River Run

 

The "river" is running through North Idaho. 

Or, maybe we could cut the fancy lingo and just call it the "June rain." 

It's always nice to have new, scientific and even psychologically-charged terms for upcoming weather happenings. 

After all, it's a lot more impressive to hear that an atmospheric river is coming as opposed to a lot of rain. 

I saw the weather advisory yesterday and heard the weather advisories about the "atmospheric river" we would experience today.  

The wild winds in the prediction have not yet started, and it would be just fine with me if those high gusts bypassed us.  I just mowed my lawn and am not in a mood to clean up debris again. 

When I went outside this morning, expecting to see some real weather drama, a soft, steady, warm rain was falling, and it still is. 

This must be a calm atmospheric river as opposed to the raging variety. 

As Bill sez, it's just June rain, and I tend to agree.  

I can remember years ago cleaning out my classroom on a rainy June day and frowning about several more rainy June days after I came home for the summer.

I never knew at the time that we were actually having one, long atmospheric river running through the area.  

I can also remember a July when Willie was 7 and Annie was 5, and I started watching "All My Children" every single day because it rained every single day and we were stuck in the house seemingly forever. 

We even brought the kiddie raft into the house so the kids could play with it in the living room.  That didn't work out so well because it resulted in a lost tooth for Annie when she had the raft rope in her mouth and Willie pulled too hard. 

I can remember other summer days when it rained seemingly forever and one particular day when it rained even more and pigs had to go to meet their maker but the pigs got loose and the horses got into the pig pen and somehow Willie and Bill rounded up those pigs, stuffed them in a trailer and took them to Wood's Meats, and when Bill and Willie came home, they changed their clothes and went somewhere, and when I came home, I found muddy jeans without people in them almost standing on their own in the laundry room. 

That must have been a really major atmospheric river event. 

I guess the archaic misnomer of "rainy days" has been put on the shelf in favor of a newer, more colorful  way to say that it's sure gonna be wet outside. 

This moisture will be perfect for pastures and hay fields cuz there's lots of rain AND then we'll be in the mid 80s in three days.  

That combination should lead to some of the best grass-growing this year. 

I left my horses in the barn this morning.  They didn't even ask to go outside.  

I decided that giving the pastures a day off would be great. Plus, I'd get a break from 24 wet trips up and down the lane with horses in hand for a day.

Yesterday the rain began just as I finished mowing the lawn.  When I walked to the house, Bill asked if I'd like to accompany him to the dump aka for modern terms "the county transfer station."

The dump/transfer station has undergone a change in organization so Bill thought I'd enjoy doing a run through. 

It was an informative trip.  No longer do we pull in, back up to a dumpster and throw in our garbage.  

Now, once we arrive, we are directed to a route with marked off lanes and lots of stops signs. 

A nice lady with a big smile takes her life in her hands while directing each driver to back into an assigned spot under a roof. 

The new process seemed efficient enough, but I am a bit disappointed to see that the opportunities for visiting with friends at the dump might become a thing of the past as you've gotta get out of your spot right away so the next vehicle can enter the area.

We did see the Sandpoint mayor there yesterday, but he left so fast, we couldn't even wave. 

In the old days, the series of dumpsters often included some idle ones when you backed in, so if you saw friends dumping their garbage in the next dumpster over, you could have a nice little chat. 

If it weren't for a conversation at the dump aka transfer station with my former colleague Mike McNulty several years ago, I wouldn't have known Willie had been hired by the school district before Willie even knew. 

Gonna miss that aspect, but the new layout seems like a nicely organized and efficient facility. 

*****

What happens when a plumber and his assistant, a pest control team and a carpenter walk into the house of Love. 

Stuff gets fixed, replaced, made safe or prettied up and money goes out the door with them when they're all done. 

That's the story of the past few days and the next few days.  Today Richard, the carpenter, comes to do finish work around the new shower that Joey and Jada installed on Thursday.  

On Friday, the pest control team sprayed the house, and this coming Thursday Joey and Jada come back to install a new toilet and bathroom sink. 

Then, I think we'll be done with major house projects for a while. 

And, so that's life here at the Lovestead on an atmospheric river day.  

Hope everyone stays dry and that those predicted winds go blow somewhere else.

Happy Monday.  

My mother's mother Lily was a member of this Short family, and, yes, many of them are relatively short. 

These are a bunch of our Chicago cousins.  I've met most of them, and they're great and fun people. 

I was expecially thrilled to see that Mother's cousin Bill in the middle of the first row looks fabulous for a 99-year-old. 

The Shorts of Chicago held a reunion this weekend, and it was neat to see them in the photo. 

Above: yesterday noon.

Below:  late yesterday afternoon

Third photo:  last evening

Fourth and fifth photos:  this morning

The evolution of a brand new iris bloomthat would like to stand tall and impressive, but the rain has gotten in its way.