Redneck Review!
No. 221 - 7/22/2019
The "Pause that refreshes!"  A four-day timeout with sons and an old time cousin this past week definitely proved to be that "Pause" as far as this writer is concerned! And why the claim made here?  Because the site chosen for this our annual get together was located in the mountains of central Idaho, in a cabin with several "No's!"  No electricity, therefore no inside water, no internet, no inside restroom, no telephone or cell service.  No convenient light or heat! No contact with the outside world!   Additionally, no bedding on the available cots and beds! No anything, except for the four walls, and an outside door that hung very precariously on only the top hinge when we got there, making it tricky to open and close!
Admittedly, the "Refreshing Pause" cited above did not come that first night!  My cousin and I agreed to take my old Suzuki, because of the rough and steep terrain expected, plus possible snow!  That meant he did not take his sleeping bag, and he left behind other items which would have been handy in "roughing it!"  I gave no thought to my own sleeping bag, and "roughing it" equipment also, taking off down the road without even a coat, accidentally left behind, and arriving there with only a few light "T" shirts to wear and keep warm!
Faced with the reality of the situation upon arrival, we contacted the site attendant, getting rented bedding at a reasonable cost.  Thus we dodged the disaster which loomed as day light faded away, and settled in that night, hoping to enjoy the next day!
But things changed quickly!  The camaraderie that one experiences under a gas lantern with a beverage now and then mixed in with an occasional potato chip, combined with a hot game of cards and enthusiastic conversation very soon dispelled the gloom which I myself had felt upon arrival!  And the next days, the "gloom" disappeared like fog on a sunny morning!
Why the changed outlook?  First, the naturally heated swimming pool, one of the true marvels found in nature, with constantly renewed fresh hot water flowing continually through the pool.
Second, the people and old friends met there.  Almost immediately, contact was made with an old Grangeville Bulldog debater our team and myself had come to know during debate in the early 90's.  Before the time was over our group 
had established a new and we are sure, a permanent friendship with the man himself and his family! And several other contacts were made with some of the most wholesome people one can find at random in new surroundings.
Third, a grueling journey over the most primitive roads, requiring slow speed and occasionally four-wheel-drive, as our group plunged deep into the back woods in a search for the home site your author spent as a three and four year old, with a family and a father who worked the gold mine in the area for those two years.  The length of the trip in, 14 miles in all, filled all of us with amazement, as we pondered what it might have been like back in the 1940's, first discovering the ore, then building the primitive roads to get there, then supplying the supplies needed for a large group of miners and their farmers who for half a year were buried in snow making it very difficult to travel.  Amazing when you think of it! And a deserved tribute to the strength and the resolve of those miners and their families!
But as Paul Harvey used to say, for those of you readers old enough to remember the man, "Stay tuned for the rest of the story.!"  Because limited space here forces the remaining marvels of the area to be returned to next week! With political implications!
Jake Wren

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