Tuesday Twitterdeedum

We slept better last night.  Raine told me that Foster does listen when told to "Be quiet." 

Foster listened to some firm but brief instructions at 11:30 p.m., and we didn't hear a peep out of him until after 4.

Then, this morning,  I read another note from Raine that said Foster usually sleeps all night until 7:30 a.m., so we're gonna have to have a talk with him and tell him we'll strike a happy medium.  

We won't wake him until later if he promises not to wake us.

Other than that, all has gone well with the little guy's introduction to Life at the Lovestead. Nobody has guide Foster on his paths through the woods.  

He seems perfectly at home racing over the pine-needle carpet, grabbing a twig here or a pine cone there, always keeping track of where the big dogs are.  

It's a new day and the drizzly moisture that stayed with us all day yesterday has moved on, giving us a pleasant morning with clouds and blue sky. 

I read with interest this morning about the Pulitzer Prizes for this year.  Bill and I were both pleased to hear that even though no prize was awarded for fiction, the little novella we read----set in the Meadow Creek country near Bonners Ferry---was one of the three finalists.

Train Dreams is compelling, surreal and funny.  It's written by Denis Johnson, who already has National Book Award to his credit.   

Speaking of awards, those publications students who went to Seattle this past weekend brought home a couple of  SUPERIOR medallions in national competition for photographic portfolios (Cedar Post--Dylan Vogel) and portrait photography (Monticola -- Melissa McGlashan).  

And, at another Idaho State conference for students interested in careers in medicine, Kendall Stratton (also from the Monticola staff) won first place in medical photography.  That means she gets to move on to Florida in June for national competition. 

The photography and family aspect of these awards thrills me.  My sister Barbara and my son Willie have reason to be proud.  Their students won several other awards too, so their hard work is paying off.

Speaking of family, my youngest brother Jim is very involved in hang gliding.  In fact, he loves the sport so much that he's now an instructor in Southwest Oregon. 

We went with Jim once on a hang gliding adventure.  Well, let's just say the adventure never materialized, and that's how it is with hang gliding.

It's a "hurry-up and wait" sport because lift off and soaring high above the earth requires wind currents.  Like sailing, no wind, no fly.  

We spent several hours up at the top of Mt. Hall north of Bonners Ferry waiting for wind.  It never showed up that day in the area where Jim figured was best for lift off.  

So, we went home, with the biggest adventure of the day being my escape from a mama grouse who was protecting her young in a rock pile.  

I've never been with Jim when the wind has allowed him to fly, but he did post a video on Facebook from this past weekend.   It's 15 minutes and if you're interested in seeing Jim and his student sail freely through the air, I'll leave you with the video.

You'll clearly hear that they had wind that day. 

Enjoy.  Happy Tuesday.