Slight Detour: Saturday Slight

It's 6:52 a.m. on a windy Saturday morning in North Idaho. Do you know where your children are?

I do.

Yes, Willie could be up for the day at his home by now.

If she doesn't have her chronic insomnia, Annie may be sleeping on a mountainside in Japan.

It's 10:52 p.m. on that mountainside as I write. Her last post from Japan's Mt. Fuji came a few hours ago with the bottom photo, stating:

This is where I sleep tonight. Well, nap for a few hours before climbing the last half hour to the summit for sunrise. Goodnight from Mt. Fuji!

Yay, Annie, the adventurer who dares to go where many of us have not gone before nor have the nerve to do so.

We all admire her so and appreciate her continued zest for attaining the next pinnacle.

Thanks, Annie, for always letting us go along for the ride as you trek with your new Japanese geocaching friends up that mountain.

It will be fun to see photos of the sunrise in a few hours.

***Back to the Northwest mainland where winds are supposed to gust in some places up to 70 mph. I'd call it this beastly summer's last hurrah.

Bill is looking forward to enjoying a day's worth of melodic sounds from the pair of wind chimes on the deck, which he bought me as gifts earlier this summer.

The outside ear candy is truly beautiful, and if gorging on those sounds is all we have to deal with, thanks to the winds today, it will have been okay.

Somehow, I feel a little nervous about the possibilities of such high winds with fires and downed trees. Let's hope for the best.

Once the wind dies down---Baby, the rain is supposed to fall, and I have a feeling a whole lot of celebrating will occur once we've heard pitter patter for more than 30 seconds.

A rainy weekend will be just fine for me. I have two story assignments for Sandpoint Magazine's Winter Edition. Some will say, "But you retired from journalism assignments."

And, some are correct. My husband retired too but went back to work within a week. He loves his trees. I love a good story.

In this case, they're both good----ZAGmania and Cindy and the Pope. Since both are Catholic related, maybe I'll score a few points and earn a little less rocky road to Heaven.

Anyway, they should be fun reads. For now, it's the crafting stage. Rain outside should give me plenty of time to bury myself in writing.

I also have to stay on task because Bill and I are headed to Seattle next week for an overnighter, Seahawks style. Bill purchased some pre-season tickets at a Trout Unlimited fundraiser a while back.

The time has come, Richard Sherman is back, starting tonight, and, of course, Russell will be doing Seahawks duty for some time, thanks to his contract. I'm looking forward to seeing Beast Mode and the other entertaining players next Thursday night against Oakland.

Annie sent me a Seahawks hat, '47 Brand, which is appropriate since that's my birth year. Bill has his No. 3 jersey, and I'll be finding my own Seahawks jersey before we walk into the stadium. It should be a blast.

Elisabeth will care for the critters overnight, and we'll be back Friday. Then, I'll go from Beast Mode into Reunion Mode with just a few days remaining before the big class party.

Lots of good stuff, it seems----rain, another significant mountain ascent (with Rainier and Mt. St. Helens) for Annie, fun stories, Seahawks and a great party with longtime friends.

Not a bad slate ahead.

Happy Saturday.