Hi all,
Let's start with a welcome to Big Al ( Al Blank) and Jane (Blue) Newby. Al and Jane are good friends (Al was my Librarian at Borah for, those oh so many, years) who have left Boise for one of the numerous cities in China boasting 4-5 million happy residents. Both good people, and are now included in the blog - welcome. Did you all hear about the demise of the Yangtzee porpise - the largest mamailian vertrabrate to go extinct due exclusively to human activity. Yeah! but we also heard today of the first documented extinction of a species due to global warming. ( a snail in the Seychelles) But I digress - Things are really, really great for us here, now, and I want to share some of what's new, good, and positive - (we're still alive!)
St. Gertrude
I'm not really sure who St. Getrude was, and I should, or if she had a thing for service, silence, or rasberries. St. Gertrude is "la santa patrona" of a monastery in Cottonwood Idaho where Amy and I were last Sunday. We went to see what the annual rasberry festival was about, and what exactly this monastery was about, while we were at it. Cottonwood too. Cottonwood is an idylic place north of Grangeville on the Palouse prarie, South of the Clearwater and east of the Salmon. Three sisters came from Switzerland in 1893(?), to the northwest, and eventually settled in Cottonwood, where they built a beautiful church and monastery, where sisters from everywhere are still based as they wander the globe, doing what nuns do. We met a few of them, and they are the nicest people you'd ever meet. Everyone LOVED Addie. We wandered the grounds, looked for the legendary rasberry fields (dissapointing at best), got a tour of the cathederal, and visited the museum( fascinating). I have a couple of photos to show you.
(Side note: please note the layout changes on this blog. Maggie will be present from now on, but the pic of the moment should change at each posting.)
We have here the church looking east. There would be big mountains in the east, but the smoke was incredibly thick; a pic of the altar; and one of the stations of the cross, located on a path up to the cemetery. There are about 150 sisters buried on the top of the knoll, surrounded by poderosas and birdsong, with a small chapel and a giant cross in the center. It was the most beautiful thing I've seen all summer. I didn't take any photos.
I'm including a photo I took, just for this. The DogBark Inn has been intriguing me for years - located on the highway form Boise to Spokane. Would you stay here? I want to - Amy says no way.
From here we trekked on into Grangeville with the completely misguided hope of finally ( this was our third try)finding a good meal, in the largest town in central Idaho. Dreams dashed again, this time for good. Grangeville has officially become a stain for Amy and I. There is simply nothing redeeming about this place. In fact, the character of Grangeville followed us up the hill as we made our way to the Gospel Hump Wilderness, the single remaining Wilderness area we have not hiked in. It was a stunning place, and the forest around for miles and miles is filled with awesome firs, cedar and hemlock, but Idaho certainly has it's hand in things. (I'm not going to get into this) We hiked into Slate lake for the day and had a great time. I have the latest photo of us, taken at Slate lake, for you all:
See - we're real, and we have the world's cutest dog.
The 4th, by the way, was our11th. We spent it driving, but had the afternoon and evening alone camped along the Salmon below Whitebird. Magical.
Goin' to Portland
I got the official nod today, so Amy and I'll be heading out to the coast with Rachel, Brian, Addie , possibly some dogs, sometime in October, (4-5?). (Making the reservations tommorow, Brian, for the Wednesday, afternoon. More to come. ) Our last trip to the coast was a memorable experience of clam chowder and marionberry cobler, looking over a cliff into the broad Pacific, with a not a few clouds thrown in for the awe. Beautiful.
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Three of the ladies we hope to see soon.
School Starts Soon
August 24th, to be exact. But I've been at it already. I took a photo today of the lot, and hopefully can keep up with the progress from the same spot. We start fresh. I staked out the corners of the foundation after this shot and now the excavator can dig, followed by the foundation and concrete. If that's in by the time kids show up, I'll be in tall cotton.
It's late, and I've said enough. There's always so much to tell, and never any time to tell it all. In short - I'm finishing "Founding Brothers", a history of the government from 1787- the end of Jefferson's term. I'm hoping to get another epic fishing trip to Silver Creek and the Big Wood next week, but we'll see. Amy and I opened one of the Campoforinis (1995), with a steak and shallot sauce (roasted potatoes, cucumber salad). It was amazing. I still have one bottle. Enjoy yourselves, be glad - Scott
