Later 'maters

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It's kinda fun to come into the kitchen these days. Sometimes the aroma of apples cooking in the kettle in preparation for jelly-making provides a warm welcome.

Other times it's just the sight of the summer's bounty in the garden window as I set yet another batch of ripening tomatoes in full view to remind me they need to get eaten, used in a main dish or frozen for later use.

I've been making apple jelly lately, thanks to that loaded-down tree and its buddy with fewer but bigger apples. I'll probably use a few more of those apples for jelly cuz it's easy.

Then, comes the sauce, which will take a lot of patient persistence. The apples aren't terribly big, so the kettle will probably sit around on a counter top for the next week or so, reminding me to do some more peeling.

Speaking of peeling, Bill's been doing some of his own, along with some dicing. He grabs a potato from the box in the garage, peels it, dices part of it and throws it in the frying pan with his cut-up Schwan's sausage patties, referring to the mixture as his "Depression potatoes."

We're thankful for the abundance in our garden and on our fruit trees this year. We've even handed some of it over to the Food Bank, and still have enough to keep our grocery bill down for a few months ahead.

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On this Saturday morning, we both have open schedules, which is a rarity. So, we're taking it slow and easy, deciding what to do for the day ahead. If it's warmer than yesterday, I might take Lily for a ride.

I saw Roxane Conrad the other day, and she says she's game for going on a short trail ride in the neighborhood. Roxane has come home from the Marines, home to the place where she grew up with her mom and dad, both Marines. Her brother Miles was also a Marine.

Roxane and her husband have both retired, from the Marines, that is. Before I move on to their accomplishments on the Conrad home front, I must mention that Roxane (SHS Class of 1982) was a Marine sharpshooter and Olympian. She participated in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics and won many prestigious sharpshooting competitions during her Marine tenure.

Roxane also loves horses, always has. Since moving back to Idaho this past spring, she and her husband have rolled up their sleeves and made significant improvements on the family farm, including a gorgeous horse barn. Roxane took me on a tour a couple of weeks ago, and my mouth was watering at the beautiful wood, the hot-running water for every stall, the tack room, office, etc.

To say they've been busy is an understatement, and they certainly haven't scrimped on quality. The other day Roxane told me she was going to have a break from the work and would be glad to go for a ride. She knows of some trails not far from their home, which is just a mile away from ours. I'm hoping by the end of the weekend to have some good memories of a ride with my former student and fellow horse lover.

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The kids will all be together this weekend in Seattle. Annie tells me Debbie's already over there and that Willie will fly over tomorrow. She says they'll hang out tomorrow and sometime during the weekend will do more birthday stuff----a combined small party for Annie and Debbie who turns 31 the day before the big election.

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Speaking of the election, I do have my political sign which will be on display in the yard for the next week----in a safe place where it won't be stolen. I'm very proud to put out a sign for Sen. Barack Obama and his running mate Sen. Joe Biden.

I'm sure everyone who votes will be proud of their chosen Presidential candidate. What we need to take most pride in is the fact that we exercise our right to choose whom we feel will best represent our beliefs and principles.

I've always been a believer in choosing the person rather than the party, and my votes down the ballot will reflect that clearly. In the commissioner, state legislator, U.S. Congress and U.S. Senate races, I'm proudly voting for four Republicans and four Democrats. The specifics I'll keep to myself.

In watching and reading the trillions of words uttered about candidates of all levels, I've hated "talking points" where supporters simply parrot the same phrases over and over or the phrases of the day. Such strategies are turn-offs, causing us to react

just as we do when we tune into a TV rerun. If we've heard it a thousand times already, what is going to change our minds to hear it again, especially if it's a trumped-up lie?

I think most of us Americans are smarter than the strategists give us credit for. At least, I hope we are.

If I were to get on one soapbox about this endless Presidential election, I'd complain vigorously that we have not heard enough in any of the debates or the discussions about education.

To me, that is the cornerstone of what is going to make a difference in this country. We've dumbed it down over the past several decades, and it's time to put our resources and our wisdom back into its importance.

That does not necessarily come through money. It comes through consistency in curriculum and consistency in carrying out that curriculum over a generation's time. The hodgepodge we've seen in our American education system over the past couple of decades is reprehensible and surely a key symptom for the problems we're experiencing in our country right now.

Okay, I'll shut up. It's Saturday and it's supposed to be a day of enjoyment.

Have a great day wherever you are!