Huckleberries: One of these stumbles on Tubbs Hill is going to be ‘the big one’

Shelly Robins Zollman, director of North Idaho Family Magazine, has this thing about rolling her ankle on Tubbs Hill. The Coeur d’Alene woman estimates that she has done it about 10 times, the latest incident occurring Friday morning. Funny thing? As she tripped on dirt and fell Friday, Shelly was looking at a dangerous shard of rock a few feet farther up the path, thinking “Oh, better be careful of that.” A person can think about strange things when a rolled ankle flashes before her eyes. Kelly said she visualizes herself as Redd Foxx, who faked heart attacks to get his way on the old TV series, “Sanford and Son.” Foxx would yell something like, “This is the big one! This is the worst one I’ve ever had.” In her re-play of the scene, Tubbs Hill style, Shelly adds: “This is the one that’s going to leave me on this hill.”

A long walk back

Ryan Davis, the executive director of Boys and Girls Clubs of Kootenai County, enjoyed a great day of floating on the Coeur d’Alene River with, son, Sam, and wife, Jame’ on Sunday – until they arrived at the Snake Pit in Enaville. That’s when Jame’ Lou realized that she’d left her key fob in the car upriver. Three. Miles. Up. River. In 92 degree heat. Oh well, shrugged Ryan, who is always up for an adventure. There’s no cryin’ in Coeur d’Alene River floating. So he began the hike back, in flipflops and shorts. Afterward, he acknowledged: “I am not in shirtless running shape.” (Hashtag #makesureandhidekeysatbothcars.)

Huckleberries

Poet’s Corner (“Summer Travels: Where Oregonians Draw the Line”): They don’t much care if you decide/to try assisted suicide,/and view it largely as a joke/if you should take a little toke;/most everything they will let pass - /unless you try to pump your gas – “The Bard of Sherman Avenue: Poems by Tom Wobker” … Snopes says this old-fashioned remedy is “probably false,” but Coeur d’Alene Councilwoman Kiki Miller begs to differ. When she suffered “a nasty bee sting” recently, Kiki put a penny on it. Fifteen seconds later, Kiki Facebooks, and the pain level had gone way down. The copper of the penny is rumored to react with the sting. But pennies are now 97.5 percent zinc slug, according to Snopes … Cathyanne Nonini, wife of state Sen. Bob Nonini, R-Coeur d’Alene, tells Huckleberries of being criticized by one of the tin gods of the Kootenai County GOP Central Committee at Coeur d’Alene’s Fourth of July Parade – for (drum roll, puh-LEEZ) wearing blue. The troll grumbled that blue was the “Dems’ color.” Never mind that Cathyanne was also wearing red and white to go with her robin’s-egg blue. In keeping with the patriotic theme of the day … On Sunday, Nic Casey of Coeur d’Alene was lamenting the worst sunburn he has had since he hiked Mount Rainier at age 15. How bad was it? Nic: “Feels like I got punched on both shoulders over and over again, all night long.”

Parting Shot

At one time, Mrs. O refused to wear a helmet when bicycling because she didn’t like the way it made her look. She told my son about that a few years ago while we were bicycling to downtown Coeur d’Alene. “You know what looks worse?” asked my son, Seth, a neurosurgeon. “Brains on concrete.” Mrs. O has worn her helmet since. And you should, too.