New Pope
OK. I'm not Catholic and never could be so maybe it's not my place to speak.
But we've seen the effects of Chicago politicians being in charge of things, eh?
Continue reading →DT
“American Digest” Backup
As you may recall, I had plans to occasionally re-post some of Gerard's work (those essays that Neo didn't place in Book 1 and maybe Book 2). To do so, required making copies of those essays. Rather than go through 20 years or so of writings and individually copy those I had possible interest in, I got a web backup application and dedicated a computer to spend the 38 hours it took to copy the AD site. (others - ghostsniper for sure - did so as well).
Being unfortunately familiar with computers and their evil ways, I double-checked the backup when the download was complete.
Ah-h-h ... just what I was looking for. So I made copies and backed the backups onto separate hard drives.
I should have known better.
Well, when AD went dark, there was a Gerard post I was going to put up.
So I whipped out the backed-up copy and ... digital dust. Nothing much was in the backup copy. For some un-Godly reason, the backup software made a backup that was dependent on the original site.
I do NOT trust software. I do believe in Murphy's Law - I trust any piece of software to give me problems at unexpected times.
I saw a meme today that defined what happened. Being a bit of a physicist myself, it rang true ...
The Idaho Hotel
Originally built in Ruby City in 1863, it was moved - piece by piece on sleds - to Silver City in 1866 when Ruby City lost county seat status. The hotel was able to hold a Christmas Eve Ball that year. Water was piped-in by 1868 and hot or cold baths were available at all hours.
Silver City lost county seat status in 1834. The hotel closed in 1942 and like the rest of the town, faded into oblivion and disrepair.
... until 1972 when the hotel was refurbished, updated to include indoor plumbing, and opened for new business. It is now a tourist destination (but doesn't truly cater to tourists). The town never burned down and many of the buildings date from the early mining days.
The hotel is now open from roughly Memorial Day to the end of October, weather permitting. There are 13 rooms with no electricity. No TVs, no hair dryers, no lights ... no electrical outlets. Only a few of the rooms have heat. No smoking strictly enforced.
No in-room bathrooms. Reservations made several weeks in advance are requested; the hotel is often filled. Dinner reservations also need to be made at least a week in advance; supplies only arrive ... occasionally. Good food though I hear.
All this for about $150/night (not including meals). Closed Tuesday and Wednesday nights.
Silver City, in extreme SW Idaho, is now classified as a ghost town, but the ghosts there carry guns if one tries to pick around for antiques.
Founded in 1863 when silver deposits were found nearby, the town reached its peak in the 1880s with a population of about 2500 and over 250 mines in the area; one of the major towns in the Idaho Territory. At one time, the region had 12 mills from which over $60M (1880s) of gold and silver were processed. It became the county seat in 1867 and kept that status longer than it kept active mines. One nearby silver mine re-opened in 1977 but shut down in 2000.
Traffic between here and Idaho City - another major mining town in Idaho Territory 100 miles away - crossed the Boise River at what would become Boise City; a handy supply point for the mining regions both north and south (Boise City also happened to be on the east-west trail along the Boise River to Oregon).
Silver City was among the first places in Idaho to have electricity (1890s) and telephone service (1880) ... because of the mining activity.
A remote location, difficult to get to even now and at an elevation of just over 6000 ft; when the mines played out, the town was almost abandoned - having a population of 1 in the 1940s; the last resident had lived in the old hotel.
Today, there are three businesses in town including the hotel but no services. "No services" includes no gasoline, no repair shops, no rescue services; no towing operations. The nearest "city" (pop 130) is Jordan Valley, Oregon - 25 miles and more than an hour away; there is no grocery store in Jordan Valley (but a good ice cream shop).
Boise City is 50-75 miles away - depending on where in the metro area - it's close to a 3-hour drive. The road to Silver City is OK for passenger cars but not for speed. It is virtually inaccessible in winter. Heavy rain in summer can make getting up through part of the canyon interesting as well.
Recommendation
I'll not often provide a link to other web sites; they're there if someone wants to look them up ... but this one I'll recommend.
Eric Peters writes some interesting stuff.
www dot ericpetersautos dot com/2025/05/06/no-timeline/
Continue reading →Stranger In A Strange Land
Honey Locust
In full early leaf now; the yellow will change to dark green as the season progresses ... then back to yellow, then brown.
This one's a male - no pods.
It was either a pleasant view of spring leaves or a rant about the Fed spending $2.5B on renovations. So much for DOGE.
Continue reading →Tunes For Tuesday – B52s “Private Idaho”
A sample of some obscure – and some maybe not obscure – tunes from my strange and off-the-wall collection.
Today’s selection: B-52s - "Private Idaho" 1980
"Idaho is pretty mysterious to all of us. I know it's a beautiful state, but then I know there's also a lot of crazy right-wingers and all that stuff."
Home.
The band never played in Idaho until 2011.
Continue reading →Suzie
A very, very, very long time ago ... so long ago, Eisenhower was still president - there was this girl you see ...
3 foot two; eyes of blue. At the time.
I remember her mother and mine being good friends.
I remember Scott White ... but I don't remember getting into a fight with him over her. But she does.
I remember smoking corn silk cigarettes with her behind the garage.
I remember discovering the differences between boys and girls with her ... behind the garage. When too young to care.
I remember that garage ... :)
I remember "breaking up" when her family moved away. (Kennedy might have been President by then. Maybe not yet.)
I remember our family moving away ... then her family moving into the neighborhood we had moved to.
I remember we got "engaged" on our front porch. Kennedy was President by then.
I remember she was the first girl I saw naked when I was old enough to appreciate such things for what they were. Earlier didn't count.
(I remember it was a couple more years before that happened again.)
I remember our paths splitting apart when puberty hit. Way apart.
I remember her complaining I spent too much time studying and not enough partying (just how much was enough???)
I remember my youngest brother asking when she had gone into heat when she got pregnant young.
I remember hearing she died in a drug deal gone bad down in Mexico someplace.
I remember finding out - 40 years later - she hadn't died. (But I had gotten used to idea she had died.)
I remember finding she had tuned into a burned out, worn out, bedraggled druggie living on welfare in "public housing".
I remember finding out we had nothing in common except hazy, half-remembered, no longer desired memories.
I remember today is her birthday.
I know memories can carry more weight than reality.
Happy Birthday, Suzie. I know where you are ... and it doesn't matter anymore.
Winter
I know I've declared winter over 'round these parts but I need to remind myself that on May 5, 2022, it looked like this outside my back door.
Weatherman suggests a high of 70 today ... with 90s by end of week (???).
Continue reading →Morning At The Farm
I don't think it's a secret that I'm half-Canadian. Mom's family comes from Scottish immigrants (refugees?) and Loyalists that had to leave after "those traitors" won the war; been in Upper Canada since at least the American War of Independence. I happened to be born a mile or so north of the border, so that makes me a US citizen ... but I spent a fair amount of time in Canada. Learned to drive, shoot, understand the only way to eat fries is with white vinegar, bale hay, milk cows among other things up there. One of the two Debbies I was desperately in love with was Canadian. God, that was so long ago ... Could cross the border without customs (or a passport) back then.
Some years back, we had to give up the family farm. I'd have been the 5th generation to work the place but life didn't take me that way. Hey, the "new" barn was built in 1902. But, given the conditions with and in Canada right now - and the last of my g'grandfather's apple trees having died - perhaps it was for the best.
But, damn, I miss the place.
