Dock

Today I turned on my computer to discover that my friend, Jeff (Stormcrow to letterboxers) , had posted a new letterbox out past Tum Tum. I have always liked that area and chose to skip working on the kitchen long enough to go and get the box and hopefully be the first finder. I translated the clues to discover the spot is right across the highway from the DNR campground and boat ramp.
I was the superintendent for the project back in about 1990 when we build the dock, ramp and concrete walls that line the water's edge. The timing for the project was very critical because the park is next to Lake Spokane which is created by Long Lake Dam. There was going to be a large drawdown of the water for a brief time to do maintenance to the dam. This gave the DNR a chance to have the park redone. We bid the job with the understanding that the work had to get done in the drawdown period, PERIOD. I prebuilt all the forms for the walls and hired my brother Larry to be the lead carpenter for the wall while I worked principally on the dock and ramp.
Larry stayed in my trailer house at the site. One night a bunch of very intocicated locals came down there and started shooting guns and such. Larry was too petrified to confront them since he had no guns. The next night we locked the gate to keep out the problem. This worked very good for the most part. One evening Larry went to town to buy some groceries and when he returned, discovered his glasses were still in the trailer. He could not see well enough to work the combination. He had to walk the mile or so to the trailer and back up to get the gate open.
After we were done with the crane that drove the piling for the dock, they parked it up by the highway to be picked up the next day. Some people broke out all the windows in the crane.
So, back to today. After I found the letterbox, I walked into the park to see the place. It is beautiful. It was fun to sit high on the hill and look at the beauty of our world. Some of the beauty was with my families help.
Kayak Bandit

Flag

I could not help but feel uplifted today. I was driving back to the office. I do not like going back to the office, as a rule. But, as I approached the office, I spotted a flag waving above a nearby building. I realized the flag was not on the building, but on top of a crane beyond the building. The breeze was quite strong, making the flag wave very nicely. I was swept with a real sense of pride and patriotism.
As I continued to the office, I was thinking about how nice it is for the workers to rig the flag onto their crane. I am sure every person on the job site is inspired like I am.
Then I looked up at the top of our courthouse. I was again swept with pride, because we are in the process of upgrading the flagpole atop our courthouse.
I hope we always have the freedom we currently have. I think we will if all of us stop once in a while and consider the wonder of freedom. Let's pray for peace around the World while resolving to stand up, when necessary, to the forces that want freedom destroyed.
God Bless America,
Kayak Bandit