BACK IN THE YAAK

It was one of many days of driving hours and hours with accomplishing not much of anything. Another beautiful summer day down the drain. This one was particularly discouraging because it was the 3rd of 4 attempts to buy property thus far. The first had been a lumber yard owned repo which we'd wasted months on. After that, it was a commercial property for a shop and house, my husband had been really really excited about it. We had lost out on our closing date days before due to a technicality and one missing signature. In the end, my husband had paid out a few grand in expenses for things we did not need now that the sale was not going through. It was frustrating trying to get signatures of people who wouldn't sign. After weeks of waiting we were back to square one. I hadn't wanted to go land shopping the very next day, but my husband was determined. We had stopped at the bank and I had mentioned pizza would make a really cheap date, half heartedly. I was pretty sure he didn't want to spend the $9. After doing our bank business, we got back to the truck with the shocking discovery that my otherwise perfect husband, who never forgot anything at all, forgot and locked the keys in the truck.

We looked at each other and he began prying open the back window. We were there standing in the cab of the truck in the bank parking lot and began attracting attention with our obvious break in technique. Finally he had the window pried apart enough for me to barely attempt a shimmy. I dove in head first, imagining myself stuck there with my feet in the air. As I slid in, the latch of the window caught my shorts and undies and soon I was half way in the truck with a full moon facing the public eye. I couldn't stop laughing. Now, in my head, the fire department was there trying to loose a half naked woman, rump in midair. With a few desperate upside down pulls, I drug the rest of my booty through the tight window space and my booty was at least now inside the truck. My husband laughed and I laughed and he caved on the pizza.

Its a good thing he caved on the pizza because it was the day of the terrible storm. We'd found a parcel on the edge of a fancy subdivision in none other than the Yaak (the place he's determined to be). It was a nice 6 acre piece and he was thrilled with it. The big mistake was my friendliness to the neighbors. They seemed to love us and chatted real friendly. After making the offer, we hit the worst storm of the year. Hail beat down, trees fell and massive damage happened in the blink of an eye. We had to pull over because we couldn't see. When it let up, Kevin helped another man moving trees out of the highway. Within minutes of clearing them, an ambulence came flying by. Thank God the trees had just been cleared. Anyway, the Yaak's power was out for about 4 days. During that time, our realtor submitted an offer via the internet which was delayed. The friendly neighbors must have rushed to town and offered full price because by the time we found out, we'd lost out again.

We also attempted to buy a rat infested house on a beautiful property, and considered an off grid dump with a beautiful river piece. Then we tried to get my favorite of them all, an unbelievable 20 acre parcel on the river. It would have taken a lot of our money and we'd have had to build a house slowly, but the tall cedars spoke to me there. I knew the property was well worth the investment. That one was sale pending by the time we got the offer in. My husband joked with our realtor that she should just have him go look at anything she might want sold. I went from praying in a seemingly spiritual warfare passionately to times where I didn't want to get out of bed to face the world.

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We stayed at the ranch north of Bonners Ferry for well over a month. The owners were very kind, but eventually relocated us down by our son. I know they needed their space, and I will always remember them for their generousity. For a week or so, I got to rock my grandbaby every day and I loved it, but my son, too, needed his privacy. It was apparant before long that he really needed his own space and it hurt me deeply, but I understood. The day came when we packed up our caravan of what was travelable and began the maiden voyage to the Yaak. I felt scared and relieved at the same time. We were giving up electricity, internet, phone, family, but gaining the fact that we were no longer burdening anybody.

Something happened to me driving up there. I felt so much relief and peace. The community center had one freezer space left and I gratefully took it. Now I had a way to harvest and store for winter. After getting that situated, my husband surprised us with the most wonderful, camping spot ever, right in our old stomping grounds. It is in a beautiful meadow right on a low spot of river where we used to spend a lot of time. A cold spring graces its banks and we have fresh, cold drinking water pouring out anytime of day or night. An outhouse with no walls is a short bit into the woods adds to its quirky personality. Not a far walk away is the lake I used to swim in. A few miles away are the bars with internet access, and the freezer is also close. Its central to any direction we may want to property search. Best of all, its so peaceful and private. Hardly no one knows about how wonderful it really is. I felt like a different person just pulling in. It was like finding myself all over again.

I remember how my eldest son would hunt bear in here on lazy evenings and boast of the wonderful spring water and rushing creeks. My kids were overjoyed. They roamed and remembered each secret place with great joy. I played Heather Clark and felt such joy, like I'd not found in a very long time.