Blank Screen Syndrome

Special note before my mutterings: I did take some time this morning to view most of Annie's photos from her Mount Rainier climb. She sent me an album yesterday, and it's a phenomenal photo story of her experience last Friday. You can view it at: http://flickr.com/photos/nnlove/sets/72157606413010447/

Now for the mutter . . . .

Occasionally, I sit down at the computer with cup full of hot latte next to the keyboard and a seemingly empty brain mass occupying the noggin upstairs. Seems that's the scene this morning, and I'm typing away slowly one word at a time, knowing that the light bulb will eventually turn on.

It's not that life is so dull I have nothing to write about. Conversely, that may be the problem. My thoughts are really going dozens of directions, like Chad Moore's honey bees across the road, waiting to light down on one topic and do my work.

After reading the Spokesman this morning, I thought it would be fun to write about the Spokane diploma mills and how happy I was to see that on the full-page listing of all graduates, not one Idaho fake college graduate had a Sandpoint address.

That's good news for the community, suggesting that most of us residing here and claiming to be college graduates got our diplomas the old-fashioned way: we earned them, one work-study dollar and one scary test at a time. That's not to say, however, that there aren't other phony universities out there from whence Sandpoint residents bought a sheepskin.

Which brings to mind the fact that I haven't seen my University of Idaho diploma for years. I don't think it burned up in our 1984 fire. Seems like I've got a bunch of stuff like that stored in a green plastic garbage bag.

If my memory is correct, I don't remember any of my diplomas (one from Sandpoint High in 1965, one blank document from Sandpoint High when I graduated again in 2002 and one from the U of I) being made of sheepskin.

There's gotta be a story there about when sheepskin got replaced by paper, but I'm not gonna research it this morning. Got too much to do.

Back to brain mass deficit. What could I write about today?

I could tell about the fencing we did last night. I've written about Bill and my fencing projects before. We always get along, and I always re-learn the basics of fencing.

This time we're putting up a board fence on dry ground rather than having to slosh through deep snow with an Appaloosa filly named Lily helping? us every step of the way. It's a lot easier except for a few minor problems with dogs.

One, which we encountered last night involved one dog and one coffee can. It eventually escalated into two dogs and one old woman tangled up in that pink string Bill uses to make sure things are straight. Well, some of the string was lying on the ground near the fence when Kiwi wanted me to kick her coffee can.

I kicked the can. She ran and got her hind leg tangled up in Bill's string. I ran to help her get untangled. She kept running and pulling more string through the pasture away from the fenceline. As I bent over to grab the string and remove it from her hind leg, Kea came along and decided she needed to help.

Kea wiggles a lot when she decides to do anything, and Kiwi gets more and more hyperactive with human contact. Within seconds, the three of us were totally tangled in that pink string, and the more I hollered at Bill about the dilemma, the more unimpressed he remained while continuing to mark off board length, saw off the extra and drill holes for nails.

The two canines and one human remained entwined with the unruly pink stuff for about five minutes. It was definitely a Peter at the Dike scene or maybe a Lucy with the chocolates. One untangle led to several more doggy wiggles and more pink stuff clinging to those perpetually moving bodies. We eventually escaped our confinement, and then Bill asked me to wrap up the string and hang it on a fencepost away from dogs and old women.

Kiwi chased that coffee can string free for the rest of the night, and I continued walking the fence line free of obstacles for the next hour or so. We now have one stretch of fence along the west lawn two boards deep. Maybe tonight, if we can manage to keep the string out of the way, we'll have the other two stretches nearly ready to keep horses confined in the pasture.

Now, what was I going to write about? I guess it came to the brain, and now that I've babbled like a brook, I'm guessing it's time to shut up and get outside for the morning watering, picking and mowing. Lots to do, and the brain is now fully engaged to get at it and spend the day pondering sheepskins. Maybe Kiwi can help me.

Well, the latte is almost gone, and my computer screen is blank no more. So, have a nice Tuesday.