The Long way home in the soft April rain

With the clouds in the sky not looking nearly as threatening as the weatherman had warned on the morning news, I decided that I would ride the bike to the Gym on Sunday.

I had been without my girl for a couple of weeks while Kawasaki resolved a few of her recall issues (Wiring Harness and Muffler bolts and such) and had felt a strong desire to make up for the lost time with her, whether it meant riding in the cold driving rain or not.

The ride to the Gym on Sunday afternoon was a non-eventful highway ride under cloudy skies. When I arrived, a girl who was walking to her car queried as to whether or not it was a little too cold to be riding today...........I assured her that it was not.

With the workout done and suited back up, I decided to take the long way back home, the clouds had just begun to spit a little, but it wasn't the toadstrangler that the forecasters had warned me about earlier in the day.

"The long way" consists of mainly 20 or so miles of country dirt roads wandering through the more remote areas of the Palouse country; an occasional farm every few miles and that is about it, very little traffic.

There was a building that I had ridden by on this route once before, I didn't have my camera at the time and had promised myself to visit the building at sometime in the future so that I could take a few pictures. Today was a good day for that.

Originally, I had mistaken the building as a church, upon my return, I believe now that it was once a schoolhouse.

Built at the crossroads of two dirt roads deep in the Palouse, I was left to wonder what this area was like when it was originally built. Considering how remote it's location is, the building is huge.

Schoolhouse maybe?

Notice the radius walls, there were no home centers back when this structure was built, I imagine that there were no power tools at the time either. As a carpenter, I was impressed with the attention to detail and the apparent pride that these folks displayed in their craftsmanship.

The Belfry at the top of the structure. This building, whatever it was, once had a voice.

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After shooting a number of pictures, I stayed awhile and kept the building company and imagined what this place must have been like, back when the structure was in it's prime.

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We parted ways a few moments later and I rode the rest of the way home navigating the quiet backroads of the Palouse in the soft April rain.

Ride Well

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E.T.