Palouse Outdoors:Experiencing the Aurora Borealis

A cool autumn breeze zipped over the homestead the night of October 7 as I stood by the barn, attacking a tree limb that had fallen upon the fence. The white alders growing along the ditch are as old as time. The diameter of their sprawling limbs would make a California redwood envious. The lichen-stained railroad tie posts and cedar boards were no match. Replacing that corner section of the fence and gate was on my "to-do" list but failed to reach a priority status until that moment.

Dusk had blanketed the property with a heavy October chill, a welcomed feeling compared to the lingering summe...