Rocks in front of schools.

Jeff and I have noticed since we got here that every single high school, and many middle and elementary schools, have huge painted rocks sitting in front of them. Camas County High School has two of them; one near the front of the school and one near the rear. We aren't quite sure what the rocks are for, other than to hold paint. However, we have not seen any other schools that have a painted rock 6 or 7 miles away from the school. At the top of the Gooding Pass, right at the Camas and Gooding County line, sits this rock. Painted quite well, sitting off the highway about 50 yards behind a barbed wire fence. We have no idea who put the rock there, who took such great pains to paint the rock so well, but there the rock sits. Since we have gotten here, the rocks at the school have been painted and repainted several times, but the County-Line Rock has not been touched. We don't understand the reasoning behind the rocks. We have asked several peolple why the rocks are in front of the schools and we have been told, several times, they are there so they can be painted. Each time we have thought, "Oh, O.K."

Busy, Tough Week!!

Well, the effects of the accident are draging on; however, we finally got a car. We like it - it is comfortable, drives very well, and most improtantly, it is an all-wheel drive vehicle. We think it looks nice and we think that it will serve us nicely through our first Winter here. To the right is a picture of the car on the top of the Gooding Pass this morning earlier.

Julie got a promotion and a raise this week. She is now the office manager as well as the Accounts Payable Manager. This gives her significantly more responsibility with a commensurate raise. She is impressive. Everywhere she has ever gone, before too long, she ends up managing. She was born to run things. (I should know, she has been trying to run my life for 26 years now.)

Today we went into Twin Falls for our bi-monthly shopping. While in the mall today, Jeff and Julie got to sit on Santa's lap. I think Santa enjoyed them sitting there. I'm not sure which he got the most pleasure out of, Jeff or Julie. My hope is that Santa isn't a pedophile - it would give a whole new meaning to the phrase, "the season of giving."

New Abandoned Idaho PIctures.

To the right is a windmill and water storage barn. They are on the way to the Avalanche House. I just like how they sit and look. I find the weathering effect of the extreme cold and then the extreme hot on wood here in this valley to be just incredibly interesting. It makes the wood looks so distinct and absolutely unlike the weathering I've seen elsewhere. In Oregon, at least Western Oregon, there would be a lot of rot in the wood as well, due to the moisture there. The wood is solid, just the surface graining is very defined and actually, quite beautiful.

To right is the original Camas County Hanging Tree. It is what it sounds like - where Cams County hung people. At least that's what we have been told. It is also on the way up to the Avalanche House. Note that for its age, it isn't as massive as you would expect an oak to be. It stays cold here, with snow on the ground until late May, and sometimes even later, thus slowing down the growth of trees here. As a matter of fact, we have been told that if a tree is transplanted here from a lower elevation or warmer climate - it usually doesn't make it the first year.

Muffy says, "I Miss My Jer!"

Little Miss Muffy has just been beside herself for the last three months. She has had severe difficulty - she's been seeking comfort in Jer's Tai Kwon Do bag and she can't find it anywhere. Just look how sad she looks. Don't you just feel for her? Jeff's room is unreachable for her these days, so she can't pee on anything of his, so now she's looking for something of Jer's. Maybe Jer should send her a shirt or his bag so she can pee on it and feel better. What do you say Jer, be a man and send the bag.

Outdoor Throwing in November!!

I can't believe it, but we got to throw outdoors today. It was a little cold, but Jeff kept complaining about having to wear the heavy sweater I made him wear. It's supposed to snow tonight and on and off for the next week. We had a good start to throwing. There are some small technical flaws that have crept in since last year, but we have a long time to work on them. In all, Jeff looks very good. Some of the things he has always done well, he still does very well. Some bad habbits he picked up with the heavier discus last year, he also still does. We have a lot of time and we really aren't that far from where we want to be in late May, 08.

We also invented a stupid little game. There is really no discus ring at the school, and remember, this is a K-12 school. There is a jungle gym in the playground. (How many of you had a jungle gym, let alone, a playground at your high school?) We try to roll the discus up the slide, across the top step, down two small flights of steps, down the back ladder, and see how far it can roll. To right is a picture just as Jeff lets one go up the slide. He blew me away in this, which should be expected, he has much more control on the discus than I ever dreamed of having. However, I think I have it figureed out - I will beat him in the upcoming rematch. More news to come.

Across the street from the school, is the original LDS church building - it was built apparently in the late 1930's or early 1940's. It was sold to the Light House Baptist Church when the new branch building was built. (Check past Blogs for a picture of the new branch building.) I was told this week that when the church abandoned the old building, quite a few people quit coming to church, feeling the church was taking away an old friend, of sorts. Isn't it completely ridiculous what people allow to offend them? Makes you just want to say, "Come on! Grow-up and quit being so stupid!" Is it any wonder I never became a therapist?

Throwing Season Starts Now!!

Well, now that the football season has ended (at least for Cams County High School,) we are shifting gears and turning our attention to throwing. We are starting with base, core strength lifts for the next 8 weeks, then we’ll shift to more Olympic style lifts in early January. We will start with fairly light weights and increase the amounts pretty quickly. We are also going to start working on foot speed drills and some explosive acceleration drills. We are lifting Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Throwing Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Right now it is just Jeff. We will increase the number of people throwing and lifting with us as we get closer and closer to February. I hope we gather a group of about 6 to 8 boys and girls to throw this year. We have pretty big plans for the year. We would like Jeff to place at State in the top three in Discus and top 8 in the Shot Put. It would be great to place even higher. Time will tell.

Jeff Update.

Well, as you can see to the right, Jeff has gotten a new suit. I was taught by my father that blessing the sacrament is a sacred and important responsibility. One that should be approached with the utmost reverence and respect. To this end, I have felt it is important to be dressed in the very best clothes you can afford, setting it aside and different from average, everyday activities. So, Jeff has a new suit to bless the sacrament in. We think he looks pretty sharp in it.

This past term in school, he also had a science experiment in Biology that consisted of 4 mice. Well, the mice have moved in with us. Here is their new home. They seem to be happy in their new surroundings and have spent the last two days running through all the tubes and into the individual chambers. One of his mice, named Silver Surfer due to his silver color, escaped from the last pen and made his way over to our side of the house. I found him on Friday morning chasing our retarded cat - Orion around the computer room. Now he thinks he's superman, he scared a cat and survived on the outside for two whole days.

Lastly, here is Jeff's football picture this year. I do like Camas County's uniforms. It was a tough year, 0-9. I do think they will be much better next year as they have a lot of talent coming back. I hope that the head coach can come up with more assistance than he had this past year. I would love to volunteer to help, but I don't get home from work until 5:30pm or 6:00pm. I wish I could re-arrange things to make this work out, but I really don't see that happening, at least not this coming year.

Avalanche House.

Over Christmas and New Years break, 2003-2004, a family from Seattle, Washington, with some friends and family members, were staying in their log home located about 10 to 11 miles north of Fairfield, almost all the way up to Soldier Mountain Ski Area. It had snowed and rained hard for two weeks prior and the winds had come up and were blowing hard. The house, which was 26 years old at the time, was two stories and there was a large, garage building with a 2nd floor apartment above situated a little north east of the main house.

Due west of the house was situated a hill with a 38 degree slope that appears to be 200’ to maybe 250’ foot tall. (As it turns out, 38 degrees is the optimal angle for avalanches.) Between the main house and this hill was possibly 75 to 85 yards of flat land, with only a few young trees and just a couple older trees standing between the house and the hill.

Just the Fall before, the owners had installed a new pair of French doors in the Master Bedroom leading out onto the new 2 story deck, which looked directly at the 38 degree hill to the west.

On January 2nd the owners were down stairs in the main house sleeping in the Master Bedroom with family members in all the upstairs rooms as well as guests sleeping in the apartment over the garage. At a little before 1:30am, a 200’ wide and 10’ to 12’ tall avalanche broke loose from the hill to the west of the house, traveled in an slight north east direction and slammed into the south west corner of the house first, shattering all windows on the south, west, and north sides of the house, including the new pair of French doors. The first floor of the house instantly filled with snow, packed as tightly as if it had been concrete.

The family members sleeping on the 2nd floor awoke instantly as they felt the house rock and shutter. They ran to the stairs, only to find them completely filled-up into the 2nd floor with snow and therefore, completely impassable. They ran to the windows on the west side of the house and found the snow level to be even with the bottom of the 2nd floor windows. They smashed a window out and climbed out onto the snow and then circled the house to see if there was a way into the first floor. The house was virtually an island in a sea of snow. They began digging at the doors to try and open a way into the first floor and then also began digging down the stairwell to get down to the first floor.

By this time, the guests in the 2nd floor garage apartment had gotten out and had begun helping as well. The main house had apparently absorbed the lion’s share of the impact of the avalanche and the garage building was surrounded by snow, but had not experienced the force the main house did. The driveway was full of snow. The main doors to the garage were covered and inoperable. The cars in the driveway were completely covered making it impossible to drive and get help. Some of the guests and family worked at freeing a snow mobile and took it to get help. By the time they arrived at the nearest neighbor’s house, a full hour and a half had gone by.

It was 6:10 am when the Camas County Fire and Rescue finally retrieved the two bodies down stairs. Within the first hour, the guests and family had retrieved one dog, and the rescuers found the other dog safe. He had taken refuge in the fire place. He was safe from the packed snow and had air to breath through the flue of the fireplace. The snow had crashed through the French doors with such force, that more than likely, the two down stairs were killed instantly by the impact.

The house has sat unrepaired and virtually unchanged since the accident. All of the exterior debris from the avalanche has been cleaned up. The shattered and broken windows and doors have been boarded shut, but in all, the house looks easily repairable. It has been on the market a couple of times, but its history has kept it from selling. I would love to pick this house up, repair it and move in. It would be easy to build an avalanche wall between the house and the hill. There are several building here in Ketchum, out in Warm Springs that have incorporated concrete avalanche walls into the structure of the house. With our house in Oregon not selling yet, the chance of us buying it are pretty slim, but I can dream, can’t I?