Saturday Slight

They promised us a little nice weather today. I hope it warms up for the afternoon wedding festivities at Dover. Erica will, no doubt, bring an eclectic group together as her Spokesman-Review buddies all mingle with the down homers of Dover and of horse/dog circles. I'm looking forward to seeing a few of her close friends from high school who also left a special place in my heart.

For a while, I thought a whole herd of our family would be attending the wedding, but my sisters are going to a horse sale in Kalispell, my mother doesn't want to deal with moving from the beach to the barn, Annie wanted to save her traveling money for Hawaii, and Bill has to go to Coeur d'Alene attend the funeral of his forester friend Stieg Erickson. His friend, a picture of health at 63, died suddenly last week while hunting on the St. Joe.

Anyway, with all those other plans taking family folks different directions, I'll be soloing it at the wedding. I've heard there are plans for plenty of boot stomping once the reception starts. Don't know if I'll stomp mine, but I'm thinking about wearing them, since Erica said she'd be wearing her SK's under her wedding dress.

In other news, we have a final permit signed for the Byway through Sandpoint. That doesn't mean it's going to start any time soon, cuz the opponents are talking about lining the pockets of even more litigation lawyers, and there's still some red tape dealing with a proposed park/parking lot which needs to be settled. I read this morning in the paper that construction will last for three years, and some people think downtown could dry up in that time. Why do I feel skeptical about that claim?

Anyway, the sooner they just get 'er done, the sooner we can move on to some other 50-year problem to fight about. I'd really like in my lifetime to move on to just one more chapter of divisive disagreement. Think of the adrenalin a brand-new contentious issue could pump into all our veins. We'd have to start from scratch, building up alliances, writing letters with whole new arguments, picking enemies, finding new outside "experts" to move in an solve the situation for the dumb natives---I'm ready to rumble.

Speaking of rumbling. How about that toe-tapping Larry Craig? Now, they're going to have to watch the bathrooms at the Idaho Hall of Fame. Where is that anywho? Can you imagine during the ceremony---if it goes on for a long, long time----how uncomfortable all male bladders will get. Cuz who's gonna want to take a chance on having the Senator follow them to the john?

In all seriousness, I have come to believe that Larry Craig has a bigger, more inpenetrable (no pun) ego than Bill Clinton. Talk about "in your face, Idaho." What a joke these people have made of the political system and the ideals of what we naive stupes used to believe were sacred!

All that stuff they fed us as kids appears to be a bunch of bunk when you see how these supposed brilliant minds who've landed in positions of exemplary influence conduct themselves and thumb their noses at the lowly peons who wonder why they behave that way. Then, there's that guy from Louisiana who still continues to "serve" himself in the U.S. Congress even after stuffing all those thousands and thousands of public money in his freezer.

Now, if I had only read in this morning's paper that Sen. Craig was being inducted into the Idaho Hall of Shame, I could have saved myself and readers from the above rant. Even Marian Jones finally came out and showed some decency by apologizing and pleading guilty for using steroids in the Olympics and shattering the image of yet one more Olympic ideal. I understand she's very savvy with her behavior in front of a camera, but she did seem genuinely sincere and she did admit to doing something wrong, which happens very rarely these days.

I'd better switch gears and think about the thoughts expressed on Oprah's show yesterday about eating, praying and loving. I ate last night at the Craggy Range, loved it, and pray that we'll go back again. Their sweet potato fries, with a side of syrup, are mighty good as was my range burger.

So, it's time to shut up and move on out to the barn where my horses don't cheat, lie, steal or tap their heels on the floor. But they sure do poop a lot!

Happy Saturday.