Huckleberries: Huckleberries: Second career suits former Shoshone County sheriff just fine

Years ago, Chip Roos, the former sheriff of Bonner County, told me as retirement approached that he wouldn’t miss the bad memories.

Everywhere he went in the county, there was a memory of a bad accident. Or a suicide. Or a murder.

I once encountered Chip outside a house near Careywood, where a 1992 ax murder had taken place. Why am I telling you this? After 25 years, Mitch Alexander has left law enforcement to help sell cars.

Mitch, the former sheriff of Shoshone County, tells Huckleberries that he has done it all as an officer. And he’s looking forward to his second career as business manager for mega-successful Dave Smith Motors. Mitch has spent the last two-plus months cramming for Chrysler and GMC tests and learning ethics practices for car sales. He’s eager to immerse himself in the fast-pace world of auto sales.

But Huckleberries wonders if Mitch isn’t a little relieved to let someone else perform the hard task of cleaning up society’s messes.

Lawn shoveling?

On Wednesday, at least 30 miles apart, Front Porch columnist Cindy Hval and I spied neighbors shoveling snow off their lawns. “Weird,” Cindy told Huckleberries, “it’s going to melt, right?” Cindy’s rhetorical question prompted me to ask my blog readers about shoveling snow. One summed up the phenomenon in one word: “Californians.” But Sara Meyer of Coeur d’Alene confessed to lawn shoveling: “I’ve shoveled snow off parts of our north facing lawn so the kids can go play. Our berms were so big that I decided to give them help. I also shoveled snow off the flower beds because the flowers were trying to come up through the snow.” Others offered: “It’s a North Idaho thing.” And: “It helps keep your lawn from getting snow mold.” Don’t look at me. I don’t do it.

Huckleberries

Bard Update: Washington Poet Laureate Tod Marshall tells Huckleberries that the book of poems by the late Tom Wobker, The Bard of Sherman Avenue, continues to sell. Well Read Moose in Coeur d’Alene has sold 70. Auntie’s in downtown Spokane has sold 60. And Tod has a check for $750 to donate to Hospice as a result …

Katrina Wright Swaim of Coeur d’Alene swears that a gang of wild turkeys accosted her on her way to baby-sit for a friend and tried to take her wallet. You wouldn’t laugh if you’ve seen the tough urban street turkeys roaming Coeur d’Alene, especially near Tubbs Hill … Poll: In a recent poll, that 9 percent of Hucks Nation who said the Gonzaga men wouldn’t make it past the second round of the NCAA Tournament can officially be designated “spoilsports” – and wrong. Oh they of little faith … Nic Casey of Coeur d’Alene moved away from the Seattle area in 1999 and hasn’t been farther south than Tukwila since then. However, he sez, he “can spell Puyallup correctly from memory without looking it up.” But, Huckleberries wonders, can Nic still pronounce Puyallup correctly?

Parting Shot

Sharon Gwyn, the hard-working manager of Bath & Body Works at the Silver Lake Mall in Coeur d’Alene, had a close encounter with the cutest little girl. Ever.

Sharon was helping the girl’s mother with hand soaps. The girl, maybe 5 or 6, watched as Sharon opened an undersock drawer to find the soap that her mother wanted. When the wide-eyed girl glimpsed the variety and amount of sweet-smelling soap at Sharon’s fingertips, she exclaimed: “You look like soap hoarders.” The girl’s comment scored a direct hit on Sharon’s funny bone, leaving her breathless. Eat your heart out, Steve Harvey.