The Inland Northwest
I would like to introduce you to my favorite corner of the world, the Inland
& Pacific Northwestern section of America. Ken & I (Pat)
live in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. (Coeur d'Alene is pronounced "core
dah lane" and is French meaning 'heart of the awl' which is the hard tool
used to split wood. The French named the Indians here the Coeur d'Alene's
because they were such "hard headed" bargainers. I guess the land
here cost them more than a few beads. <g>)
|
In
the very center of this photo you can almost see a blue porch roof, a flag,
and white picket fence that belongs to our home. We are very blessed
by the huge Maple that shades us in the summer saving much in AC bills;
and, in the Autumn, Coeur d'Alene is ablaze with the big old Maples like
these that line the city streets.
Coeur d'Alene sits on the north shore of Lake Coeur d'Alene, about 33 miles
east of Spokane, Washington. We are bordered on the east by the Bitterroot
range of the Rocky Mountains and to the north by the Selkirk range.
This places us in the southern & western "shadow" of the great mountains
which gives us protection from extremes of weather in either summer or
winter, while still providing us with four clear & beautiful seasons.
We still see deer, raccoon, & fox in town and occasionally elk and
bear on the outskirts of town. Where I work, Coldwater Creek call
center, the deer come up to the windows and can be seen with their babies
in the spring and late summer bouncing and playing in our "back yard".
Coeur d'Alene has currently a population of about 35,000 people, so we
are growing (maybe a little too fast for me). All in all, it is a
very nice friendly place to live or to visit. But, don't tell anyone,
OK?
Above is one of my favorite photos. Coming from the Seattle area,
I was amazed in the winter to see, not only frozen lakes like Furnan Lake
above, but people walking on the lake and ice fishing! If you really
look at the photo, you can see the tracks where the fishermen have just
come off the lake with their catches and headed home to a warm fire and
dinner.
 |
This
photo is taken from my office window toward the back yard. We feed
the birds year round and they bring me much enjoyment. These are
House Finches, we also get Chickadees, Grosbeak's, and some new varieties
I've not identified yet this year.
While this area is home now, we moved here from Western Washington and
travel back and forth often so the whole northwest is 'home'. If
you'd like you can take one of my "tours" from Patsu's Pages, I'll be sharing
in depth one stop or another that I've enjoyed, so you can "travel" there
in the comfort of your home.
|
