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Porch talk

9/14/2022

2 Comments

 
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Photo by Ana Essentiels on Unsplash
Dear Friends,

All the talk about the 'Bers, well, it got me into a warm, cardamon spice reminiscing kind of mood. Did you know cardamon is considered the "Queen of Spices". Well, I'm feeling like the queen of the rocking chair. Tiara included.

Won't you take the open rocking chair next to me, grab a bowl of field peas and lets visit.

This 
autumn part of my life, well I've lived my whole life to get to this sweet spot. Only I must confess, I've been doing it my whole life. Well, when I could. Nostalgia is my go to medicine when I want to feel warm and cozy.

Yes, I know it's also considered a sickness. Where you forget about the bad stuff, and only focus on the good. Um, yes  I'm here to get down with the sickness. Click Me

Look, I don't want to reminisce, I want to chat, talk and be in the present with you. The one fantastic aspect of my entire life is I've been lucky enough to have some amazing conversations with people. Some I knew, a lot I didn't. Those moments, well, lets just say come in handy when I'm down, or need to remember something important. 

I've always loved talking to older people the most. Now, I'm one of them. Now, just because I am happy to set a spell and chew the fat doesn't mean I want my body to get old. I still need to wander, hike, and ride my horsey. If I can't do that then I won't be alive to dawdle and dilly dally all the live long day. 


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​Photo by ArtHouse Studio: https://www.pexels.com/photo/a-wooden-rocking-chair-near-fireplace-5014757/
There's something special about rocking chair talk. I do think you have to be doing something with your hands. Fiddling with some kind of vegetable, knitting, picking at a geetar, probably not whittling with a knife, but I suspect some folks could do it. 

The motion of chair and the use of hands is the gateway to relaxation like no other. Meditation for dummies. It also is the time for stories. I love, love, love stories. Especially personal ones, well not necessarily personal in the private sense, although I'm honored if someone shares. I mean personal in, hear a person tell me a story. Live. Books are wondrous, but people are exceptional.

Perhaps, that's why I'm fascinated by old photos of people and places. Imagining their lives and what they like and how they lived come pretty easy to me. A little too easy and sometimes it's a problem, Let me explain.
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This is a scanned picture of a card I bought at an art fair. The artist is Janet Launhardt. Check her out and give her some love. Or buy a painting.
You see one Friday morning I pulled out the above greeting card I bought recently at an art fair. I looked up The Snake Pit online.  It's the image on the card. I've heard about it for a long time. It's one of the oldest restaurants in North Idaho. It's been on the news a lot. But what I remember last was, I believe the owner passed and it was in danger of closing. However, a new owner stepped in and kept it going.

The best reading was on the website. It told of the history. Click here to see.
The Snake Pit opened in 1879. I know! It's wild. Wild, Wild West that is. Oh my this is one of the reasons I love living out west. So much history, stories, and road trips.

Gold.


One of the theories of how the name came about is told like this. They called the ladies of the evening, or morning if you will, snakes. The upstairs is where business was conducted. The bottom was the bar and grill.

But that porch! Dang, it needs some rocking chairs. Perhaps, I can get hold of some of the old timers who told the stories and buy them lunch. Then afterwards they can while away the time with me filling me in on the gossip.

After looking them up online of course I fell into a rabbit hole of good information. Great porch talk. Yes, and even though it was Friday which is notoriously pizza night at the 
Whittens, I talked my husband into going there for dinner. 

Date night with the snakes!


So here's the problem with my imagination and story thirst, I'm not sure what I expected when I got there, but there were no old timers telling a story. Nobody was bellied up to the bar. There were no snakes upstairs waving to us soliciting our business. I was let down.

Seriously.

What the hell did I expect?  A show like Disney? I think I kind of did. That's what happens when you live in your head too long. Well, even though I didn't go back in time the food was delicious. But I'm here to preach about their biscuits. 
Now, I'm usually a roll, or loaf of bread type of girl but these biscuits were worth the drive and now have me on a quest to perfect the biscuit. And as our server said drizzle a bit of honey on 'em and it's a game changer. She was right.

Even though I wasn't a time traveller we had a great time. The decor was pretty cool, the food comforting and the drive beautiful. I'm here to tell you the panhandle of Idaho is one of the prettiest places in the U.S of America. 
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Photo by cottonbro: https://www.pexels.com/photo/man-in-dress-shirt-and-beige-pants-sitting-on-brown-wooden-armchair-7118183/
Well, I thank you for reading this especially if I asked you. I just want to be heard. I think we all do. I've got things to say before I'm the dearly departed. Most of it nonsense, but we all have to be good at something right? 

​Most things I like to remember are the little things. They usually are the grand things to the heart. Don't get me wrong I still love a big-big thing, I just don't need it as often as I used to.  The best part about a big-big thing is, well, it's like coming home from vacation. 

You click your red slippers, exhale and proclaim, "There's no place like home."

Warmest regards,
​Kelly
2 Comments
Marsha
9/14/2022 05:53:08 pm

I used to love the Snake Pit! We went often on the way home from rafting, canoeing or kayaking . I really don't remember much about the actual place other than it was where we gathered wet and tired and exhilarated from being outside in the great Northwest! My friends always said you can judge a place by its burger and that's what we did...we judged the Snake Pit over and over! Pretty good burger if I remember, but on these counts it was friend connection that was important. As in at any dinner table...where ever. The food tastes better when shared with fine folk and good conversation.
I miss picking peas on Grandmama's front porch. Front pirches are powerful! Add a rocker and...perfection!

Reply
Kelly
9/14/2022 07:10:59 pm

Yes siree, anything shared around the table with good people is food for your soul. I agree. I remember you talking about the burgers. I didn't realize it was the Snake Pit.

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