paddy flats

I have no idea of how that name came about.

My first memory of the name was a few years ago when a rather horrible crime involved that name and place.

But that was then.

The cabin is 12 miles from the paved road, and often that is where they leave their cars and start riding the snowmobiles. In the winter the roads are smoother, easier and much faster with snow machines. The legend is that some have done that 12 miles in as little as 10 minutes by that method. On dirt, that trip takes three times as long.

I did not really understand the reason for the trip -- until we arrived. The water system, which has to be fairly complex to be run by a few car batteries, and be able to some how withstand minus 40º, was not working at all.

David the engineer designed and built the system when he built the cabin 12 or 15 years ago. Ray, the current owner, has a great mechanical mind, but a few years ago he had bypass surgery followed by a stroke, and Ray has not been the same since. The complexities of the system sometimes baffle him.

So the trip was for David to fix the system and to explain the intricacies of it all to Ray again. I am not particularly mechanical, know nothing about that system, so I helped by staying out of their way.

It came down to a broken dollar part and a few valves that were opened/closed incorrectly.

A trip to town, about 30 miles each way, got the part and the water system was up and running. Water in the kitchen sink, water to flush the toilet and wash hands. It was very good.

So the three couples (with two smallish dogs) spent the time together. There was a jig saw puzzle, and time for visiting and story telling. There was good food and conversation. It was good.

At night it was 20 degrees and close to 70 during the day. Very pleasant.

It was good to get away for a couple of days.

Tomorrow more reflections on the trip.

trip to paddy flats

Tomorrow we are going to a friends mountain cabin.

We will go with the original owner and his new wife, to meet the current owners. We are all good friends. The current owners are Ray and Betty who we have known for 35 years or so. And the first owner is the David I have been working with on the church remodel.

The cabin is located up on the edge of the big roadless center of Idaho 2 ½ hours from where we live. There is no electricity, no phone and no cell coverage. But it is otherwise a very comfortable place. It is well insulated and easily heated with a big wood stove downstairs. There is running water, a flush toilet and a shower, all 12 volt. The kitchen has a propane refrigerator, a propane stove and a wood cooking stove, along with some nice cabinets.

The electrical system is powered mostly by photovoltaic cells. If more power is needed, they have a noisy generator. All of this was designed by David, who is an engineer by education.

He built the cabin some years ago for his wife who had MS. Cool weather suited her, so he built this cabin so they could spend time there where she was more comfortable. Even when she was quite sick he would take her there, and in the winter he sometimes took her in on a snowmobile (the road is plowed about ten miles back, so snowmobile are the winter transportation).

David took very good care of her right to the end of her way too short life. I have known his new wife since she was a college student I the 60’s. Her husband, also a friend, died a few years ago of cancer.

It is a bit hard for David to go back to the cabin. He is filled with memories of the time he and his wife spent there.

We will take a duffel full of coats and hats and mittens and such. There is not any snow up there yet, but this is late October and snow can happen any time. And to save our hosts laundry, we will take our sleeping bags and pillows.

We are going along just for fun! We have plenty of work to do at home, in the garden and in the shop, but when David insisted we go, I decided that it would be a good trip.

Maybe we will have a late winter this year!

laura

We met Laura when we were in Texas.

She was about 6, her brother was a couple of years younger. It did not take too long until we were adopted. Laura was the first non blood relative to call me “grandpa dave.” At that point we had just one grand child.

That was a long time ago, but we have kept in touch occasionally! Laura’s parents now live in upstate New York and each year on my birthday I sent Laura a happy birthday message. Her birthday is a couple of days different from mine, so it is easy to remember.

Usually I get a short answer from Laura or mom or dad (another David in my life). This year I sent the email out in May on our birthdays. I heard nothing. Then one day I thought that Laura’s dad had sent me a change of email notice.

So, I searched and found it I resent the birthday message last week, even if it is almost half a year off schedule.

This time Laura’s mom sent me a nice note telling me that Laura had graduated from College a few years ago, had married and was due to have a baby in a few weeks. She also sent me Laura’s email address.

So I wrote a note, congratulating her on her marriage and on her almost born baby.

We went to texas in 1986. Laura’s family moved there a not too much later. As I think of Laura and her family a lot of memories come up. Most are in bits and pieces, some are more complete.

David, Laura’s father, is a dietitian who was then working for a good sized hospital chain. They had sent him to this town in Texas to work for a few years, before they transfered him again.

It was interesting when we had a dinner or a potluck. David would be in the kitchen working with the women on the food and some times mom would be out talking with us guys.

One year we went on a trip to mexico together. The trip was for a couple of weeks, we were putting up the walls on a small church in a small village. David was the chief cook (and a good one he was) and Laura and family went along.

We had a good time. It seems to me that Laura and I spent some time reading stories and doing grandpa / granddaughter stuff.

It has been a long time. We left Texas in 1990, almost 20 years ago. Laura is a social worker with a husband who is working on an advanced degree (in Michigan) before they move to Florida where he will be a pastor.

Brother is in Australia finishing his college degree. The last time I saw him he was just staring to school. I did not ask how mom and dad are adjusting to being empty nesters.

Truth is that our paths will likely not meet again, in the here and now. We will keep in touch once a year at least, but Laura and David and the family will always be pleasant memories. It would be good to see them all again and remember out texas years, but Florida is a budget busting distance from idaho.

Good to be in touch with you again, Laura. Love that baby -- it already has a name -- as I know you will. New York is a long way from Michigan and Florida, but I’ll bet that Grandpa and Grandma will make the trip often.

May God be with all of you.

There is a new line in very modern marriage ceremonies that commits the couple to stay together “as long as love shall last.” Maybe that is how it works in the AD world, I will love you as long as memory lasts, as long as I can remember you. Maybe that is how some friendships are destined.