1. Stu, Byrdman, and I congregated at the Cataldo Trailhead of the Trail of the CdAs and I joined them in Stu's pickup and we rocketed to Stu's family ranch up Skeel Gulch. The remnants of a logging road extends into the woods from near where Stu's sister lives on the property. We trudged in shallow snow on this road for about a mile and half. Some of the cedars and pines were encrusted with snow and Skeel Creek murmured near some of our route. I had eaten a bowl of hot cereal with peanut butter and chopped apples and cinnamon before coming out. I enjoyed my breakfast, but it left me feeling sluggish and I lagged behind Byrdman and Stu, but they stopped a few times and waited for me and I joined in conversation about the geography and beauty of the property, the thrilling World Series, and about our shared past with friends and other people.
I'm enjoying living in North Idaho more and more all the time. It's funny. When I lived in the D.C. area, I came to enjoy the press of people, all the activity, the noise, the throb of urban and suburban living. I hiked in Rock Creek Park or took walks at the National Arboretum or the National Aquatic Gardens and I would chuckle to myself that even though I was on trails among trees in the midst of different green worlds, the sounds of sirens, helicopters, honking car horns, and other urban noises were always in the air.
But, now, in the woods of North Idaho, I can find almost absolute silence. Almost always, I can hear a waterway or birds chirping or singing and other sounds in nature, but, in contrast to the D.C. area where I found the urban sounds exciting, I am finding these natural sounds and the near silence calming.
I experienced this calm today on our walk.
Sometimes our conversation stopped and we stood for a while and the stillness came inside me and relaxed me.
2. I stopped at Yoke's this morning and bought three bags of candy bars (Kit Kat bars, Snickers, and Milky Way). Shortly before 6 o'clock, I put them in a bowl, turned on the porch light, worked crosswords, and answered the knock knocks. I didn't count, but I'd estimate about thirty or more trick or treaters came by, ranging in age from tiny toddlers to back pack toting late teens. Many were joined by protective and appreciative parents and grandparents and I enjoyed exchanging quick greetings of "Happy Halloween" with them. By about 7:30, the knocking stopped. I left the porch light on until 8:30. In the past couple of years, some teenagers have straggled by as late as 8:30 or so and I signaled with the porch light that they were welcome to come by. None did.
3. Cas has told me about an independent rock station in Sandpoint, KPND 95.3 FM. Tonight, I asked Alexa to play this station and it worked -- sort of. For some reason, the station doesn't stream very well through my Echo and cuts in and out. I hung in there with it because the playlists were so exciting. I enjoyed listening to indy music I'd never heard before as well as classic cuts I already knew. The other stations I play via my Amazon Echo don't cut in and out and I don't know if there's anything I can do about the inconsistent streaming of KPND. I hope I can figure something out. It only took about fifteen minutes for me get hooked on KPND's programming.
No comments:
Post a Comment