A Place from my past...
...and I'll tell ya, I was there for a long time...

I had lived there for over 40 years. I went to school there, I graduated from high school there, and I worked there. I knew the place like the back of my hand. I left, because I needed to. And I am glad that I moved. The weather in my new locality is more temperate, the moist air here at sea level is great, and oh, that ocean...I'm getting to know people here, I'm making friends, playing plenty of guitar, so, I'm doing okay. Really. Still, I think of the old stomping grounds from time to time. Will I ever return? Yeah, probably, at least for visiting purposes. But I don't plan to go back for an extended period of time.

There are memories, good and bad, and it's nice to be in a place that you're familiar with, yet as the saying goes, "familiarity breeds contempt". I don't miss the runaway population growth in the area, nor do I fondly remember its freezing winters and hot summers. But yeah, I think of the place sometimes. And it is a beautiful place. In places, anyway. I've seen just about every postcard that refers to Coeur d'Alene, Idaho (sent my way via Ebay's 'alert' mechanism), but every now and then I'll receive something in the e-mail that I haven't yet seen...like the image below:





This is a place where I spent a lot of time thinking, pondering and daydreaming. It is now the "Rutledge Trailhead", located on the Centennial Trail, which parallels the old highway just east of town. This photo was taken, back in the 1940's, but the view then is very much the same as it is now, and it brings back a flood of memories. Whenever Coeur d'Alene's massive invasion of tourists became unbearable to deal with, when the City Park and Beach became so crowded that I didn't wanna be there, this is where I'd go.

Sometimes, I would listen to evening Seattle Mariners' games on the car radio, while parked here as the sun set, with stars shining from above and house lights shining from way across the lake. And, for years, back when I was a runner, I would run past this spot, which is located on the Centennial Trail, a paved pathway that spans the distance between Coeur d'Alene and Spokane, Washington, although it detours rather clumsily thru Post Falls, Idaho, some 12 miles east of Coeur d'Alene. And now, I can do the same thing at several spots along the Pacific Ocean. But I remember Coeur d'Alene. And I hope the spirit of the town survives the rampaging growth which threatens to turn it into "Suburbia, U.S.A."
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I guess this is my way of saying "HI" to everyone up there; try not to 'fry' this summer; from what I've seen on Northwest Cable News, it's been rather warm up there lately.