When I wrote the previous posting, "How Green is my Valley", I referenced both my old hometown, Kettle Falls, Washington, and a posting by Loren, otherwise known as In a Dark Time. At the time that I read Loren's weblog, he had mentioned that he was going to be writing a new posting about a county in Washington that's threatening to shut down it's library system.

Well, when I checked a bit later to read this new posting, (sorry, no permalinks), Loren started it off with a link to the New York Times Article detailing the story. So I click on it...

...only to find that the county that is trying to shut its library system to save tax money is none other than Stevens County, the county where I grew up. And the byline for the article reads "Kettle Falls, Washington". In case you're wondering, no I had not read this article previously; in fact, I choked on a diet Coke when I opened the article page from Loren's site.

Did I happen to mention to you all that I live in a perpetual state of serendipity?This strangely accidental and beautifully symmetrical happenstance, is a perfect introduction into a new series of weblog postings I plan on writing over the next week: Coming of Age in John Birch Country.

So, stay tuned over the next several days as I introduce you all to the town and county that would shut its libraries to save some bucks. Join me as I explore the gold mines, the racism, the buried money, and the tragedies, legends, and beauty of a small town located forty miles from Idaho, forty miles from Canada, and forty years out of time.

BTW -- I knew the Frostad's.

Update: Nothing like having MeFi going after Kettle Falls and Stevens County. This is almost like opening up MetaFilter and finding them discussing your Mom or Dad or grandparents. What's interesting is that many of the thread sound more like past citizens of Kettle then myself...