Back to Normal

When we saw blue sky during our outing at Farragut yesterday, I felt the need to document it with a photo.  Needless to say, I did not have pull out my camera very often. 

The sun even cast a few rays at Farragut to go with rain, hail, lightning and thunder. Our encounter with the sun lasted only briefly but long enough for a photo of the geocachers:  Rita, Bill and Jerry. 

We braved another day in the rain yesterday and came home without gills. At times it would have been nice to be a duck or a fish during our geocaching outing at Farragut State Park, but for the most part we avoided total drenchings.

At least, I did.  On one occasion when Bill, Rita and Jerry were leaving the car to search for a geocache, I decided to just relax in the driver's seat. 

The minute I saw them in the rear-view mirror disappearing into the trees across the road, the skies opened and heavy raindrops pelted the wind shield.

I thought they might turn around and come back, but geocachers on the hunt remain oblivious to climate conditions.   They were gone about 15 minutes and did admit to being wet but happy they'd found the cache. 

Rita and Jerry should go home with some pretty intensive knowledge of geocaching because of notes taken, lessons on GPS commands given, and three or four finds recorded.

During the heaviest of downpours, we drank coffee and hot chocolate at the Captain's Table in Bayview.  Gary Spade was there, just like he was during the holiday season when my sisters and I had lunch there.

I accused Gary of never getting out of his chair.  Later, he told me that I needed to feed the ducks.  

"Get some bread, open the window and throw it out to them," he said. 

Hearing his suggestion, the waitress pulled out a full loaf of bread and put it on the counter.

I grabbed two or three slices.

"Take the whole loaf," Gary instructed. 

Knowing Gary probably had clout at the Captain's table, I followed instructions and walked back into the window dining area where about five buckets scattered around the floor featured a chorus of raindrops creating its own rain-bucket rhythm section and opened the window.

At first, no ducks.  

Slowly but surely as I threw wads of bread toward the water,  about a dozen mallard males turned toward the restaurant from under a walkway near the boat houses and swam toward the bread. 

The duck-feeding show attracted a small crowd into that portion of the restaurant, including one gentleman (probably a regular) who noted that the females were probably hanging back and guarding their eggs.  

A few females eventually showed up, but I got the impression that maybe the Bayview dock ducks had already consumed their afternoon handouts.  About half a loaf of bread hit the water with the rest of it remaining for the next customer who wanted to feed the ducks. 

When we arrived back in Sandpoint, so did the sun.   Rita and Jerry treated us to dinner at Mick Duffs, and then we walked across the street to the Coldwater Creek Wine Bar to wish one of my friends who works at Life Care a happy birthday.

Dr. Bergstahler was sitting with the group.  His presence led to some intense and enthusiastic reminiscing about our recent trip to Ireland.  He and his family had been there at the same time.  We parted, promising to get together and share notes on our experiences. 

And, so this morning, life is back to normal.  Rita and Jerry have plans to walk around Sandpoint and take in art exhibits before heading back to their home in Tri Cities.  I'm guessing their GPS units are going to get a lot of use in the days ahead. 

And, I know for sure that my new lawn mower is going to get some use really soon if the ground dries up. So far, so good. A pleasant morning with no rain promises a good day ahead.

Happy Friday.