Palouse country

This weekend I drove 160 miles north to the edges of Spokane for a weekend with other grandparents and two of my grandkids. It was good.

There seems to be some question about the name of this area and where that word came from. There are Native Americans that we use that name upon, but assuredly it was not what they called themselves.

The Palouse country is much of eastern Washington and North Central idaho, as well as NE Oregon. It is one huge grain growing area. Miles and miles of wheat fields.

The topography is one of rolling hills, with some trees in the gulches and shadows, mostly, though it is a huge field of grass and now wheat.

There are wide 4 lane roads that go that direction, but the shortest route is along the smaller roads.

This is wind country. Windmills (the modern million dollar variety) are in abundance. At one point there are dozens in view and the view is pretty close up. Come around a corner on one winding uphill climb, and there is half dozen windmills, the first a couple hundred yards away.

What looks pretty small when viewed 15 or 25 miles away, are pretty impressive when you are that close.

The trip back included sunshine; rain; snow and a bit of sleet. It is spring in the Palouse.

About a hundred years ago, my salesman grandfather traveled this are in a horse and buggy, selling his wares. At that time these vast fields were disced and planted and harvested using huge collections of horses.

Pictures of machines being pulled by 20 or 30 horses show the horseyness of the era. I am not so sure about trading all of that for Texas diesel, but that is how it was done.

Like all progress, there were casualties along the way.

update

Brianna arrived safely in Albania. Her mother tells me she is happy (so is her grandfather!)

Last week when we were in Idaho, I had things almost packed to go, but Miriam was bored so I sent her upstairs to make the bed we had been sleeping in.

After a few minutes I went up to check on progress.

She had forgotten about the bed but had my collection of neckties laid out on the bed.

Glad there is a bit of creativity left.

off to Europe

Today was departure day for granddaugher's mission trip.

But by today all of the group except Bri and her cousin had canceled for one reason or other. Cousin has lived in Europe for much of her life, and is an experienced international traveler. All would be well.

But when the two girls got to the airport it was discovered that cousin’s passport or visa or mastercard had expired and she would have to work on the problems and be along late (probably).

That left granddaughter as the only one really ready to go.

Right now she is somewhere between Washington DC and the next stop in Europe. Bri is almost 18, but she has never been away from home before. I am not sure she has ever flown in an airplane and now she is going half way around the world alone. I am so proud of her (maybe even a tad envious!)

It is Brianna's mom’s job to worry and my daughter is doing her job. I have sent daughters on trips not unlike these. One dauhter went to Africa for a whole year when she was not too much older than Bri. Bri's mom was a bit older but she went to Europe and spent half a year one time.

Of course all sorts of things can go wrong, but then again they likely won’t. I am pretty upbeat about it all. Bri is a smart careful girl, she will do OK. When she finally gets to Albania, family will meet her. The rest of the trip will proceed as planned.

Going away for the first time is a big deal. When I was 18 and a few weeks I drove with a friend to the north west corner of Montana where we had summer jobs with the Forest Service. I had a wonderful time and I know Bri will too.

Still, in spite of my bravado, I will be a seriously at ease when I get word that she has arrived safely.

My thoughts and prayers are with you Brianna.

Smooth those out a bit and they would be almost like Henry Moore's sculptures (almost).

blood in the gas?

Today is one of those nutty days.

I am driving 250 miles to go to a 2 hour meeting and then driving 250 miles back after the meeting.

Used to do that more often when gas was a buck a gallon.

This time I am taking my old friend Charlie with me. The meeting has to do with a trust fund that is related to the private high school Charlie and I (and our wives) all attended a long time ago. We, obviously, think it is important, so we drive!

Friday I drive to Spokane for a weekend with grandkids (their school has "grandparent day" this weekend. I have not missed a grandparent day yet for those two. It is good.

Then at the end of the month, I have to go back to Idaho for a week or 10 days of work.

All of that means that this month, a lot of budget goes to the oil companies. Gotta help those struggling industries!

Really?

Must I?

mohawk

One of my granddaughter wants to go on a mission trip.

Her cousin spent many years in Albania and is organizing a group of students and advisors to make the trip this spring. The thing is that it costs about $1500 for the trip.

Her oldest brother said that he was not sure she could raise that much money, and that if she did he would get a Mohawk haircut.

I'm going to give him the space that his offer was one of encouragement and not of spite, but he is losing. Badly.

So next week, after a job interview, he is scheduled for a haircut.

As much as I like both of them, it will be fun to watch!

And, never make that kind of bet with ANY woman!

Next trip to Idaho, I pick up the garden, all but the dirt, and take it with me.

The new owner is not a gardner, and says I can take it all. So the drip irrigation system, the trellises and fences, the posts and grow boxes all get loaded up next trip.

That is a fairly serious move, I think.

Motor Sports

I am not a great fan of motor sports.

My step father would always listen to the Indy 500 each year (that was way before it was on any teevee). I knew the names of the powerful in that era of open wheel racing.

But nowdays not so much. Indy is not what it used to be and what used to be the home of the brightest lights, seems to be less so now. I hardly ever go out of my way to watch any more.

Yesterday there was a big "stock car" race. Sunday there was a medium big race (I think it was) and in the evening ther was to be the grandaddy of them, but it rained, and while they may play football in rain and snow, they don't race cars in anything resembling rain.

So the race was put off.

Gotta tell you honestly, the only reason I was interested in watching guys drive extremely expensive cars at 200 miles and hour was because there was supposed to be a gal in the race. She had recently converted from Indy cars, and while she was new to "stock car" racing, she was not new to racing.

In the rain delayed race yesterday, she was involved in a multiple car pile up very soon in the race. Her car was damaged, but with a little legal fixing, she was allowed back on the track. She drove well and could keep up with the guys. Mostly she wanted to finish the race (which she did) and gain experience in the deal.

Girls driving at 200 miles an hour is not common in our male dominated world. I rooted for Janet in her day and now it is Danica (bet her dad was a Dan).

Still not sure how it qualifies one as a "sportsman" to sit in your duff watching others do something. Sometimes it is called "spectator sport" which seems a lot closer. Yet, those who duff set will proudly tell you how much they are involved in the "sport" of racing, or football, or baseball.

I'll not push that point, and once or twice a year I will watch mostly guys push each other at 200 miles an hour. That is fast, but boy do they do wonderful crashes.

Worth the wait, almost.

Motor Sports

Battered old tree trunk. Beat up and shredded by ocean water.

Powerful stuff.

silly season

This is the silly season.

It is the time of the year when politicians are running around saying things they will regret later. Sometimes they do things that make you shake your head in amazement.

My own state senator was a rising star. He was a young lawyer (aren’t they all?) who was considered to be in training for a US Senate seat and/or Governor. He had been re-elected several times with little opposition. He held leadership positions in the state senate.

Then last year in a throughly drunk state, he stole a pickup that had a camper trailer attached, drove it a few blocks and was found asleep in the cab. Not good for anyone, much less a rising star.

This week one of his female staff members accused him of sexual harassment, and yesterday he resigned from the state senate. Even though he was on a different page on most issues from me, I really feel bad for him. His rising star just burned up, and he set the fire.

One of the national pols made a real big deal about how his opponent made promises he had not keep, then he took a deep breath (I think it was deep) and made promises that no one in this world could pull off. Oh well. He hopes the mics were turned off, but of course they weren't.

Through this I remember a point my pastor made in church a while back.

He said that all political speeches are the same. The speaker says that if you elect him, you cannot even begin to guess how good it is going to be. BUT, if you are stupid enough to elect the opponent, the worse you can imagine is not the beginning of how bad it is will be. Obviously you should elect the speaker. His opponent makes the same speech, by the way.

But, the pastor observed, things don’t change as much as any pol promises.

Somehow, I find some really bent and bruised logic in that comment. It does help me put this season in a degree of perspective.

Imperfect perfection!

ownership

We’ve been in our house in Idaho for a couple of days now.

It has warmed up enough to be quite comfortable. That is good.

I sold the garden and shop acre to a neighbor who dismembered the bridge to keep traffic from cutting through. That meant for me to get a stick of firewood I had to drive 6 or 7 blocks to get to the back of our property.

Yesterday I did a reversible repair. When I leave I can quickly return it to a unusable state.

The house seems strangely large. It is seriously under furnished right now, which makes it seem larger. There is space, almost an excess it seems, and this is not a large house.

As I do every morning, I made a cup of tea. I use a small electric teakettle. But the milk I add to the tea comes out of a full sized refer. There is a range with a real oven.

Such luxury.

I have always been almost Native American in my belief on ownership. I am not sure I own much of anything. I sure don’t own Miriam for instance. This house has been mine for several decades, but it is time to move on.

Someone came into my unlocked shop the other day and stole a bag of tools. I am not too sure what was in the bag yet. And, only when I can’t find a tool will I realize what is gone.

If a tools is really needed, I’ll replace it. If it is not, I’ll live without it. Either way it is really OK.