TGIF -aa-TDWE

I decided to add an extension to the traditional TGIF this morning.  I'm sure everyone who has to show up for an 8-5'er will appreciate the fact:  Thank God It's Friday and a Three-Day Weekend.

Doesn't make a lot of difference to me.  As a freelancer, I don't have the 8-5 grind of having to go somewhere by a certain time, stay there for X number of hours and then leave at a certain time.

For me, work happens when it needs to be done, and that can be any day or night of the week--no set amount of hours, just a deadline.

I'll be working on a column today and trying to get it roughed out.  It's the one about phones, and I've learned some good material for this column.  In fact, the research took me on a whole different track from what I had originally anticipated.

I'm wondering why that doesn't happen more often with folks set in their ways and firmly planted in their notions.  Think of what a difference it would make if more people would accept new patterns of thinking, based on facts learned.

I bet we might get along a little better.

The talking heads on the cable channels drive me nuts when they espouse only their points/policy/party lines, refusing to grant the opposition any credibility whatsoever.

That said, I'll move on.

For this TGIF-aa-TDWE, I can report that the folks at Schweitzer say they have the best conditions they've had all year.  Nearly two feet of new snow and a powder-mania paradise.

Traditionally, this is one of the biggest weekends of the year up there, and they could not have ordered a better offering for skiers and boarders.

We have a new coat of snow down here on the flat, and it has cleaned up the landscape, which was getting pretty ugly.

"Ugly" comes several times during the late winter when there's indecision from above on whether spring needs to come or not. Ugly consists of dirty snow, gray patches of ground and general "blah" everywhere we look.

Looking at the 10-day weather forecast, I noticed that the same cycle we've had all winter will continue.  Some nice dry sunny days, some cold nights, some warmer termperatures, some precipitation.

This weekend looks like a beauty with lots of sunshine.

Today Bill is putting his thoughts of late spring and summer in motion.  He's planning to go to a fly-tying workshop in the Spokane Valley.

I don't know how many flies he's tied this winter, but I do know the fish in Cocolalla Creek, Grouse Creek and the Moyie had better look out.  There will be demons among those winged creatures landing on the water.

I can report this morning that my friend and former colleague Rick Gehring had a good day yesterday.  His daughter announced that he had a tracheal tube inserted and that he opened his eyes for a long time.  He even laughed, though silently.

We hadn't heard much about his condition for several days, so that was very good news.

~~~~

Well, on this beautiful Friday morning, I'm out of here to enjoy the beauty of the latest batch of new-fallen snow.

Happy Friday and have a great weekend.