Our sibling assignment this week is to write about an accomplishment from high school. My brother's is here and my sister's is here. I attended high school in Kellogg, Idaho and graduated in 1973. High school was a busy, active, full -of- fun time that went by quickly. A few months ago my mother and I had a conversation about where my interest in writing began. She was staying at my house and as we visited she reminded me of opportunities I experienced in my school years that may have contributed to my love of writing today. One thing that stands out in high school was when I was a feature writer for our school newspaper " The Wildcat". Our school newspaper was published at the local town newspaper office so it looked like a real newspaper. I think it came out once a week. When I was a junior in high school I took my first journalism class. I wanted to be a newspaper writer. I began by doing features on the fashions in the high school. I helped with a feature called " Fads and Fashions." Next I reported on events in the high school such as school plays, speech competitions, and music activities. Then my editor K.B. decided I should do a column. My own newspaper column! It was titled " Wildcat Tales" and my job was to give the scoop on the happenings of our high school. I remember loving to compose that weekly column on an old typewriter in the "journalism office" .
Perhaps these type of columns set the stage for "web logs" as writing on the internet became popular. I loved composing " Wildcat Tales" and that column was the beginnings of a writing life that started and stopped many times in the next thirty- some years until I began this blog. Now my tales have taken on a different form. Thanks to KB, I was encouraged to put my thoughts to typewriter to paper back in that year when I was a junior in high school at Kellogg High School. That writing lit a spark that ignited, then smoldered, then reignited again. That was an accomplishment from high school that was a lifelong lesson. It was the beginning of a writing life that I hope continues to grow and thrive.
I captured new images today on a road trip through a beautiful part of the inland empire in northern Idaho that began on Highway 3. My brother and I stopped at the 
When we were children we had stopped at the place where Idaho's largest Western White Pine stood. As we toured through the Scenic White Pine Highway today we stopped at that same site.
The pine died in 1998, but the fallen tree was still there for us to photograph today. 
The hiking trails provided a nice combination of shadows and light with the western white pines in the background.
Next we drove through the 
Enjoying the cooler summer weather at the outdoor eating area was a treat. 
Another treat was hiking up to the famous I Tower on the University of Idaho campus. We hadn't been there together since our days of living in Moscow the summer of 1966 which you can read about 
Today was a bountiful day for harvesting our gardens. It was time to gather flowers for bouquets, pick vegetables for canning and eating, and reflect on the beauty of favorite spots we have created.
"Those who labour in the earth are the chosen people of God ." -- Thomas Jefferson
"If you have a mind at peace, a heart that cannot harden, go find a door that opens wide upon a lovely garden." Anon.
"Kiss of the sun for pardon. Song of the birds for mirth. You're closer to God's heart in a garden than any place else on earth." -- Dorothy Frances Gurney
