Arrow-right Camera
The Spokesman-Review Newspaper
Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Waste Dump? Keep Going To Exit 99

Only in Mountain Home, “The Hub of Elmore County,” will you see an official road sign like this:

“Hazardous waste prohibited; Use Exit 99.”

At that exit, it’s OK.

You see, Mountain Home, which is home to Idaho’s only major Air Force base, also is a neighbor to the big Envirosafe hazardous waste dump at Grand View. So this somewhat unusualsounding sign is just traffic control.

Eastbound travelers on Interstate 84 also hit something else when they get to Mountain Home: tumbleweed country. The tumbleweeds here may not be a big as some of the monsters that blow across the wind-swept reaches of Nevada, but there are easily more of them.

They skitter across the road in front of you on the freeway. They make it easy to tell who’s been parked awhile.

We passed a crew of state workers with several trucks, doing a pavement patch job. One truck had a regular forest of tumbleweeds sticking out of its underside at every possible point. The others were clear. Obviously, the one truck had arrived at the job first.

In the hilly, dramatic land between Mountain Home and Bruneau, even the fences look different. That’s because of the light-brown, prickly bank of tumbleweeds stacked against the northwest side of every fence.

But don’t think this isn’t beautiful country. With thunderstorms racing overhead, whitecaps on the Snake River, and green, irrigated fields of alfalfa waving in the breeze against a backdrop of brown hills and plateaus, we saw a nearly full moon tucked under the arm of a giant rainbow. It followed us all the way back to Boise.

It’s not the heat

It was 98 degrees in Parma, Idaho, and the young woman, a Parma native, had been working out in an onion field under the scorching sun. Breaking only a light sweat, she seemed unconcerned when I commented about the heat, giving that true Idaho answer: “At least we don’t have the humidity.”

Southern Idaho weather seems prone to extremes: Extreme heat and drought. Huge downpours during normally dry periods. Massive windstorms. Extremely pleasant 70-degree days in the middle of February when it should be snowing.

The weather forecasters keep displaying those “normal” temperatures, letting us know how far off normal we are today. Ask anyone about the weather, and the stock answer, year ‘round, seems to be, “It’s not usually like this.”

Carrot caper

Bill Hartman, a farmer whose many crops include specialized carrot seeds, was explaining the intricate planting methods used to raise his seeds. But his real revelation: You know those little baby carrots you buy for a premium in the store? They grow as very long, slender carrots. Then they’re broken up in chunks and their ends are buffed so they look like separate little carrots. Gee, it was a little more fun to believe they grew that way.

, DataTimes MEMO: North-South Notes runs every other Sunday. To reach Betsy Z. Russell, call 336-2854 or FAX to 336-0021.

North-South Notes runs every other Sunday. To reach Betsy Z. Russell, call 336-2854 or FAX to 336-0021.