It brings me no joy to announce that this is my final piece for the Bonners Ferry Herald. Though I am not entirely to blame, some of my articles here have admittedly spurred controversy, but my hope is that few, if any of you look to the heavens and celebrate my departure, as I have sincerely worked to the best of my ability to provide fair and accurate local reporting. 

It’s not easy to say goodbye to this beautiful mountain town and to those who comprise the heart and soul of our community. Upon sharing the news with some valued colleagues, I have been told courteously, “I look forward to seeing where life takes you ... I always knew you were destined for bigger and better things.” 

I struggle to find words in response to the idea of 'bigger and better things' when spoken by those I regard as profoundly selfless, loyal, dedicated, and capable — people who work tirelessly, often without recognition, to strengthen this community and help it move forward. To you, I presume, if ‘bigger and better’ meant someplace else, you would be gone. Thank you for your steadfast commitment to this town. 

To be sure, there are longtime Bonners Ferry folk who have had opportunities to move on to other cities, where fame and fortune are abundant, to find themselves in the headlines of a bigger newspaper. But from you I have learned that fulfilment is self-defined, and that there is no greater accomplishment than nurturing the people and places that matter most to us. Thank you for articulating the value of rootedness. 

It has been a privilege to call this majestic land of the Wild Selkirks and Mighty Kootenai my home. For over 10,000 years, it has belonged to the Ktunaxa people, who tell of a great Covenant with the Creator, that as long as we are good stewards of the land, never taking more than we need, we will always have enough. In my first true Northern winter, unfamiliar with my surroundings, far from my home in Texas, I struggled at times to overcome loneliness. But eventually, out of solitude I found serenity. Thank you, nature, my spiritual North Idaho companion, for showing that happiness is wanting what you got, not getting what you want.    Litter piles up on Riverside Road inside the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge.

On a morning last April, I had an unlikely revelation. At the Kootenai National Wildlife Refuge, a place I often found myself in the beauty of spring flooding, I was picking up streetside litter to support the claim of a retired wildlife biologist, that all roads passing through the refuge should be abandoned, in the name of true wildland restoration. In that moment, I realized there was no place I would rather be, and nothing I would rather be doing, a bold statement to make while sifting through garbage with my bare hands. My circuitous journey that led me here in retrospect was the obvious choice. I had found peace. 

But, as a young writer in pursuit of broadening my experiences and understanding of the world, I am continuing my journey onward. Though I may have left, in many significant ways, Bonners Ferry will never leave me.