Saturday Slight

Less than one week left of February, the Oscars are tomorrow night, and just a few weeks until Daylight Savings time starts. None of the above has done much to remove the four feet of snow still on the ground. I looked at the weather forecast for the next week, and it seems doubtful that much will change soon. Days in the low 40s, nights below freezing.

So, we just sits and waits----finding creative ways to occupy our days leading up to that annual overnight phenomenon when everything outside suddenly demands our attention almost 24-7----growing grass, awaiting garden soil, growing weeds, fence fixing, horse grooming, bike riding. Yes, bike riding is just as important as all the others, cuz we've gotta have some recreational fun in addition to work.

I'm pretty anxious for spring so that I can finally use one of the gifts Bill gave me for Christmas. It's been sitting in a corner next to the couch since then and has yet to come out of the box. I've always wanted a metal detector, to take along when we go on some of our geocaching outings and comb through areas where structures once stood or old mines once operated.

One of my favorite areas is at Meadow Creek where there was a teacherage and a school, and where my dad chopped the wood for the schoolhouse stove each morning while his mother prepared herself for another day of teaching the students northeast of Bonners Ferry. I've always figured the ground around there could yield some fascinating finds.

This past year, the yearning for a metal detector was even more enhanced by Stan and Geneva Meserve's tales of the Humbird influence on our very own land. Seems one of the logging railroads ran north and south through the fields between our barn and the machine shed. Stan says a mill operated on the spot where his barn now stands.

Knowing that information provided more than ever an urgency to have my own metal detector for those occasional idle moments of wandering the fields. Certainly with this winter dumping, we've had no need to even get the thing out of the box since Christmas, but once the snow disappears, I'll pull out the instructions and put that gismo to work. Bill also plans to take it along with him sometimes when he's cruising timber on Humbird land.

He loves finding signs of where horse stables once stood or logging camps operated, and he's found a few artifacts, like nails and remains of barrels. So, this year when the gift request list was announced, Bill didn't think twice about honoring my wishes on that item.

Another dream of an upcoming spring, and that's what keeps us going. But there's also a barn to clean and a cute little Lefty out there waiting to join his buddy Lily. So, I'd better get moving.

Happy Saturday to all. Also, for your viewing enjoyment, Annie has some new photos up on her blog at (www.nnlove.blogspot.com). Last weekend, she went to the Oregon coast---to our family fun spot from years ago---Rockaway Beach, and she's snapped some nice images, along with some good moon shots from the eclipse. Enjoy.