A hop, skip and jump back to childhood

A few weeks ago, my husband and I took advantage of one of the last 70-degree sunny days to take a leisurely mid-week drive up the North Fork of the Coeur d’Alene River. As we approached the wooden one-way bridge to Old River Road, I pulled over and parked.

“Come on!” I said. “I want to take pictures in the middle of the bridge.” After 40 years together, Bert’s a good sport when I have bright ideas. I asked him to walk out to the middle of the bridge and then skip back to where I was standing so I could snap action shots. Admittedly, he did roll his eyes, but played along.

Oh my gosh, it was not only entertaining, but the shots were far better than just standing still and posing for a photo. We traded places and I walked out to the middle of the bridge, preparing to happily skip toward Bert. Within seconds, I realized I’d forgotten how to skip! How does one forget how to skip? I was making more of a side-to-side motion with my arms straight out for balance. After a few tries, we were both laughing so hard, in fact, I was doubled over.

On a bright, sunshiny autumn day overlooking that beautiful river, my 73-year-old self realized I couldn’t remember how many decades it had been since I’d skipped anywhere. It’s now become my new goal to channel my inner child and rediscover skipping.

Fascinated by my inability to skip, of course, I Googled to find out why it was difficult for adults to skip. Turns out our coordination changes with age. Skipping requires coordinating different movements between arms and legs. The rhythm of feet and wrists must be synced.

The muscle memory from childhood fades without consistent use. And then there’s this ... adults may feel too self-conscious to participate in such a childish activity. 

In hindsight, I may have been so focused on not breaking a hip that I lost any connection to little girl Kerri. I suspect she and I are going to become reacquainted. Once I get the hang of skipping, it’s only a matter of time before I add a hop and a jump!

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There was a fun surprise during the recent election that had nothing to do with the results. 

For years, those voting in person in advance at the elections office and those voting at the polls on election day received small oval I Voted stickers.

This year, the Kootenai County Elections office distributed rectangular stickers that mimicked the red, white and blue Idaho license plates with bold lettering ... K VOTED. I thought they were great, especially since my first initial is K. But what was missed by many was that our license plates feature a K for Kootenai County.

If you didn’t receive one of these stickers, you either voted absentee by mail or are among the 71.6% of the 107,981 registered voters in Kootenai County who failed to exercise that right in the Nov. 4 election.

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Happy birthday today to Faith Mitchell, Chris Arnold, Polly Johnson, Dana Ryan, Greg Gervais, Robert Lantz, Antigone Twidt, Brenda Murphy and Amanda Behringer. Tomorrow, Matt Backs, Cheyenne Tate, Desiree Janke, Timarie Lindquist, Tonya Yost, Kim Boise, Margaret Ogram, Jennifer Currie and Jeannette Laster blow out the candles. Best wishes to Mamie Johnson, Jane Hansen, Joan Antonich, Jill Satterly, Tim Curry,  Ann Jaworski and Robert Chatters on Friday. On Saturday, Christopher Banks, Cheryl Siroshton, Mark Fisher, Teresa Eatherton, Jan Marie, Charlie Miller, Mark Gustofson, Christina Ethridge and Mary Scalise blow out the celebrate their special day. Sunday birthdays will be celebrated by Wayne Manis,  Ray Martin, Peter Smith, Colleen Allison, Greg Kosareff, Jim Morris, Sue Spinazza-Halliday, Chris Fillios, Karen Pichotta, Kilie Ellison, Dan Ripley and Stan Purcell. On Monday, my daughter, Melani Oleson Gonzalez, Susan Weathers, Sally Richards, Kareen Link, Maddie Kate Hansen, Neil Oliver and Laura Simon take another trip around the sun. My very first nephew, Leighton Scharf, Joe Krutulis, Dennie Thorpe, Gina Mote and Michelle Rielly will enjoy birthday cake Nov. 18.

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Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and the former publisher of the Post Falls Tribune. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press and Kerri can be contacted on Facebook or via email [email protected].