Huckleberries: Young woman disrupts yellow submarine ride

After work Tuesday, I joined Mrs. O at Sherman Square Park in downtown Coeur d’Alene to hear Meet Revolver. Traditionally, the Beatles tribute band from Spokane closes the free Tuesday concert series offered by Handshake Productions. John sounded hoarse and Ringo a bit country. But the faux Fab Four played their instruments well. And the aging crowd of about 350 – many of whom would swear they saw the Beatles live on the “Ed Sullivan Show” in 1964 – sang along gleefully. We were living large, and vicariously, in the yellow submarines of our minds. About midway through the second set, however, some fellow old-timers, sitting in the center of the jammed space, changed their tune. They were offended when a 20-something woman in a red top and black pants plopped down on a boulder in front of them, blocking the view. In the growing darkness, one codger yelled for the woman to move. That encouraged a female Gray Hair two rows in front of me to chime in, “You’re blocking our view.” When the Woman on the Boulder realized that the restless Seasoned Citizens were addressing her, she pointed the middle finger of her left hand over her left shoulder. Which hushed the seething mob of Geritol users to mumbles. Before the third set, the Woman on the Boulder found a chair to sit in in front of the rock, no longer blocking anyone’s view. She saved face. None of the Silver Set was harmed. And the band played on.

You say ‘Beck-el’?

There is a road that stretches from Hayden to Rathdrum with a name that few pronounce correctly. Many on the Rathdrum end of Boekel Road pronounce the name “Boe-kull.” Or “Beck-el.” The residents on the eastern end of the road use those pronunciations as well as “Bock-el.” The matter came to a head Tuesday when a patrol officer corrected the way a 911 dispatcher said the road name. “It’s actually Bake-ul,” he said. So who’s right? Huckleberries found out by going straight to the source. Longtime area native Bill Boekel still lives on Boekel Road. He was amused when I called and told about the discussion on my Huckleberries blog. “They always mispronounce it,” Bill said. “It’s German.” And it’s pronounced – (drum roll, puh-LEEZ) “Bake-ul.” A round of applause for the trooper, please.

Huckleberries

Bumpersnicker: “Welcome to America. Now learn English or go home” – spotted by Sam Hval, 16, while riding with mama Cindy in north Spokane last week. The bumpersticker prompted Sam to observe: “Must be a Trump voter” … After finding a marijuana pipe that looked like a blown-glass fish on her front lawn, a Facebook friend commented: “Wish whoever it belonged to would move to Washington and quit stinking up our neighborhood and being irresponsible around kids!” See, you get a bad rep-P-U-tation when you legalize pot … The highest praise you can receive at your 50th high school reunion? Former Shoshone County Commissioner Sherry Krulitz knows the answer: “Sherry, you haven’t changed at all” … At the Hospice Thrift Store in Coeur d’Alene Thursday, Taryn Thompson of Rathdrum met two Brits who had been impressed in their travels by Mount Rushmore and Little Big Horn. But they really wanted to go to an American store about which they’d heard much. They couldn’t believe their luck when Taryn told them that the store – Hobby Lobby – was only 20 miles away … Poll: That proposal by Coeur d’Alene Councilman Dan Gookin to eliminate free, two-hour parking in downtown Coeur d’Alene is unpopular with my Huckleberries blog readers (and most others, I suspect). Almost 86 percent of my readers oppose the idea offered by Gookin in a Coeur d’Alene Press op-ed article.

Parting shot

So I was walking around the Coeur d’Alene Resort boardwalk during my lunch hour Tuesday when I encountered an elderly Chicago Cubs fan from Ventura, California. My S.F. Giants hat attracted his eye. After exchanging mutual contempt for the L.A. Dodgers, we talked about the attractions and beauty of Coeur d’Alene. In closing, Mr. Cub asked a rhetorical question: “Where do people who live here go to retire?” Then, he shook his head and looked wistfully around at Lake Coeur d’Alene. The answer, of course, was apparent – nowhere else.