Saturday Slightly Mad

I'm not at all angry this morning.  I'm just getting into the mood for this afternoon when March Madness for us will continue on,  or it will end.

I'm just mad about ZAGS today and hoping they can outwit the Jimmer, the opposing team's guard known for his shooting accuracy.

It will be a good game when they play No. 3 BYU and the match-up will serve as a test of whether the rebuilding program Coach Mark Few implemented two months into the season, leading to 11 straight victories,  can step it up one more, important notch.

As Bill said, we'll know soon.

Yesterday I  commented on my Facebook post and suggested that if St. Patrick did the ZAGS some good, maybe we should pray to St. Joseph today in the ZAGS behalf.  

After all, this is the Feast of St. Joseph's and the swallows probably will fly back to Capistrano today. Why not have the ZAGS fly back to Spokane to prepare for the next chapter of Madness???

My former student Cindy, who lives in Utah, commented that she had enjoyed the ZAGS game Thursday when they defeated St. John's in the tournament's first-round action.

I responded to Cindy that we would probably be cheering on opposite sides today.

She agreed, but indicated a fondness for the ZAGS because she saw "John's" son was playing for the Bulldogs.  Cindy said she enjoyed watching David Stockton's father John play with Karl Malone during their famous run with the Utah Jazz.

Anyway, the Big Dance is keeping us all excited for our own special reasons.

In the meantime, I spent a quiet day at home yesterday, attending to numerous home projects.  In between, however, I took time to watch NCAA games that played almost steadily from 9 to 9. 

Today will probably be more of the same.

But stuff got done, and it was fun working outside cleaning up the yard wherever snow has melted.  Those shamrocks are now planted as are this year's cukes.  

Had one disappointment when I opened a seed packet for cukes which contained only 12 seeds.  Couldn't believe it.  The other packet made up for it, and I do have seeds leftover.

The lettuce seed I just planted in two potting trays Wednesday has already sprouted.  Little green plants are popping up all over.  I'll probably take those trays to the greenhouse and hook up a heater for cold nights. 

The trellis near the front deck still sits decorated with Christmas lights because the crusty, well-packed snow pile there still covers many of the bulbs.  Removal will come in the next few days, I'm sure.

The wreath, however, has finally come down, and I saved its frame for next year. 

Horses spent the night without blankets and seem to be doing just fine.  The blankets do avoid one problem.  Normally, red and white Lily is, this morning, red, white and green.  I think I'll get some of that shampoo which,  when applied, does the dry wash. 

In other news, Willie's work with his journalism students at Sandpoint High drew attention on Huckleberries Online yesterday.

Here's what the blogfather Dave Oliveria wrote:  On his Twitter page, William Love, Sandpoint educator and son of Marianne Love/Slight Detour, tells of giving his journalism students at the Cedar Post an assignment to write six-word stories on current events. 

Among the best responses was one about the 20th anniversary of the Rodney King arrest: “Rodney 20 years later, nothings changed.” 

And: “Egypt revolts. Dominoes fall on Libya.” 

And: “Tsunami. Earthquake. Nuclear leak. Big problem.”

Oliveria then challenged readers to write their own six-word stories.  You can go to www.huckleberriesonline.com to see readers' contributions.

And, I'll take it a step further:  you can write yours and leave them in the comments.   

It's a fun exercise, disciplining us to make our words count. 

~~~

Not to run ZAGmania into the ground, but I must share one very poignant ZAG story.  Lori Book Weiler, is a ZAGnut, like the rest of us. 

She's also a friend of my teaching colleague Rick Gehring, who suffered a massive stroke more than five weeks ago.

Rick is currently undergoing rehab and getting ready for more rehab.  As yet, he has not been able to speak. 

Slow steps, his wife Ann reports to me, but steps forward, and that's what's important.

Anyway, Lori sent Rick a ZAGS cap.  When it arrived this week, he saw it, grabbed it and put it on his head.  That's a great sign and a testimony to the wonderful impact this regional basketball team has on so many of its devoted fans.

Well, that's enough for this Saturday.  It's relatively quiet when I consider that at this time last Saturday I was walking the streets of Dublin with diehard geocachers.  What a fun memory among many!

Happy Saturday to all.  GO ZAGS!  And, keep on going, Rick!