Wrinkly Bits
A Blog by Gail Cushman
Today is Idaho’s birthday, 136 years young, alive with beauty and progress. July 3, 1890. Take your hat off and wish her well. She is every bit as beautiful today as when she became a state. Those of us who are Idaho natives have tried to keep her a secret, but it hasn’t worked well, and now nearly two million people live in Idaho, enjoying the beauty of the state and more coming, so they say.
In case you have forgotten, school children used to be taught that her name came from a Shoshone word, E Dah Hoe, meaning “gem of the mountains,” but later discovered that it was a made-up name, with no real meaning.
The state fruit is huckleberry; the state gem is the star garnet; the state bird is the Mountain Blue Bird. Some of Idaho’s wonders are: Shoshone Falls, bigger than Niagara Falls. The Perrine Bridge over Snake River Canyon in Twin Falls. Balanced rock, a creation that only God could make. The Shoshone Ice Caves, coupled with hot springs. Thousand Springs State Park where you see springs gushing from the side of a canyon.
I lived in seven different counties in Idaho: Gem, Boise, Custer, Gooding, Jerome, Lewis, and Clearwater. Each has its own beauty, whether it is mountains, rivers, fields of grain, cattle, hills, or sheep.
I live in Montana now, attracted by a loving cowboy, but I’ll never leave my Idaho roots behind. Happy Birthday, Idaho!
