Saturday Slight

My toes are still slightly numb from cold dew. The morning routine is changing. Normally, I let the dogs and cats out from their overnight resting places in the garage and shop. Then, I walk to the barn and get a lead rope for the horses.

I abandoned individual halters a few weeks ago when it occurred to me that I was leading rather civilized horses to and from their pasture. A simple rope over the neck is sufficient and takes a lot less time.

This morning Coquie was a bit rowdy and overly anxious while waiting in third place to get her first bite of grass, but I managed to calm her down. She galloped off across the field and wasted no time putting her head to the ground and grabbing a mouthful of cold, wet grass.

The past few mornings have been fairly brisk. In fact, the thought of spending the next few minutes watering down the garden makes me shiver. So, I've bypassed that activity for later in the day and have spent my morning rounds searching for tomatoes.

Red tomatoes are elusive creatures. They make you earn them this time of year, hiding deep within the abyss of their dark tomato jungles. At the Lovestead this year, tomato jungles abound. I know. I know. We're supposed to remove the extra growth, thus allowing the fruit a better chance to grow.

I'm not the master gardener by any means, so my tomato plants enjoy holistic happiness throughout the season. Everybody gets to thrive, including the stems and leaves. My tomato plants, like my apple trees, are so heavy with fruit, it would take a metal pole or two to support them.

With this scenario, I've had to dig deep into the darkness to find those bright red fruits. I've walked past the plants, searching many times, only to turn around and suddenly spot a hint of red peeking back at me between the vines.

These discoveries the past few mornings have led to cold fingers as I've carefully reached among wet leaves and stems to snap off the red fruit nestled amidst half a dozen of its tightly-clumped green siblings. This morning I found half a dozen of the bell-shaped variety, and, by the time I carried them to the house, my hands were nearly numb.

So, it's almost September, and the garden harvest comes on full bore over the next few weeks, if Mother Nature cooperates, that is. I'm sure there will be many cold-finger mornings ahead.

It's also Saturday and time for slight thoughts about the past day or two, which involved trips to the fair and the typical Friday night out for Bill and me.

I downed two Polish sausages yesterday, one with Rose Marie at the brat shack and another with Bill at the Loading Dock Restaurant where, as night fell, so did the temperature. We felt it as we sat at a picnic table next to Bridge Street. Once again, though, the meal was sprinkled with some good visiting.

I saw Stephanie and Peter Berghan twice in a week after not seeing either of them for at least three years. On Sunday they were serving samples of wine, more than likely aged by their son Michael in Walla Walla. Last night they were enjoying dinner with friends.

The dinner crowd also included Abby Van Horn Leisy and her husband Ryan, an American Falls, ID., native, who has opened his chiropractic practice in Sandpoint www.northernlakeschiropractic.com on Michigan Street. They have two cute little boys, including one named Wil. Abby also has her own photography business www.PrecisionPhotographyonline.com.

Before leaving, we visited with Josh Moon and his wife Rebecca, who are reviving www.batwaves.com, which specializes in the Sanborn brothers' original batwaves logo. It appears on snowboarding mitts, sweatshirts, tee shirts, etc. Apparently, Josh and Rebecca have the operation up and running and will have mitts available for the winter season.

I had sauerkraut on my polish sausage last night but told the brat shack folks to hold it for the afternoon sandwich, which, as usual, met all expectations for Rose Marie and my annual rendezvous at the fair. Considering the fact that I'd be sitting in a book-selling booth for three hours, I wanted my stomach to behave, especially sitting next to Boots. Sauerkraut had to wait until evening.

Boots and I had a great time feeding off from each other's insults and stories. We signed a few books and talked to all kinds of folks, including a few of the Turnbull clan from Sagle. I understand another of that family will be over here next week, so I'm expecting a call, Judy. I promise not to host a slumber party if you come to the Lovestead.

Can't do that until I coordinate with Janet, Joanne, Laura, Susan, Karen, Sherry D., Berg and a few others of our group from those wonderful junior high days. Speaking of which, this week has brought forth another who walked in our midst for a while when her dad was working on construction of the PGT pipeline.

Out of the blue came an email from a Patsy Huddleston in Tennessee who shared wonderful memories of her short stay here in 1961 when she was 13 (and we were 14). Her family lived at Sleep's Cabins near the Long Bridge, and she attended the old junior high briefly. Funny that she would remember that store across from the school where we all went during noonhours to purchase our nickel and dime corn nuts and Good and Plenty's.

Anyway, Patsy's nostalgic letters about her life's experiences certainly took me for another wonderful trip down memory lane.

Meanshile, I also visited with another politician at the fair yesterday. He did not come to our booth; instead, he joined us at the brat shack, initiating the visit with some really ugly algae, including some that looked like the ugly green snot I've seen a time or two dripping from an adolescent nose. Only this was in big quantities.

Rep. Eric Anderson of Priest Lake apparently wanted to get the skinny from the experts on what to do about his algae. Rose Marie and I just looked at the samples, relieved that we'd already finished our brats.

I asked Eric where his cookies were, since George had handed out tasty chocolate chip samples the day before. Eric had a more lasting token of gratitude for our votes. He gave me a couple of his business cards (with his core beliefs about being a politician on the back) and a nice Idaho pin. I wore the pin for the rest of the day, and I did enjoy visiting with Eric, algae and all.

I guess I've rambled too long on this Saturday morning, but there's a lot going on this time of the year. I may go to the fair again today with my mother. If not, the beautiful weather will allow some more time for sprucing up the place and just enjoying a late August weekend.

Happy Saturday to all.