Huckleberries: Mixed vehicle messages give us culture war and peace

The signage on the back of a red Nissan Sentra with Kootenai County license plates offered mixed messages.

First, the hand-drawn sign painted in orange on the rear window read: “if you don’t Like our Culture Then go Back To your Country!!” The two exclamation points were underscored with a smiley face. That was the first conflicting message. Then, there was the matter of the two stickers on the bumper: “More yoga” and “Got peace?”

Deputy City Manager Sam Taylor spotted the vehicle at southbound Highway 41 approaching Interstate 90 as he was on the way to work this week Tuesday. He posted a photo of it on his Facebook page and commented: “Interesting conflicting messages on this vehicle today.”

My Huckleberry Friends tried to decipher the seemingly contradictory statements. Possibilities? The owner-operator is: A yoga instructor with an attitude. A transplant who is trying to fit in but doesn’t know what statement to make. Suffering from an extreme case of cognitive dissonance. Is messing with our minds.

The best guess? Someone hacked the back window.

Yertle the Turtle, RIP

Michael Patrick of Coeur d’Alene noticed something missing when he dined at Bonsai Bistro in downtown Coeur d’Alene last Friday. The turtles. Last fall, when Michael and his wife, Theresa, last dined at Bonsai Bistro, they noticed the turtles hangin’ with the koi in the stream that rims the dining area. But a waiter told them last week that a little girl had dropped one of the turtles on the concrete floor, killing it. So the survivors were relocated to a safer place. A moment of silence, please – for Yertle the Turtle.

Huckleberries

The National Hug a Newsperson Day mentioned on the signboard outside Christmas at the Lake in downtown Coeur d’Alene this week should come with a warning: Hug at your own risk. Most newspersons are prickly as a porcupine. This one is … Sightem: Coeur d’Alene Mayor Steve Widmyer walking with son, Ben, along Sherman Avenue en route to the mayor’s Fort Ground Grill for lunch Wednesday. The mayor’s still not confirming whether he’ll run for re-election. But Huckleberries sez: Bank on it … Parking Rage: Yes, Virginia, a grown man threw a punch at another Wednesday afternoon during an argument. They were fighting over an apartment parking spot at the Riverstone complex. Seriously … Twenty-five years ago today (April 6, 1992), this column reported that a science project by local epidemiologist Jan Schwartz’s fifth-grader was almost banned by the Coeur d’Alene School District. Why? The project about STDs included the words “sexual intercourse.” Sometimes, Huckleberries misses simpler times.

Parting Shot

Brian Walker of Post Falls took a break from chasing news for the Coeur d’Alene Press and focused on yard work Saturday. He was up in a tree with pruning shears in his hands when a skater stopped nearby and gave him a curious look. “Mister,” began the lad, “you look like you could be a murderer.” Do you know how we can tell that Brian isn’t a deranged killer? The snot-nosed kid got out of there alive.