Huckleberries: His habit of going outdoors developed early

A few weeks ago, Huckleberries told you about the birthday present Julie McAndrew gave her Coeur d’Alene banker husband, Jimmy – a subscription to the St. Maries Gazette Record.

Jimmy grew up in rural St. Maries. Huckleberries said at the time that you can take the boy out of the country but you can’t take the country out of the boy

The same applies to Julie’s first cousin once removed Steve Green, 69, of Coeur d’Alene. He grew up peeing outside. And he plans to continue to do so at a cabin that he’s building near Weippe.

Steve and Julie’s father, Howard Judd, grew up on farms in Fraser, Idaho, near Weippe. The first cousins share the same birthday, three years apart. In an email to Huckleberries, Steve said his family didn’t have indoor plumbing until he was 8. By that time, the habit of peeing outside was ingrained. It still is, says Steve, much to his wife’s chagrin.

Quoth Steve, tongue firmly cheeked: “It is tradition and I feel that it’s very important to carry on my heritage.”

Steve isn’t indiscriminate about marking his territory. At the cabin site, three miles from the old family farm, he has installed a urinal on a tree with handlebars for his biker buds and a fire hydrant nearby for their dogs.

They are welcome to use my farm boy facilities,” Steve says. “It’s the country boy hospitality thing to do.”

Steve aims to please.

Gem of a state

Here’s a quick primer about Idaho. Its name doesn’t mean anything. Boise stole the state capitol from Lewiston. It’s not Iowa. Potatoes. And the state now has a holiday of recent vintage to celebrate: Idaho Day. On March 4.

In view of the recent, third annual Idaho Day, Huckleberries asked political observer extraordinaire Randy Stapilus to suggest Idaho history books worth reading.

He responds: “A good readable overview might be Carlos Schwantes’ ‘In Mountain Shadows.’ I’m also a little partial to ‘Idaho 100,’ by Marty Peterson and myself, partly because it takes an analytical look at how things happened in Idaho, in a sort of fractured way, and it’s easy to read, too. Another ‘fractured’ version of Idaho History is scattered through the pages of Cort Conley’s ‘Idaho for the Curious.’ Three different approaches to Idaho history.”

You’re welcome.

Huckleberries

Poet’s Corner: “Harley rider big and bad,/In his leather clothing clad./He used to scare me just a tad,/Before his look became a fad” – Remember The Bard (“Cheesy Rider”) … And: “The robins are freezing,/Whilst the daffodils remain buried./Methinks Old Man Winter/And Mother Nature got married” – Linette Freeman of Hayden (“Winter-Spring Romance”) … Enough, Already: “Dreaming of a White Christmas is one thing, but having to have nightmares of a white St. Paddy’s Day is quite another” – Coeur d’Alene Councilman Dan English … David Bond, the former SR scribe from Wallace, was surprised Tuesday to see a marshmallow parked across the street. On second thought, he said, “(I) think it used to be a car.”

Parting Shot

Dave Keyes of Sandpoint defines “Zagnostic” as “One who doesn’t believe in the existence of Zags. Fewer every day.” May their kind decrease.