Slight Detour: Monday Miscellany

Good Morning on this lovely Monday. The sun is shining, the late-August air has a slight nip to it, and Miss Annie is in the air over the Atlantic.

She took off from Amsterdam just before 6 a.m. our time and will touch down in Seattle late this afternoon.

So, it will be fun to hear her stories of Europe.

We had a relaxing but productive weekend around here. Bill tended to brush hogging and forestry projects while I put a new shine to several sections of board fence, hence the photos this morning with fences in the background.

It's so nice to have them look almost new again, 'cept for closeup looks at some where horses' teeth have been busy. Paint seems to disguise that just a bit, though.

And, speaking of horses, I sure did enjoy my Lily yesterday afternoon. Finally, finally, finally, it was comfortable enough air-wise AND I had some open time to saddle her up with my new Australian stock saddle and take her for a nice long ride.

It doesn't matter how much training Lily's had in her nine years, she still likes to dawdle during the first half mile. I do wear spurs these days, though, and a couple of light jabs in the ribs, along with the fact that she realized I wasn't gonna turn around, and Lily broke into a nice walk.

She seemed to enjoy herself as much as I did, looking at all the sights along both sides of the road.

Yesterday's ride was as close to perfection as any I've had in a long time. Not too warm, not too cool, not much wind, not much traffic and a whole lot of pretty fields and a soothing breeze.

I also decided that I really like the saddle. It allows my legs to feel flexible while the seat adds a sense of security. Add all that to the fact that Miss Lily just plods down the road without getting too excited about much of anything.

She did threaten to almost prance when Gary Finney's Percheron baby pranced around her pasture, but that notion passed quickly, and we walked on by with no incidents.

All that's a good feeling for an old lady who wants to feel safe on her horse. I'm looking forward to putting in some miles as our fall weather opens up more possibilities.

Sounds like my family members are going to start their routines of preparing for another school year.

Actually, Willie's been at the school almost daily for two weeks, and Barbara, as department chair for the SHS English department, has started with her responsibilities. Laurie's taking a class today, and with the blink of an eye, it seems, they'll be back to the school bell routine.

Summer has flown by, but it's been a fun one. And, now that we're in a cool period, Mr. Foster has settled down a bit. Seems he doesn't like hot weather any more than I do, and he's been uneasy during the hot nights.

Now, however, he's happy to come in during the morning and the evening to catch up on his snoozing. And, of course, he's so cute, I couldn't resist a photo this morning as he took up residence on the Love seat.

Finally, this morning, I'm including a video, sent to me by my niece Laura who works for the Coeur d'Alene Tribe.

Community members from the tribe helped produce the video, and Laura's friend LoVina (former Miss Indian World) would like to see it get some wide coverage---like "viral," as Laura told me.

So, enjoy the video and its message AND have a wonderful Monday.