"Boise Crop Circle" update; located

on the lawn of the governor's house that nobody lives in (story follows). Blue skies and clear air today in Boise - a good day for a crop circle update. The house on the hill including part of the lawn (not the part the "art" is on) was donated to the state of Idaho for use as a governor's residence by J. R. Simplot, Idaho's richest man (his company mostly invented the frozen French fry potato - for years his license plate read, "Spud 1." The donation also specified that the huge American flag had to remain on the mountain. He said, when he had the flag installed that he was grateful to America for helping him be so successful (notwithstanding his conviction for illegal speculation in Maine potato futures some years ago). When the flag was first installed, it made so much noise flapping in the wind that it kept people living below the hill awake at night. The "crop circle" is on land still owned by the Simplot Company. Problem is the house was not designed for public functions and needs much expensive renovation. During the 2006 election both the Democratic and Republican candidates for governor declared they didn't want to live in it. The Republican candidate who won (it's a law of nature in Idaho that Republicans win) kept his promise about not living in the house. Coincidentally, Idaho's new Governor, Butch Otter, is J.R. Simplot's ex-son-in-law. One comment on a blog of a local weekly newspaper speculated that if the "circle" had been created by an overdose of fertilizer, rather than weed killer, that the new grass replacing the dead grass would come back much darker than the surrounding grass. That's why it's kind of fun to have periodic "updates.! Photo by Frank