Saturday Slight

I covered the tomatoes last night, but there was no need. We escaped a frost, even though it was pretty chilly when we arrived home from dinner at Jalapenos. Chet French's restaurant usually has lots of locals, but last night was also Sandpoint's Homecoming football game, which pitted the Bulldogs against the Boise High Braves. The Bulldogs must've growled really loud cuz they won by more than 30 points.

Bill was concerned about this game because Willie's a Sandpoint High grad (1995) and his wife Debbie is a Boise High alum (1996). We don't know if there was any animosity at the Boise Love house, but we do know at least one party was happy with the final score, and it was probably a Bulldog. The other day I harassed Willie on his "Treasure Valley Sports" blog about the family squabble the game might cause, but he chose to ignore Mom's comment. Haven't been able to get into the site this morning to see if he's gloating.

Speaking of Willie and Debbie, one of their best friends is getting married today. Alana Watkins, daughter of Jim and Ruth, and reader at the Love wedding six years ago, is having her big day down on the Pend Oreille River. So, we'll be representing the Love contingent since the fall high school sports scene will be keeping Willie pretty close to home from now until Christmas.

Alana is a mighty fine young lady. She served as student body vice president when Willie was president. She, their mutual friend Seth and Willie created many wonderful memories during their high school and post-high school wanderings. They were definitely a trio who inspired action wherever they went----even a spat or two from rival schools, I've been told.

I was fortunate to have Alana on my newspaper staff for two years after she sat in my sophomore honors English class. That was back during her "actress" phase. Alana made a wonderful Eliza Doolittle when we covered Pygmalion in literature. She also was a wonderful writer, serving as sports editor for the Cedar Post and winning a national award as a feature writer. She went on to Bates College, majored in English and landed a nice job as a publicist at Random House in New York. Alana experienced 9-11.

Since then, she's moved to Denver, where she has her own marketing company. She's also met the love of her life, and we're going to meet him today, so it should be a fun time.

I'm supposed to go to a wedding shower in Post Falls for another former Cedar Poster, Erica Curless, but Maggie of Dover is having a shower for Erica next week. I received permission from Mama Gail to ditch today's shower, sponsored by Erica's Spokesman colleagues. Mama Gail said she'd do the explaining cuz she can't ditch any of the showers. Erica will be tying the knot in less than a month, and we're all looking forward to seeing Dover rock when that happens.

Bill's getting ready to help his minister out with a funeral this morning. Dr. Nancy's been gone for a couple of weeks on vacation and just arrived home late last night, so Bill's been helping gather all the necessary information for a nice memorial service. Quite a contrast of events for us Love's today. All part of the great transitions of life.

Football season must be one of those, right? Well, at least one Love family member will be having a big football experience today, and the rest of the Loves will stand united on their wishes for the outcome. Miss Annie has tickets to the Boise State ~~ University of Washington game in Seattle this afternoon. So, before going to Alana's wedding, we figure on spending some time in front of the tube, hoping to see Annie and her friends at the big game. Go Broncos! Beat those Huskies!

The weather remains beautiful and actually comfortable, so we're definitely enjoying September so far. Now that some of my writing deadlines have been met, I can enjoy it all the more. And, those tomatoes----have I ever mentioned tomatoes on this blog? Well, those giants I may have mentioned a week or so ago are almost ripe, as are many still hanging from the vines. And, the sweet corn is huge and to die for. Besides that, it received my mother's enthusiastic stamp of approval after she sampled a couple of ears the other night.

In short, it's looking like a delicious, fun-filled few days ahead. Happy Saturday. Eat well!