While in the Sawtooth Range of Idaho, at the end of a long day of walking and fishing, my sweat had cooled on my skin and clothes and I was taking on a chill. I sat down on the edge of the lake I was camping beside, put on my down jacket and set up my stove to make a pot of hot water for tea. I carefully tore open my tea packet, looked down at the little paper label stapled to the tea bag string, read the word there, laughed and spoke aloud to myself, to God, to the lake, to the stones, to the wind, to the coming stars and thin crescent moon, to the dogs who were sitting by my side, to all the night peepers and wolves and wild ones, “Well. Doesn’t that beat all?“

I’m just home from a ten day blitz through Idaho.  As I drove, I often found myself singing that wonderful old Johnny Cash song to myself, “I’ve been everywhere, man…”  It was lovely to be in my home state.  I began in Boise where my younger sister and I spent an evening hanging out with Willie Nelson.  Before I left the city, I bought a dress, some truly scrumptious kombucha and hopped up the highway up to McCall — a fire town nestled on the ever picturesque shores of Lake Payette.  There I stayed with a fire wife friend of mine, helped take care of her wee ones while she got out of the house for a short while…we are nearing the end of the fire season now and everyone is tired, myself included, but to be perfectly fair, I think it’s different when you have a couple of babies and your man is out jumping fire.  That’s a real game changer.  To all the fire wives out there who are raising families solo half the year, you have my utmost respect.  Hang in there, gals.  The winter is coming.

From McCall I cruised over to the Sawtooths for a few days of sweating and sunning in the backcountry, and a bit of hotspringing, naturally!  After the Sawtooths, I sprinted down to our home in Pocatello where my friend let me crash on my parlor floor (it’s a strange experience, being a guest in your very own house, but I didn’t resent it, not at all).  I went utterly berserkers at the farmers market in Pocatello, so rattled was I by the shockingly low prices for organic garden grown produce in my home state I bought more than a bushel of tomatoes, a double-dozen bell peppers, sweet corn, onions and then I lost my mind canning in my very own kitchen on a four burner gas range.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!!!  I just sang that aloud in my opera falsetto.  I ate a few brilliant peaches from my very own peach tree in the backyard — my mouth is watering as I recall those peaches, there’s no peach like your own home grown peach.  I picked plums and canned some plum jam.  I showed my friend how to make grape nectar with the grapes from our five ancient, fruit producing grapevines that line the fence of our jungle yard.  I ate raspberries from my raspberry patch.  Our yard at the Idaho house is incredible, it was wonderful to travel home while it was at it’s peak of fruit production.

 Oh.

It was a great trip.

 I saw pronghorn, a perfect blaze orange harvest moon, a handful of perfect trout, so many of my Pocatello girlfriends (miss you, you beautiful, strong ladies), effervescent constellations pivoting the night sky, many a spectacular sunset, thunderheads criss-crossing the interior, forest fire smoke, the milky white of the South Payette River cutting away at the flanks of the Sawtooths, grouse, aspen on the edge of yellow, a dipper!   I saw a dipper doing its diving work in an outlet creek while in the Sawtooths!  My first one ever!  What a cutie.  I was everywhere, man.  I saw it all.  I felt it all.  And now it’s good to be back.  I hope you’ve all been better than well.

x