Saturday Slight

Frank Noble, I'm jealous. By now or soon, you'll be lying on the beaches of Cancun. I hope you're having a good time.

I just had to write that note to my former student, Frank (SHS Class of 1973), this morning because he may take out some time from his busy vacation schedule to read "Slight Detour" for the first time.

I had a delightful time last night visiting with Frank, his wife, his third son and his lovely daughter-in-law. Young Mr. Noble wrote down Internet site addresses, so maybe a laptop went along, and Frank will check in.

The family was enroute to Cancun, with the first leg of their flight being on the same plane that was taking so long to get from Seattle to Spokane. Annie thought she was getting in earlier than anticipated so I wasted no time driving to the airport after leaving an SHS "old geezer" faculty party at Ron and Linda Hunt's.

As I got into the car, Annie called and said she'd managed an earlier flight than the one scheduled to arrive at 9 p.m. That meant about 90 minutes for me to meet her at the airport. I was on right on schedule, zipping past downtown Spokane when the phone rang.

"I'm on a second plane, and we're supposed to leave at 7:15 p.m.," she told me.

Suddenly the Jimmy slowed down to 55 mph and took a right exit on Maple. I had time to gas up and then drive a leisurely pace to Spokane International. Once there, while inadvertently driving past the opening to the metered parking in front of the Alaska terminal, I saw a video camera and a man being interviewed on the sidewalk.

When I came back around to park, the interview had apparently ended, and the gray-haired man walked into the terminal. I followed him inside and then spotted my dear student Frank. It had been years since we'd seen each other.

A minute or so later, the man being interviewed walked over and said he'd overheard me say that my daughter was on that flight from Seattle and that it had just taken off. He was waiting for someone else on the flight. Then, he went on his way, and I visited with the Noble family for almost an hour.

Later, the man walked back over my way and said the flight should be here any minute. About ten seconds later, my cell phone rang. The flight was on the ground. Annie would be coming in momentarily. This nice man continued to visit and told me he'd been interviewed all day about Gov. Sarah Palin because she was one of his students at NIC.

I told him about the morning hours when my journalistic juices had been flowing and how I'd posted some information about her on my blog. I also had the opportunity to point Spokesman and KHQ reporters to sources who could give them more info on John McCain's newly selected vice presidential candidate. Then, I introduced myself, and the nice gentleman happily introduced himself as Tony Stewart.

Tony Stewart is a much beloved, well-known professor at NIC and a leader in the Coeur d'Alene human rights movement. I met him for the first time last night and felt humbled, especially when he told me he had just wrapped up 39 years of teaching (one at WSU). That stint included 12,000 students.

I was honored to meet this man whom I'd heard so much about over the years. He definitely lives up to his reputation. In our short visit, I was struck by his kindness, passionate love for the craft of teaching and genuine friendliness.

The Nobles went on their way, leaving me with a Fed-Ex envelope to deliver to their friend and another of my former students, Xann Smith. Seems they forgot to drop it off on their way to Spokane, so if they're reading, I must report: mission accomplished. We left the envelope at the Bonner Mall Cinema last night, and I called Xann at 11 p.m. to let her know where it was. Fortunately, she was still up watching the news.

It turned out that Annie was one of the last to get off the plane. She got to meet Tony Stewart also, and we went on our way, enjoying a bite to eat at our family perennial favorite O'Doherty's in downtown Spokane.

Spokane Airport can be a drag at times, especially when you get stuck sitting there, waiting for hours on end, but last night's hour-plus visit was nothing but inspiring, thanks to the Nobles and Tony Stewart.

And, I still want to go to Cancun some day.

In the meantime, this Saturday in Sandpoint promises to be a great day, sunny and the low 70s. Annie has just come downstairs. Bill has just asked her if she brought him anything.

Annie's response: I brought you your daughter; what more do you want?

Good point, Annie.

And, it's looking to be a good day. Happy Saturday to all, even those lying on the beach in Cancun.