Boise 10.13.2020

What could have been an underwhelming day worked itself into a truly lovely experience. Central Idaho is known for agricultural industry. Jeff told us some of the largest crops grown here are onions, potatoes, sugar beets and hops. From a distance, he said, hops look a bit like large grapes but grow on tall utility pole trellises. We thought . . . this we must see.

We picked up Jeff, made a quick stop for a couple of breakfast biscuits and headed out of town. And the old stories began!!! These guys must have a million of them and how their mother, strong as she was, survived their antics, I just don't know!! They fell off roofs, fell out of trees, nearly put Jeff's eye out when Stan let go of his stretched out end of a long chain of rubber bands designed to take out a battalion of toy army soldiers, they accidentally burned a field and came desperately close to taking out the barn. Jeff stole cartons and cartons of cigarettes the boys puffed on and he lifted boxes and boxes of Adams Grape gum for his own personal consumption. As teens, they pilfered and mixed all in one bottle the booze left over from a Christmas Party their boss catered. The stories went on and on. Suddenly we realized the 30-minute ride to Nampa where we hoped to see hops fields, turned into an hour and a half drive with no Nampa in sight. Oops!

Not that the ride was not scenic. Well-turned, homey-looking farm houses and barns stood close to the road where big herds of beef and dairy cattle roamed nearby. And the harvesting activities were well under way. We could see where huge onion crops had just been harvested. Onions having fallen off trucks carrying them to market littered the highway shoulders, all just waiting for someone to pick them up. Huge trucks pulling trailers filled over the top with gnarly sugar beets making their way to local processing plants slowed our progress more than once. We finally made it to Nampa but alas no hops fields. We took a short detour to visit Lake Lowell, part of the Deer Flat National Wildlife Refuge - a feeder source to canals that serve to irrigate the nearby food crops. The recreation area offered short trails where if very lucky, trekkers might view wildlife. I had grabbed my binoculars before we headed out but the weather turned cool and misty, and Jeff has pending knee replacement on tap so we opted to return to the city to take in the Botanical Garden. At that time I queued up Navigation on my phone to make sure we stay on track back to the city this time.

Idaho Botanical Gardens is a hidden Gem. Sitting behind the Old State Penitentiary, now a tourist attraction, where many prisoners were once held for life and quite a few it is said were hanged, the garden is one of the prettiest we've ever seen. Every single plant in the English Garden, the Rose Garden, Herb Garden and Vegetable garden is chosen to thrive and fit naturally into the Idaho environment. It was easy walking and we all enjoyed identifying this plant or that flower, crushing leaves to determine the herb and oohing and ahhing the fall colors beginning to set in. Stan and I lusted over their vegetable garden that does not suffer tomato worms, too much rain, or squash bugs. Their tomato plants were thick, lush and compact and loaded with tomatoes. Their squash and zucchini plants had thick dark green stems and clusters of ripe fruits. The garden is purely organic; the only artificial element is regular irrigation.

Jeff is an interesting character. About 35 years ago, Jeff literally vanished. He simply walked away from his life, his wife and son. No one knew where he was until shortly after his and Stan's mother passed away. He ultimately settled in Boise and has lived here about six years. A movie inspired him to come to Boise. He has no car and bikes, walks or takes the bus everywhere he goes. Still he has explored every corner of the city and was an excellent tour guide. No one knows the inner thoughts, angels and demons inside a person's heart and mind. At a point in time, some of us must do simply what we must do to survive and maintain sanity. It is not our right to judge. It has taken a while but through Stan's persistence in reaching out, Jeff and Stan have renewed their close relationship and will for the rest of their lives.