Saturday, February 24, 2024

Saturday Slight

 



It's noisy in the air these days, and this pair helped contribute to the avian chatter yesterday as they flew over the yard. 

So far in this early spring,  we're hearing geese, flickers, crows, robins, chickadees, juncos and red-breasted nut hatches, and the chorus continues to increase in size and volume each day. 

While the birds have been singing, I've been happily working in the yard the past two days.  

My helper Bridie has stayed constantly at my side OR in the middle of the work, as you can see in the photo below. 

Spring work is never very clean.  After all, a whole winter's worth of doggie deposits scattered across the place keep my pick pretty busy. 

I'm lucky.  I can just through those deposits over the fence into the barnyard. 

Soggy leaves, millions of twigs and fallen pine and spruce cones add to the cleanup. 

I will say that, even with the lack of color in the landscape, the mild winter has allowed me to get the best head start ever at tidying up the yard. 
 




Yesterday, after I published my post a fleet of county vehicles began to appear on the road. 

Besides a grader, at least four dump trucks made several trips past the place with their buckets in the air and the gravel inside slowly emptying on to the road. 

The road this morning is in much better condition, albeit still a bit on the soupy side.  Hopefully, cooler temperatures will help the gravel firm up, and hopefully, the potholes will not come back so fast.

It's been a crazy year with Mother Nature providing us a wide variety of conditions, mostly wet. 

I am thankful that we've not had to deal with the amounts of ice we've seen in past years. 

 I'm also certain that, after spending almost 77 years here, we'll never have the winter we want. In my case, even though I'm fully aware of its importance, no winter at all would be perfection for me.  






Pat Gooby, the two-sentence sage of the Daily Bee letters column,  came by to see us yesterday. 

He brought us a new children's book, written by his brother Dick (Gooby Ranch Report) and illustrated by local artist and friend Bonnie Shields. 

The first chapter of Dick's fiction-nonfiction mix about his brother Bob took me back about 70 years. 

Dick talks about Tony the Pony.  Since they didn't have a real horse, Tony the Pony would have to do for Bob who loved horses.  

Tony worked out okay except that Bob's legs touched the ground when he rode Tony and the neighbor girls on big horses mocked him.    

I won't spoil the rest of the story except to say that Bob persisted in his desire to have a real horse. 

Tony the Pony eventually lived at our house.  

He came one day with a big bow around his girth as a birthday present for my brother Mike. 

I won't spoil the narrative of that story either except to say that Tony the Pony did not inspire my brother's desire to have a real horse. 

Dick's book was a fun read, and I appreciate Pat taking the time to bring it out our way and Dick for taking the time to write the story. 

Bonnie's art is nice, as always. 

Pat's visit, along with the stories and banter we exchanged reminded me of one of the essential treasures of our lives when we remain in the same community from Day 1. 

These relationships provide a comfort zone for free-flowing, non-threatening conversation like no other. 

Folks like Pat knew us then and they know us now, and  both sides can spout out a whole lot of memorable and priceless vignettes they've mutually experienced or witnessed in between.

There's a bond, to say the least. 

Bring up a name, and often it needs no lengthy explanation.  Bring up a happening, and both parties will instantly remember, offering their own often colorful perspectives.  

And, while they reminisce, one story usually morphs into more tales, sprinkled with names or happenings from  the past. 

In short, longtime neighborhood friendships remain a vital ingredient to our being and, more importantly, to our sense of belonging to something everlasting and untarnished by the years.

With that thought:  Happy Saturday.  

Congratulations to the Sandpoint High boys varsity for earning their way to State for the first time in 15 years. 

Good luck, Bulldogs.

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀 

It's also Game Day

Tonight Gonzaga takes on Santa Clara. 

Game will be broadcast on ESPN2 at 7 p.m. PST

GO, ZAGS!!!!







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