Good Morning All!
Have you heard about or seen the movie “Driving Miss Daisy” with Morgan Freeman and Jessica Tandy? Well, on most Thursdays I play the part of Morgan Freeman and my beloved mom plays the part of Jessica Tandy as we travel about the greater Spokane area in my car attending to errands of various kinds, grocery shopping, drug runs to the pharmacy and last, but certainly not least, visits to my mom’s favorite antique stores. Yesterday we paid a visit to Treasure Town in Post Falls. Mom suggested we eat at the Mexican restaurant close to Treasure Town, “Toro Viejo.” We ordered their house blended margarita to get things started. Mom ordered their tostada and I tried their Arroz con Pollo and, boy howdy, was that ever good! If you’re ever in the Post Falls, Idaho area, be sure and check out this place! You’ll be glad you did! After lunch, we visited Dorothy, the owner of Treasure Town and a friend of my mom. Always let it be said that, just as there are “so many books and so little time” for book lovers, there are “so many antique stores and so little time” for antique store lovers! I met a fellow there who is like my mom…loves to visit antique stores and search for “deals” or “finds”. Like me with my mom, his wife was tagging along with him as he enjoyed his version of Disneyland. It seems as though for every antique lover, there is an antique “widow” or “widower”. They’re the ones who always the question “where will we put it?” if the antique lover wants to purchase another “treasure.” This particular fellow (Peter, a retired medical lab technician) converts photos to three dimensional pictures using a wood backing with a stand on the back of each one. It really gives you a “3-D” effect. Amazing! I think I might come up with a photo for him to use and see what kind of magic he performs on it. Peter’s photo wood cut outs can be ordered through him at (208) 889-3350 and/or via e-mail at petervichi@yahoo.com. You can also see his handiwork at the front entrance of the Treasure Town store, which is located at the Pleasant View exit off of I-90 in Post Falls. You never know what you will find at an antique store!
Speaking of finding interesting things in the darnedest places, a while back while traveling from my in-laws’ place in Lewiston to our home in Spokane, I came upon a magnificent (and I mean magnificent) wood boat being pulled along the Palouse Highway of all places, out among the wheat fields of Eastern Washington (Whitman County). The boat was called “Patience” and it was out of Sausalito (California) of all places. Who would have thought that a gorgeous wood boat from California would be found on a highway in The Palouse, of all things! My guess is that it was on its way to one of our signature lakes in the region, like Lake Couer d’ Alene or Lake Pend Oreille. It wasn’t you ordinary, garden variety boat, by any stretch of the imagination. This was a large wood sailboat…really a “one of a kind” boat in my amateur seamanship opinion…something like the “Mona Lisa” of wood sailboats, for sure. So, the moral of this story is…never be completely surprised as to what you’ll see on a highway in the wheatfields of the Palouse!
Here’s some more from my journal of our recent Icelandic adventure…
July 12, 2019
My grandson Bobby & I were the first risers this morning. We took a stash of carrots and headed up the back forty to feed the Icelandic horses not far from our cabin/cottage. At first we couldn’t see the horses, as they were on the other side of the pasture, but it didn’t take them long to figure out that we had some carrots for them. It was fortunate for us that the farm’s Icelandic sheep dog (his name means “Lightening McQueen” in Icelandic) didn’t tag along with us on this trip, as the day before he showed us his herding skills by taking off after the horses and then playing a game of cat and mouse with them in the fields. He had such fun herding them this way and that and then lying down in the grass and waiting from them to approach him again and then off he went again doing his “herding thing.” It was really something special to watch. Well, on this day Bobby enjoyed feeding the horses carrots one by one and they were all gentle with him, carefully taking each carrot by their tongues….
It’s a bit of a rainy, overcast day here in Akureyri. We’ve been blessed with good weather throughout our stay in Iceland, by and large. We enjoyed a day at the cottage yesterday and took advantage of its instant hot water hot tub. David fixed a delicious lamb roast for dinner and a good time was had by all. We were able to get Netflix on the T.V. here and enjoyed some first game of the season episodes of the favorite T.V. game show “Jeopardy.” David, Andy, Bobby, Josh & Isabel went into town and found a Puffin T-shirt for Izaak and a couple of books on Icelandic birds. We’re becoming quite familiar with the flora and fauna of Iceland! Lots of new creatures to learn about. There’s quite a lot of variety in God’s Creation!
We’ve been enjoying the biscuits/cookies called “Bastogne,” made by Mondelez, but not available in the U.S., as I mentioned in an earlier journal entry…it’s quite popular with coffee shops in Iceland and Europe. It tastes great! Too bad they aren’t available in Spokane!
Christine, the owner of our cottage, stopped in for a few minutes. She was born in the house down the hill from us. It’s still a working farm around here…three-four potato fields. Many barns that we passed looked to be either abandoned or were being used for storage. Similar to what has happened to farming in the U.S.. Fewer working farms and larger acreage per farm for those working farms that remain. One the way back from Husavik the other night we passed by a number that were situated in the river valley below many different waterfalls/water features. The water came cascading down from the snowfields in the mountains above…a mighty impressive, beautiful sight. The fields above our cottage contained a number of Icelandic horses and sheep. We also got buzzed occasionally by the Arctic Tern (aka “Angry Birds” as they were called by my grandson Josh, as I remember). They were pretty loud, obnoxious and feisty…all in one! As one of my favorite books, “Birds” by Icelandic authors Hjorleifur Hjartarson & Ran Flygenring, describes them:
“The Arctic Tern is hyperactive. It’s life is fraught with a burning desire for bright summer nights, but instead of just daydreaming about them, it undertakes long journeys between the north and south polar regions, the better to enjoy summer all year round. The Arctic Tern migrates further than any other creature in the animal kingdom. Icelandic terns fly a distance of roughly 90,000 km between their winter and summer dwellings every year. That’s further than flying all the way around the world—twice! And that isn’t counting all the side trips and shuttling back and forth from it’s nesting site. The oldest tagged Arctic Tern in Iceland lived to be 34 years old. Over the course of its life, it was presumed to have flown the distance to the moon and back four times…” (These birds ROCK!).
More to come on our Icelandic adventure!…
If you’re looking for a good workout that features low impact exercise and lots of good stretching, check out The Barre Code Spokane on Facebook or at www.thebarrecode.com. They are located at 11921 North Division Street, Suite 400 (right across the street from Pine Acres Golf Center) near Wandermere. You’ll be glad you did! I’ve been to two sessions this week and I feel like I got a great workout without being incapacitated for 2-3 days afterward! It’s got a welcoming, laid back vibe that is really appealing. Judging from the looks of things there, everyone seems to enjoy themselves and feels the warmth of the welcome you receive there.
I came upon the 1969 Topps Football Card for former New York Giants running back great Joe Morrison the other day. He was born in Lima, Ohio in 1937 and played college football for the University of Cincinnati. He played professional football for the New York Giants from 1959 to 1972 (quite a career!). He remains third on the Giants’ team record for receptions, with 395 catches from seven different quarterbacks. His jersey number (#40) has been retired by the Giants. Because he played many positions as needed for the Giants, he was nicknamed “Old Dependable.” His 1969 card describes him as “An extremely versatile player, Joe has played at 6 different positions since joining the Giants in ’59.”
After his football playing career, Joe was a head coach at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, the University of New Mexico and the University of South Carolina. He is one of the few major college head coaches to never work as an assistant coach. While he was head coach at the University of South Carolina, they started the tradition of playing the theme from the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey” as its pre-game anthem and entrance song. Morrison’s second season as coach in 1984 was, until the turn of this century under coach Steve Spurrier reckoned as the greatest in school history. It was affectionately dubbed the “Black Magic” year by South Carolina fans because of the team’s success and because of Morrison’s famous all-black attire (cap, shirt, pants). They were ranked #2 in the nation at one time in 1984. During this time, Charlie Weis, former head coach of Notre Dame and the University of Kansas, was an assistant coach under Morrison…his first coaching job in the college ranks. After back to back successful seasons in 1987 & 1988, expectations were high at South Carolina for the 1989 campaign. However, it would not come to pass as Morrison collapsed of a heart attack after playing racquetball and died on February 5, 1989 at the age of 51. Morrison’s legacy still is in place at South Carolina in various ways:
—Black jerseys as part of the uniform are used in football and all sports.
—The use of the theme song from the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey” is still in use at South Carolina games and has spread to other sports and university functions, including graduations at South Carolina, where it is played to recognize graduates.
—An outstanding football player from spring practice on both offense and defense are awarded the “Joe Morrison Award” each year.
Here’s to Joe Morrison & the New York Giants teams of the 1960s!
Here is the silly question for the day:
Q: What did the fish say when he bumped into the cement wall?
A: Dam!
Here are some thoughts for the day:
“The heart never takes the place of the head; but it can, and should, obey it.”
—C.S. Lewis, “The Abolition of Man”, as quoted in “C.S. Lewis’s Little Book Of Wisdom” (2018)
“Love is something more stern and splendid than mere kindness.”
—C.S. Lewis, “The Problem of Pain”, as quoted in “C.S. Lewis’ Little Book Of Wisdom (2018)
Here’s to a great Friday and lots of love always!
Press on,
Papa ‘a (Dad, Uncle Mark, etc.)