A Moment In Time Sticks In The Mind

Where’s LENA? (SP?) She’s about 20 years old, has a relative in Vancouver? She has two sisters whose names rhyme with hers? Call Ben, (213) 874-1450.

What a riot to see your name in the classified ads. Ben Johnson had placed the ad seeking Lena in two Coeur d’Alene newspapers two weeks ago.

“If someone advertised for me, I’d be blown away,” he says.

Ben had met Lena in 1993 on a Greyhound bus. He was a Hollywood, Calif., sound editor heading to Kentucky to visit a friend. She said she was 19 and from Hayden Lake, Idaho. They talked from Spokane to Coeur d’Alene.

“I was almost fixated. She had a particular quality,” says Ben, who’s 30 and tries for profundity with every word.

He remembers Lena’s clothes and her looks with photographic clarity: fairly petite, light brown wavy hair that hung just past her shoulders, pre-faded blue jeans and a blue sweater.

In Coeur d’Alene, she left the bus and Ben’s life.

Or so he thought. Drinking with two buddies a month ago, the subject of fleeting acquaintances arose.

The men all decided to renew relations with women they had met once. They each put $2,000 in a pot for the man who found his woman first. But one woman was in Paris, the others in New York and Idaho. They decided the contest was unfair and dropped it.

Too bad, because Ben would have won. Lena called him last week from Hayden Lake.

“She sounded (like) Lena. I should’ve known right off it was her,” Ben says, at a loss to describe her voice.

He says he wants to see Lena but doesn’t know about Idaho. The pollen count is too high, he says, and he remembers the Panhandle as a desolate area.

One other hitch: Lena says she’s really only 17. But Ben says her age won’t stop him now that he’s found her.

“You know, I’m really kind of introverted,” he says. “This is way out of my personality.”

And maybe way out of line? Hey, Ben, pick on someone your own age.

Seeking good Samaritan

Marti Borleau had just taken her husband to Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane and had driven back to Hayden Lake last January when she realized she needed to stop at the post office. Her husband’s illness had left her a wreck, and the retired man before her in line noticed.

“You look like you could use a lift,” he said to her.

She nodded, but worry gripped her throat and kept her from speaking. Then, the man reached in his pocket and handed her earrings and a necklace made of Roosevelt dimes.

He makes the jewelry and more to give to people who need to smile.

Marti regrets she didn’t learn the man’s name. She wants to thank him for lightening her load.

Can you help Marti? Call 765-7128 if you know the name of the bighearted gentleman.

One Mother Earth

Western Shoshone medicine man Corbin Harney wants to save the world that helped him grow into a man. His only hope, he says, is if people return to a natural way of life. He has helped stop nuclear testing on Shoshone tribal land in Nevada and has formed a group to try to end the testing around the world.

Stop by Celebration Books in Coeur d’Alene from 1-4 p.m. June 9 to meet Corbin while he signs copies of his book, “The Way It Is.” Or hear him speak about his mission at the Board of Realty building, 421 Lakeside, at 7:30 p.m. Call 664-6018 for tickets.

Spin me some tales

Three people will strut the streets soon in flashy new “Close to Home” T-shirts they earned with their pet tales. You could be next. Tell me about the ugly dog that pulled your children from your burning house or the turtle that walked through three states to find you after you had moved.

Send tales to Cynthia Taggart, “Close to Home,” 608 Northwest Blvd., Suite 200, Coeur d’Alene 83814; or send a fax to 765-7149 or call 765-7128.