Saturday Slight

Today definitely needs to be a "Saturday Slight" because of so much to do, so little time. After all, we're losing an hour, and I'd just as soon lose it BEFORE I go to bed tonight. 

So, I'm even starting my blog early to make up for a few minutes of that lost hour. 

I'm also feeling a lot more like embracing this day's challenges than I did at this time yesterday morning when even getting out of bed seemed like a major chore. When one's body lets down, it's not good, but when the mind follows suit, it's gonna be a bad day. 

Yup, that cold/flu everyone has been talking about took hold about mid-week, and as much as I tried to fight it off and push on, the bug turned out to be a much more formidable adversary. 

Aches, pains, congestion, nostrils running like water faucets on full throttle, endless sneezing, watering eyes and no energy---definitely a touch of the flu, I finally concluded as every move during my morning required a voice from within guiding me, "If you just get through this, you can go sit down in a warm spot." 

Quite a contrast from the usual days of feeling like a million dollars and moving along with a bounce in my step while feeding horses, cleaning barns and completing all the other morning projects.

Yesterday afternoon, after taking some over-the-counter cold meds, I started feeling well enough to do some needed shopping and to stop off at the Pack River General Store on the way home for a cup of coffee.

"How ya doing?' Ali, a former student, asked as I paid her for the coffee.

"Today's not a good day to ask," I responded, explaining my ailments.

That's when Laura, another former student,  stepped from the kitchen and took over the conversation.  

"Olive leaf spray," she said.  "Go to Super Drug, and get a bottle."  Then, she went on to tell how members of her family had contracted the bug, used the spray and had recovered quickly. 

"I used to have to listen to you in class; now you have to listen to me," Laura firmly lectured her old teacher.  "Go to Super Drug, or you can get it at Winter Ridge."

So, I did as told.    I drove to Super Drug, summoned Kendall, one of the pharmacists, and asked about the Olive Leaf spray.  She found me a bottle, and before leaving the parking lot, I had already opened the container and sprayed a few shots at my throat.

The flavor takes some getting used to, and on the way home I was thinking about the possibility of this being a snake oil-style placebo.  

Directions say to spray every half hour as needed.  So, I followed directions, and by the time we were ready to go to dinner, I actually felt a little better.

I don't know if Olive leaf spray is the answer to my misery.  Maybe my mind had come back to life enough to ward off the evil flu-bug demons.  I just feel a whole lot better, and that's what's important.  

Life is too short to be sick, especially when Daylight Savings is gonna take an hour of it away. So, if I've willed myself back to a reasonable state of healthiness, so be it.  And, if the Olive leaf spray did the trick, that's okay too.  

In other news, Willie gave me the most recent issue of the Cedar Post last night.  I think he's pretty proud of this issue, and I'll second his pride.  The paper did a wonderful job of fulfilling one of the basic rules we first learned in journalism-----names make news.  

Stories include stuff about the levy and a feature on high-school partying and efforts to educate parents via skits where students role model behavior at current-day parties.  

I also read a fascinating story about a young man who has become skilled at replacing cell-phone screens.  There's another interesting feature about a student who builds guitars from scratch.

Readers also get to learn a few little-known facts about their teachers.  One can't multi-task; another once had a job shocking fish and yet another creates and stars in her own math-related videos.  

The back page has a "style guide."  In some circles, that's what journalists follow when they're writing stories; in this issue of the Cedar Post, it's a feature showing the fashion trends---from head to toe---of Sandpoint High students.  Very nicely done.

And, while we're talking Cedar Post, I must point out that yesterday I enjoyed reading the words of a former Cedar Poster in the most recent edition of the Idaho Catholic Register.  
That would be Cindy Wooden, former assistant editor of the Cedar Post, now longtime Vatican correspondent for Catholic News Service and author of a book with Pope Francis. 

Cindy touched on various aspects of her career as a Vatican correspondent, traveling the world with Popes and, in one case, revealing strategies needed to cover the events surrounding a rather unpredictable Pope Francis. 

Cindy's words:  Covering Pope Francis keeps us on our toes.  To be a serious Vatican correspondent, one has to watch Pope Francis like a hawk.  Even the most traditional, well-organized, straight-forward events will have unscripted moments that reveal the pope’s pastoral heart and people’s real desire to get closer to God.

The Vatican press office posts his morning schedule just as they posted the morning schedules of St. John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI.  But Pope Francis often conducts his own meetings in the afternoon and evening, invites interesting people to his residence or works the phones.  The parts of the pope’s day that are considered “private” can be just as newsworthy as the events on his official schedule.

In addition, he’s notorious for setting aside his prepared texts or changing them significantly.  Pope Benedict would often add to the text of his weekly general audiences when he sensed that people might not be catching what he was trying to communicate; his simple summaries of his main points often gave us the ledes to our stories.  

But with Pope Francis, there are certain Biblical stories and phrases in his prepared texts that we now recognize as triggers for his ad-libbing, so at least we are prepared. They usually have to do with speaking badly of others or gossiping; Pharisees and hypocrisy, especially in the church; God’s willingness to forgive; and tears. 

I enjoyed the article, especially the answer above.  It's refreshing to know that this impressive man of God will probably never thought of as a robot, and I say, GO POPE FRANCIS!  

And, speaking of that and of other important things Catholic:  GO ZAGS!  Everyone's hoping for a return to the ZAGS magic tonight as they take on San Francisco at 6 p.m.

Happy Saturday.