Saturday Slight

On this "not quite as frigid as they predicted" Saturday morning, Bill has just taken off for a day of pheasant hunting with his friend and IDL colleague T.J. "Tom" Johnson. The season opened this morning, and Bill told me he was on the edge of his chair with excitement.

I took a look and he was fully within the dining-room chair, so he was figuratively speaking, for sure. But when Bill indicates any level of excitement beyond his usual calm, non-demonstrative demeanor, I do believe him when he says he's truly on edge of his personal emotion-filled chair. I must admit that he does get a bit animated when his mind is on geocaching and fly fishing.

So, it could be that pheasant hunting is finding its way to his list of passions. Bill and Tom and Tom's dog went last year. They brought home one pheasant, and I'm not really sure who bagged it, but it came to our house.

I think it's the pursuit of elusive birds that keeps them going. Plus, these two foresters get that much more time to talk about trees while walking through the open fields north of Bonners Ferry.

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My day will be highlighted by a session with Monte Collison. He'll figure out fairly quickly whether Lefty is truly destined to be a cart horse. I feel great confidence in that possibility because Lefty's a lot like Bill. He doesn't get too excited and he usually takes most stuff in his stride.

I'm also fully aware of stories I've heard quite often about seemingly bomb-proof horses going ballistic the minute they experience the sensation of dragging or pulling something behind them. So, my fingers are crossed for a good outcome today.

If all goes well, I'll load up the Amish cart and take it over to my sisters' arena tomorrow for the ultimate test. I pulled it out of the shop yesterday and dusted it off, just in case we actually get to sit in it tomorrow. It's a beautiful piece of craftsmanship, but I'm hoping to have it do more than sit in the shop looking beautiful. So, we'll see.

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Congratulations to the Bulldog football team----a Homecoming victory over the undefeated Comets from Alberta. Final score: 34-14.

I spoke of Homecoming in yesterday's post. I mentioned getting gussied up to help present the goodies to Queen Joan Andrews during our 1965 Homecoming. Later in the day, a note came from my dear friend and classmate Andrea Venishnick Carlson.

Her sister Hildy was visiting her. They were looking through the 1965 Monticola, and, lo and behold, who was assisting Pep Club vice president Marianne Brown with her duties, but a very young and pretty Hildy Venishnick.

Hildy, who's my sister Barbara's age, has been a teacher in Arizona. Don't know what she's doing these days, but it was fun to think back on a fun time where the two of us performed an important duty.

That got me to thinking about the time little Danielle Huguenin played a similar role as Hildy. By that time I was the teacher helping out with the Homecoming royalty presentation.

I gave Danielle, who looked like Tatum O'Neal at the time, a great big lollipop for doing her job well. Then, there was the time when Willie and Mindy Hunt Stangel teamed up to take the crown and the flowers to the queen.

Lots of good memories of folks when they were little guys and gals doing their best to act like young adults.

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In the "Wal-Mart Pepper Spray, Yearbook Yourself and Best Damn Pumpkin Dessert, Period" category, I must say that my blog has been enjoying a lot of visits.

I can use my sitemeter each day to figure out how much traffic Slight Detour has and from where it's coming. In fact, yesterday, I knew Annie was online because "Salt Lake City" was listed in the "Who's on" category.

I wrote her a note, and sure enough, she wrote back to tell me she was in her hotel room checking her online sites. She had already gone geocaching and figures that by the weekend is over, she'll have found 300 geocaches since starting the sport a few years ago.

Well, that doesn't have a lot to do with Wal-Mart Pepper Spray, Yearbooking Yourself or Damn Pumpkin Desserts, does it. So, I'll get back on track.

Yesterday I was getting an inordinate amount of hits for my site. Sitemeter also tells me what folks are seeking when they visit. Over the past couple of years, I've learned that lots of people all over the country very interested in Wal-Mart pepper spray. Of course, I think the results of their search are a bit different from what they expected.

I talked about the subject once when there was a ruckus at our local Wal-Mart, and it involved to females getting into a fight with a baby in the middle. Pepper spray got used as a weapon in the fracus, and, of course, it made the news.

A few months ago when my friend Kathy sent me the "Yearbook Yourself" site, I had to check it out, and then I had to write about it. I've noticed that the site is a hit all over the world, and so when people google it, they often end up at Slight Detour.

Now let's talk about damn pumpkin desserts. I provided that recipe three years ago after I'd tried it and agreed it was the best. I liked it so much I added the "damn" as a take off from the damn sports show.

Well, folks, it's pumpkin dessert time again, and I've been getting a lot of hits from Canada. Suddenly it dawned on me that this may just be Thanksgiving weekend in Canada and homemakers are looking for something good to feed the troops, so Slight Detour's getting the hits.

I like it when people come to my blog, so I've gotta think up some other attention-getting titles to keep 'em coming. I know, for a fact, that if I put "Viggo" in the title, there's surely be a spike in visits. Any other ideas?

In the meantime, if you're hungry, first go (www.yearbook yourself.com), then have some of that damn pumpkin dessert and then get a bottle of pepper spray to ward off anyone who has the nerve to take your picture at Wal-Mart with thoughts of sending it to posted on (www. peopleofwalmart.com). I guarantee a good time.

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Happy Saturday