Random musings and a milestone
Thoreson
Even in this unpredictable winter of ours, I was amused Friday to hear the familiar music of the ice cream truck in our Post Falls neighborhood. On a brisk, chilly day I could not imagine anything less appealing than ice cream but I give props to the ice cream man for his optimism that it will in fact be summer at some point.
• • •
My late mother, Alice Rankin, was a Master gardener. Her advice was to always plant peas on St. Patrick’s Day, even if you have to break through icy soil to do it. Trust me, and her, it works.
• • •
Reminder that the shortening of St. Patrick’s Day is St. Paddy’s Day, not St. Patty’s Day. Patty is short for Patricia, Paddy is short for Padraig, the Irish spelling of Patrick. Slainte!
On another note: Shamrocks, the symbol of Ireland, have three leaves. Four-leaf clovers are just a rare variant of a clover, believed to bring good luck.
• • •
When I came back home to Idaho from North Dakota in 1985 my boyfriend, Bert, and I maintained a long-distance relationship in a time when that involved writing actual letters, making landline phone calls or driving across Montana.
Love prevailed and we were married March 15,1986, in Post Falls. As we mark our milestone 40th wedding anniversary, I’ve marveled at how much life has been lived in those four decades.
We now settle into the new frontier of retirement with our senses of humor and most body parts intact as we bask in the glow of our daughters and grandsons being really good humans. We still enjoy each other’s company, have perfected the art of compromise and acceptance and laugh out loud often.
I’m not sure what adventures await but I am sure that my boyfriend, Bert, and I are up for whatever comes our way. Lasting love, family and friends have blessed us beyond measure. Life is good.
• • •
Happy Main Street Birthdays today to Heather Callahan, Mindy Newby, Jim Faucher, Travis Jank and Rachel Burhardt. Tomorrow, DeAnn Johnson, Will Henderson, Sylvia McCormick, Josh Vesser, Faith Hazard Wiley, Ali Hanson, Kim Maksen, Jan Daugharty, John Neirinckx, Christel Fredericks and David Wegner celebrate. On Friday the 13th, Paula Sharp, Robin Karrick, Laurie Boeckel and Erich Eickmeyer will blow out the candles. Enjoying PI instead of cake March 14 are Tom Capone, Wayne Cofield, Bud Evans, David Cehr, Candace McEnespy, Teri Rouse, Fabian Medina, Ina Bressler and Sheila Kemmis. On Sunday, Len Crosby, Bill Haughton (90!), Terie Huston, Barry Rubin, Zack Yost (30!), Pam Humphrey and Penny Brownell take another trip around the sun. Daniel Schelske, Colleen English, Cindy Marcella, Kelly Moore, Ken Kress, LauraLee Johnson, Laurel Rollins and Dottie Pichard welcome another year Monday. Cody Peugh, William Shannon Reynolds, Pat Castelian, Keith Hutcheson, Patty Conkle, Trish Ortega, Carrie Nicholson, Mike Gump and Nichelle Price are combining a little luck of the Irish with their St. Patrick’s Day birthdays Tuesday.
• • •
Kerri Rankin Thoreson is a member of the National Society of Newspaper Columnists and a former publisher/editor with the Hagadone Newspaper division. Main Street appears every Wednesday in The Press. Kerri can be reached on Facebook or via email at [email protected].