When nature calls, go outside
At his cabin site near Weippe, Steve Green, of Coeur d’Alene, has installed an outdoor urinal with handlebars for his biker buddies and a fire hydrant for their dogs. Steve figures he grew up peeing outside on the family farm and sees no reason, at 72, to change now. PHOTO/Steve Green
Steve Green, 72, is grateful that fate led him to an “Old Folks’ Home” in Coeur d’Alene.
Everything is provided for him. Three meals a day. Cable TV. Internet. Utilities. Laundry facilities. Once a week, housekeepers change his bed sheets and clean his apartment.
Everything is perfect except for the toilet. It’s inside.
“It is not set up for a Farm Boy,” Steve told Huckleberries this week. “There is no place to pee outside. They have a smoking place. Why can’t they have a pee place?”
Steve grew up peeing outside on a farm in Fraser, Idaho, near Weippe. His family didn’t have indoor plumbing until he was 8. By that time, he was hooked on the open-air experience. Three years ago, Steve told Huckleberries: “It is a tradition, and I feel that it’s very important to carry on my heritage.”
At his cabin near Weippe, Steve installed a urinal on a tree with handlebars for his biker friends and a fire hydrant nearby for their dogs. Impishly, Steve tells Huckleberries, his Old Folks’ Home has “a couple of nice-size trees that a urinal would fit nicely on.”
“I figure if the neighbors don’t point and giggle, it will be OK,” Steve said, tongue firmly cheeked, “I could always tell the arresting officer that I am old and senile and I live in an Old Folks’ Home. “I’m sure they would understand.”
In case they don’t, Steve should keep bail money handy.
Last Democrat
You may know that Dan English was appointed Kootenai County clerk 25 years ago this week. But did you know that he wasn’t the first choice of the local Democrats? The D’s submitted three names to the county commissioners to fill the vacancy created when Clerk Tom Taggart resigned to become the first and only county administrator. Barb Chamberlain, a former Democratic legislator, headed the Central Committee’s list. But the all-Republican county commission – Dick Compton, Dick Panabaker, and Bob Macdonald – preferred English, a relatively new Democrat with no partisan baggage. English went on to win election in this increasingly red area in 1996, 1998, 2002, and 2006. He was a Coeur d’Alene councilman when first appointed and is one again. He’s the last Democrat to hold county office.
Huckleberries
• Poet’s Corner: They’ll be swarming sometimes/when we are out walking;/we suspect it’s for romance,/but they aren’t talking – The Bard of Sherman Avenue (“Ash Aphids”).
• Bumpersnicker (touting Silver Mountain on a black Subaru parked along Ninth Street Wednesday): “All the White Powder You Want. No Felony Convictions.”
• On Saturday, it’ll be 50 years since a hunting partner shot what he thought was a deer in the brush and killed Dr. William G. Moore, 35. It was the first day of hunting season. And that tragedy is how Coeur d’Alene lost its only orthopedic specialist back in the day.
• The COVID Bug has knocked St. Vincent de Paul’s Soup-Off fundraiser into next year. But that hasn’t stopped Shawny Le of Coeur d’Alene from dreaming of winning entries for St. Vinny’s cookbook. And here’s one idea from Shawny: apple pie with ice cream melted over it. Wonders Shawny: Why isn’t this considered a soup? Bingo. Huckleberries approves of this message.
• Professional fundraiser Jim Faucher of Coeur d’Alene spotted this, ahem, friendly sign on a fence post at Presley and Weniger Hill roads, south of town: “If you can read this, you are in range.”
• A week ago, Coeur d’Alene High instructor Bruce Twitchell surprised his children by shaving his beard. He last shaved it 14 years ago as part of a school fundraiser. They couldn’t remember him without the beard. Ditto for his iPhone. Bruce had to re-scan his face to get the cell to work.
• On Monday, Cis Gors of Kootenai Facebooked prophetically: “This Gors’ household has voted. So no need to watch the circus show tomorrow night.” Ah, circuses are entertaining. The un-presidential debate wasn’t.
Parting Shot
It started a month ago when Ryan Brodwater hit a vehicle driven by a woman who turned in front of his Chevy truck. The North Idaho native didn’t get his 4X4 back until Monday, Sept. 21. Days later, a young woman ran a red light and T-boned his truck bed, destroying the utility trailer behind.” Ryan got another estimate. Next, someone side-swiped his brown truck while it was parked on the street. The culprit didn’t leave a note. Of course. And how is your 2020 going?
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You can contact D.F. “Dave” Oliveria at dfo@cdapress.com.