Slight Detour: New Routines

Life is a little different and a little easier around the Lovestead, thanks to that electric-fence tape.

It's easy to use and easy to put up anywhere on the place, and the horses respect it.

After Bill made a couple of additions to the fence, including some gate handles.

That simple change in fencing now allows me to send the horses to the far pasture without having to make the walk with each one individually.

There's a gate down not too far from their barnyard where I take them in the morning and let them loose in the lane.

They make their own way down the lane and eventually head out into their newest pasture, which once served as our hay field.

I worried about how much effort it might be to lure them back in the late afternoon. If yesterday was any indication, though, there are no worries.

They still hear that grain container, and they come to meet me.

What a relief for me on days when my knee is not feeling so good!

I said to Bill that I wondered why we hadn't thought of that before. I guess my knees weren't screaming enough in past years.

And, so that's the new routine for horses going to pasture.

There's another routine that has just begun. We are figuring that the resident doe has a fawn out in the woods, so she leaves the baby and grazes in the hay field with the horses.

Yesterday for a minute or two, I thought she might come at the sound of the grain can. Instead, she just stared at me and eventually went back into the woods.

This morning she was grazing in the hay field when I went out. Slowly, while once again staring at me, she made her way back to the woods.

We had a pretty wet day yesterday, thanks to some dramatic storm clouds.

It was a good dousing and it probably added yet another boost to the pastures and hay fields in the area.

Now, if we don't have too much more rain, farmers can get their hay crops in and maybe even revel in having a banner crop.

That would be really nice in an often fickle North Idaho.

What ZAG fan anywhere in the world is not thrilled about this?

Good things happen to those who wait, and Anton waited through all the season-ending awards where he was overlooked.

But the Boston Celtics were watching, and they gave him the ultimate award yesterday by drafting him.

Anton deserves this, and we are happy for him.

I saw this gentleman a couple of times in the aisles yesterday afternoon during my shopping trip to Yoke's.

While I was putting my cart away in the parking lot, he walked by and looked directly at me.

"Are you Marianne?" he asked.

Being an imp, I responded with, "Marianne who?"

"Oh, I guess you're not Marianne Love," he said almost apologetically.

"Who's Marianne Love?" I asked, to which he seemed to fully accept the fact that maybe he had the wrong person.

Happens to me all the time.

This nice gentleman was about to retreat when I smiled and told him I was just being obnoxious, that, yes, I am Marianne Love.

I still really had no idea who he was.

"You were my English teacher," he said, along with some other really nice comments. "I'm Mark Monroe."

When I asked him what year he graduated, he said 1983, and I immediately named off some of his classmates.

Since he openly admitted, in our conversation, that he had lost his hair and since he did not wear glasses in high school, it took me a while to remember all the details, like what class period he was in, etc.

Later, while I was driving home, his high school face popped into my mind. It was a face of good memories because Mark was an enthusiastic and positive-minded student.

Unlike his appearance, that has not changed with the years.

Turns out he had someone in his car that I've known since I was a young swimmer taking lessons at City Beach.

Jeannie Pucci Dreisbach is Mark's mother-in-law and a member of the Pucci family, all of whom I've known on a variety of fronts throughout my life.

So nice to make that connection, and it was an enjoyable treat to visit with both Mark and Jeannie.

Mark is an avid cyclist and Nordic skier, and it would be an understatement to say that he had a successful career as owner to multiple businesses.

Once again, as happens so often in my wanderings, yesterday's chance meeting turned out to be a pleasant and welcome surprise along with a generous helping of nostalgia.

Teaching the children is definitely the gift that keeps on giving.

Nice to see both of you, Mark and Jeannie.