Balls, "Today" in Kenmare, etc.

 

Eye on the ball. 

This exercise happens numerous times a day when Bridie goes with either Bill or me on walks around the place. 

Occasionally, she takes her eye off the ball and leaves it in unknown places, to be discovered and watched during future sojourns through the fields or the woods.

Our job is to find wherever she has placed the ball.  She often gives hints by staring directly toward the ball. 

Most of the time we find it and throw it for her to start the next round.  

This doe stood like a statue about 30 feet from me yesterday while I took the dogs for a walk through the woods. 

She was in an area where Bridie's sniffer did not pick up her scent, so she and I simply made eye contact.  When the dogs and I moved on, she continue grazing on the tall grass. 

Nice to have those sweet unplanned moments while walking through the woods. 

https://sandpointreader.com/the-sandpoint-eater-a-lot-of-love/

The author of this column and I have a common goal today:  watch the "Today Show" and see how much we recognize as the show airs from Kenmare, County Kerry, Ireland. 

Marcia and I have exchanged transit duties a few times in the last several years on our travels from Sandpoint to Kenmare. 

One year she mailed some of my books to Clifden on the Ireland's west coast while spending time in the Kenmare area. 

Another year I went to Finnegan's store and handed over 500 Euros which had been loaned to Marcia when several members of her tour group contracted Covid and had to stay in Ireland for extra days. 

I've taken her Christmas presents to Finnigan's, and most recently she stuffed a Kansas University flag and some T-shirts in her suitcase to hand over to Willie's friend and fellow basketball coach John Adams. 

Willie and Debbie stayed in a house owned by some ardent Kansas fans last fall while Willie conducted a basketball clinic for 80 aspiring players in Kenmare.

Kenmare Kestrels basketball coach John Adams with the KU flag sent to us by our friend Mow from Palm Springs and transported to Ireland in Marcia Pilgeram's suitcase. 

Hopefully, the "Today Show" will include the cow in front of the ice cream store in its coverage.  

The flag has gone to the home of some avid KU fans who have a house in Kenmare. 

🏀🏀🏀🏀

News about the house prompted my friend Mow, also a KU grad from Palm Springs, to send us a flag to add to the Jay Hawks memorabilia in the house.

So, Marcia carried the flag from Sandpoint to Kenmare. 

Anyway, I know that Marcia and I will be tuned in to the "Today Show" this morning where all four hours will be featuring Kenmare and the surrounding areas in Ireland. 

Marcia and I have even talked about promoting a Sandpoint-Kenmare sister city movement. 

Marcia's column in this week's "Sandpoint Reader" touches on the past Saturday's fundraiser for the Bonner Community Food Bank, and it's very nice.

 

 

I have recorded NBC's "Today Show" for this Friday, Oct. 16 and will be watching this morning.  

The "Today" staff will be airing its programming from beautiful Ireland and especially Kenmare, which is one of our homes away from home when we travel to Ireland.

Our friend Mary O'Leary told me there is "fierce" excitement about the "Today" visit, while Rosemary who owns the cottage where we stay plans to be in the crowd and maybe wave.  

We always feel very much at home in Kenmare, so we are tickled beyond measure about today's coverage. 

Gonna publish early this morning so I can watch the "Today Show."

Happy Friday. 

Thursday This, That; TBT

 

Twas a great and beautiful day yesterday for finishing some outdoor fall tasks and getting started on others. 

I did get a good start on apple picking late in the afternoon. 

Two buckets down and several yet to go. 

The apples are not very big, but I use them giving horses treats and for making jelly.  In addition, they've been used in the past for cider.  

It wasn't the most fun apple picking I've ever experienced because I constantly had to dodge deer droppings, which take up most of the space under the tree.  

Most of the lower limbs have been picked clean by our daily visitors. 

There's an article in this most recent issue of Montana:  The Magazine of Western History written by a Sandpoint High grad and longtime family friend. 

The piece, complete with illustrations, leads off the issue and takes up about 20 pages of the magazine. 

It is set in Sandpoint and several points along the route to Priest Lake. 

James Martin, a professor at Montana State University in Bozeman, sent Bill and me a copy of the impressive magazine this week.

His story focuses on a group of Eastern sportsmen who came to the area in 1887 and spent several weeks hunting and fishing, most notably in Priest Lake. 

As I told James, I read the piece quickly because it unfolded like a good story rather than a series of dry historical facts. Plus, I'm familiar with much of the geography associated with the story. 

As readers, we get to know some background on the characters involved, including guides from the local Native American tribes and others who meticulously spearheaded all the logistics of the operation.

I have looked to see if the story appears online but have not found it. Nonetheless, the magazine has a Facebook site and has begun to feature stories from this issue. So, possibly it will soon be available. 

I really enjoyed the article, not only for its contents but also because of its writing style.  James knows how to artfully put together facts in a concise fashion and to tell the story with ease. 

As his high school English teacher, I'm beaming with pride, and I know that Bill, as his Boy Scoutmaster and fellow fish lover, highly approves too. 

As usual, job well done, James.

A fine and poignant homecoming!

Our friend Terry Iverson (fourth from left) and his daughter Amy (third from right) arrived at Spokane Airport last night from Washington, D.C.

  Terry was one of many veterans selected to participate in an "honor flight," which is an acknowledgement of their military service.

The group flew from Spokane Tuesday, stayed the night in the nation's capital, toured historical points of interest and returned home last night.  

Terry served with the U.S. Army during the Vietnam War. 

I'm betting this homecoming with so many of your longtime friends to greet you may have been more pleasant than what many Vietnam veterans experienced when they came home from War. 

Terry's wife Edna (blue coat in middle) told me that the airport was packed for the veterans' return. 

Thank you for your service, Terry, and thanks for sharing this meaningful experience. 

Yesterday Terry sent me photos of some of the monuments he visited in Washington. 

He described the city as very beautiful and clean.  As for the experience, "very surreal and moving." 

  

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This is one of two trunks from our huge lodgepole.  

The double-trunked tree served as a centerpiece in our far pasture and the site where we inducted dozens of  people into our Lodgepole Society. 

Sadly, the tree split and crashed to the ground several years ago. 

We kinda miss taking people to that pasture and having the ceremony under that big tree. 

But the trunks live on, just in a different position.

 

Thursday Throwbacks:  Images from the photo library of past moments, places, scenes and events.  Hope you enjoy. And, do scroll through the photos with the music. 

                                 --Chris Pietsch Photo