Anybody Know What Era It Is?
A recent North Idaho College newsletter reported the next Popcorn Forum will focus on the question, “What happened to the second millennium?” You know, the period from 1000 to 2000 A.D. Historians and scholars prefer the term C.E. (“the common era”) to avoid drawing attention to You Know Who. The NIC article then corrected the Professional Development brochure, which referred to the thousand-year period with another P.C. term, “B.C.E.” (“before the common era” or what used to be known as “B.C.” - “before Christ”). Alas, the article committed its own error, referring to the present time as “C.D.” I guess that means, “the age of compact discs.”
Jerome strikes out
Sheriff Pierce Clegg knows the old saying: Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me. He wasn’t going to be fooled thrice by Jerome, his 8-year-old gelding. In 1996, Pierce got banged up pretty good when the horse tossed him. Jerome wasn’t through, however. Earlier this summer, Pierce’s wife, Lois, broke her back when the varmint bucked her off. She’d hardly hit the ground when the unpredictable animal was on its way to the auction yard. It wasn’t a case of buyer beware, either. The sheriff warned prospective bidders about Jerome’s track record. Do you suppose the horse would have turned out differently had he been given a nobler name? Call me Bill, George, anything but Sue. I mean Jerome.
Oh, that woman
Democrat Larry Belmont, former Panhandle Health District director and a legislative wannabe, tells this story on his wife, Lorraine. Early in their marriage, a fellow appeared at the door with a civil court summons. Larry wasn’t home, so Lorraine accepted it. Then, she got mad. “This is for Larry Belmont and his wife, Jane Doe,” she steamed. “I want to know, who’s this Jane Doe?”
Sightem
Phil Jackson, ex-coach of the world champion Chicago Bulls, was spotted again, at The Bookery in downtown CdA. And what’s a future hall-of-fame coach wear on vacation? Wrap-around sunglasses. A Grateful Dead T-shirt. Jeans with both knees blown out. And old, old Birkenstocks. Mr. Jax loves old historical Westerns, too … Shoshone County sheriff’s deputies were ticketing speeders on Thompson Pass Road - even before it officially opened Aug. 15. The first ticket, according to federal engineer Bob Miller, went to a Montana motorist. Of course. Big Sky leadfoots fail to realize their state’s unlimited “safe and (in)sane” speed limits don’t apply on this side of the pass … By the way, Miller winces every time he hears Thompson Pass Road called a “shortcut” to Glacier National Park. Yes, it’s five miles shorter than the St. Regis route - but much slower than taking the interstate.
Huckleberries
After receiving a fund-raising letter from county commission wannabe Rob Beck, a local wag volunteered to help Beck’s campaign in a unique way. As a spell-checker. Indeed, the Democrat misspelled “working” and “criticized” on his cover page … At last, the bumpersnicker that captures North Idaho’s attitude toward politics and government: “Vote no.” Unfortunately, it was on the bumper of a Ford pickup with Washington plates … The Bonner Daily Bee printed something worth repeating - finally. After finishing the Long Bridge Open Swim, retired professor Keir Nash, 61, of California, explained why he liked Sandpoint: “It’s a combination of Hazzard County and Green Acres” … Political comedian Mark Russell told the Northwest Home Builders Convention what happened when he read the CdA Press he found outside his CdA resort room Friday morning: “It was the most scintillating minute and a half of my life.” (Hey, that wasn’t a cheap shot. You paid four bits for it.)
Parting shot
I’m outtahere for the next two weeks - not outtahere as in leaving beautiful CdA but outtahere as in being on vacation. It’s time to soak up what’s left of summer, harvest fruit and chop wood. Protect McEuen Field and the waterfront while I’m gone.