Saturday Slight

You might be a redneck if you ever forced people to take your homegrown squash.

Yep, color me red.

That thar observation is November's illustration for my official "Redneck" calendar, sent to me by my dear friend and former student Bryant who works in high places.

I also turned over the Appaloosa calendar this morning and announced to Bill that it's just one more month until our Lily reigns as "Miss December."

Hard to believe how fast this year is speeding by. Hard to remember what all has happened too, because there's rarely been a dull moment.

This Saturday will not be dull either. As soon as Bill unloads yesterday's wood collection from the pickup bed, we'll be loading up Mr. Lefty in the horse trailer and heading for Spokane.

We're picking up Miss Heather, the yearling Arabian filly, today (hoping she'll load the second time in her life as easily as she did the first time in her life this past week), and we'll be bringing her to the Lovestead.

Lefty's going along to keep her company on the ride home. Laurie reminded me last night that Lefty's "the screamer." So, it could be noisy on the trip in to Spokane, but we can drown him out with a little KPBX classical music.

Once we get Heather home, dear Coquie will go back to her home at the Tibbs Colburn ranch. I'll miss her. Next Friday, Laurie will go to Ronan to bring home her little Scout, who will be all of five months old. Lots happening in the family horse business.

This afternoon, if all goes well with the horse stuff, we'll be going to a memorial open house honoring the life of Louanne Daarstad, a longtime friend who died a couple of weeks ago. It will be a sad occasion but good to see Louanne's family who have gathered for the event.

We'll be home by 5, seated in front of the TV, which will be tuned into the Gonzaga Bulldogs' exhibition basketball game. The Bulldogs have been picked to finish in the nation's top ten this year, so we should have some great games ahead. Mother is ready for her Bulldogs to get their show on the road.

And, of course, we'll turn those clocks back. Bill always hates this time of the year because he goes to work in the dark and comes home in the dark. I'm a bit more fortunate, having my own schedule, but the long months of darkness are not my favorite times of the year. At least for a few mornings, there'll be daylight when I feed the horses.

This week has been one of ups and downs with the Bypass ceremony on Thursday and the revelation of my giant blooper picture in Sandpoint Magazine. I'm still reeling from that situation. The owner of the wrong house sent me a note yesterday, wondering what gives.

I didn't know which house was hers from the email, so I assured her via an email response that I had no intention of publishing her house photo, thinking it was the one I had snapped on Thursday.

I had gone back to the site of the awful mistake and had learned that the houses, which stand side by side, even had the two colors I'd mentioned when checking with my source to make sure that I had the right house. The other clue had been the barking dogs, of which I have since learned that both houses had dogs that bark.

When I took the first picture, there had been no political signs in the yards, which could have been clues. Now, there ARE now political signs in the yard of the real house---supporting Sen. Obama. Not much of a clue there.

There was no way out of this never-ending messy mistake, except to live with it and learn from it.

Anyway, after sending an email response, I talked to the wrong house owner on the phone, and that's when I learned that she was, indeed, the owner of wrong house and that's when I had to renege on my earlier assurance that her house photo would not appear in any publication.

She wasn't thrilled that her house had, indeed, appeared in the publication as the wrong first homeof Sarah Palin following her birth in Sandpoint, Idaho, Feb. 11, 1964.

Fortunately, she is an understanding person, and I'm thankful that she was nice to me. Plus, it was nice to know that I actually know this lady because I had her daughter in school in the early '90s.

All that aside, the Sandpoint Magazine story about Gov. Sarah Palin with the correct street address of her early home does appear at www.sandpointonline.com. Scroll down on the main page and click on the link where you see the governor's photo.

It really WAS a fun story to write, even though I wanted to make it longer (my editor always gets on my case and tells me to cut too many words from my first drafts) and in spite of the error.

On to another topic: on this Saturday morning post-Halloween, Bill is happy. Not one trick or treater last night. That means a full pumpkin of mini chocolate bars for him to enjoy over the next week or two.

Well, I'd better get going. A busy day ahead. May your Saturday be wonderful, and may you sing Hallelujah as only three more days remain of the never-ending Presidential campaign.

GO ZAGS!!!