Frybread dues

Jeannie was at Wal-Mart when she called. She wanted to make sure we were home because she had fresh frybread to deliver. In her words, Jeannie's homemade treat would pay her dues for the Lodgepole Society this year. Jeannie Mikkelsen became a member last winter when she and Bill snow-shoed out to the Lodgepole aka "God Tree."

She knows we LOVE her frybread, and I was mighty glad I called back that number on the caller ID. I hadn't gotten to the phone in time, and she had already hung up. I don't know where the frybread would have gone if we hadn't been home, but that's not a problem. We know where some has already gone and we have plans for the remainder of the pile.

Bill was not home when Jeannie called. He was out fishing. He had finished his errands in town, coming home with new paddles for the aluminum boat. He scurried around completing the "honey-do's." It's amazing how hard and quickly a man can work when he's got geocaching or fishing on his mind.

It's mighty nice for the wifey too cuz she doesn't have to nag nearly as much. Praise God for good weather and a return to urgent recreational activities. I have a feeling that many projects will get completed around here a lot faster now that Bill can get back to his outdoor fun activities.

Jeannie and I had a nice visit, talking about things we want to accomplish in life before getting too old, too grizzled and too crippled. She's setting off in a couple of weeks for a 98-mile bike ride over in the Libby area. She was inspired to do this after seeing previews for Jack Nicholson's "Bucket" film.

So, of course, I shared my latest long-term goal: to get hold of a bottle of Advil big enough to allow me to participate some year soon on the Chief Joseph Trail Ride. Of course, my mare Lily has to be well-broke, seasoned and deemed reliable as a mount for an old arthritic woman.

The Chief Joseph ride retraces the path of the famous Nez Perce chief as he and his people attempted to escape the pursuit of the U.S. Cavalry in the late 1800s. It extends several hundred miles from Oregon to Northeastern Montana. Each year about 250 riders cover a leg of the trail, about 100 miles over a week's time. And, they all ride Appaloosas.

Bill and I have visited the ride a couple of times---the years it passed through Southeastern Idaho and West Yellowstone area. It's definitely an impressive spectacle to see all those spotted horses and their riders snaking along a trail or coming down a dirt road flanked by beautiful aspens and green meadows.

Anyway, some day I might do that, providing Lily's willing and my knees allow me to sit in the saddle that long. Don't need to worry about too much padding on the behind.

In the meantime, it was fun for Jeannie and me to talk about those goals yet to be met in life. Jeannie had to get going because their chocolate lab was looking like she was gonna have her pups. So, I gave her a potted cabbage plant and a home-planted blooming marigold in return for her frybread dues.

Bill came home about twenty minutes later with a 14-inch rainbow trout ready to throw in the frying pan. I told him he could top off that fish with some of Jeannie's frybread. He was delighted and smothered it in some of this last year's strawberry jelly. This morning, his frybread got the powdered sugar treatment.

We were all delighted with yesterday's lovely weather and with all we were able to do. And, it's looking like things are drying up enough that we'll soon be able to lure a few new folks out across the fields of new green grass for a stop at the Lodgepole and Bill's official induction into the society.

They'll just have to determine their own dues.