Orofino and Kamiah

My husband has a couple of cases active that remind me of his strength and superior-being diplomacy skills, and also of why I’m glad I retired from practicing law. I proposed a road trip, and he was up for it and happy I was feeling well enough to suggest it. I’ve gone 10 days without a migraine, but for the most part, I’ve been subdued, cautious, and somewhat uncharacteristically soft-spoken. Migraines originating with trigeminal neuralgia can be triggered by talking, noise, and cold, and I have taken up a walking-on-eggshells posture with all of the above, as much as possible.

Since I hadn’t yet been to Orofino, and have heard it is a beautiful drive of under an hour from Clarkston, I suggested that be our destination. The route follows the Clearwater River from Lewiston, along US-12.

Except for one over-wide truck, the load of which projected a good four feet into our oncoming lane, the drive was as peaceful as it was beautiful. Because of my subdued, contented mood, I wasn’t up for taking pictures so much as just enjoying the river out the window, and from a pretty park where we made a picnic of some cheese, fruit, and chips from a pleasant grocery store in town.

We went into a shoe store to see whether any of the cute and practical shoes in the window came in narrow, but that was too much to be expected. The rareness of narrow-width shoes notwithstanding,chatting with the owners was pleasant beyond all expection. And I did score a couple of rare finds there: some pink merino wool socks, and an extremely well-orgaized clutch bag with a strap that would free my hands for taking pictures; but I still wasn’t up to taking more than these few on this excursion.

We went on another 20-some miles to Kamiah, just to see its downtown and surrounds; I thought it looked more run-down than quaint, and took no pictures for lack of inspiration.

The highlight of the day came when we had been home for 10 or 15 minutes, and I realized we hadn’t once spoken of my husband’s frazzling cases today. In fact, neither of us had thought of them once. Mission blissfully accomplished.

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