Riverjournal june 2016

Because there’s more to life than bad news

A Newsmagazine Worth Wading Through

WATER EVERYWHERE Is there enough to drink?

JUNE 2016 • FREE

All Seasons Custom design and repairs

by Karl & Jason

Special pricing on monthly birthstones.

Garden & Floral

31831 Hwy 200 Sandpoint Open Daily Monday-Saturday 9 to 6 Sunday 10 to 4 208.265.2944

Father’s Day Tree Sale!

Valid June 10-June 24

20% to 50% OFF!

Open 7 Days a week Sayers Jewelers, inside the Bonner Mall in Ponderay

208.263.0010

First Free Saturday at the Museum

Flowering beauties, stately sentinels or flavorful fruits, we’ve got the tree you need!

Give Us a Try Before You Buy!

On the first Saturday of every month, visit the Bonner County Museum from 10 am to 2 pm for FREE and learn more about the area’s exciting history!

611 S. Ella, Sandpoint

Summer 2016 program sponsored by Summit Insurance, Dr. Ken Conger, Dan & Ruth Wimberly, Hay’s Chevron & Co-Op Country Store Photo: The Halley Family of Priest River. Photo by Dorothea Lange, 1939, courtesy Library of Congress.

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Sales: 208.946.5282 Service: 208.946.5286 www.AlpineMotors.net

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Internet....

Everywhere

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Need reliable, high-speed Internet service?

Call for a free site survey today! Intermax serves many areas of Bonner County from Dover to Hope as well as locations throughout Kootenai County.

208.762.8065 in Coeur d’Alene • 208.265.3533 in Sandpoint

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In Sandpoint at 624 Larch St.

208.255.2417

In Bonners Ferry at 6452 Main

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“Eventually, all things merge into one, and a river runs through it.”

-Norman MacLean

Clothing and footwear for men and women for all of your travels in the great outdoors

301 N. First, Sandpoint • 263.3622

www.FinanMcDonald.com The Summer Activity Booklet is available now! Get your copy at the City Rec office, the Sandpoint Library or online.

1123 Lake St. in Sandpoint

208-263-3613

www.SandpointIdaho.gov Scholarships available.

• Learn to wakeboard, waterski, waterboard, paddle board,

sail a boat or swim.

• Enjoy camps & clinics including outdoor science, performance, sports & summer adventures.

• Participate in many summer music programs.

• Ballroom dance series, Walk with Ease, play Ultimate

Frisbee or join a Makerspace!

• Activities for youth, adults and families.

FIND IT ALL IN OUR SUMMER ACTIVITY GUIDE Booklet cover art by Kami Blood

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June 2016

THE RIVER JOURNAL • June 2016 •

A News Magazine Worth Wading Through ~just going with the flow~ P.O. Box 151•Clark Fork, ID 83811 www.Facebook.com/RiverJournal (Webpage under redesign) 208.255.6957 • 208.266.1112 RiverJournalIdaho@gmail.com

STAFF Calm Center of Tranquility Trish Gannon • trishgannon@gmail.com

Ministry of Truth & Propaganda

Jody Forest • reach him in the great beyond

Sales & Other Stuff

David Broughton• 208.290.6577 • davidcbroughton@gmail.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 Contents of the River Journal are copyright 2016. Reproduction of any material, including original artwork and advertising, is prohibited. The River Journal is published the first week of each month and is distributed in over 16 communities in Sanders County, Montana, and Bonner, Boundary and Kootenai counties in Idaho.

The River Journal is printed on 40 percent recycled paper with soy-based ink. We appreciate your efforts to recycle.

6. WATER EVERYWHERE. Last year was pretty dry. Can we expect a return?

Trish Gannon 8. SHORTS. A new online guide to hiking Montana, and the Friends of Scotchmans annual picnic.

9. SMALL TOWN HO. Duke Diercks makes his book debut with a hilarious tale of small town IDA-ho.

10. STALKING THE PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES. David travels town meetings to meet with Bernie, the Donald and Hillary’s other half DAVID KEYES - AS I SEE IT. 12. LOOKING BACK AT THE PRIMARY. Gil gives a round up, and an insider’s look at write-in votes.

GIL BEYER - IN THE MIDDLE 13. MY DISTURBING ENJOYMENT OF GAME OF THRONES. Our current political season feels an awful lot like Westeros. But guess who’s Hodor? TRISH GANNONPOLITICALLY INCORRECT 14. THE ORANGE-CROWNED WARBLER Mike’s pick this month is dazzling in its subtlety. MIKE TURNLUND - A BIRD IN HAND

15 PUBLIC LANDS NOT PRIVATE GAIN. Sandy gives the reasons why “taking back” lands is a bad idea.

SANDY COMPTON - THE SCENIC ROUTE 16. MILITARY DEPENDENTS Military spouses show there’s no dependence in the classification of dependent. ERNIE HAWKS - THE HAWK’S NEST 17. TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR CARE As with any chronic illness, there are things you can do to get the best care possible. A.C. WOOLNOUGH - ALL SHOOK UP 18. SEASON OF CHANGE. “To everything,” we’re told, “there is a season”... even writing columns KATHY OSBORNE - KATHY’S FAITH WALK 19. WE ALL NEED A LITTLE SUPPORT And if you want ripe tomatoes from the vine, support is necessary.

NANCY HASTINGS - GET GROWING 20. YOU WISH Scott falls asleep on the remote and dreams a world a lot more interesting than the one we’re living in. SCOTT CLAWSON - ACRES N’ PAINS

Our Thanks to these fine businesses where you can pick up a copy of the River Journal: Coeur d’Alene North Idaho College Athol Athol Conoco Westmond Westmond Store Sagle Sagle Conoco Sandpoint Waterfront Conoco The Panida Theater Vanderford’s Books Eichardt’s DiLuna’s Cafe

Columbia Bank Dairy Depot Burger Express Sandpoint City Hall Sandpoint Super Drug Gas n’ Go Super 1 Foods Ponderay The Hoot Owl Cafe Babe’s One Stop Co-Op Country Store The Bonner Mall Schweitzer Conoco Hope

Holiday Shores Clark Fork Hay’s Chevron Monarch Market Clark Fork Beverage Samuels Samuels Service Station Elmira Elmira Store Naples Naples Gen. Store Bonners Ferry Super One Foods Safeway

Bonner Books Bonners Visitor Center Noxon Big Sky Pantry Aitken’s Quik Stop Noxon Mercantile Trout Creek Trout Creek Local Store Thompson Falls Town Pump Harvest Foods Plains Conoco The Printery

June 2016

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Water, Water Everywhere... for now From the air, North Idaho looks like a land of endless water. Lakes and rivers stand out sharply, but look closer and the glint of light on moving water can be seen almost anywhere your gaze lands. Abundant winter snowfall and drenching spring rains ensure that water is an ever-present reality in our daily lives.

Except when it isn’t.

No one will soon forget 2015. A paltry, dry winter led into an even drier spring and, combined with the ever increasing temperatures that scream “climate change” to all but the deafest ears, we moved into Mordor.

As what used to be grass crunched underneath our feet, fire bloomed in the forests all around. Our days became a haze of heat, smoke, coughs, and anxious eyes looking skyward, hoping to spot the dark clouds that indicated a drenching storm front moving in. Soon we began to hear rumors we never thought to hear here, as a handful of anxious homeowners began to report

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that wells were running dry.

How can such a thing happen here?

And will it happen again?

The short answer to that second question is yes—anything that’s happened in the past can happen again in the future. As our climate changes, it’s expected this area will be warmer and drier than normal. An abnormally dry winter/spring will likely lead us right back to where we were before.

This year, our temperatures are already warmer than normal (the old normal), and precipitation is at 60 percent of what we would normally expect for spring. The current 3-month outlook (June, July, August) from the National Weather Service Climate Prediction Center suggests above normal temperatures will continue to come our way, but we should see close to normal precipitation. So while we might not be as dry as we were last year —be smart, and don’t play with matches.

And in the long term, be prepared for fire. The National Climate Assessment Report for 2014, which makes predictions based on the most current science for future climate issues, warns that in our area, we will potentially see a 200 percent to 300 percent increase in wildfires.

When it comes to our drinking water, however, the longer answer is a little more complicated and, according to hydrologist John Monks, who owns Monks Hydro-geoscience, it depends on the ground beneath your feet.

“Every year here, not just last year, some shallow wells go dry,” he said.

“But most of what we have (geologywise) up here is fine-grained silt and sands that are full of water. The difficulty is how to get it out cleanly.”

There are relatively few areas here, he explains, where obtaining a source of clear water is difficult, and climate change predictions for the area do not anticipate major problems in maintaining ground water.

That is because ground water is constantly replenished via the precipitation portion of the hydrological cycle that even my kindergarten-

by Trish Gannon

student-granddaughter can explain: precipitation–collection–evaporation– condensation.

The 2014 National Climate Assessment Report predicts warmer and slightly drier conditions in the area due to climate change, but the area of greatest concern might be in the change of timing of snowmelt and streamflows.

“Everything here is adapted to our “normal” timing cycle, and that’s changing now,” explained Monks, “and that’s going to have a number of impacts. Our infrastructure is not set up for that.

“Last year,” he said, “we got the same amount of precipitation, but it came as rain. As the cycle of creeks begins to change, it becomes a bigger issue to generate power, for farmers to irrigate. Our culverts are not designed to handle potentially larger flows.

There’s issues with wastewater; last year, the waste lagoons were almost full, but because of the early timing, they couldn’t be emptied. When you get supersaturated soil, landslides become more likely.”

Climate change, that is, is changing the collection part of the cycle, and one result of that, according to that National report, is increased tree die-off. (Think fire fuel.)

But collection also occurs in the ground beneath our feet. While we don’t have the huge, mapped aquifers found in the Rathdrum Prairie, Moscow, and the Snake River plain, we nonetheless have quite a lot of water contained in valley-filled aquifers that keep the water pouring out of many faucets.

The how of this collection is all about geology. Almost a million years ago, the ground underneath our feat was literally shaped by the force of water in two of its forms: liquid and ice. Glaciers ground their way across the landscape from out of the north; 20,000 years ago, the great Cordilleran ice sheet that covered most of what is now Bonner and Boundary counties began its last slow retreat. For the next 14,000 years, ice advanced and retreated from North Idaho, plugging the

June 2016

narrow valley leading from Idaho into Montana in current-day Clark Fork at its extent to create a natural dam and then, as it melted, allowing gargantuan floods as Glacial Lake Missoula burst free of its confines to make its way to the Pacific.

That repeated action of water left behind a bed of glacial till—unsorted fragments of rock ranging in size from pebble to boulder, intermixed with fine silt and sediments. Most of the rock was washed to the south and west, where remnants helped to create the great Rathdrum aquifer in Kootenai county, while the smaller fragments remained here. The water we drink—the water we take so for granted—lives in the spaces between those fragments, and it’s the size of those spaces and the depth at which they are distributed that determines how easy it is to get the water out again.

If you’re looking to drill a well, it pays to talk with a geologist who understands water and how it’s collected. Some areas have a relatively shallow amount of this valley fill, and wells need to reach into fractures in the bedrock to obtain plenty of water.

Approximately half of the people living in Bonner County, however don’t get their water from a single well. According to the Bonner County Comprehensive Plan, they get it from one of over 150 private water systems, which run the gamut from municipalities (like the cities of Clark Fork and Sandpoint), to individual subdivisions, to area water associations.

Rates for usage vary widely, as do the numbers served, anywhere from 25 people to 8,000.

As with private wells, the location

of where they get their water will determine how abundant it will be as precipitation rates fall and temperatures rise. But for the most part, climate change shouldn’t make water too difficult to obtain.

That is, as long as we don’t start sticking too many straws into the milkshake, so to speak.

Cliff Mass, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington and the author of the popular weather blog at cliffmass.blogspot.com has written that “A compelling case can be made that the Pacific Northwest will be one of the best places to live as the earth warms. A potential climate refuge” (emphasis mine).

John Monks warned of the same.

“It’s possible that one of the biggest water issues we’ll face here is dealing with climate refugees,” he said. “People are going to move here because there isn’t enough water to support them back where they came from.”

In the future, we may not be able to take water quite as much for granted as we do today—and the future arrived last year. The water may still come out of your faucet, but as the patterns of water that falls from the sky change, it’s time to get smart. Take a good hard look at where you live with the idea that fire seasons may be longer, and closer, than we are used to. Make changes that keep you safer.

Understand what an earlier spring melt may mean for your own little piece of paradise. Plan for an autumn with less rainfall. Learn about your local geology, particularly if you have a shallow well.

And appreciate the abundance that we so often take for granted.

Cedar Outlet

Fencing • Decking • Siding Garden Project Lumber

Along with so many in our local communities, we are deeply saddened at the loss of Jim Lippi, whose importance to those communities cannot be overstated.

Our love goes out to all his family and friends.

Waterlife Discovery Center

OPEN HOUSE July 18 • 1-4 pm 2100 Lakeshore Dr. in Sagle Free admission

Opening April 7-8 for the Season

1-208-263-1208 1 mi. north of WalMart on Hwy. 95

Like us on

facebook/CedarsofIdaho

June 2016

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Hike Montana with help from an online guide

If you like to hike and live in Montana, or are close enough to drive there, a new website offers excellent information about trails in the area. Hike Wild Montana (hike.wildmontana.org) currently features over 200 trails in Montana, complete with photos, trail conditions, directions and trail features, such as roundtrip distance and elevation gain.

Using $50,000 in state tourism monies, the trail information was collected by the Montana Wilderness Association, and is Montana’s first online trail guide covering the entire state.

Those interested can even sign up to add additional trails to the map.

Friends of Scotchmans Picnic

at the Bull River Campground

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The Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness will host the Annual Scotchmans Picnic at Bull River Campground in western Sanders County on Sunday, June 26 at 3pm Mountain time. Open to all, the festivities include great food, drink, conversation and project updates. Join us at the covered pavilion at the mouth of the Bull River along the breathtaking Clark Fork River, located west of Noxon and east of Bull River Junction (Hwy 56).

Big news will be shared about the current status of proposed legislation introduced by Idaho. Learn about the many hiking, trail project, and volunteer opportunities planned throughout the summer. Get out and up on the trail with FSPW! The picnic is a potluck meal, so please bring your favorite dish to share — FSPW will provide burgers and beverages. Rain or shine, everyone is welcome!

For more information about the Friends of Scotchman Peaks Wilderness, and the effort to obtain federal designation as wilderness for one of the last—and largest—wild places in our region, please visit the website at ScotchmanPeaks.org, or find us on Facebook!

June 2016

Small Town Ho

a new book by former River Journal columnist Duke Diercks My old friend Duke Diercks, who once wrote the column “Duke’s Food Obsession” for this very magazine, has written the funniest damn book I’ve read in a very long time, “Small Town Ho, the hilarious story of moving from the big city to North Idaho.” (Fixed that typo for ya, Duke!)

I started this book with dread, the same feeling I have whenever I read a book written by someone I like (because if it’s bad, what do you say?), and intending to take just a short break from work and read a chapter. The break lasted long enough for me to finish the book as I didn’t want to put it down — major compliment number one.

I laughed, out loud, the giggles bursting from me uncontrollably, at least five times while reading this book. That has only happened before when reading Pat McManus and Bill Bryson — major compliment number two.

I only noticed about a dozen typos while reading — major compliment number three. (But that dozen is there, Duke. Let’s talk.)

I’m going to miss my friend Duke once this book gets into wider circulation, because I’m pretty sure the people he wrote about are going to kill him when they read it, as he turns the same painfully honest eye on others as he does on himself.

And let me warn you: Duke writes that he and his sons “use curse words like punctuation,” a habit that’s on full display on almost every page. If you don’t care for “extra salt” in your reading matter, this book might not be for you. In fact, there’s plenty to offend the easily offended here. Vegetarians (maybe not too surprising coming from a former BBQ chef), ammosexuals, New-agers, dog lovers — Duke has noticed (and skewered) some habits of these groups that outsiders find just a tad bit annoying. They might not care that his descriptions of his own foibles are just as arrow-straight-to-the-heart.

And honestly, Duke, if I were you I would make sure that Jack (his middle son), has no access to you when you’re sleeping.

Duke covers a wide range of his experiences of life in Sandpoint, Idaho, including several of his various attempts to make a living here. Those who enjoyed stopping in at Duke’s Cowboy Grill during its short-lived existence might be surprised to learn that things were much more chaotic behind the scenes than it appeared. “One of the things I can honestly say we never screwed up was the coleslaw,” he writes. “But that’s kind of like saying that I’ve never stabbed my eye out while brushing my teeth. I mean shit, it’s three ingredients or so and you don’t even cook it.”

Others who have moved here, regardless of how long ago, will recognize their own experiences in adjusting to life in North Idaho: the constant struggle to invent a way to make a living, dealing with homes built with no concept of appropriate building practices, what seems to be a nine-month-long winter, running the grocery store gauntlet of raffles and sales, and the thankfully very rare but always stunning-when-it-happens casual racism. They will also recognize North Idaho’s most saving grace — not the beauty of our surroundings, but the beauty of the people who surround us, the constant willingness of people who live here to step up and lend a hand.

What Duke does not include in the book is just how well he and his wife, Kim, fit into this community, their own giving neighborliness unacknowledged.

On June 11, from 11 am to 2 pm, Duke will be joining writers Whitney Palmer, Mary Haley, Tom Reppert, Marsha Lord and George Brinkman at Vanderford’s Books and Office Products in downtown Sandpoint for a book signing. You can purchase his book there (as well as books from the other authors), or online from Amazon. The suggested retail price is $15.95.

-Trish Gannon

June 2016

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Stalking the Presidential Candidates

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Approx. 2,000 sq ft with 3 BR, 2 BA and gourmet chef’s kitchen. Master suite with jetted tub. Covered, wrap-around Trex porch. Landscaped with plenty of room for parking, plus heated shop/garage. View of Schweitzer. $235,000 20160299

What a year to be dialed in to politics!

On the national level, a record number of voters have turned out for the primary elections.

Donald Trump has re-energized some Republicans while scaring the hell out of others. His whack-a-mole approach in the GOP primary took care of governors, senators and a Bush.

I especially enjoyed the dispatching of Ted Cruz. The conniving Texas senator outfoxed himself when he attempted to draft off Trump long enough in the primaries with his effusive praise in an attempt to pick up the pieces — as well as Trump’s delegates — when the brash billionaire imploded.

He is still scratching his partially Canadian forehead over what went wrong. And it wasn’t true the American flag flying over the U.S. Senate was lowered to half staff in recognition of Cruz’s return to DC from the campaign trail, but the vision makes for a good punch line.

Sen. Bernie Sanders has lit a fire under the anti-establishment, anyonebut-Hillary wing of the Democrats. His crowds have been large and energetic and love his ideas of free education, taking on corporate tax loopholes, etc.

He has brought young people into the political process much like a certain senator from Illinois did in 2008.

I attended a Sanders rally early in May and I was struck by energy of his

DiLuna’s Presents

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July 29 Tickets: $12 advance $15 at the door

Call Carol Curtis Asso. Broker, GRI, Realtor

208-290-5947 Page 10

supporters. Native Americans had their pro-Bernie signs, Sixties flower children had their tie-dye shirts and teen-agers had Bernie shirts and hats. There were even a few kids wearing Trump hats at the rally.

This wasn’t so much a political rally as it was a place to be. I imagine some people attending the rally thought the Vermont senator could be our next president, but my overall feeling coming out of the rally was that a good number of the Bernie supporters were there because ­there was cool.

As an aside, I would be curious to see what might happen to people wearing Sanders and Clinton hats at a Trump rally. I have an idea. The Trumpwearing teens said they received a few stares but that was it.

Sanders is making a valiant attempt to make sure his topics are represented in the Democratic party in general and specifically in the platform at the DNC. In the end, I predict his candidacy will fail but his engagement in the fall campaign will make or break Clinton’s success this fall.

Sound familiar?

Bernie backers are the future of the Democratic party and Hillary Clinton knows that. I had to giggle that the main song that was played prior to his arrival at the rally was “Burning Down the House.” That isn’t the theme song the Democrats want to hear as they start to bring their party together.

I also had a chance to see Bill

Doors open at 5:30

220 Cedar St. Sandpoint 208.263.0846

Join us for breakfast & lunch, Wednesday-Monday, 8AM-2PM

June 2016

The Way I See It Clinton. In fact, I shook his hand.

Some readers would be as excited as I was to see this former president, or any former president for that matter. Others might be repelled by anyone named Clinton, which is a shame.

Clinton’s rally at a middle school in Billings drew around 600 or so people.

The crowd was very mellow at first but warmed up when Clinton spoke.

He still has it. He looks great and sounded pretty good even though the rally I attended was his third on the same day in three states.

He spent a few minutes reminding the crowd that the former senator and secretary of state, who happens to be his wife, will be just the opposite of what a President Trump would bring to the Oval Office.

He touted her successes and her ability to get things done and to work with the opposition party.

Hillary Clinton is running as the adult in the room. While Donald Trump, so far, is running as the class clown.

While he may mellow in tone and message as the campaign picks up, there are plenty of video memories of his behavior during the past few months that will find their way onto political ads from now through November.

The good news is Clinton brings

by David Keyes David Keyes is the former publisher of the Bonner County Daily Bee, and is busy stalking the presidential candidates.

DavidKeyes09@gmail.com more experience to the presidential contest than any one of the 20 people who were in the race this year—or anyone who has ever run for president, except for former presidents. The bad news is she is also packing more baggage than a Delta 777.

The GOP was ready to pounce on her in 2008 until Barack Obama came out of nowhere to take the Democratic nomination away from her. The GOP attack lines about Monica, etc., were put on ice. All of that is back—and now throw in Bengazi and emails on top of the old stuff and a person who doesn’t like Hillary or the Democrats anyway really has enough motivation to vote Trump or anyone else.

The Donald Trump rally in Billings on May 26 scared Billings. The local paper wondered if the old capacity record of 10,000 set by Ronald Reagan would be beaten. The Billings Police sent out a note warning motorists to stay

EVERGREEN REALTY

Curt Hagan

Sales Associate, GRI

The vision of panelized, realized.

away from the rally’s venue because of potential traffic problems.

Throw in protestors in California and New Mexico and the Trump rally had all of the makings of a western classic.

The only problem was, the crowd didn’t materialize and roughly 8,000 folks who attended the event only got to see a watered-down Trump speech.

One reporter wondered why Elton John’s song Tiny Dancer played four times before Trump hit the stage. I expected Rocky or at least Toby Keith.

While The Donald threw in two Crooked Hillarys to fire up the crowd, his speech was really just a random assortment of talking points. He even bragged that his speech notes were on a Post-it note.

That is probably why he forgot Congressman Ryan Zinke’s name but thanked him for being with him for a long time during the campaign. Truth is, Zinke endorsed Trump two days before Trump’s rally and a long time after Trump was the only person left on the GOP presidential ledger.

The lines have been drawn in this campaign already and it is unlikely that anyone who supports Trump or Clinton today will change his or her mind before the November election. Hillary’s emails and Donald’s insults won’t move the needle but instead will reinforce and harden their supporters’ resolve.

Who will win? Odds are that it is Hillary’s race to lose.

Tailgate Sale

Hope Memorial Community Center

Saturday, June 11

8 am to 1 pm 321 N. First Ave. - Sandpoint 800.829.6370 208.263.6370 EvergreenRealty.com SchweitzerMountain.com

Sustainable. Adaptable. Sensible. www.mehomes.net

(208)264.6700 Dan McMahon, Gen. Contractor dan@mcbldg.com

Lots of vendors, Yummy bake sale, Lunch items to purchase 415 Wellington Pl. • Hope, Ida.

June 2016

Page 11

Looking Back at the Primary

This month’s article starts with a mea culpa. Rather than bury my errors in tiny boxes located in the legal pages — if corrections are made at all — I’ll ‘fess up right up front as was promised. In May’s article I inferred that newly elected County Commissioner Dan McDonald said something that he did not. It all spun around the flap created back in winter when it was proposed that Syrian refugees might be resettled in Idaho. The Bonner County Commissioner’s passed a resolution stating that they were opposed to any resettlement without a thorough vetting of those refugees. State senatorial candidate Rohrer made a statement that indicated that the Commissioners didn’t go far enough in their resolution.

I erroneously said it was McDonald who made that statement. Since McDonald was elected with a 1,446 vote margin it doesn’t appear that I did much damage but the correction, and an apology, is necessary.

On election night I was privileged to be on the Reconciliation Board, comprised of two representatives for each party. The board is tasked with determining voter’s intent on any questioned ballots. In addition to the normal stuff like the voter not filling the ovals completely, this board was essential due to the fact that there were three ‘write-in’ candidates. The majority of the board must agree as to the voter’s intent and, for ‘write-in’ votes, the name written must be readily recognizable as a name on the list of authorized ‘write-in’ candidates. The Reconciliation Board is part of grassroots democracy and is one of those unsung and under-appreciated small cogs that keep our country running. My sincere appreciation to Danielle, Travis and Carol for participating in this small exercise in local democracy.

Looking at the results for LD 1, LD 7 and Bonner County elections it definitely falls under the heading of ‘Mixed Bag’. There were wins in some races that must have been a surprise to many and losses that surely weren’t expected. Senator Keough won over her challenger but not by a wide margin.

Page 12

by Gil Beyer

That surprised me only because the margin was so narrow. I would have thought that Keough’s challenger was simply so unqualified and uninformed that it should have been obvious to even the most clueless voter. Senator Keough has long served all of North Idaho with common sense, hard work and listening to all of her constituents. Sending an ideologue to Boise in our name would lose us all the clout that the Senator has accumulated and reduce our voice in the Legislature. The rest of LD 1’s GOP slate was unopposed so nothing of note there. On the LD 1 Democratic ballot there was a DINO (Democrat In Name Only) running unopposed who will face Senator Keough in the fall. I have every reason to believe that he will be soundly defeated come November.

Also on the Democratic ballot in the race for State Representative, position A, Kate McAlister was unopposed so she’ll face the GOP incumbent in November. Where things got real interesting was in the race for State Representative, position B, where we had another DINO running against ‘write-in’ candidate Stephen Howlett.

The story of how Stephen became a ‘write-in’ is complicated and involves a failure to communicate that goes from the Idaho Secretary of State’s office to the candidate. When the ballots were through being counted in Sandpoint it looked like another lose for the writein candidate—DINO 314 to ‘Write-in’ 292. But the results weren’t available for Boundary County until the next morning. When the smoke and dust settled the ‘write-in’ prevailed by a total of 16 votes! Come November we’ll have a race between a solid Democrat and an incumbent who listens to the “little Supreme Court in his head.”

There were several surprises in LD 7 on the GOP side. Incumbents lost in the House and the Senate. Representative McMillian was defeated by newcomer Priscilla Giddings (USAF ‘Warthog’ pilot and the daughter of the Idaho County Sheriff). Senator Nuxoll was defeated by Carl Crabtree (cattleman and longtime member of the Idaho Beef Council). Both

Here in the Middle A retired Navy man, Gil Beyer has served as a library trustee and on the county Planning & Zoning board, (where he had the distinction of being fired from a volunteer position). He is currently the county Democratic State Committeeman and LD1 Chair.

40vintage@gmail.com Nuxoll and McMillian were part of the anti-education spending group and their loss indicates that maybe — just maybe — things are changing in the Idaho GOP. Looks like the months between the November election and today will give us some interesting days. Stayed tuned and stay informed.

Speaking of staying informed I would be remiss if I didn’t suggest that anyone who registered GOP simply so they could vote in the GOP primary please visit the Elections Office at your earliest opportunity to reverse that decision. In November party affiliation doesn’t affect your ballot choices. You are free to vote for whatever candidate in every race that reflects your preference. Hopefully every voter will vote in their own best interests regardless of party label. It is essential that we start looking at the individual candidate’s qualifications, stances on issues and whether or not that candidate truly wants to serve their constituents or follow their own agenda.

I’ll close this month with a few comments of the Bonner County races.

As I said above, McDonald easily defeated former Commissioner Lewis Rich. The real surprise was the relative ease with which Jeff Connelly defeated Todd Suddick in the District 2 race. The composition of the Commission come January is going to be interesting. Can’t help but wonder how many land mines will be buried by the outgoing board that will impact the course of the new Commission.

“The price of apathy is to be ruled by evil men.” – Plato.

June 2016

Politically Incorrect Trish Gannon is the owner/publisher of the River Journal.

She lives in Clark Fork and despite the suggestion of many friends, will never knit a sweater for her chickens to wear.

trishgannon@gmail.com I am writing here about HBO’s Game of Thrones, based on the books of the same name by George R.R. Martin. So there be spoilers ahead for those who have no experience with either, and for those who are not current with the series. Duh.

My Disturbing Enjoyment of Game of Thrones simply because she is entitled to.

Cersei Lannister, daughter of the richest house in the kingdom, has been absolutely incompetent every time she has attempted to rule, yet is always scheming to keep her family on the throne. She has a disturbing personal life (she’s madly in love with her own brother). Entitlement again run amok, yet this time there is no sign of any redeeming humanity other than the fact that she loves her children. Donald Trump, anyone?

Jon Snow is the bastard son of a royal house who becomes a leader of the Men of the Night’s Watch. Always aware that “winter is coming” he is focused on the very real threat of the Night Walkers. He is so focused on addressing the actual problems barreling down on Westeros, in fact, that he is killed by his own men, who are so caught up in working within the system that they fail to remember their true role. Jon is Bernie Sanders.

(While Jon is getting a second chance this season, I don’t think we can expect Bernie to get the same.)

Mellisandre, the Red Woman, is imbued with the power of the Lord of Light and so sure that she understands what that Lord has to say that she destroys what remains of the Baratheon family in line with her visions. No act is too cruel for her when she thinks her Lord is guiding her actions. Yes, Ted Cruz has made an appearance.

Tyrion “That’s what I do, I drink and I know things” Lannister is a dwarf, so misunderstood and unloved by his family that he kills his father and runs off to join Dany in her quest for a kingdom. Or queendom. Tyrion often seems like the only adult in the room as he talks of compromise and alliances, and is smart enough to

by Trish Gannon

recognize the real problems when they stand up in front of him. Yet so far, he hasn’t really managed to do very much except survive. And his willingness to compromise has led him into some very poor choices. I’m casting our current President, Barack Obama, in this role.

The people of Westeros themselves, the bakers and blacksmiths, farmers and soldiers, the innkeepers and the young mothers, obviously correlate with “the people” today, and that story was rather horribly told in the person of Hodor, whose whole life ended up being spent in the service of the Game of Thrones, with no clear answer as to whether he ever had the ability to choose such a fate. Damn it.

The various royal “houses” in Westeros are busy eating each other up in this time of contested leadership.

The Tullys will soon face off with the Freys, the Greyjoys are split amongst themselves, the Boltons will be answering to the Starks and god only knows what’s happening down in Dorne, but it’s hard to see how any of the houses will in any way “win” in the coming battles. I’m probably stretching the analogy too far to suggest that this represents our current party system, though it does seem that in both the major parties today, they are eating their own.

Finally, we have the wildlings: rather frightening and out of control, a complex mixture of good and bad, and the only truly democratic society in all of the world shown to us so far. Will they survive? Will democracy survive?

Martin, so far, has shown he has no compunction in killing off what we see as good. Let’s hope that’s not its fate in our world, as well.

I need to quit watching the news.

Along with over 10 million other people, each Sunday I eagerly tune in to the HBO series “Game of Thrones,” in order to find out the latest problems in Westeros, and the machinations of those who might sit upon its iron throne. It’s a nice break from the reality of the U.S. political season... except when it’s not.

For those unfamiliar with the books/ series, “Game of Thrones” is a fantasy story about a world where dragons fly, men and women are resurrected to new life by the Lord of Light, some have the power to see through trees, and the dead are walking. Like I said, it’s a fantasy, and like most fantasies all these happenings are set in a very familiar world: a feudal one. That is, we are enthralled by a world that in any other circumstance we would be appalled to find ourselves living in.

And more and more, I see links between the show and the world today.

Consider this: For five and a half seasons, we Throners have followed the story of Daenerys Targaryen, a young girl with high ideals who, nonetheless, is utterly ruthless as she gathers an army to “take back” the rule of the kingdom she believes she is entitled to. Her qualifications for the job consist solely of her birth as the daughter of WATERFRONT • RESIDENTIAL • ACREAGE • COMMERCIAL a former ruler—and a crazy one at Buying or selling, our experienced staff can help make that. Dany is played today by Hillary your real estate dreams come true!

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A Bird in Hand

Orange-crowned Warbler:

the birding equivalent of differential calculus

Birding, the more hip term for bird watching, is not easy. In fact, I think that few people, even the occasional birder, understand the challenges of being an effective birder. Like math, it’s hard! And like math, as almost anyone can add or subtract single digits, most anyone can identify a Bald eagle or an American Robin. But how many people reading this article are fluent in differential calculus? Hmm? Similarly few people, except the most avid birders, can identify — or are even aware of! — the more obscure bird species in our region; species that might even be quite common, but are so nondescript or covert that they are difficult to differentiate from other bird species. There, I made a pun.

Birders even have a term for these species: LBJs. No, this is not a reference to the late president, but rather an acronym for “little brown jobs.”

“Quick, Robert, what was that bird?”

“I don’t know, Sarah, but another LBJ.” “Okay, let’s go after it.”

These people are real birders! They got the lingo and they got the need to know. So they chase after the little fella.

These are my people!

What we really have here is an exercise in linguistic relativity. That is, our ability to understand the reality of the world around us is limited by our language. And if a person lacks the words or linguistic concepts to describe something, they can never truly understand it. (Homework assignment: review the Sapir-Whorf Hypothesis.

I’ll email you the test on request.) And surely the avian poster child in our area for both linguistic relativism and upper-level math is the Orange-crowned warbler: our bird species of the month.

Words that you can use to describe the Orange-crowned warbler are such terms as plain, nondescript, undistinguished, unremarkable, Page 14

by Mike Turnlund

Do you love birds, and want to know more? Check out Mike’s bird photos, online at birdsidaho. blogspot.com.

mturnlund@gmail.com unexceptional, and so on. Cruel; words are cruel! To know me is to love me.

Let’s get to know the Orange-crowned warbler.

The plumage of the Orange-crowned warbler is an amazing palette of somber greens and grays; a stunning visual study in drabness, with few if any distinguishable field marks. This bird is so unremarkable that birders are known to review images late at night to overcome insomnia!

Greens and grays, in varying dull hues, are a field mark. If you spot a little plain-Jane sparrow-sized bird hunting for insects either on the ground or among the lower reaches of thick shrubbery, you might have spotted an Orange-crowned warbler. These birds exploit the lower reaches of shrubs and bushes, often located near a stream, swampy area, or other body of water, hunting for insects and spiders. In a

fashion, their vary drabness is a field mark, in that they may not be confused with another species because those other species will have some other field mark. Does that even make sense? But there is some glimmer of hope. There will probably be a very faint lightcolored eyebrow line and hopefully slighter brighter yellow undertail coverts. And the bird’s bill is reportedly thin. Good luck with that.

The male’s song is equally undistinguished. It is a barely discernible rapid staccato of soft twips.

How do these birds even find each other to reproduce? Nature is remarkable.

Oh, and by the way, don’t even bother looking for the orange crown. The species’ name is practically a misnomer.

The males do sport an orange-colored crown, hidden under exterior feathers, but it is rarely displayed, therefore it is rarely photographed. I have never seen it, although I have spent literally hours watching this species with my binoculars. Hoping…

That being said, identifying an Orange-crowned warbler in the field is a victory! This is one species I was truly proud to add to my life list. I earned it.

So there you go: the Orange-crowned warbler. A species that demonstrates what birding is all about: the hunt, the chase, the identification. And the bragging rights. Happy birding!

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June 2016

Public Lands, Not Private Gain

It’s May 21 and we are at Redfish Lake Lodge in the Stanley Basin of central Idaho. Outside, big disks of collected ice crystals spiral out of the sky like well-tossed mini-Frisbees, obscuring the view of the Sawtooth Mountains rising straight out of the far edge of the lake. Inside, we are in conference. It’s the weekend before Memorial Day weekend, so this must be Wild Idaho; the annual get-together of Idaho Conservation League, a celebration of environmental advocacy and stewardship led by ICL staff. It’s the 30th such gathering, and attended by an array of folks from around Idaho and the larger world.

Pat Ford, former executive director of ICL, speaks on the history of Sawtooth National Recreation Area — where we are this morning — and the larger landscape around it, including the brand new Boulder-White Cloud Wilderness.

Pat’s eloquent, heartfelt presentation and other discussions of the day include references to a current semi-popular notion of “returning” public lands to individual state control. The idea is radically conservative political thought that has gained a bit of traction lately, but frankly, it’s a bad idea, for very simple reasons.

It is proposed and advocated for by people who a.) stand to gain a huge amount of economic benefit by such an act; or b.) don’t understand the implications of such an act, and see government control of lands as an infringement on their personal freedom.

Group One stands quietly by and feeds money to legislators and lobbyists and misinformation to Group Two. Group Two loudly proclaims their indignation at being “locked out” of public lands as well as their rage at regulations about land use or — completely conversely — lack of “management” in proposed and designated wilderness and roadless areas.

Paranoia, ignorance and extremism are noisy and vehement and often hallmarks of Group Two. Negative comments responding to Facebook posts by Friends of Scotchman

by Sandy Compton

Peaks Wilderness asking people to write Congress and urge wilderness designation range from “Mine it. Log it. It’s worthless as wilderness,” to “Hi. F.U.” In between are a range of responses full of jingoist mimicry and plain old vitriol; knee-jerk, uninformed statements like “No government restricts enough!!!” and “I will not support anymore BS from anymore lying state or federal government!!!” and a simple “Agenda 21!”

If there’s an agenda here, it’s that of Group One, ultra-wealthy who will trash— and have already trashed — the planet for sole personal gain. They have no discernible social or environmental conscience, supporting practices such as fracking and mountain top removal mining. And “returning” public lands to the states.

Group Two might consider that if federal lands are “returned” to state control, and those states follow a model of selling public lands to private interests, as Idaho has done already, the question of access and management will be wrested from public control and settled by private — often corporate — ownership. If you think it’s not cool to be told where you can and can’t ride your ATV or snowmobile by the federal agencies, wait until you begin to encounter restrictions private ownership is sure put on their holdings. If you don’t like paying for permits to ride or hike or camp or graze or whatever on federal land, wait until industry begins to assess the fees. A good example is the signs protecting many private ranch holdings in the West: “No Trespassing.”

“Fee Hunting Only.” “$500 Minimum Access Fee.” Group Two is angry with government and the environmental movement, which is, in my opinion, a misdirection of frustration garnered from declining opportunity for jobs and financial security once found in extractive industry. Blame government and conservation groups, but the true culprits are Group One, who will pull out of a community with no compunction when the cream is off the

The Scenic Route Sandy Compton’s book The Scenic Route, as well as his many others, is available online at bluecreekpress.com, or at Vanderford’s Books or The Corner Bookstore in Sandpoint.

mrcomptonjr@hotmail.com top and profits have become “marginal.”

The good news for those afraid of losing access is that a huge majority of federal lands are basically free to enter and use for recreation, hunting, fishing, gathering and refreshing our souls. A great majority of those lands are also open to motorized use on approved routes. So, the idea that federal lands are closed or being closed and that “returning” the land to the state will solve the problem is, basically — to put it in language that much of the Group Two will understand — pure-d bullshit.

Besides, the notion of “return” is ludicrous. States have never had control of the great majority of federal lands.

Group Two seem to be becoming somewhat fragmented themselves.

Several of the ultraconservative candidates in the Idaho primary had their hats handed to them by voters who appear to be waking to the nonsensical rhetoric being spouted. Which is good.

But the big quiet majority better take advantage of the situation and vote in some good sense while they can.

June 2016

Page 15

The Hawk’s Nest

Military Dependents

by Ernie Hawks

and beginning and ending friendships in Ernie Hawks is the author of “Every I have decided to write about each place. something I have no first hand Day is a High Holy Shortly after Sardinia they were knowledge about but have observed for Day: Stories of sent to Hawaii. On the islands the several years. an Adventuring deployments of the sub became During the month of May we Spirit,” available celebrate Armed Forces Day on the third considerably longer. And there was on Amazon, Saturday. We honor and remember those another big change. While Noah was Kindle or in deployed, their first child was born. who have given their lives on Memorial your favorite Support had to come from family and Day the last Monday of May. I did not bookstore. friends since Dad was somewhere under know until recently the Friday before the deep blue sea.

Mother’s Day is Spouse Appreciation ernestmhawks@gmail.com My wife and I were there for the Day, when we honor and thank all the birth but we knew Ana wanted Noah military spouses. a year, are when I really started to be there and he did, too. The baby In 2004 my stepdaughter Ana questioning the term “dependent.” It was five days old before they were able married a member of the Navy. Noah is during these times that I can see the Skype and be together for the first time has spent most of his sea duties on incredible support these individuals are as a family—even though it had to be submarines. Of course, I have known to our military. Not only do they take electronically. there are active service members in all care of the home and children, they are Noah did not get to meet his the various military services, and that an integral part of keeping up the morale daughter until she was two months old. sometimes that commitment means for those who are gone. Every spouse or As I watched Ana during the pregnancy, partner I have talked to realizes they are deployments and family separations. I I started to appreciate the consequences not military issue, and they know the had known it, but I had not observed of their decisions. I have met many of it nor fully grasped the impact on all military was not designed with them in their friends and never have I met one concerned. mind, yet these people are as dedicated of them that felt they were a victim.

While I have been able to observe as the ones in uniform.

They openly talk about the difficulties, this from a closer perspective I still do It is during this time these but all of them fully understand their not understand all of the ramifications dependents must keep the family going commitment. of their choice to join the military. I do forward. As we all know, no family is There are benefits that can come understand it was and is their choice to ever static, even for a short time, and with all of this and sometimes they work it falls on the shoulders of those left stay in, as do they. and sometimes not. Ana was trying One person said it is much like at home to manage it all. Decisions to take a Mac flight to Guam when becoming a parent. No one can must be made that effect everyone’s she was pregnant with their first, so understand parenting until you are life, but often are made alone. Repairs, Noah could experience “a little” of the actually having the experience. I can’t sometimes very major ones, are dealt pregnancy. She waited for three days off with. Rules change as children grow help but think a career in the military and on for the free flight and finally just and being the spouse of career military and mature without normal parental bought a ticket so she could see him. must be much the same. discussions. Sometimes careers of the Fortunately, the second baby came My stepdaughter is called a military spouse change or extended family during shore duty. dependent. My observation is she issues need to be addressed. In other When the folks in uniform are home, and others spouses are anything but words, things I take for granted in my life is a little more normal. Granted, dependent. life are still happening in theirs, many often the work schedule is shift work When I first saw her husband times without much communication. that can cause the couple to be like deployed I felt bad for their separation.

One difficult decision can be what “ships passing in the night” but, with Then there was a duty station in and when to tell the absent spouse exceptions, everyone is together more Sardinia. Noah was there most of the about issues at home, while not wanting time with a few deployments. It allowed frequently. But when one spouse is out to add undue stress to them since they to sea on a submarine, get-togethers them to travel and to see interesting cannot do anything to help. I’ve used can be separated by a few weeks to places. Yet they were still separated the word decisions over and over, and many months. When underwater, the from family. They created “family” that’s what they are doing... making only communication is by email. When with other Navy folks and are friends decisions and often without the luxury a submarine surfaces, then phone and with them today, even though they are of consulting with their spouse. or Skype can be used. The dates for scattered across the U.S. and Canada.

So once the deployment is over, the sub’s comings and goings are often And that’s another factor in their life, everything is just fine, right? As much moving from one duty station to another. flexible. As Ana has said, “My schedule is written in Jello.”

Shore duty and sea duty and changing Continued on next page The deployments, some for over opportunities, packing up households Page 16

June 2016

All Shook Up DEPENDENTS- cont’d from prev. page as everyone is happy and excited to be together again, there is certainly an adjustment period. The spouse and family at home have created a routine and schedule that has allowed them to survive and thrive. Suddenly, while grateful for the return, there is another person with their needs and wants to consider. A joyful time, yet an adjustment. Learning to share the responsibilities is an adjustment, even though that is exactly what the home spouse has been wishing for months!

Noah has been on his own for months and suddenly there are others wanting and demanding his attention. There have been stresses of his own, not the least being the emotions and issues he’s had to deal with because of being separated from his family.

Life is full of opportunities and change. Being in the military and having a family multiplies those factors for most people. On the plus side is seeing parts of the world that many will never see, travel, and adventure. And with that, the challenges of frequent moves and learning to manage and survive separations, from family, children, friends and each other as spouses. The ads on TV talk about what it takes to be a member of the military services, but what they don’t talk about is that it takes the same strength to be a spouse of a soldier or sailor.

I’m in awe of the commitment and strength of “my” Navy family. I have a tremendous amount of respect for all of them and will never think of a spouse as “dependent” again. No matter what the military says.

Classic Boat Festival July 8 and 9

on Sand Creek in Sandpoint

For many of us seniors, doctors were deities as we grew up. They wore white coats with a stethoscope around their neck, their offices had a distinct medicinal odor, they dispensed magic in the form of shots and pills, they were highly respected and they had impressive diplomas on their walls.

As a result, most of the time, their decisions and advice were absolute and unquestioned.

Then came shows like Grey’s Anatomy with surgeons discussing their sex lives while doing open heart surgery. The myth of the omnipotent physician exploded. Now, if anything, it seems that doctors are something to be feared or ridiculed.

Neither perspective is accurate or appropriate— especially when a person is faced with a chronic and progressive disease (for example, Parkinson’s). Either view can lead to serious consequences for one’s healthcare, prognosis and quality of life.

There not only has to be a middle ground, there is one. This common sense approach to one’s healthcare (and life) is often referred to as self-efficacy: A person’s belief about his or her ability and capacity to accomplish a task or to deal with the challenges of life. The Parkinson’s Disease Foundation is piloting a new program called PD SELF that incorporates nine elements that are appropriate to anyone with a serious condition.

The first component is adjusting to my condition (for purposes of this article, Parkinson’s Disease is the condition and I am the subject).

During and after the initial shock—and remember the diagnosis may take two or more years—my belief about how this will affect my life and my ability to deal with it is critical. If nothing else, my willingness to fight and believe I can have an impact will help me.

Remember, belief in a positive outcome, in and of itself, helps the brain produce more dopamine—a desired outcome.

Believing I have power gives me power!

Self-efficacy also involves

Take Charge of Your Care

by A.C. Woolnough

A.C. Woolnough has spent a lifetime in education.

He serves the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation as both a Research Asso. and a member of the People with Parkinson’s Advisory Council. In addition, he is the Asst.

State Director for the Parkinson’s Action Network.

ACWooly@gmail.com

knowledge… learning about PD, the vocabulary and the importance of goal setting. Establishing goals (small incremental goals are just fine) and then achieving them are important in the

Another critical element is building a healthcare network, overall journey. Even writing to-do lists and checking off items demonstrates the ability to deal with and control my life.

Another critical element is building my healthcare network. The word network includes the concept of team but is more inclusive. A network involves keeping track of my symptoms (are my tremors getting worse?) and effective communication with my movement disorder specialist (a neurologist with specialized additional training). Rather than passively answering questions, my job is to develop a thorough report to bring my care partner to provide her perspective, to ask questions and to make medical decisions on a collegial basis. Options need to be explored thoroughly. For example, my doctor suggested medication over a year ago as a possibility. It was my decision to put off taking medication until the impact of my tremors began to have a negative impact on the quality of life for Pamela, my wife and care partner. As necessary and appropriate my network will include physical and voice therapists, family, friends and support groups.

Next month, I will continue discussing self-efficacy. In the meantime, take charge and have a happy, healthy and productive summer.

June 2016

Page 17

Kathy’s Faith Walk Kathy Osborne is the editor of the quarterly publication, the Co-Op Country Round-Up roundupadvertising@yahoo.com Spring is a great time of year. It is filled with possibilities as it sheds the past and leads us into the full development of nature and life. I am coming into the summer of my life, maybe even late summer, and the time for change has come. This is my final column for the River Journal.

Most of my faith walk columns have been about family, my farm, and about the human condition. I have shared my spiritual life with the RJ readers and in doing so have ruffled a few feathers and made some dear friends. It has been a learning experience and I will always be grateful to Trish Gannon for giving me the opportunity to write about something very special to me and have it published.

The United States has moved into what many have referred to as the

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post Christian era, that place where the common Judeo–Christian ethic is no longer widely honored even though it is the moral base on which our country was founded. Please forgive the following paragraphs from http://www. gotquestions.org/Judeo-Christian-ethic. html but it captures this truth and explains it in a much more complete way than I can.

In 1952, President-elect Dwight Eisenhower, speaking to the Freedoms Foundation in New York, said, “Our sense of government has no sense unless it is founded in a deeply religious faith, and I don’t care what it is. With us of course it is the JudeoChristian concept, but it must be a religion that all men are created equal.”

This began the modern use (Judeo-Christian Ethic) in American political and social circles. From Eisenhower’s day to the present, the term has become particularly associated with political conservatives in America, though there are much broader applications. In our American military schools, it is commonly taught that the modern rules for war, like the protection of captives and noncombatants, are based on biblical themes. American jurisprudence is firmly based in Judeo-Christian ethics and celebrates that fact with a variety of artwork throughout Washington, D.C. In the House of Representatives there are 23 marble relief portraits of great lawgivers, including Moses, who is given the central point of focus. The sculptures over the main entrance to the Supreme Court building are centered on Moses with the Ten Commandments, and there are several

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other representations of Moses and the Ten Commandments in various places throughout the building.

Though there are many aspects to the Judeo-Christian ethic, some of the more common ones are the sanctity of human life, personal responsibility, a high regard for marriage, and compassion for others. Much of what is best in Western civilization can be directly attributed to the JudeoChristian ethic. Historian Thomas Cahill, in pointing out the common themes of Christianity and Judaism, said, “The heart of the Torah is not obedience to regulations about such things as diet—what one may eat, whom one may eat with, how one must prepare oneself beforehand—but to tzedakka, justice like God’s Justice, justice toward the downtrodden.”

The foundations of the JudeoChristian ethic can be summarized in the “Golden Rule” which Jesus taught His disciples in Matthew 7:12, “So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets.”

I have been to Washington D.C. and seen these relief portraits. They are deeply moving as are the inscriptions on the various memorials around the Mall.

What is also deeply moving is to see the older generation of our country which held to these truths pass away, only to be replaced by an equally large segment of the population who have no idea why this ethic is so important to the fabric of our culture. This younger set did not go to war in Europe to fight against the very socialistic themes they insist we must entertain in this country. They do not understand where socialism leads or why it almost always devolves into tyranny. Without the Judeo-Christian ethic to guide a culture, it will lose all sense of personal freedom, all sense of value of the particular, and all sense of what liberty means. This is where many in our country want to go and they will eventually find a leader to take them there. It is always easy to say “No” to God and His best choice for us. It is quite another thing to live with the consequences.

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Worth Wading | Vol 17 No. 18 | November 2008 | Page 5 Page 18 Through | www.RiverJournal.com

Continued on next page June 2016

SEASON- cont’d from previous page While fully half of the United States population would like to leave all consideration of God in the dust, He has always been present in the rising and falling of nations. He is present today and the Bible tells us this about Him: “The instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, to pull down, and to destroy it, if that nation against whom I have spoken turns from its evil, I will relent of the disaster that I thought to bring upon it. And the instant I speak concerning a nation and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it, if it does evil in My sight so that it does not obey My voice, then I will relent concerning the good with which I said I would benefit it.”

(Jer. 18:7-10) If I have hammered on anything in these columns it has been the idea of loving God and loving people. I have also leaned pretty hard on the fact that God always gives us a choice to follow him through Jesus Christ or not, and that that choice will always have consequences. “There is a Heaven to gain and a Hell to shun” Kenneth Hagin once said. I have tried to drive home the truth that God loves all of us and Christ Followers are in fact held to the same standard of love. Without love the Good News of Jesus, His death and Resurrection, is just so much racket in the ears of those who have not yet come to know him.

It is my most sincere hope that those of you who have been encouraged by these columns will yourself be an encouragement to others. If you have been offended by these columns, it means you are thinking and I hope your own spiritual journey leads you to Christ and eternal life in Him. As His own disciples came to understand in John 6:67-69: Jesus asked the Twelve, “Do you want to leave too?”

Simon Peter replied “Lord, to whom would we go? You have the words of eternal life. We believe and know that you are the Holy One of God…” Love God. Love people. Put your faith in Christ and be saved. We are all going to need Him before this is over.

Get Growing!

by Nancy Hastings

We All Need a Little Support

it hard for them to ripen; that is when FINALLY! Yes, it’s now safe to plant a bit of smart pruning is necessary to your little heart away in the garden. By maintain a stronger plant and a better now, you have probably spent plenty of harvest. time thinking about what to plant and Indeterminate tomato plants, when to plant it, and you undoubtedly however, will overpower a puny little have visions of fall harvest already tomato cage. Staking these plants is a dancing in your heads. Planning for this common support method, and stakes year’s season is over, right? can be purchased, or repurposed from Well... anything strong and tall you have at Given that half the fun of gardening home (old tool handles, pieces of rebar, is in the planning (or, as some people etc.). Bear in mind, these stakes will be call it, daydreaming), there’s nothing holding a LOT of weight, and need to be wrong with continuing that planning driven deeply into the ground. Put the as you place plants and seeds into the stake in the ground approximately 3 to ground. So let’s talk plant support.

5 inches from the stem of the plant, and And there’s nothing that quite needs tie, tie, tie. That is, find something soft support like tomatoes! Although tomato and loosely tie the stem to the support... plants can be quite sturdy, come fall and continue doing so throughout the the dozens of tomatoes bursting into growing season as the plant grows. My ripeness on your plants weigh a lot, and favorite plant ties are Velcro because can bring the best plant crashing to you can move them as the plant grows the ground. If you want fresh tomatoes and even reuse them next year if you are off the vine, you have to think about thorough with your garden cleanup. supporting that vine.

A second method used is a tomato Many tomato growers run out to buy trellis, or ladder. It can take some time to a tomato cage, ubiquitous at all types set this up properly — more time than of stores at this time of year, to support pushing a stake or cage into the ground their tomato plants. But it is important — but it provides sturdy support that to match the support to the different keeps fruit off the ground and allows types of tomatoes. plenty of air circulation. The strongest People with limited space or trellis is a combination of cattle panels contemplating doing pots of tomatoes and t-posts, but a simple trellis can be should think about choosing made with strong stakes at each end of determinate or a “bush” type of tomato. the garden, with a support pole between They generally only grow to a height of them and poly coated heavy wire down 3- 4 ft., and the fruits tend to all ripen the middle to tie up branches. Then, tie at the same time. Early Girl may be the twine and Velcro to the support line to most familiar determinate tomato, but hang down and tie to each individual other early heirloom varieties include tomato plant.

Manitoba, Siletz, Matina and the There are lots of other ways to beautiful and delectable Silver Fir Tree. support tomatoes as well — just take All are great candidates for planters and a gander through Google for ideas, or limited staking. stop in and ask your favorite garden A huge cage towering over a tiny professional. Regardless of what method tomato plant might look a little silly you use... let’s get growing! right now, but trying to add them in Nancy Hastings grew later in the season is an exercise in up on a 300-acre farm futility. An added bonus is that the and owns All Seasons size of the cage might help you space Garden and Floral in your plantings appropriately — a plus Sandpoint with her if you’re like some of my friends who husband John.

They tend to overcrowd their tomato plants have been cultivating in their zeal for a bountiful harvest. community gardens and growing for One drawback to cages is that they can almost two decades in North Idaho. become so full of foliage that it blocks AllSeasonsGardenandFloral@gmail.com the tomato fruits from the sun, making June 2016 Page 19

by Scott Clawson probably on acid instead, by scientists working on unrelated matters of national importance like recently estimating that if Donald Trump’s ‘comb-over’ were to be seriously checked out, it could, in theory, be just a thinning orangutan.

And speaking of thinning, Dennis Hastert, the longest running Republican Speaker of the House, was sentenced to 15 months in prison for unlawful deposits and withdrawals back when he was morally bankrupt, while…

The media dog-piled on Bernie Sanders for being hypocritical on ‘job creation’ when he laid off 200 of his staff after N.Y., Connecticut, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Korea tried to throw the election to…

Hillary Clinton, in a last-ditch effort to look professional, announced she’s considering Martha Stewart for Interior Secretary. Some pundits had fun suggesting that she really did this to get help removing some tar and feathers she encountered in the West Virginia primary.

Also, Prince passed away at his home in Minnesota, sparking a tidal wave of mourners to do some genealogy research involving concert venues spanning two centuries.

Feeling lucky, al-Qaeda, in a ploy to ease tensions with the TSA, lobbied to streamline the organization’s boarding passes so their operatives wouldn’t be terrorized watching “little old white ladies” get strip-searched in their presence.

Exit poles from the most recent primaries were analyzed and indicate a widespread American desire to “maybe see if the Queen might take us back.” In retaliation, London quickly elected their first Muslim Mayor.

On the weight-loss front, contestants on “The Biggest Loser” disclosed that not getting paid to be in front of a camera leads to sudden weight gain.

And speaking of food, a riot broke out in the Turkish Parliament over an introduced bagel.

So, on May 3rd, Ted Cruz dropped out of his presidential bid (maybe) and vowed to return to Washington to shut it down by filibustering until the

June 2016

You might be surprised to learn that way back in late April, while I was on the couch floating in and out of consciousness to various sources of “The News,” Donald Trump and Megyn Kelly snuck off to a compound in southern Utah to get secretly married, (they’ve already had five kids, Huey, Dewy, Louie, Fooy and Snit!), while Ted Cruz and John Kasich were discovered in a men’s room in Indiana tap dancing in separate stalls as to their intentions to woo possible running mates or possibly just Tweeting about…

Governor Rick Snyder, in an effort to distance himself from Flint, Michigan, offered to move to Tacoma, Washington to fix their contaminated water supply, which was recently brought back to light when a high school janitor found an old water toxicity report improperly filed in the p-trap of a urinal. This will probably never happen again in our lifetimes.

Okay, maybe I was asleep while my ears compiled all this, but still…

Not to be outdone, ABC News, in an effort to make sense of their graphs and tables, suggested Bernie Sanders maybe ought to run on a third party ticket for Dog Catcher. Bernie licked his lips and countered with, “This election is not dead, just rigged like…”

Tom Brady, learning of his appeal denial from the NFL, let even more air out in a statement that nearly gagged several bystanders at the same time that…

Al-Qaeda tried claiming responsibility for unleashing an estimated 150 trillion hailstones on San Antonio. Failing that, they immediately filed claims on damaged military equipment that happened to be in the area on maneuvers. Halliburton has agreed to handle the claim by sending them on a complimentary “Quail Hunt” with top guide and ‘quick-draw’ artist, Dick Cheney.

Meanwhile, in a radio broadcast a half a world away, Kim Jung Unnghhh announced he would secretly begin jamming GPS signals to the south with his updated hairstyle. Military personnel in South Korea immediately began Page 20

walking into oncoming traffic instead of latrines, nightclubs and brothels.

As expected, lawyers for little Eliza Sollers, soon after their possible client got what appears to be a ‘Heimlich Maneuver’ from Bruce Springstein at a concert in Boston, filed a motion in circuit court that, under Sharia Law, the two are now legally married. Ted Cruz agreed by quoting a passage from “Rimball for Dummies” which he’d been cramming on in preparation for the Indiana primary. Afterwards, Indiana voted Cruz “Honorary State Hoser” of the month.

Speaking of words, did you catch “The Donald” compare his broadminded knowledge of international affairs to the National Enquirer? He also hinted that Chris Christie might make a fine backdrop to his Republican bid for the White House, after which every political cartoonist from as far away as Alpha Centauri wet their pants with glee and raided their liquor cabinets.

Then, seeing a vocal opening on stage, Carly Fiorina spontaneously auditioned for ‘The Voice’ in front of a live audience. In response, vehicles in Texas began, en masse, to drive themselves into flooded intersections to short out their radios, while next door in Wyoming…

After his annual check-up, Dick Cheney’s personal veterinarian revealed that his patient has been, all along, a large canker sore, malignant and untreatable. He apologized for the delay and blamed it on the plumbing.

Donald Trump swept the primaries of Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Indiana, Antarctica and ‘That Little Town in Egypt’, causing tears of mirth and agony to run down the cheeks of politicians on both sides of the Congressional isles. Repercussions included constipation, gas and Michelle Bachman renewing her vows to stay in front of the camera by grabbing a microphone from a startled reporter and announcing she was, once again, on track to become head cheerleader at the Republican National Square Dance.

It was quickly pointed out that she was

Acres n Pains next election. Remarking to questions about a possible running mate, a presumptive Trump replied, “Someone with experiences Americans can relate to. Right now it’s a tossup between two icons, Gary Busey and Meatloaf.” As… Bernie Sanders won the Indiana primary and Hillary Clinton worked on her presidential acceptance speech while Martha designed her new cabinetry.

Meanwhile, the CDC put out a warning about the expected Zika virus outbreak with, “Get rid of all standing water around your homes!” as an estimated 75 million people from Texas to North Carolina canoed and snorkeled to work and school for the 93rd straight day.

Then, on May 7th, it was “World Naked Gardening Day” sparking a sharp rise in the mosquito population as well as an even sharper rise in eyebrows.

On May 10th, Rick Perry jammed his mental transmission when he reversed his rhetoric on Donald Trump who incidentally, when asked how many dirty ads he planned on running against Hillary, said, “Not many! All’s I really need to do is simply say outrageous things and the media plays them over and over until everybody’s ears bleed.”

In deep space news, Fox cried foul over Facebook not being objective enough in the way they like to aggravate the crap out of me with unsolicited

articles and need to be less biased in their work, like they think they are.

Laughter was rampant until…

On May 11th, George Zimmerman announced he will auction off his conscience, no, wait, his gun to the highest bidder as…

Diapers are now required apparel on poultry processors in the U.S. in a desperate move to reduce the amount of fecal mater in our food supply. The FDA suggested flatly, “We need to be sure of our nuggets.”

Curbing his appetite, Donald Trump announced that (if elected) he would deport ALL illegal Mexican Oreos. This caused a collective gasp from Chris Christie.

Then, there was a move to cancel the upcoming Olympics in Brazil over the massive outbreak of blood sucking…

Lawyers for a Canadian woman filed a “Wrongful Direction” lawsuit against North Korea for their jamming of GPS signals which they say caused their possible client to drive into Niagara Falls, while another foot (an estimated 400 gillion gallons) of rain came down on Florida, prompting the CDC to put out a statement, “You might all want to maybe move to Iceland.”

Not heeding that, Egypt Air flight 804 went down in the Mediterranean causing mayhem with the TSA who was already fending off complaints of long security lines and recent reports of 2-

Scott Clawson ruminates on life somewhere in the backwoods of Careywood, and turns it all into humor. And he’s even on Pinterest now! (Facebook, too.)

AcresnPains@dishmail.net year-olds smuggling loaded underwear.

They released this statement: “The trouble is, we need actual doctors to perform these highly technical…

Colonoscopies are on the rise as the American traveling public seems to be on a flying binge.

On the 19th, Morley Safer died at 84 and another 22 military veterans committed suicide.

In response, President Obama announced the lifting of the long outdated weapons embargo on Vietnam, putting them on the same solid ground as Iraq, Iran and Syria. This caused me to fall off the couch, ending a month long bout of napping on the remote while catching up on the news. I wonder what really happened. (not)

June 2016

Page 21

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June 2016

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June 2016

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