The Post It Queen

I love school supplies. I love the smell of new crayons in a box, the look of crisp,white notebook paper, and the touch of an unused Pink Pearl eraser. Shoppers wait in line for the Doorbuster sales the day after Thanksgiving. Others mark the date on the calendar when a store has their half-yearly sale. Not me. I wait longingly for the school supplies to arrive in stores in August. It takes me back to Septembers, school supply lists, and Sunnyside School in Kellogg, Idaho.

When I grew up I didn't have to leave my school supplies behind. I became a teacher and now surround myself with those treasures. I have baskets for rulers, erasers, scissors, crayons, and pens. I can't live without my Post It notes (aka sticky notes). My desk is littered with rows of them to "help me remember" stuff. My middle school students will request something during a lesson and I will just pause long enough to say, "Put it on a sticky note." I gather quite a collection. "Do you have change for a five?", "How about those Zags?", or "You have a streak of overhead marker down your nose. I thought you would like to know!"

My own notes get crazy. I find brightly colored squares with letters that make no sense. I also start a note, but don't finish so I am still back to not knowing what I was supposed to remember. Other notes are found under my desk with something I "had to do" January 10th. We find them stuck on books, folders, and even on somebody's backside! To add to the craziness we often find ones that I have dropped between my classroom and the other building. The office staff usually knows to put those in my mailbox. Borrowing a sticky note from me is like ordering a coffee drink at Starbucks. Today a student asked for a note and I gave my usual response. " Lined or unlined, small or large, sticky or super sticky, pastel or bright color?" The student just smiled and said,"Whatever!"

I have been crowned The Post It Queen. I could give you the royal tour of an office supply store aisle just for sticky notes. I could reign over the colors, kinds, and sizes. It is mind boggling.

As we gather around the table at home we use the same system for remembering. Some of the same pitfalls occur. The dog chews up the bright purple note so all I can read is the smeared IMPORTANT. I get in a hurry with directions for dinner. Instead of asking my husband to put the corned beef in a pot I wrote "in pop." He didn't know whether to marinade it in Pepsi or Diet Sprite! I must end this post. I just unearthed a sticky note under the computer reminding me to do a writing sample for a lesson tomorrow. Whew! I am glad the night is still young.

Under the Snow

Once the snow falls and stays during the winter months it is as if my garden memory goes under the snow. I planted, nurtured, and babied plants last growing season, but today I can't even remember what was planted in the back flower bed by the deck. We do have lots of plants, but still....! When frost hits and pine needles and leaves cover up the asters and mums it also freezes my brain. I can't recall if we remembered to move the hostas that were crowding out other plants in front of the house. We want to make some changes in our gardens when the snow melts, but the discussion around the table went nowhere tonight. I couldn't remember how tall the trumpet vine grew in one corner, or when the sun hit the vegetable garden.
When the snow began to melt I relished the treasure hunt around the property.We located missing items that were hidden under the snow during the cold season. Saturday I found the old stick that held open the gate at the driveway. I also found an earring lost many months ago. It seems like somebody always finds change. The dogs grabbed toys that ended up in a plowed snow pile. And darn it all.... when I was trying to find a glimpse of day lilies under the snow all I found was dog droppings... a winter's worth of dog droppings. I think I will alert my husband it is his turn to do that treasure hunt while I reconstruct garden plots in my thawing brain!

Things I Would Drive to Town For

I don't just " run to town" because of where I live. However... I would drive to town for the following :
Crandall's locally roasted coffee beans at Meyer Falls Market
a homemade oatmeal cookie to go with the coffee at the market
a twist (chocolate and vanilla) soft ice cream cone from Sandy's
a book waiting on hold at the Kettle Falls Public Library
a free weekly Huckleberry Press newspaper
new spring seeds at the Flour Mill
fruit from the orchards at Peachcrest
garden bark at Dirt Works
the wine on sale at Harvest Foods

The Smell of Dirt

Today I saw the first green shoots of a spring bulb emerging through the brown pine needles, remaining snow, and dried and dead leaves. It is more than thirty days until spring officially starts. With another brilliantly beautiful sunny day it does make this gardener wonder if we will be doing early seed planting this year. Will spring follow a natural course or will the calendar put it on a schedule? This picture was taken a few weeks ago. The feeder and birdhouses seem poised ready for spring also. When I checked my local Yahoo weather after I came inside I saw freezing temperatures, snow showers, and wind in the forecast. It still makes me yearn for the smell of moist dirt. I wouldn't even mind some of that dirt under my fingernails again. My old gardening shoes and jacket are hanging in the hallway where they were left in the fall. Today I grabbed the jacket and it still held the smell of burning wood from one of those last fires we had in November. Soon it will regain that smell of dirt and the pockets will collect a black Sharpie pen, some colored sticks I use for marking seed rows, and empty seed packets. A friend gave me gardening gloves that are resting on the shelf all new and brightly colored. The gloves will soon hold that earthy smell and the color will be covered with the rich,brown stain of my garden soil. I am ready for dirty fingernails and stained knees. I am ready for the smell of dirt. It has been a long winter in my corner of the Inland Empire!

Four Seasons in the Inland Empire

Welcome to my corner of the world.
'The Inland Empire is a region in the Pacific Northwest centered in Spokane, Washington including much of the surrounding Columbia River basin. It extends into northern Idaho, northeastern Oregon, and far northwestern Montana. It is sometimes referred to as the Inland Northwest. An early reference to the Inland Empire was printed in the first edition of the Spokane Falls Review, a predecessor of today's Spokesman Review, on May 19, 1883: "It is not to be wondered that Spokane Falls booms, nor that it bids fair, and is bound to be the chief metropolis not only of eastern Washington, but of that vast extent of territory, now being rapidly peopled, known and suggestively spoken of as the 'Inland Empire,' an immense region of unlimited resources and possibilities that will in later years give subsistence and support to millions of human beings." 'wikipedia
I am one of those million human beings that has appreciated the unlimited resources and possibilities. I have lived in different sections of the Inland Empire my whole life. I appreciate the four seasons. Winter is that season that we love to love and love to hate. When the roads are dangerous, we hate it. But today the sun shone brightly on the last of the white drifts of snow, reflecting a brightness that made the day a keeper. The dogs were able to run across the driveway without icy patches causing them to lose traction. The cats came out their door and enjoyed a warmth they had long forgotten. Winters here can fool us though. Tomorrow we may have six more inches of snow and ice on the highway again. For now I will enjoy the warmth,brightness, and a hint of upcoming spring.