Going to see a lady about a horse

Well, today is Lefty and Dusty Day. Soon, Barbara and I will head east toward Ronan, Montana, which sits at the base of the magnificent Mission Mountains. If any country were prettier than Sandpoint, I'd say Ronan, St. Ignatius and the like could compete. The scene from Ravenwood Ranch, where Lefty and Dusty came into the world four months ago, fits in the "drop dead gorgeous" category: rolling irrigated farm fields skirted by a line of jagged high mountain peaks.

Of course, Jane, the ranch owner, has been telling us about the smoke. The Montana fires south of Missoula and near Seely Lake have mounted to the thousands of acres, and with that situation has come days and days of smoke. Hopefully, yesterday's rain helped rid the air of most of it---if yesterday's rain made it to Montana, that is. We got a welcome downpour here.

We're excited to get over there to Ravenwood, to pick up the little guys and to head them back to their new homes. We don't know how halter broke they are. If not, they'll get a quick lesson and maybe a tug with a butt rope or two. Barbara and Laurie's horse trailer is padded to the hilt so they should have a safe and comfy ride back to Sandpoint.

I told Bill that if I'm not home when he gets home this afternoon, I'm either enroute or over there at the Colburn farm, playing with babies. I added that he needed to come over to see them, to which he commented, "I'm anxious to see the new driveway."

Well, that's pretty exciting too. The Tibbs network of driveways took a soaring leap of improvement this past week as Sandpoint's finest grader man, Perry Palmer, looked them over and figured out what needed to be done to eliminate the soaring leap many drivers have taken over the years when they've hit ground with their car bottoms. No more holes, not more bumped heads.

The driveways run smooth as silk now, thanks to Perry. Laurie said yesterday while coming in from Spokane with trailer hooked on behind that she didn't have to plan her attack. She could just drive in without veering to the left or right, hitting tree limbs, to avoid the bumps. So, yes, thanks to Perry's expertise, Bill will have three marvels to behold when he goes to the Colburn farm for a visit this afternoon: Lefty, Dusty and Smoothie (that's the driveway). And, that's in no particular order.

I think all three will make us all happy for a long, long time.

Breaking News: Well, maybe it's not breaking, but it's definitely news that won't break anyone's heart. Word on the street is that parking fees will NOT be charged for this year's Bonner County Fair.

There was word on the street for most of the summer saying there would be a fee, $2 per day per car, but I've heard that the powers that make up parking fee ideas held back on that plan. Maybe they heard the ground swelling all over Bonner County with lots of grumbling. Anyway, that's good news. So, see you at the fair this week.