Cat talk and dog butts.

The players: Guido & Mom

Can I go out into the playpen today, mom?

No Guido, I already told you, it's raining.

That's OK. I like rain.

What is rain my honey -bunny?

Ummm, stuff.

We took the dogs for a walk Monday......they went crazy sniffing every tree and running the whole time we were walking. While the ferns are brown and the aspens and cottonwoods have all lost their leaves....and then there are the bare limbs of my tamaracks.....it is beautiful on the trails now.



No, Petey is not pooping....this is an action shot....he was getting ready to run.
It's as if God was showing us the way with is light.....you had to be there.


The Bitterroot mountains between North Idaho and Montana....a sub-range of the Rockies......snow and a little dash of snow (taken from the end of our driveway....see our mailbox on the left?).

It has been a few days since I posted....

....and as usual time has moved way too quickly.

Chris was here for a sweet visit.....well sweet for us. Right before she flew up she was rear ended and her little Volvo sports car has 8K worth of damage. She is OK and that is all that really matters. While she was here someone broke into her home and took her laptop, a special wrist watch and went through bedroom drawers. Even with these worrisome events I hope she relaxed a bit and had some fun with her old, crabby parents.....I do know the dogs loved having her here. Doesn't it look like she has a two headed dog on her lap?

The tamarack tree needles changed even though I specifically instructed them to not do that this year and thus allow winter to head south in confusion.

Tamaracks are my favorite trees. They are fragile giants and their needles look like little circular bits of green fluff attached to their long, slender limbs. In late fall, right before winter arrives, those needles turn a gold dust color, fall off and make the ground come alive with color.

Tamaracks come in all shapes and sizes......some small and crooked...

.....some tiny and straight.

They stand out on the hills and mountains rippling like waves across the landscape.



They are teenagers going through a growth spurt.

They are old and stately showing the youngsters how to do the job right.

And then just to really irritate me....my favorite sleeping t-shirt decided to fall apart. The sleeves split open, the neck came off of the body of the shirt and all of the edges raveled. Sometimes it just doesn't pay to get up in the morning.



Time seems to march on in spite of my needing just a few days of catch up.

Lost and found.....a miracle....

This is the letter I sent to 6 Abelardo Balderramas......

Hello Mr. Balderrama,

I am trying to locate the family of Abelardo Balderrama born 1914 in Arizona. The Abelardo Balderrama I am looking for enlisted in the Army in 1942 and trained as an aerial gunner. He was stationed in Texas, Tennessee, South Carolina and in March of 1944 was in Italy.

My parents were friends of Mr. Balderrama in California and while going through old photos and letters of my mother’s I found several letters from Mr. Balderrama and some photos. My mother worked at a café called Pat’s in City Terrace, California and from reading Mr. Balderrama’s letters I think he worked there with my mother.

I would like to see these letters and photos given to his family. I have looked online and you are one of the Balderrama names and addresses I found.

If I have reached you in error, I apologize for the intrusion. If you know the direct relatives of this Abelardo Balderrama, would you please pass my information on to them? If you are a son or grandson of Mr. Balderrama, please contact me so I can give these wonderful letters and photos to you. I have enclosed a copy of one of the photos so Mr. Balderrama can be easily identified.

Thank you,

Rosemary Olsen

momikat@gmail.com

This is the email I received yesterday. I cried when I read it.

Hello Rosemary,

My name is Abe R. Balderrama and Abelardo is indeed my Father (he was also called Abe). I am the oldest of his children....I have a younger brother and sister. The photo you sent used to be in an 8x10 frame that I remember seeing in a relative's home many years ago but cannot be found. I only have one other photo of him in uniform with his crew in front of a B-24 Liberator aircraft.

Dad did work in a cafe in California (dishwasher) before the war. He always wanted to work for a movie studio and be around the Hollywood stars. My Dad passed away in 1993 of congestive heart failure at age 78. He never remarried after my Mother died 12 years earlier but he lived a happy life and had a large extended family in the Phoenix area.

I was very surprised when I received your letter and would love to share any letters and photos with our family. I will gladly reimburse any cost to mail them.

I have several distant relatives in Boise but I'm not familiar with the Sandpoint area. I googled the city and it is quite beautiful.

I would like to hear more about your family if you care to share any information about the early years.

Thank you for contacting me.

Abe Balderrama

I responded to this email....at length....the Balderrama family photos and letters will be in the mail next week. Thank you to everyone for the all of the links you sent to me.

Four letter words....

As we were going into Home Depot last weekend, we saw this cool snow thrower with a cab thingy attached to the front. I would love to have one of those....we snapped a few pictures....laughing....hahahaha....see Steve smiling on the far right?
See me laughing behind the cab? Funny, really funny. Watch the video below.

Yummy, yummy for my.....

tummy. Steve is gone for three days....

Let me see.....twenty-two divided by three equals 7 with one left over. Or 22 divided by 3 = 7 with 1 left over. I can have 7 a day and save one for Steve when he gets home. Seems pretty fair to me.

Abelardo Balderrama

Stay with me here.....maybe someone can help me out....

There is a diner in the little town of Dover called The Dish. On the wall leading to the bathrooms is a long string hanging between two nails. On that string are old photos attached with clothespins. I love looking at those old photos and thought I was clever enough to replicate the look at home. I still have a lot of old family photos and thought I would dress the look up by using a ribbon rather than a string. Umm, it doesn't look as quaint as the string of photos at The Dish.

While looking for just the right photos of my family, I found for probably the 1000th time, old photos and letters of/from a man named Abelardo Balderrama. They are addressed to both of my parents and the early letters have salutations of Mr. and Mrs. Lucas. They range in date from 1943 to 1945. The photos and letters were sent during Abelardo's time in the Army during WWII.

Abelardo is/was a very polite, well written, nice man....I can absolutely tell from his letters. He had a great sense of humor and was obviously fond of my parents. I can also tell from his responses that there are a lot of missing letters to my folks......I received your three letters and I have only written two back. I'm sorry.

Some excerpts from his letters will give you a flavor of Abelardo's personality.

Am I happy today! Yesterday I graduated from school and received my aerial gunners wings along with a Staff Sergeants rating. That means a paycheck of $96 a month plus flying pay. Boy, oh boy!

I am currently stationed at Tullahoma, Tennessee. I know what Noah felt when he saw it rain for 40 days and nights. The town is just a wide place in the road.

I am currently stationed at Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It rains down here every night and the mosquitoes are awful. The women all wear shorts because of the heat during the day. Sometimes I wish I was a mosquito.

It's difficult to write anything interesting from here......but I cannot so excuse my letters if they are laconic and uninteresting. I have also felt weak in the knees at times....but so far I have been more than lucky. This was written from Italy 1944.

So.....I was telling Steve about Abelardo and he said: Just go online and look the guy up. You should be able to find out all kinds of stuff about him.

Sorry, Steve. Not so easy. I have spent days trying to find any line...straight, curved, broken, potholed...anything that would lead me to find out what happened to Abelardo Balderrama after that last letter in early 1945.

I was able to find his enlistment stats on a government site. I have his Army serial number, birth state, enlistment place, year of birth and the fact that he was a high school graduate and was a waiter before he enlisted. This leads me to think he met my mom and dad at Pat's cafe where my mom worked....this is also the place where I think my mom and dad met. Perhaps Abelardo was a waiter there. He also mentions in one of the letters another woman, Kay Chapman, who was a good friend of my mother's and worked with her at Pat's.

Most of the sites I found online want $$ to search for someone. Of course, there is no promise that a $29.95 search price (for one person only) will actually turn up anything about my Abelardo Balderrama. I was tempted to join the Ancestry site. So, I called my cousin in Virginia that had used that site to find my mother's family thinking she was still enrolled...but she no longer has a subscription.

I think Abelardo was a handsome, intelligent man. I like to think he married when he was discharged (I hope he was discharged and not killed in the war). I hope he had a family and that there might be children, grandchildren and great grandchildren looking for something of their loved one online and they will stumble upon this post. I would love to give Abelardo Balderrama's family these photos and letters. Anyone out there remember Abelardo Balderrama?

Happy, happy my sweet little girl.

Another year, another birthday for my sweet girl. Yesterday was her birthday.

She went to work, she had a quiet day, she celebrated at home. She will be here the 30th for a long weekend visit and we will celebrate then with sushi and a few fun filled days. I won't update her age because....well, she is actually 39 again.

I love you Christine Marie. I posted this last year....she has only grown more beautiful, more special.

My daughter is 45 today. I debated about putting her age in this post. But, as I was thinking about what I wanted to say about her I was struck by the fact that she is one of the most self confident, comfortable with herself, beautiful and charming women I have ever known....so I don't think she will care.

Of course she was an adorable baby. Of course she was a darling toddler. Of course she grew into a beautiful teenager and as you can see and I will tell you, she is now all of that beauty plus intelligent, humorous, tolerant, giving, loving and just a perfect daughter. I love this child beyond any words I have now or ever will have.

All of my children grew up in a home filled with dysfunction. All of my children lacked a mother protector, but Christine suffered the most because of it. She has overcome some of life's most difficult issues and come out a self made winner. She has accomplished in her short 45 years what others will never see or do. She is a survivor. I am amazed by her every day. She is the wife and mother I should have been.

That she loves me is one of the four blessings in my life.

Here she is in high school....naturally curly hair and glasses. In the next picture, as she is today.
After one of her multi-yearly walks for breast cancer. She has raised close to 5 figures for this cause.
She gave me my first grandchild....Christopher.
She is a wonderful wife to Todd who would tell you in a flash she has made him a better man. She has supported my grandson Tyler in every way and it shows in his accomplishments.

And......see this dog? Lucy. Chris has 3 Boston Terriers. Steve calls them the ugliest dogs he has ever seen. Chris loves this dog like her child. Over the years she has rescued several dogs and has an open door policy for all of the neighborhood dogs.


Happy, happy birthday my sweet girl.

It's time for the Annual Tour of North Idaho Mailboxes!!!

After receiving numerous requests (OK, Barb requested it) I decided to spend days and days (seriously) driving all over Bonner County once again trying to capture the flavor of North Idaho mailboxes.

Last year I made predictions about the pictured mailboxes surviving the winter and the plow drivers. This year will be different. I have put the mailboxes into categories mainly because I can't remember where any of last years mailboxes are so I don't know if they survived or not.

In order to be fair I have to start by showing the current state of my neighbor's mailbox. We share the post structure. I am embarrassed beyond words to have this....this thing...next to my mailbox. I will be talking to Luke and Amy. They must replace their mailbox. I have a reputation to uphold.

Exhibit one: Luke and Amy's mailbox. Yellow alert flag doesn't go up anymore.

This is a closeup......sad, sad, sad. I may have to buy them a mailbox. This is really not good.


First category: Odd ball mailboxes.

Shoes on the rail? Really? Really. They don't seem to be keeping the paper and mail boxes on the rail do they.


I can't decide if these are camo or zebra boxes. Whatever they are....they're ugly.
Who says GM doesn't make cars that last. I love this one.
The US Forest Service at Sam Owen State Park gets mail. Sam Owen is dead BTW.

Category two: Wanna be dinosaur mailboxes; self explanatory.


This is my favorite one. The box itself has flowers painted on it. It's the mailbox for a daycare. I bet the kids painted the box and I also bet they are scared to pieces by the whole structure.

Category three: Hansel & Gretel or Little Red Riding Hood mailboxes.


Cutesy wootesy.


I bet a painted gnome lives in this mailbox....I think I see eyes.


See....all wrapped up in wood so the big bad wolf can't blow this house down. Wait a minute....does that have a removable lid?


Category four: Playing nicely and sharing space mailboxes.

No, I was not holding the camera at an odd angle.




The top of this mailbox structure was raised so the mail person could reach the boxes...raised on wood blocks that are just placed there.....I can hardly wait to see this one after the first time the plow driver comes through.

The industrial look.

Category five: Mailbox structures with gizmos. You really need to click to enlarge....all of these are interesting.

This one is a dragon....very creative.

I'm not sure what all of this stuff is. The blue glass things used to be on power poles and are collectibles now.



I'm thinking this is a car thingy of some sort.

Woodsy, gizmos, little creatures.....a little bit of everything. That is the scariest angel I have ever seen.

Another car whatever I think.......but it looks too big to fit in a car...maybe it is a pump part.

Last category: The sad, unloved, forgotten mailboxes.
This box was on top of a post that was in the white bucket with rocks to keep it upright. Now....relegated to a piece of wood on top of a falling down fence....not even attached to anything. Sniff.

While this is good use of a fallen tree.....the mailbox is an afterthought. Sniff, snork.
A water heater strap used to keep this box on the post.....how cheesy is that....being a good mailbox reporter I tested this one....the box slides out of the strap because that black brace on the back of the box is not attached to the post.

A hanging chad.....

Nose dive......

Backward flip with a twist.....
Old post, new post, lopsided shelf, paper box on a bent bracket, mailbox on the way into the ditch.
Abandoned by a gate....no post in sight....I'm going to send this one to the mailbox rescue shelter where maybe it will be the lucky one adopted.


This is just an extra.....because I like it.

A sample of the problem.....

Well, well, well....little rosemary is eligible for Medicare as of November first. She got a ton of stuff in the mail to read from Medicare; and read it she did. Her husband read it as well.

They made the decision to keep the health care insurance coverage that her husband gets through his employer. Medicare Part A covers hospitalization. She will get that coverage regardless of keeping her husbands coverage; she has no choice there.....AND she doesn't have to pay a premium. Probably the most expensive medical costs a person can incur is hospitalization.

So, she follows the instructions on her official Medicare card and puts a big X where it says she declines Part B and drug plan coverage. She mails it back in the postage free envelope provided.

Last week she got a letter telling her that they will start taking premiums out of her skimpy Social Security check for Medicare Part B starting in November and oh-by-the-way-have-you-picked-out-your-drug-plan-that-has-a-big-coverage-hole-in-it-and-you-have-to-pay-thousands-of-dollars-out-of-pocket-before-it-kicks-in-again.

rosemary called her local Social Security office and spoke to the nice, young girl Gabrielle. Gabrielle tells her they have not received her card or perhaps her information hasn't been entered into the system yet. She will send a form that rosemary can sign saying she doesn't need Part B because she has private insurance.

The form arrived yesterday in rosemary's mailbox. It says that by declining Part B and the drug plans that don't cover much she will be penalized with higher premiums of 10% for every year she declines Part B and drug coverage.

This is the exact opposite of what her cute little Medicare handbook says. The handbook says that someone who has private insurance either through their employer coverage or a spouse's employer coverage will not be penalized. When they are ready to sign up for Part B and the almost no coverage drug plan they just have to have a letter from the insurer stating that rosemary had coverage for the last 12 months and presto chango she gets Part B and the sleazy drug plan when the private coverage is over.

rosemary calls Gabrielle again. Gabrielle says her handbook must be mistaken because just like rosemary said: "So you are telling me that by not burdening the Medicare system, by keeping my private coverage so Medicare can save a little money with the 2 doctor visits I make a year, and by not paying for maybe one of the drugs I take...you mean I am going to be penalized every year that I decline to save Medicare some money?".......Gabrielle said: "Yes." So, rosemary reads word for word what is in the handbook. Gabrielle needs to call rosemary back as she needs to check with a supervisor.

Gabrielle calls back and says that actually rosemary is correct...not that Gabrielle was wrong...oh, no; rosemary's "interpretation" is correct.......see paragraphs 2 and 7.

So rosemary will keep her husband's insurance coverage, she will get Medicare Part A without paying a premium of even $0.01, she can sign up for Part B and the miserable drug plan when her husband's coverage ends.

If rosemary was really senile, couldn't comprehend the reams and reams of Medicare reading material she received, took what Gabrielle said as gospel...well, she would be in deep stuff up to her armpits. Can you imagine what someone that is easily confused must go through with this system?

rosemary knows most seniors see Medicare as a right because they have paid into the system all of their working lives....but can you imagine the cost savings to the system by NOT automatically giving Medicare part A when someone has adequate/full coverage that they pay for through their employer? The Part B premium is $96.40/month unless you make over 85K as an individual or 170K for a couple....then...then you "might" have to pay a higher premium.

rosemary doesn't have a solid solution. She doesn't really know whether President Obama's health care plan is good, bad or ugly because she doesn't understand it. She tried to read it....but maybe she is senile after all. What she does believe is that Medicare will go belly up sooner rather than later and it needs fixing.....but not at a cost to those that really can't afford to pay additional premiums. She wonders if Ruth Madoff had Medicare.

This whole situation just irritated rosemary to no end.....so much so that if she had written this in the first person she might have used really bad words that offend some of her readers. So she asked me to write it......rosemary, the one that doesn't use bad words.

He remembered....

Hi Mom, I tried to post a comment but I need to have some kind of special user name or account. So I just wrote this separately and attached it. Love you, Bert One of my earliest childhood memories was of going to the public library with my mom. I must have been 3 or 4 years old and not in kindergarten yet. I don't remember how often we went but when we did I would immediately head to the children's section and get my favorite book, Where the Wild Things Are. I vividly remember sitting at the small children sized tables for what seemed like hours losing myself in the world of Max and the Wild Things. I do not think I could even read at the time but the characters in the story were fascinating to me and told countless stories beyond the printed words on the pages. I never owned the book as a child and I really don't remember checking the book out of the library but I knew I loved it and I couldn't wait to go back to library to “read” it again. I can’t remember my mom reading the book to me but I’m sure she did. She read lot’s of books to me as child. Another one of my favorites was The Monster at the End of This Book, a Sesame Steet book starring loveable, furry, old Grover. Where The Wild Things Are is the first book I can remember reading on my own and it brings back many love filled childhood memories of times I spent with my mom. It was the first of many other book covers opened by me out of the science fiction/fantasy genre. I don’t read as much as I used to but I have been known in recent times to plow through a good book in a couple of days. I still have the stuffed Monsters, including Max. They are now in my 4 year old son’s room, after having spent time previously in my now 7 year old daughter’s room. Both know and love the book well. Perhaps not as much as the 4 year old sitting at the short tables in the library but enough to know that getting lost in another world for a short time with your mom or dad is something very special. I will take my family to see the movie and hope it is as every bit as wonderful as the book. But, for me, it doesn’t really matter because while everyone else is sitting in the dark watching a movie, I will be 4 again, sitting at the short table with my mom reading a wonderful story with amazing pictures and knowing without question that she loves me. Thanks Mom, Bert

Love you to pieces my sweet little boy, mom