Bonner's Ferry

ARRRRGH!!! I’m back. The Pirate has returned fro his time at sea and is ready to plunge into his plunder, to savor the fruits of his capture. And to catch up with all the crap that doesn’t get done when you’re out RP&Ping about from port to port. The Mrs. Pirate had kept the Pirate’s den in order as a good ward will but the crew in the damn office have let a few ends fall through the crack. Can O’Corn did well and should be awarded a new patch for not killing the other pukes we share the office cove with.

Where was the Pirate you ask? Northern Idaho I was appraising four little sawmills smattered about the panhandle. I was in Bonner’s Ferry, Moyie Springs, Laclede and Chilco, all little hamlets with few people and a lot of country to look at. I was especially taken by Bonner’s Ferry.

Nestled in Kootenai River valley with a population of 2,515 that call the village home, this small paradise bustles with little recognition from the outside world. The locals some Canadian gamblers, those on their way elsewhere and people like me know the place exists.

I arrived late on night last week after driving from Spokane and found a room at the local Indian casino. The slow pace of life there was instantly realized the next morning when I went to the local greasy spoon restaurant the following morning. The diner was called, Panhandle and looked like something right out of the 1950s. I strolled into the diner early and found that the local world savers were already armed with their cups of Joe, half eaten breakfasts and busy working on one current event after the other. I found a place at the counter as the well worn and matriarch waitress was chomping on the bit to fill me a cup of some gut burner coffee and turned 0on my eavesdropping ear to sense some of the local opinion. They were mostly busy talking about the two missing children Dylan and Shasta Groene from the Coeur D Alane area. A terrible story I must say even for a Pirate. I had to drive past the home that was shown on television on my way up and back and it tore my heart. Then I heard one of the best comments I have ever captured from my eavesdropping experiences.

There were five men dressed in the local attire of black and red plaid shirts, jeans and a ball cap with a patch from a variety of agriculture or timber industry logos on them. The men were talking about the upcoming school levy election coming up and the cost of schools these days and why they should or shouldn’t vote for the levy when one guy said, “Why did they condemn the school building anyway? When I went to school there it was just fine for us. Do these kids today think they are just too damn good for the old school?” Then all the other guys started piping in on how demanding kids are today and so on and so forth. Not one guy said anything about why the school may have really been condemned. I mean these guys were all in their late to early 60s and 70s. It may be because the damn building may be older than dirt and full of asbestos and poor wiring and just doesn’t meet today’s code for a public building. The discussion was priceless for a writer.

I found an excellent used bookstore there too. Has anyone read anything from a writer Howard Frank Mosher? If you have let me know how you liked it.