Slight Detour: Of Prolapses, 4-Letter Words Beginning with "S," Etc.

First thing this snowy Saturday morning, what's wrong with this picture?

I've never seen a tire prolapse before, so, of course, it was worth a photo.

As if another dump of snow wasn't enough to cause a grumble or two, I was hearing noises when I loaded up the cart with hay and drove it to the barnyard.

More grumbles.

No more solid footing, even just inside the gate.

The sinking feeling comes immediately as I push the cart with a new noise through the gate.

First step inside and down the boot went into a soupy surface frosted with a fresh coating of snow.

So, I three flakes as far as possible and retreated back toward the barn. The sound, sounding like a wisp of wind continued in a regular pattern as I drove the cart to Lily's stall.

In the mornings, I'm a mission to get those stalls cleaned and bedded so I took no time to see what was causing the noise in the tire area on one side of the cart.

I had a pretty good idea and surmised that the tire was totally flat. Fortunately, the cart continues to move, even with flat tires.

Once the stalls were bedded, I drove on toward the shop, walked around and found the air compressor.

Might as well just air up this tire now, and it will be done, I thought while pulling the compressor toward the shop door.

I pulled the cart inside, and, in semi darkness could see the valve for airing it up.

This early-morning process seemed all too easy, relatively speaking for me, the klutz who usually finds trouble in every fix-it job.

Just as I was feeling really proud of myself, I started to see a black balloon bulging from the tire, growing and aiming toward the cart.

Oops! Not so easy this time either.

I pulled the hose from the valve figuring that was enough air for now.

Bill could figure this one out.

So, Bill is trying to figure this one out because, as I reminded him, I use that cart at least two or three times every day, and it ain'ta gonna move with just one tire.

Update: Bill has gone to Les Schwab with the tire.

So, I've seen my first tire prolapse this morning and have grumbled about the snow.

The day is young. Could be lots of adventures ahead.

In the meantime, it's a busy weekend with lots of activity for other family members, so I'll be holding down the fort, hoping for no more prolapse-type dilemmas.

As the snow continues to fall, I'll be thinking occasionally about what a lovely day it was yesterday for most of the day.

Twas a day highlighted by a fun lunch with my friend and blog editor Helen, who has been chosen as one of this year's Women of Wisdom for Bonner Country.

Yesterday's lunch gathering also included Sally Lowry, who will be giving a speech about Helen at the luncheon and Shirley Parker who wrote one of several letters of nomination. Both Sally and Shirley have been honored in past years.

I was amazed that I can talk to Helen just about every single day and that most of yesterday's conversation involved stories I'd never heard about her or from her.

I also came away armed with a new impression to add to all those I already have enjoyed about my friend.

There's another reason we're good friends besides our Selle connection, newspaper backgrounds, etc.

Helen likes to tell stories too, and she's pretty darned good at it. I loved her anecdotes about working at the local funeral home back in the day.

One would think that the two of us might clash with our enjoyment of telling stories, but I think that doesn't happen because of the good friend aspect and the mutual respect.

Anyway, it was a great gathering, one which allowed me to learn a bit more about Sally too. What a hoot she is!

Lots of laughing yesterday.

The snow has intensified since I first started typing. That means I'm gonna have to dig down deep to find reasons not to grumble or spout out those 4-letter words too much today.

At least, the birds aren't grumbling. In spite of the snow, their wide range of melodic sounds are adding a nice touch to the day.

Happy Saturday.