Slight Detour: ZAGS Dispatch; Snow Fun and Sun

I did something I hadn't done in more than two years yesterday.

I went snow shoeing around the yard, and this morning my knees are not complaining.

It felt great to get out and stay upright for nearly an hour as I broke and packed a trail around the house and leading toward the woods.

Mother Nature had left us plenty of snow and then had gone to bed so she could get ready for the next deposit, which is happening as I type.

It's doubtful that I'll be able to get much enjoyment from the trails because after the snow will come freezing rain.

And, then, a whole lot of wetness and warmer temperatures.

At least, we don't have much time to get bored with the January weather.

No need to look hard for beauty yesterday, and I even snapped some photos of our bird housing development out south of the house.

That would not have happened without the newly packed trails.

Bill asked me when I came in how it went.

"Exhilarating," I said, "to be able to do this again feels so good."

There is no way last year or the year before that my chronically sore knees and frequent aching back would have allowed me to have the fun I experienced yesterday.

I don't want to sound too corny or too repetitive, but I am very grateful to have bounced back enough to once again enjoy the outdoor opportunities.

We were blessed with a lovely day.

Whenever I see a bunch of crows in a gathering, I think about the phrase "congress of crows," and I also wonder if their cackling is more amiable than what we listen to in the United States Congress.

I'm betting it is.

Yesterday, I wondered what all those crows were talking about as they gathered near the ditch on North Kootenai Road. While wondering, I pulled out my camera and caught few images of them flying off.

Apparently, the meeting had been adjourned, and they were headed off to wherever the crow flies.

This little flying piggy has seen better days.

👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀

Twas a collaboration between a teacher and her former student during last night's Gonzaga-Pepperdine game in Malibu as former Cedar Post sportswriter extraordinaire Jeff Bock (SHS 1992) took some pictures for today's blog.

If a celebration of Mark Few's 700 wins were to happen, Jeff, who was sitting not far from the team behind the announcer's stand, was primed with his phone to document the event and to send me some photos.

The celebration didn't happen after the ZAGS win, but he did send me pictures and later posted later on Facebook that "no ceremony, but he [Few] finally cracked a smile."

It was a great ZAGS day all the way around because Gonzaga women's coach Lisa Fortier notched her 250th win.

Jeff, a former soccer and basketball player for the Bulldogs, has worked in Los Angeles for nearly two decades as a senior box office analyst.

He's also a diehard ZAGS fan and often attends Gonzaga games when the team plays in the Los Angeles area.

Another "there's always a Sandpoint connection" occurred in the second half of the game when the phone rang during a commercial. We don't usually answer the landline because it's almost always spam calls.

Someone actually talked this time. Bill and I sat in our respective perches and listened.

By golly, it was a real person we knew and he was anxious to know if he had, indeed, seen my editor Helen's daughter and his classmate Laurie at the Pepperdine game.

I arrived at the phone just before Steve Neuder (SHS Class of 1980) hung up. I told him I did not know if Laurie was there, but I did know that Jeff Bock had a good seat behind the announcers.

I sent a message to Helen, and overnight she wrote back and said, "Yes," adding that Laurie would be in San Diego for tomorrow night's game too.

Ironically, Laurie and her hubby sat near us a few years ago when we attended a ZAGS game in San Diego.

Fun game, great win, phenomenal milestones and a little bit of Sandpoint presence to top it off.

Thank you very much, Jeff. As always, it was fun collaborating.

Good luck to another set of Bulldogs today. Willie's SHS varsity takes on Lakeland in Rathdrum tonight at the annual Battle of the Paddle.

GO, Bulldogs.

Happy Friday.