Friday Wrap AND Exciting News

My title for today made me think of yesterday when I actually had a wrap.  Debbie, who has spent a busy week in Eugene, Ore., viewing potential talent for next year's Pend Oreille Arts Council line-up, arrived back in town in time for us to get together and pick up some dinner treats.

So, we chose Pack River General Store, and I chose the chicken caesar wrap once again. Believe me, the staff there puts out a good product with all their food, but the wrap has become one of my new favorites.

At MickDuff's I've moved on from the Irish Pub burger to the Tiki burger:  a Kobe beef burger dressed with pineapple and swiss cheese. Yum!

I don't know where we'll be going for our Friday night out with family tonight, but just talking about those two delights makes me hungry. 

Yup, all the sudden it's Friday, the end of another busy week.  

I was quite pleased to finish my tack room project in the barn.  From now on, I'll never have to worry about falling through the floor, and there's a whole lot of yucky stuff in garbage bags, bound for the dump.

It was sad to put the Life Magazines I've been saving since the early '70s in the bag, but the mice had devoured most of the stories and pictures, leaving the magazines as piles of confetti.

Believe me, the mice had lived well in that tack room, and I felt like an Ebola medical worker while doing some of my initial work----face covered with bandanna so as not to breathe the air particles while sucking up at least 3 million mouse droppings. 

I wore gloves and long sleeves and when the stuff had been vacuumed, I emptied the shop vac far away from the barn.  Having had the spotted knapweed rash experience (it's much better and almost gone), I became fully aware of the importance of taking great care while removing gloves. 

Yes, a bit of the week ran somewhat parallel to the stuff we've watched on the news, and I learned firsthand how easy it can be to pick up something when not using great care with clothing and gloves.

Each time I worked in the tack room, virtually everything I wore went straight to the wash.  I've learned my lesson, thanks to the nasty rash. 

I could not help but think this week about the time we spent at Kootenai Medical Center in Coeur d'Alene three years ago when my sister contracted viral encephalitis.

For some time, the medical experts did not know if her form of the disease was viral or bacterial, so we immediately learned about wearing protective gear.

If we were in the room with Laurie, we had to wear masks and gowns.  If we left the room, we had to carefully discard our gear, and when we returned, they would suit us up with brand new gowns and masks. 

We looked like outer space folks but we also happily complied.  When the staff finally learned that Laurie's form of encephalitis was viral and not contagious, we no longer had to wear the gowns. 

Every once in a while we are subject to wake-up calls about the fragility of life and the potential for bad germs or other particles that can really do a number on us.  

When that happens, we not only need to be very careful about those entities, but we also have to take great care in NOT overly alarming the public.  

In Laurie's case, we were very cautious about who knew and what they knew.  We also took a proactive approach with groups who might have reason to be concerned about her illness.  It all worked out with no undue panic and with all of us feeling comfortable that Laurie was in no way contagious. 

As we watch the Ebola crisis unfold, I have faith that mistakes made early on will not happen again and that the consequences of this outbreak will be minimized.

Until this week, I had no idea that I should be more careful when plucking unknown plants from the ground.  My bad experience with the spotted knapweed rash alongwith my knowledge of the dangers of mouse droppings have taught me some good lessons. 

We humans make mistakes, and sometimes communications in this "Information Age" or lack thereof can turn out the be the biggest contributors to mistakes like those we've witnessed in the news this week and what I've experienced personally. 

Mistakes are not fun, but they are often the greatest teachers. 

Well, I guess that's a wrap for this Friday, and I'll go about my way, taking a bit more care than I did last week. 

Happy Friday, and now for the really good and exciting news!


THIS JUST IN!  Congratulations to Sandpoint's own Cindy Wooden.  We ARE PROUD OF YOU!  Cindy just told me when the book is available in the United States, she'll send me a blurb!  FYI:  Paul Haring is the photographer.  Cindy says the book will be available at the following link:  http://www.usccbpublishing.org/