuselah,” has been documented to live in the White Mountains of California for over 4.800 years. Now that is some strong roots! It grows best in dry, rocky soil, slowly to a height of 40 to 60 feet.

Endurance Through a Headwind What shocked me most about this last storm is the many very tall evergreen trees that literally fell out of the ground with large plots of soil, usually very wet soil, with them. Many of these pines and spruce were planted near drainage ditches and in now over-irrigated lawns that have made their roots vulnerable as they reached top heights.

flowers that stand up strong and showy in both white or red in June. These largeleafed, deep green wonders drape great stands of shade with the white horse chestnut reaching almost 60 feet tall and the red flowering horse chestnut reaching almost 40 feet. The only homeowner complaint with the buckeye or horse chestnut is the hard shelled, spiny, seed-nuts that drop in the fall, which are poisonous if ingested. Interestingly enough, parts of the oil seed are used medicinally for varicose veins.

Even the Flowering Cherries that bear the beautiful early spring sprays of pink and white blossoms are a great 24 to 30 foot choice for shade when power lines are a factor. With beautiful, reddish bark and splashes of fall yellow color, the Kwanzan or Mt Fuji are the hardiest of the Japanese cherries that will give decades of great, yearround interest.

Other sturdy, long-lived trees include the oaks, green ash and maples. Choose wisely Photo by Leah Fain and the next time the wind blows you may not have as much to clean up.

The Paper, Grey & River Birch love Nancy Hastings grew up on a 300+-acre the wet soils found alongside creeks and farm and now is co-owner of All Seasons spring flood zones. Being deer resistant Garden and Floral in Sandpoint. She and is also a plus, growing to 25 to 30 feet tall with graceful chalky white peeling bark as her husband John have been cultivating community gardens and growing for 16 years it ages. in North Idaho. You can reach them with The Buckeye, also known as the Horse garden questions or sign up for classes at chestnut, is a widely utilized hardwood allseasonsgardenandfloral (at)gmail.com. in the Midwest, though not used as much in the West. It has large, pyramid-shaped

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August 2014| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 23 No. 04| Page

A Bird in Hand Michael Turnlund

Sometimes natural things appear unnatural. For example, have you ever seen a sunset that if you were to capture it with a digital camera, people might accuse you of altering its colors? Or an especially vivid rainbow which looked computer generated? Some things just seem too good to be true, even though they are. And such is the Mountain Bluebird. That blue is so unnatural it is stunning. What a bird!

This is a blue bird, through and through. The male is especially beautiful and is colored like the sky. Unmistakable.

And gorgeous. When you see your first male Mountain Bluebird he doesn’t look real. How can any animal be that shade of blue?

The Mountain Bluebird is a thrush, a cousin of the Robin. But it doesn’t share the chunky genes from that side of the family, instead being much lankier and, overall, a size smaller in stature. But it does share the Robin’s upright posture.

Returning to coloration: the male’s sky-blue coloring is darkest on the bird’s backside and wings, but fades lighter toward the breast, becoming almost white on its belly. The female is a beautiful bird in her own right, though she is

Mountain Bluebird: Your New Favorite Species!

predominantly gray. The blue in the female bluebird is mostly an accent on her wings and tail. She might also have a faint scaling pattern on the chest, but sharing the white belly of the male. This scaling pattern is prominent on juvenile birds and is shared by almost all of the thrushes, including the Robin. Both the male and the female have narrow black beaks and black eyes.

Mountain Bluebirds are not that difficult to locate. They prefer open fields where they can hunt insects. They often sit on a fence wire and sally out to grab a flying insect or dive down to take one off of the ground. They can also briefly hover. These bluebirds also take readily to nest boxes; so if you want Mountain Bluebirds on your property, post nest boxes along your fence line. Build them and they will come. But if you do chose to build nest boxes, be very careful in their design. They need to be built in a very particular fashion to keep them from becoming wrangled away by House Sparrows or Starlings. There are many specific plans available online.

Mountain Bluebirds are difficult to locate by sound as they are so quiet, even when singing. I have a difficult time

hearing their voices, though the call is distinctive. The best way to locate them is by habitat and, of course, that bright blue coloration.

As their name suggests, Mountain Bluebirds prefer mountainous terrain, ranging across the western North American continent. In the summer they range all the way up to Alaska, roughly following the Rocky Mountains. In the winter they might travel as far as central Mexico, although many parts of the south- and central-western states have resident populations (meaning that they live there year-round). Our population is migratory.

The Mountain Bluebird is the state bird of both Idaho and Nevada. Both states host migratory populations throughout their regions and resident birds in their southern parts. Most readers of the River Journal will only see these birds in the summer.

Are you ready to add this gorgeous bluebird to your life list? This bird is truly a feathered jewel and it will possibly become your new favorite bird. It is surely one of mine. Happy birding! By the way, you can see images of birds I’ve captured on camera at birdsidaho.blogspot.com.

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The Game Trail

Matt Haag

Summer is flying by like an out-ofcontrol freight train! The kids will be back in school in less than month so I hope you put something on the calendar to get them out camping, hiking, fishing, huckleberry picking or something. I just took a few days off and brought the family to Jordan Camp for a little rest and relaxation. Well, y’all know camping with a 5- and 7-year-old is not really relaxing but it was fun none the less. Fishing was a little slow in the afternoon heat but I was able to trick a few cutthroat into taking my fly in the mornings and late evenings.

We topped the nights off with some dutch oven cooking around the campfire, can’t beat that kind of fun. I hope I enticed you into taking the kids for one last trip before they get into the school grind.

On the way home we found some of Idaho’s state fruit ripening up! Idaho has a state flower, a state horse, a state bird, a state fish, a state flag, and now a state fruit. So designated by the Idaho Legislature in 2000, it is the huckleberry.

At this time of year, it is not too surprising that the huckleberry is the state fruit. Just about everybody in northern Idaho looks forward to huckleberry picking. Huckleberries freeze well and can provide a very healthy addition to your table or to your breakfast smoothie all year long.

Clark Fork Baptist Church

Main and Second • Clark Fork

Sunday School............9:45 am Morning Worship............11 am Evening Service...............6 pm Wednesday Service.........7 pm

It’s Time for Huckleberries!

There are several species of huckleberries native to Idaho. The most common and most popular is the “Black,” or “Thin-Leaved” Huckleberry.

Some plant guides, including Common Plants of the Inland Pacific Northwest, a guide written by highly respected and widely recognized Plant Ecologist Dr. Charles Johnson, call the species “Big Huckleberry.”

This species grows in moist, cool, forested environments at mid to upper elevations. Berries are purple to purplish red and are a quarter to half inch broad depending upon the year and the site.

The plants grow up to three feet tall and take up to 15 years to reach full maturity.

The single, dark purple berries grow on the shoots the plant produced that year.

Grouse Huckleberry is another species found in Idaho. This plant tends to grow at higher elevations than Big Huckleberry but the two can be found growing in the same sites. The Grouse Huckleberry plants are smaller in size, growing only about 10 inches tall. The berries are smaller (1/5 inch broad) and more red in color.

An internet search says that huckleberries grow at elevations between 2,000 feet and 11,000 feet. However, I don’t know of any place in northern Idaho where they grow and produce berries under 2,400 feet in elevation. Snow cover is needed to insulate the plants to survive during the winter, so perhaps plants below 3,000 feet die in those winters where there are cold temperatures but little snow to insulate them.

There is another plant that resembles Big Huckleberry but does not produce an edible fruit. I talked to a tourist up Trestle Creek the other day and they were so excited they found the motherlode of huckleberry bushes that they were

making a waypoint on their GPS. I hated to inform them they were wasting their time because there wouldn’t be any berries on the Fool’s Huckleberry plant.

As most people in northern Idaho know, huckleberries are delicious favorites of both people and bears.

Bears in northern Idaho eat not only the berries, but in the spring they also utilize the flowers, leaves and stems according to Dr. John Beecham, retired IDFG Wildlife Biologist in his book, A Shadow in the Forest- Idaho’s Black Bear. In fact, a poor huckleberry crop in the Priest Lake area in 1979 resulted in decreased bear productivity and survival for two years, according to Beecham.

Black bears have what are called ‘prehensile lips.” They can use these well-coordinated and flexible lips to pick individual huckleberries faster than any person can pick with their hands. Yet they seldom get any leaves. Because bears love huckleberries and make them a major source of summer and fall nourishment, humans who pick huckleberries should always carry bear spray. It is not uncommon to have a chance encounter with a bear out and about to eat the same berries you came for.

Before I sign off here I want to remind those big game hunters out there who were lucky enough to draw a controlled hunt, you have only until August 1 to purchase your tags. Any tags not purchased by that date will be forfeited.

So make sure you get in there and purchase that controlled hunt or you will be disappointed this fall!

Enjoy the berry picking out there and make sure you leave the place better than you found it.

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August 2014| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 23 No. 04| Page

FROM THE FILES OF THE RIVER JOURNAL’S

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I don’t recall exactly when I came across it, but I think it might have been the summer of ‘79 when I was busy building lobster traps during the off season, recaulking the boat, sleeping on deck in hammocks in the open air, surrounded by the tar fumes we used to soak the completed traps in. (On the east coast the colder water temperatures act as a preservative to their flimsy wooden traps but in the warm Pacific, even the metal wire traps we build by hand need a coating of tar to last more than a season or two.)

My shipmates drank and smoked constantly, so I’d stock up on books from the library to read by lantern-light ‘til sleep overtook me. One day my librarian friend slipped what looked like a large children’s book into my stack and said something about it hiding a treasure.

The book was, of course, Kit Williams’ Masquerade, and though its large, colorful, riddle-filled format resembled most kids’ books of the day, it had a slightly odd, “otherworldly” air about it. The strange paintings I found so “slightly odd” were due to a trick of perspective in his brush strokes caused by an eye condition called monocular vision, which meant Mr. Williams did not have the capability to see things in 3D. The monocular paintings were odd all right, and supposedly hid clues to a buried treasure, a golden rabbit encrusted with jewels.

My shipmates and I soon were engrossed in the book, helped no doubt by copious amounts of Panama Red we’d smuggled back on our last run to the Sea of Cortez. We found clues that I’m sure were not meant to be clues as well

Jody Forest

as a number of both real and figurative red herrings. (The paintings, we found, concealed a number of real, honest-toGrid Red Herring fish in them!) I’ll not go into the solution of the puzzle here; those interested can simply Google variations on “Masquerade Solution” and a number of cool sites should pop up.

What I’m trying to get across was just how obsessed my shipmates and I became, eager to catch the first flight to England once we’d solved it. We bought three copies of the book to share so we didn’t get accused of “beau-guarding” it like a joint. Occasionally one of us would cry “Eureka!” when peeling back some obscure clue or anagram which, mazelike, seemed to always lead us back to our starting point. A Masquerade neurosis actually became a temporary worldwide mental malady for hundreds of people and scores more quit their jobs to become full-time treasure seekers. Others were arrested for digging up public and private places all over the British Isles, and the author was deluged with queries, one woman alone sending over 500 letters.

I don’t quite understand how I, too, got caught up in the madness. I just narrowly escaped, yet for a brief while it was fun to be lost in a monocular magical land, with leaping, haunted hares and a love affair between the Sun and the Moon.

The Sandpoint Library has a copy. ‘til next time, keep spreading the word; Soylent Green is People! All Homage to Xena.

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Page 10 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 23 No. 04|August 2014

Carol Curtis, Asso. Broker, GRI, Realtor 208-290-5947

Sue Fritz,

Realtor 208-610-9304

Great investment opportunity in Priest River. Cute cafe & market is turn key. Paved parking, completely renovated and reliable seasoned employees. No competition for 13 miles in any direction! $285,000 MLS20140291

Country home on very private cul de sac in Sagle. 2 BR/2 BA plus den, granite counters in open kitchen, separate dining room, pond, large shop, mature trees on 5± acres. $265,000 MLS20140309

Build with big lake views! This 1.35± acre lot borders common area with connection to extensive trails. Nicely treed, includes water hookup. Natural gas, electric & phone on the lot. Area of nice homes. $125,000 MLS20142419

Updated 3 BR/2BA in Priest River with poss. 2 additional bedrooms or bonus rooms. Loft overlooks living room, wood details, 2-car and single car detached garages, shop & dog kennel. 3.15± parked out acres. $247,900 MLS20131643

Large home with awesome shop close to town. 3 BR/2 BA w/bonus room upstairs on fenced corner lot in Ponderay. Well maintained, oversized covered front porch. Large shop/garage with extra off-street parking. $239,000 MLS20141538

Sustainable living on private, 5± acres near Sandpoint. Custom interiors, sunroom, high quality kitchen, sauna, geothermal heat & air, established organic gardens, expansive decking, outbuildings, more! $289,000 MLS20142275

Incredible views from this 12.9± acre property. Mainly pasture with conifer saplings under timber management plan. On corner of two maintained county roads. Well built cabin. Gravel driveway, perc tested. $115,000 MLS20140097

Beautiful views, end of road privacy, Class I creek, timbered & wildlife on 20± acres in Laclede.

Less than 3 miles from county road. Views of Pend Oreille and multiple building sites. $115,000 MLS20141490

Very clean, Energy Star, 2 BR, 2 BA with spacious living room, large deck and storage shed in well run park in Sagle. Home is not real property. Rental space rates vary; rents include water/sewer. $22,900 MLS20140619

Meticulous fully furnished studio unit at Schweitzer w/ newer flooring throughout, quiet backside interior unit, extra insulation, ski locker room w/ski tuning table, laundry & pool room. Sleeps 4 comfortably. $102,000 MLS20133245

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Panoramic mountain views, lots of trees, very private! One water hookup. Potential owner carry. Two Adjacent lots available separately.

Buiild the home of your dreams! $88,000 MLS20140413

Manageable wooded 1.8± acres in a long-standing neighborhood where everybody knows your name. County road, electricity close, to be well and septic. Area of clean, well-maintained homes. $19,000 MLS20141399

Spacious home with beautiful mountain views above Cocolalla Lake. 4 BR, wine cooler in kitchen, two fireplaces, large shop, beautifully landscaped, and a place for the RV. 8.2 ± acres. $279,000 MLS20141682

Large acreage with historic homestead on 320 ± acres in Cocolalla. Grab a piece of history; barn built from Farragut Naval Station timber. Amazing property has incredible mountain views, multiple creeks and easy access off a county maintained road. Need less land? – Available in 20 acre, 40 acre, 92 acre or 160 ac. Surveyed and ready for you to walk. Inquire today. $1,499,000 for the entire homestead. MLS #20141737

Impressive 20± acre lot with timber, meadow and views. Adjacent 10 acres available for total privacy.

Power is close and in area of good wells. Close to Sandpoint but not too close! $65,000 MLS20132909

Large, 3 BR 2 BA home on fenced corner lot in Ponderay with addt’l room for office. Well-maintained & freshly painted, plus 24x32 shop with oversized door and 220 elec.

Lots of parking and mature trees. $239,000 MLS20141538

August 2014| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 23 No. 04| Page 11

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Veterans’ News

Gil Beyer

Last month I reported that Representative George Eskridge was the last veteran serving in the Idaho House. I believed what I heard from a friend so I put it in the article.

Boy was that ever the wrong thing to do!

This statement was in error! This mistake was brought to my attention by several people—including Senator Shawn Keough and George himself.

That’s what I get for not fact-checking statements. Not fact-checking stuff is the cause of more misinformation than anything else. Much of ‘Talk Radio’ suffers from a decided lack of fact checking.

They seem to follow the motto of “Don’t confuse me with facts—my mind’s made up!” Or, on a more cynical level, the oft misattributed quote that goes, “tell a big enough lie often enough and people will believe it.” I can find no verifiable source defining the origins of this quote but it is close to a quote in Adolf Hitler’s Mein Kampf.

While doing my penance for not checking the facts on veterans in the Idaho House I ran across an interesting factoid. It appears that less than 15 percent of the members of the Idaho Legislature have ever served—or are serving—in the military. The number serving in Idaho is more than many states but still not enough to give veterans a strong voice in the legislative process. It seems that many veterans simply refuse to vote in their own best interests.

Again, while trying to learn just who had served, I ran across an organization named the Wyakin Warriors. This 501c(3) foundation is headed by retired Navy Officer Jeff Bacon. Idaho State Senator Marv Hagedorn serves as Board Vice President and Chief Business Development Officer. Their Mission Statement says, “Enabling severely wounded and injured veterans to achieve personal and professional success as business and community leaders.” These are laudable goals. It sounds good but ever since I discovered the website ‘Charity Navigator’ and learned some disturbing facts about many 501c(3)s I have made it a practice to look at the financials.

Now, in fairness, the Wyakin Warriors are not represented on the Charity Navigator website. They don’t have a big enough budget. I was able to get their most recent tax statement—it’s online—and I had some concerns. I asked a CPA friend to take a look. He made the following comments after reviewing the 2013 form 990:

We All Need to Check Our Facts 1) Financially they look solid. Most of their assets are cash and they have very few liabilities.

2) However, operationally, they spend a lot on overhead. Almost half of their current year spending was for payroll and related expenses. Yet their executive director is only paid $27,000.

3) They don’t seem to be getting much of their money to the vets.

Ever since I learned of a ‘veterans charity’ that spent over 70 percent of their raised monies towards administrative costs—salaries and related expenses—I’ve been very careful about which charities I support. My BS Meter starts to quiver whenever I see more money going to payroll and expenses than is going towards the veterans. I’ll have to check further before saying anything more.

Speaking of a BS Meter quivering there is an ad that ran in mid July on radio and TV that makes the needle on my BS Meter wrap around the peg. If you believed those ads you would think that the U.S. Congresswoman from Washington’s Fifth District is a positive tiger in support of veterans. It would appear she personally stormed the gates of Fortress VA singlehandedly to get help for one of her constituents whose VA claims had been languishing for months.

If any of this were true I’d send money to her campaign myself even though I live in Idaho and Idahoans have our own crosses to bear. But, alas it ain’t true.

The Congresswoman’s voting record clearly shows that she is NOT a friend of veterans. Any attempt to make it appear that she does support any issue of import to veterans and active duty military personnel is an extraordinary distortion of facts.

Speaking of crosses to bear I’ll close with a comment on two of them: Senator Jim Risch and Representative Raul Labrador. Any veteran that supports either of these people is definitely not voting in their own best interests. Even a cursory examination of their voting records will reveal that they have never been a friend of veterans or any part of the military community. Active duty military personnel and veterans had best wake up and vote in their best interests.

Don’t listen to candidate’s words—look at how they vote.

Until next month remember this: an informed voter is necessary for a strong democracy.

Page 12 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 23 No. 04|August 2014

A Seat in the House

Rep. George Eskridge

I participated in the Pacific Northwest Economic Region’s (PNWER) annual summit held at Whistler, British Columbia on July 20 thru July 23. PNWER is “the only statutory, non-partisan, binational, public/private partnership in North America, with the goals of strengthening relationships, finding cross-border solutions to common challenges, and advocating for regional interests” between Canada and the United States. The U.S. members of PNWER are the northwestern states of Montana, Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Alaska.

The Canadian members are the provinces of Saskatchewan, Alberta, British Columbia and the Yukon and Northwest territories.

This is the 24th year of PNWER and the annual summit at Whistler brought together over 500 key business leaders, legislators, and government leaders from PNWER’s ten provinces, territories and states to address major issues impacting our relationship between the two countries and subsequently our mutual economic and security interests.

PNWER addresses issues of concern between the two countries through “working groups” that are utilized as a forum to address contentious issues impacting the mutual interests of the two countries. There were 21 working groups convening this summit dealing with a wide range of issues important to both the U.S. and Canada.

Some of the more significant issues were workforce development, the Columbia River Treaty, country of origin labeling and support of the Beyond The Border Action Plan issued jointly by the Prime Minister of Canada and the President of the United States.

A skilled workforce is becoming an increasing concern as businesses and industries across the border continue to have difficulty in meeting their skilled workforce needs. The workforce development working group continues to address these labor shortages and look at specific actions that can be taken to meet labor shortages. These actions include matching skilled labor requirements in each jurisdiction to enhanced mobility of workers, encouraging higher education to revise curriculum to address employer needs and continue working with the Department of Defense on how to recognize military experience as substitution for education in being accredited for specific technical

PNWER Continues to Address Important, Cross-Border Agreements

requirements.

Country of origin labeling requirements are presenting a real problem for the beef and pork industry in Canada and the U.S. because the animals can be born in either of the two countries, raised in the other and slaughtered in either country. The country of origin requirement makes it difficult to properly label the product and increases the expense of the meat to the general public without “providing any additional assurance of the safety of meat and livestock to American consumers.”

Given this issue, the PNWER executive committee approved a resolution that repeals country of origin as it applies to Canadian beef and pork (which could have been raised, slaughtered or born in the U.S. or vice-versa) because of the difficulty in labeling the meat properly and the expense of the labeling.

The President of the U.S. and the Prime Minister of Canada issued the “Beyond the Border Action Plan” containing a shared vision for Perimeter Security and Economic Competitiveness that set out direction for the two countries to work together to enhance our security and our competitiveness in competing in the world market for goods and services from both countries.

The Market Access Working Group is addressing issues that present barriers to reaching the goals of the Beyond the Border Action Plan.

I have addressed the Columbia River Treaty that governs the uses of the Columbia River and its tributaries by the U.S. and Canada in a previous article.

Termination of the treaty could occur as early as 2024 if either party gives ten-year notice that they desire to terminate the treaty. That notice could occur this year if either country desires to do so.

The discussion of what to do with the treaty is underway in both countries and there is major concern about what direction may be taken. There have been recommendations to scrap the treaty and develop a new one to address specific concerns; however, there is also the feeling that the existing treaty has provisions that could address these concerns and that we should not attempt to replace the existing one with a new treaty. Reaching consensus on a new treaty could be very controversial and not meet the needs of either country because of conflicting requirements that different interest groups would attempt to get

included in a new treaty.

In addition to the working group sessions, notable speakers participating in the summit included Canadian Ambassador to the U.S., Gary Doer, the U.S. Ambassador to Canada, Bruce Heyman, Montana Governor Steve Bullock and British Columbia Premier Christy Clark.

PNWER is a unique organization that focuses on solutions to issues that are important to the economic and security interests of both Canada and the United States and has been successful in finding answers to problems.

Examples are decreasing waiting times to cross the border by getting into place enhanced drivers’ licenses in place of more expensive passports, reciprocal agreements on engineering certification and agreements on preventing invasive species spread into the Pacific Northwest.

I will be finishing my term as state representative at the end of November and my position as one of the Idaho delegates to PNWER, but in my opinion active participation by Idaho in PNWER is in our state’s best interest and I hope that Idaho continues and expand its participation in the organization.

Thanks for reading and as always please feel free to contact me at my home e mail at geskridge@coldreams.com, by mail at P.O. Box 112, Dover, Idaho 83825 or by phone at (208) 265-0123.

George

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August 2014| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 23 No. 04| Page 13

SAVE THE DATE!

On August 7, the Festival at Sandpoint kicks off its 32nd annual season of music under the stars with The Head and the Heart at Sandpoint’s Memorial Field. Following nights feature Huey Lewis & the News, Nickel Creek, the Spokane Youth Symphony, Trombone Shorty and Orleans Avenue, Ray LaMontagne, Montgomery Gentry, and, as always, the fabulous Spokane Symphony Finale. Visit www.

FestivalatSandpoint.com for tickets and information.

Visit the Sandpoint Airport on August 9 for the Wings Over Sandpoint Fly-In. Enjoy a pancake breakfast from 8:30 am to 10:30, and a BBQ lunch from 11 to 2:30 pm. See displays of classic, experimental and float planes, and tour Quest Aircraft Facility at noon. There will also be music, scenic flights, and f l i g h t instruction specials on hand. 208-255-9954 You won’t want to miss the annual Arts and Crafts Fair at City Beach that takes place on August 9 & 10.

Sponsored by POAC, there’s artists’ booths, activities for the kids, and more! www.ArtInSandpoint.org.

Take a trip down nostalgia lane on August 11 when Sandpoint Parks & Rec sponsors a free concert with The Swing Street Big Band, accompanied by the vocal sylings of Maria Larson.

It takes place at Lakeview Park from 6:30 to 7:30 pm and again - it’s free!

On August 15 & 16, take in the Bonner County Rodeo at the Bonner County Fairgrounds.

From barrel racing to bucking broncs, it takes place at 7 pm both nights. 208-263-8414 On the weekends of August 1517, and 22-24, treat yourself to the Artists’ Studios Tour This is a self-guided driving tour allowing you to peek into the studios of some of our area’s finest artists. www.

ArtTourDrive.org.

On August 19-23, don’t miss the award-winning Bonner County Fair, a true, old-fashioned fair that’s the winner of international awards!

August 2014| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 23 No. 04| Page 14

The Hawk’s Nest Ernie Hawks

“We’ve lost a tree in the back yard,” Linda yelled from the dining room. I was upstairs closing windows and couldn’t see the tree she was talking about. The racket of immature, rock hard, green, Grand and Douglas fir cones hammered the steel roof, accompanying a clamor of branches, some very large, banging on the top of our home. I was hoping nothing would puncture the roofing, letting in the cascading rain and fierce wind.

The wind was more extreme than any I had ever experienced, it looked like video I have seen of hurricanes.

Back on the first floor I walked past dinner cooking on the propane range feeling relief it was not electric since the power was flickering off and on.

Linda and I looked out into the back yard at the storm—the only thought that came to my mind was “epic.” From that vantage point I could see the Grand fir lying on the grass, a twenty-foot stump standing over it.

“There’s another one.” We watched another Grand fir land not far away, leaving a ten-foot stump. The noise from the harsh weather didn’t allow us to hear the crack of the snapping, ten-inchdiameter tree.

We had decided on an early dinner, probably on the north side covered porch.

The storm had been predicted all day, and was blowing in from the southwest, so the porch would provide a protected place to enjoy the show.

As we were getting ready to eat I asked Linda what she wanted to drink; as expected she said water. Two were drawn and set on the counter ready to go outside.

However, the gale came quickly. With the howling outside and the loud din holding our attention, to say nothing of the cat’s attention, the dinner seemed to get forgotten. Sometime, as the lights flickered off and on, Linda turned the fire off while we watched the thunderstorm pounding our home in the woods.

I looked out the north side to see if anything had falling in that direction. The intensity of the noise on the steel and the rain battering our windows was not gusts but a constant, sustained pelting.

Then we heard a big noise. Loud crashing, wood breaking and the wind howled louder. I looked out the front again and saw nothing new.

The Calm In the Storm Linda yelled, “It’s back here.” Out the dinning room window I could see a horizontal Douglas fir below a forty-foot stump. It looked like we had been missed but a quick glance and we saw it had hit the roof and bounced onto the ground.

The very place we often sit in the shade and eat. Linda was at the window first and just as I got there she said, “Our roof has been trashed.”

I headed for the stairs to see how bad the leak was. From the living room on the first floor I looked up to see broken ceiling boards, black felt paper, insulation and rain, lots and lots of rain pouring through a two-foot hole that had been ripped in the steel above the loft. Heading up, I started moving furniture and some storage containers we keep there.

Linda started up to help but as the space is tight I suggested she call State Farm Insurance. It was shortly after 5 pm so her call went to a national number. As I moved boxes of pictures from the corner, the water coming in soaked my shirt, adding to the urgency to clear the area.

Interestingly, I noticed while at the task and in that urgency I was remarkably calm, even at peace. After the initial shock, we were both simply doing what needed to be done.

The power of nature does not choose to whom or how it presents itself, it is simply a combination of weather patterns that create the storm.

Linda said she needed to call a roofer who would come out and tarp our place.

We could not think of any so she called a friend who removes trees. Ken at Specialty Tree told her to call Burke’s Klein’s DKI who does damage response and restoration.

All the furniture and storage was moved as she came upstairs and said a crew would be out in two or three hours.

The floor and an area rug were soaked.

She handed me a large plastic tub to put under the hole. It collected some but the wind and rain were slowing down considerably by then.

We went down stairs and removed the curtains from the room below. They were rather wet and would need washing due to water running through the ceiling. It looked like there was a little sheet rock damage where it had soaked through.

There was water running down the log wall. And we were grateful the rain stopped as quickly as it did. The rest of the room looked okay.

Outside, the top of the tree rested on the log wall, but except for a little trim around the window, amazingly, did little more damage. There was certainly plenty of cleanup to do.

A look around and it appeared we had done all we could do at the time.

In the kitchen, dinner was still on the stove. However, it was no longer an early dinner.

We looked at the front porch, it still looked like an inviting place to eat. So after reheating dinner and a couple of hours late, we were ready.

I grabbed the water, then set it down and said, “I’m going to open a bottle of wine. “ Linda added, “Yes, a nice bottle of wine.”

Shortly after we had finished dinner, the crew arrived about 8 pm and had us tarped and the interior checked out by 11pm that evening. They also left a drying fan that reminded us of the gale force winds that we had survived earlier that evening.

The insurance adjuster was out the next morning and we were on our way to having everything back to the way it was before—sans three trees. We know it could be awhile before it all happens.

This storm impacted many people much worse then it did us. Our hearts and thoughts go out to each one of them, and we are thankful for all we have.

EVERGREEN REALTY

Curt Hagan

Sales Associate, GRI

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August 2014| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 23 No. 04| Page 15

GIVE US A TRY BEFORE YOU BUY!

Kathy’s Faith Walk Kathy Osborne

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I actually had another subject in mind when I considered my Faith Walk for this issue. But that all changed with the storm last night. This morning is Sunday and normally I am in church about 9 AM. But today I decided to drive around and see what last night had wrought. Spending time with the LORD during the sunny, happy times is easy. Not so much when we are digging out from the latest crisis.

I found myself on Sunnyside road.

There were so many trees sheared off about 20’ up from the storm the residents endured last week. It is astonishing what the wind can do in just 15 minutes. I took quite a few pictures and marveled that there were not more crushed homes, cars, or people.

Last night in Ponderay I watched a 30’ top piece from a pine tree break off and launch over two trailer houses, one home, and a shed to land exactly lengthwise on the street between two homes. Not a fence bent. Not a car scratched. That storm lasted for over an hour. This morning I began to wonder the same thing millions of others have wondered throughout the world…why them and not me? Why me and not them? Why not me?

There is probably no older news story than that tragedy and destruction are with us every single day. We cannot outrun it. We cannot avoid it. Our number will eventually come up and when it does, the only thing that matters is how we choose to handle the event.

One of the more benign and yet solid truths in the Bible is “The rain will fall on the just and the unjust alike.” Whether we are good or not, moral or immoral, rude, gentle, or even have a relationship with Christ, troubles will come to all of us. So when I ponder ‘why not me?’ that’s

what I am thinking about. When Jesus told us that we would have tribulation in this life, that the poor would always be with us, that need would always be round us, He was also telling us that the correct response to life in all its seasons is to trust Him; to know that He is in control; to know that He sees everything. There is a reason for every single event. Nothing is disconnected, least of all, our lives to one another. He also told us to be about His Father’s business which is loving people.

And that means helping in a crisis. We are all called to that.

As I drove around and looked at the damage, I also saw people helping people.

Our neighbors were up until all hours clearing trees and debris away, finally ending the evening talking and joking in the middle of the intersection beneath the darkened street light. The Hoot Owl was busy this morning with those who either didn’t want to, or couldn’t, make breakfast. I suppose the topic at every single table was “the weather.”

I like music and art, and picnics and movies. But the truth is that nothing brings a community closer together like a problem of some sort. The evidence of this storm will likely be cleaned up within the week and electricity restored to those still without. But the stories will go on for months. We will still be helping one another rebuild the damage from months to come as well. So although towing away a damaged car, providing meals to those who need them, bringing a cold drink to the neighbor clearing limbs, or providing a truck to haul it all away is not specifically mentioned in the Bible, loving one another is. And caring for one another is what love looks like. It is what love IS.

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Page 16 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 23 No. 04|August 2014

The Scenic Route Sandy Compton

“You look lost.”

It’s the first thing a friend says as I walk into the noisy mélange of a July lakefront restaurant. The deck is full of folk I know and don’t know being served by a staff I was once part of. A familiar band plays to the lake beyond the crowd.

It’s 7:20 and I traversed out of the East Fork at noon, where I have for a few nights and days been not lost, even when I was over my head in tag alder, devil’s club, blowdown and rock. Put me on an elk trail and let me choose where I want to go. I am not lost. Put me in the midst of this. I am lost.

But not permanently, though I should have learned by now to break myself back into “civilization” more gently that this. I am capable of coming back to this world. I’ve done it many times, albeit sometimes—nay, often—reluctantly, unwillingly. All of this hyperactivity and noise and illusory social gaiety can’t match the moments of solitary route finding in the East Fork, perhaps because the latter is so rare and the former seem so mundane and repetitious. ∞ Yesterday, Saturday afternoon: we are in the jungle and I am seeking an elk tread to follow on toward “home,” a camp in the East Fork Meadow. One of my fellows finds a clew and we puzzle it out to arrive at our chosen destination. I am reminded of a moment four years ago when I set this self-same young man out front and he took the lead, learning to think like an elk. I was proud that day to be with him, and I’m proud this day to be part of that foundation that allows him to find his way and ours. I am pleased to know we are not only not lost, but will not be, as long as we know where we want to be next. By

Not All Those Who Wander... tenacity and endeavor, we will arrive.

There should be something new to write about this place, but there is not.

Nothing here is new. All is ancient. The mosquitoes and huckleberries are the newest individual arrivals, but they have been here all along, ever since the ice finished with the place and before.

Yet I learn something new each time I come here; a new bit of trail, a small, yet lovely fresh vista, a new way to almost get where I want to go before I have to resort to whacking bushes and cursing tag alder. In the heat of those sorts of wanderings, I wonder why I bother, but I know why. Each lesson is a precious piece of a colossal puzzle I will never solve.

But, it isn’t the puzzle of the place that I come here to resolve, but my own self.

Resolution. Renewal. Reasons to keep on keeping on. Recreation.

We misunderstand that last word, equate it with “fun,” “entertainment,” even “self-indulgence.” We make a thoughtless act of it—or something we can buy—and place it beside our wants, like movies and television and McDonalds.

It is more sacred than those. And not so easy. Re-creation is not something we do or pay for, but something that happens to us when we let go. When we surrender to wilderness—wild places physical, spiritual, mental—we are recreated, torn down to our foundations and rebuilt anew in our own best image. ∞ Tonight, I am not so sure that this sun-soaked deck and its denizens can be deemed “civilized.” As vague and tentative as elk trails can be, the social trails here are even more so. At least they are for me.

It is the wilderness that draws me in and then draws me out, shows me who I am. And it is up to me to remember what

it shows me: to just be and avoid thinking too much, which can lead to drinking too much and other social dilemmas. ∞ Home. Dishes. Laundry. Monday morning looming on the horizon like a forest fire in need of fighting. “Let it burn!” says the wild part of me, the wilderness part that knows 100 years is like a single, solitary heartbeat to the planet.

How good it is to know that one single, solitary lesson learned in a place that tells us nothing new, but knows all the oldies: peace, perseverance, patience; solitude, silence, sacredness. Presence without pretense; being, untied from doing; seeing, untied from wanting; living, untied from waiting. Forward. One step at a time. Rest. Until it seems time to stand.

Look! For new hidden in the ancient.

“Learn,” the wilderness says. “Learn!

Open your eyes, your ears, your nostrils, your pores, your heart and learn. Who. You. Are.” “You are not lost.”

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AVAILABLE NOW AT LOCAL BOOKSTORES, OR AT AMAZON.COM August 2014| The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 23 No. 04| Page 17

Scott Clawson

acresnpains@dishmail.net Seldom in one’s life does a decision become so egregious to their mood on a regular basis as that one to purchase a boat!

Back around Father’s Day of ’95, I (we) bought one to throw our excess money at. I should have been satisfied with just a nice card and a smootchie.

As the adages came forth over the years, I filed them away in the creel of my mind: “A boat is a hole in the water you throw money into,” “The second happiest day of a boat owner’s life is when he sells it” (ha, ha, ha), “The cheapest part of owning a boat is the day you buy it, after that, things start getting expensive” (hardy-har-har), and here’s my personal fave, “B.O.A.T. stands for Break Out Another Thousand” (laughter all around).

That first year, we put ‘er in lakes Pend Oreille (7 miles east) and Coeur d’Alene (26 miles south) a total of seven times, an average of almost $700 per dip, accounting for the price of the boat and the needed accoutrements. And my recent re-acquaintance with the boating world cost a mere 1,200 tiny happy clams.

Seven hundred adjusted for almost two decades of inflation, I guess, makes twelve hundred seem almost reasonable for a good day on the water, even though all we caught were a bull trout (released) and several bunches of Eurasian Milfoil (also released).

Our last excursion, late that first summer, I hit a log I didn’t see for the sunset lighting my big foolish grin, which put our little dinghy in dry dock until this July. Almost on a daily basis, over these almost two decades, I’ve thought about this purchase as I cover it and recover it through snow and rain and wind, and trying in vain to keep the squirrels and yellow jackets out. I’ve easily spent enough on tarps to have already built a nice, permanent boat-port when I had the back and shoulders for it.

More than that, though, is that daily poke at the mood, of something going to waste yet too costly to be truly pleasurable but still worthy of your attention.

Until a very recent prodding by the other half of “we,” that boat sat serenely unmolested and somewhat protected, moss growing on the north side. My first reaction to this poke was to drag the thing off the trailer and into the garden where it could become a “hull in the water we could plant our garlic in,”

creating a whole new adage to play with and a different story here, for sure.

But as proddings eventually go, that one golden definition of B.O.A.T. rang out loudest and truest as I commenced to resurrect our little floatie from its lounging position to one of seaworthiness.

After 19 years of rest and relaxation (on the boat’s part), this was no walk in the park. The walkin’ I did was into places that happily sell nautical merchandise to clueless “Captains of their own vessels” like me. Any walkin’ in the park was simply to relax my butt muscles afterward.

This is how the resurrection has been going.

If horses were expenses (instead of just expensive), the first one in this parade would be when I went to move the boat to within striking distance of tools, power, more tools, a reasonably flat surface to play on and a close proximity to nice, cold beer. To do this, I had to go to town and get a slide-in hitch and ball to just get started. First expense - $10, “Easy Peazy!” Had I known what that ten-spot was leading to, I’d have lit it afire and walked away, parted out the running gear and rolling stock and been happy as all get-out to have (presumably) the only 16’ tri-hulled fiberglass garlic bed in Bonner County. I may do this yet and really piss off some gophers.

Once I got things coupled up, it all started coming back to me. ”This bitch is heavy!” Noting the hubs on the trailer were flush with ground level, I broke out a shovel and dug a couple of nice long inclines exposing the mind blowing news that the tires were not at all aired up.

Back to town for some air. Not really, I have a compressor but lacked a working air gauge and an electrical pigtail appropriate for my newer pickup anyway, so another ten-spot went up in smoke (metaphorically). Still easy peazy but my humor was getting an edge on.

Once in the driveway, my project started to take shape under close scrutiny. That shape being less like a pleasure craft and more like an 800-pound gorilla on a skateboard.

Wiring cried out first. To save my knees for later and for future reference, I took a picture of the plug-in under my tailgate, compared it to the wad of ducttape and wire ends wrapped around the trailer tongue and decided I needed to go back to town and another walk in the

park, maybe two.

Two days of rolling around in the gravel, three skinned knuckles, some rather harsh adjectives, several intimate conversations with ants, stink bugs and my nosy cat, 55 bucks for the tail light kit and a twelvepack later, I still had no lights or signals under my fantail. “Bun-of-a-sitch”, I cried as my honey walked past with an armload of garden produce. Sensing a defeatist attitude forming and with it the possibility that I might try to cut and run, she reminded me that I have friends with talents far beyond my own abilities, wiring in particular.

An hour and a half later, my awesome friend Ron had me grinning from lobe to lobe with lights and working signals under my nautical nightmare! If I had his talent and he had a feather up his butt, we’d both be tickled and he’d still be awesome!

Now legal to roam the open road in search of a boat mechanic willing to play with two antique Mercury outboards as well as entertaining some of my silly questions and concerns, like the depth of my pockets in relation to the scope of my project, I pulled our pride and joy back home. Elated as I was, I couldn’t help but notice the fact that I couldn’t see a damn thing in my mirrors other than my pride and joy. Another trip into town fetched a pair of mirror extensions and a miscellany of special marine greases, guns and spare parts, lubricating Mr. O’Reilly’s till with another $100.

Now for the last item on legality, I called my insurance handler and added my flagship to the current line-up, $161 worth.

Ready for the serious stuff, I headed for Sagle Marine Service. I’d warned them a few days in advance of an impending migraine and they were on point by not being around when I got there, boat in tow. A few hours of wellhidden nonchalance paid off with their unsuspecting return and my surprise appearance from behind the building with a 44-year-old olive over antique white relic of yesteryear. After I got done jabbering at length about things relevant to me only, there was only one question remaining of any real relevance, that being the same one Samuel L. Jackson keeps asking on TV, “What’s in YOUR wallet?”

Page 18 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 23 No. 04|August 2014

Four days later, the answer was $443. But I did have a new battery, horn, running lights, new impeller and a ‘thumbs up’ on the trolling motor but a dire prediction about the 80 horse ‘main screw’ to mull over in my sleep. “That log you found in ’95 broke the shaft and the way the crank is wobbling around like a drunken sailor, well, let’s just say this unit has seen its last good wake,” said Frank as Loretta took my check and smiled empathically.

When I broke this news to my honey, the other and better half of “we,” she simply put in, along with a big sweet smile, “So let’s take it down to the lake this weekend! Hey, even better, let’s go watch the fireworks from our boat tomorrow night in Bayview!”

“You have any idea how insane it would be to pull our boat out of the water in the dark on a fourth of July after almost twenty years of not even doing it in the daylight?” I replied, eyebrows tickling the end of my nose.

“You worry about EVERYTHING!” she implied with her patent expression and said as much.

“We’ll see,” sighed I, hoping to get fed before I tripped once again over my own two lips.

In the morning, shortly after waffles, I rigged up a “run tank” out of an old olive oil barrel, slipped it in under the trolling motor, filled it full of water and proceeded to see if all systems were “go”.

They didn’t “go” anywhere. Just sputtered, coughed and ground on the battery. It wasn’t getting fuel, a fact that was aromatically self-evident. Turns out, after much “intense flatulence in a round about way” (fartin’ around in a sustained and earnest manner), the cause turned out to be a corroded dip tube screen rectified only by the purchase of a new fuel line, primer bulb and six gallon tank because the old stuff was, well, OLD! I started to worry again, breathing through my eyebrows as it were. I like to be prepared whenever I’m out in the middle of 95,000 acres of open water up to 1,150 feet deep and this got me to purchase even more stuff for contingencies unforeseen.

Tools and supplies expressly for the boat and to remain there and not be somewheres else when needed: pliers (three types), multi driver, hose, clamps, o-rings, snap ties, tape, extra plugs, crescent wrenches, reserve fuel tank, tow rope, floating lantern, fire extinguisher, distress flag, first-aid kit, paddles, bucket bailer, gloves, tool box (not nearly big enough) and a “For Sale” sign (for emergencies or sanity, whichever comes first).

By the time this resurrection walked across the waters of Idlewilde Bay on July 13th, it had set us back another thousand point two. This I kept to myself for at least three and a half minutes, those damn eyebrows giving me away again.

But it was more fun than a busted snow shovel and reunited us with the reason we bought it so long ago. To enjoy the water from on it, not just next to it. Plus, we like to pretend we’re fishing, according to what our fish stringer thinks anyway. I tend to think of it as sight seeing, daydreaming, observing and thinking (or not even) while waving a pole in the clean mountain air.

One thing’s for sure, the giddiness felt when buying a boat is by no means the same as that experienced when you are writing out a bill of sale on it. One is the product of and the solution to a short-term mid-life urge, the other is the feeling one gets when stopping a hemorrhage with a meat cleaver (yuk, yuk, yuk).

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Page 20 | The River Journal - A News Magazine Worth Wading Through | www.RiverJournal.com | Vol. 23 No. 04|August 2014

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