Summer Love


It was a blistering hot Spokane day when Roy and his girlfriend Linda hopped on his motorcycle and left the city behind heading towards nearby Northern Idaho—with its tall shady trees and perfect swimming lakes.

Linda’s hair blew free as the motorcycle cruised at speeds faster than were posted. 


They stopped at Nordman, Idaho’s lone attraction—a combination post office, bar, and store featuring a few shelves of items you might need for a camping trip. Roy saw that his friend Howie had his motorcycle “chopper” out front. But Howie was sleeping in the grass nearby.


Roy and Linda walked over because Roy wanted Linda to meet his friend. Howie recalls waking up a bit bleary eyed to see a girl in a bikini standing over him. Roy suggested that Howie take Linda on a quick chopper ride.


Howie eagerly agreed. Linda and the long-haired young man roared out of Nordman heading towards the lake. They didn’t return for three hours. Roy was totally miffed, but it was the beginning of a summer love story for Linda and Howie.


 


Their romance wasn’t a little campfire. It was a full-fledged bonfire. They decided to get married right in the same grassy place where they met—next to the Nordman store. It was a gorgeous sunny day on June 9,1973 as they recited their marriage vows.


But on June 9, 2023, it was raining as Howie and Linda walked towards the place where their love story began—50 years ago.


I was standing at the store entrance when Linda kindly asked if I’d take their picture with the Nordman sign in the background. My husband Tom is better at camera work—and he readily agreed. We enjoyed hearing their story of summer love.




I smile as I think of them still talking about those hot days, a fast chopper, and a love that lasted 50 years. There have been a lot of summers since then.


As summer begins for all of us, I hope the heat kindles some new love stories—and may the older love stories enjoy the warmth from the campfire built long ago.


Popular posts from this blog

Dreaming the Dream

Image
Dreaming big dreams about the future is easy for kids. The only thing standing in the way is time.  Kid’s dreams are not about skills, or opportunities, or even practicality. Those things come much later.  My grandson hopes to be professional soccer player when he grows up. This week, a small piece of his dream came true when his Boys and Girls Club was invited to participate in pre-game activities with the Seattle Sounders Football Club.  He got to suit up in a real jersey and walk on the field with a real pro player. Imagine a young soccer player looking up to who he hopes to be one day. If you haven’t taken the time to talk to a child about their future dreams—you should.  They believe. As we get older we sometimes forget that dreams fuel our hopes—and that's something we all need. So, do you still dream? Or have you left those childhood thoughts behind?  S pending time with children will  inspire you to believe agai
Read more

Wild or Tame? Which One Are You?

Image
Finally! Research that explains why I act the way I do. Columbia University’s Motivational Science Center studied people’s activities and what brought them the most happiness. Even more telling were how those activities changed as they aged. Twenty-somethings tend to equate happiness with high-energy activities. Words like excited and ecstatic are usually attached to spontaneous things—even risky things—and living life full throttle.  Researchers labeled this Promotion Motivation —the urge to take chances, including career moves that may not work out. Happiness comes from happenings—the more happenings, the more happiness. By age forty, adults associate happiness with things running smoothly at work and home. It’s also about feeling secure in relationships. Keeping healthy matters more too. This behavior is called Prevention Motivation —and people are more concerned with preserving and maintaining the things they value. It appears that time ofte
Read more

The Quiet Dad

Image
After my granddaughter’s gymnastics, she’d always ask to go to the park next door—even in the winter. When you’re a high energy child, cold is relative. Our routine seemed to overlap with a dad and his son. I’d watch them as I watched my granddaughter go through her favorite activities—crossbar, swings, spinner, and the curly slide.  But the dad was not doing the same. He’d go hand-in-hand with his boy—pointing to trees, clouds, and the texture of the grass. I could see they were in a different place—one of sights, smells, and feels.   His son didn’t speak, so the father spoke into the silence around them. Since it was winter, the park was quiet—just the four of us—an energetic girl, and a boy who experienced the park in a way I never had.   We were at the same place, but in different worlds.    I saw a father’s love for his son expressed in quiet words of exploration. Never once did his son use the swing or try the crossbars. His world was spent touching tree bark and looking a
Read more