Summer time . . . .

 We can officially---well, almost---call it summer here. 

So what if the calendar doesn't agree.  Seems the calendar has been a bit off all year long.  

School's out, cows are out to pasture, nasty-urch-ums are blooming, and folks are fishing. 

I met the couple in the photos below just off the bridge by the Pack River General Store.  

They're from West Virginia.  They've been on the road since April, but they're staying here in the Sandpoint area through early July visiting their son. 

Since arriving here, they've gotten acquainted with several area streams, including the Pack River.  Besides trying to catch a fish, they had paddled the river from the Northside School yesterday. 

With pastures filled with green grass, daisies and buttercups, the essence of early summer seems to abound virtually every direction along rural roads.

So, when it gets hot in the afternoon, a little air conditioning inside the car and the hunt for some nice images makes a good break from work.  

In Bill's case yesterday afternoon, his relaxation came at some beaver ponds up the Trout Creek Road with Kiwi by his side and a fly rod in his hand.

Earlier we had teamed up to complete a trench across our south lawn.  Turns out the tech figured out within seconds what Bill and I had assumed might be the cause of our spotty Internet.

Those trees. 

The tech told us that he could move the dish to a pole not far from our DirecTV satellite dish, but we would have to dig the trench to bury the cable if we didn't want to wait for another day and pay a steep price for him to bury it.

So, we opted for the cheaper plan and after a couple of hours, the cable was beneath the sod. 

I must say the improvement is dramatic. Plus, we won't have to keep the ladder stationed under the dish by the house all winter long.  I never did find joy in having snow fall in my face while cleaning off the dish. 

Internet life is much better, and today promises some fun times and maybe even a Triple Crown.  

Meanwhile in Rome----oops----Germany . . . it seems that the Americans, some of which had come from Rome, others from Iceland, brought along togas and lovely footwear for the Giga geocaching event in Xanten, Germany. 

This is all in a day's work for the Seattle-ites and their fellow geocaching professionals.  

Looks like they're enjoying their tough duty.