A Lovely Day

Seems that the air was alive with continuous celebratory sounds yesterday.  The rain took a break. The sun came up and stayed visible throughout the day.  The air was pleasant. The ground had a chance to dry out a bit. 

Twas a happy day.  Even jets and other planes overhead seemed to have magnified their distinctive sounds while flying over. Of course, these days, the geese, ducks and crows never seem to shut up, often drowning out the smaller birds who were obviously elated with the weather break.  

I'm sure all those worms rising to the surface have mean an "all you can eat buffet" for the robins. 

Heck, yesterday was so nice that I didn't even have to give Liam a bath.  His feet were clean after a few hours in the run.  Maybe the pleasant day affected him in such a way that he felt no need to dig in the dog-run mine field. 

While Bill spent some time with members of the Kaniksu Land Trust, walking through the recently purchased Pine Street Community Forest, I tended to a segment of the yard, cleaning out and trimming last year's growth in readiment for various little buds gradually appearing above the ground.

It felt good to start a job and actually have time to finish it.  That seems to be a luxury these days with pretty much any outdoor project.

Seems everyone knew our rain respite would be very short-lived.  Even the announcer on KPND radio echoed my sentiments from early in the morning, stating that he wasn't that thrilled about this beautiful day because he knew the rain would soon start again. 

At least, we had a break, and I'm thinking pretty much everyone doubled their efforts to enjoy every possible minute of breathing in the wonderful spring air and basking in sunshine. 

Lily continued eating, as she is doing this morning.  I put her in the round pen, thinking she'd maybe get the hint to get on with motherhood.  That didn't work.  Last night she looked a little nervous in the stall, so I spent extra time watching her before heading to bed. 

She started eating again, and that's pretty much what she was doing when I went out to check on her far into the night. 

While taking a short afternoon drive up Rapid Lightning and Gold Creek, I saw the folks from the Selle Clydesdale ranch having lunch at Pack River General Store.   

They said they've known horses to go through a full year of pregnancy, and as the ranch manager Ben said, the baby is "still cooking." 

So, we wait some more.  I was hoping she would foal on a friend or family member's birthday, but today, which would have been our dad's 101st, marks the end of the family string for a while.  I'm hoping she doesn't wait until the next batch cuz that's in June. 

Patience. 

Anyway, another mudslide occurred on a county road yesterday over by Priest River, and the rain (predicted to be upwards of an inch in some places) certainly is not going to help all the mudslide situations. 

This next siege is supposed to last until sometime Friday, followed by several days of decent weather.  We'll see.  Forecasters have been known to change their tune.

Nonetheless, yesterday turned out to be a wonderful day and very much appreciated. 

Remembering our dad Harold this morning and wishing everyone a good day.  

Harold Tibbs --- born April 12, 1916.

This portrait was one of a series of photos taken by our family friend Chris Pietsch.  It was among the collection he sent me a few years ago.  Obviously, it is a keepsake for our family history.

Harold smoked "roll-yer-own" cigarettes, using Bull Durham and other tobaccos.  I still have a box of his tobacco which was in the glove box of his last pickup.

Most folks who knew Harold were fascinated by his ability and tell stories while rolling another smoke.  He had it down to a science.