Yesterday afternoon, when this creature landed on my baseball cap, I flicked it off and it fell to the ground.
Then, as I continue to look at it closely, I summoned Bill over.
"It looks like a praying mantis," I surmised.
Bill agreed.
How often do we see praying mantises?
This is probably the first time I've ever seen one.
These pretty little birds have been hanging out at the feeder. Bill and I finally decided they are sparrows, all coming in interesting colors.
If we're wrong, let us know.
Over in Spain, Annie's eating again after a bout of illness from food poisoning or bad water. YAY!
It didn't kill her and it made her stronger and more determined.
When ya have a longtime friend like Chris Moon turn 75, ya gotta take note.
The two of us have chummed around off and on for more than 50 years, and our friendship continues to grow.
Chris is 75 today. She's a Sandpoint product who spent most of her career as a professor both teaching and researching through Pacific Lutheran University and the University of Washington.
Plus, the two of us worked for the U.S. Forest Service together.
From what I hear, she has quite a day ahead.
When we talked yesterday, she was pretty excited to do some indulging with sisters and other family members.
And, Chris, first Happy Birthday; secondly, take the leap and do bring something home from your visit to The Wild Goose Chase.
Hope you have a great day, friend.
I ran across this Facebook memory last night and thought about what strange times we were experiencing when the photo was taken in Sept. 2020.
The Kentucky Derby had been postponed in May and scheduled for September.
Annie was home visiting, probably living in the travel trailer.
Willie and Debbie came over to enjoy the Derby with us, but they stayed on the deck with Annie. A window to the living room on the deck side was open so that they could watch the Derby through the window.
And, because we had to wear masks to be safe from each other, I ordered some special Kentucky Derby masks on Etsy from Crystal Green, a seamstress who lives in West Virginia.
CB came to the front yard for the group photo, simply to add the horse touch.
It was a Derby like no other, to say the least.
On the horse traveling front, Laurie and Kevin and Pache were planning to spend the night in Rapid City, South Dak., last night.
On to Iowa today with plans to arrive in Wilmington, OH, tomorrow.
If I see any photos of their trip, I'll add one to this post.
Which shoes to wear???
I'll take the sparkling clean Skechers, thank you.
How many out there of my vintage have managed to collect an entire fleet of Skechers?
Just curious.
Ahh, the comfort they provide.
Photo from Bonner County Daily Bee
Bart Cochran
founder and CEO of LEAP Housing in Boise.
This gentleman bucked bales for my parents.
To learn more about the program he leads, click the link below.
https://www.leaphousing.org/
Anyway, Bart's coming to town as a keynote speaker. You can learn why, when, where, etc. in the Daily Bee link below.
https://bonnercountydailybee.com/news/2024/sep/05/pep-sets-annual-economic-summit/
Our friend and Bart's dad Tim Cochran must be busting his buttons with pride.
💜💙💓💖💜💚
On a completely different topic, I ran across the following observation by an editor in this morning's New York Times newsletter.
He visits schools to talk about his career and spends part of that time watching a teaching session and observing the students.
Here are his words.
From my perch behind the students, I can see how many of them are
scrolling through sports coverage, retail websites, text messages or
social media, looking up occasionally to feign attention.
It’s not
everyone, of course. Some students remain engaged in the class. But many
do not.
I would have been in the latter group if smartphones had existed
decades ago; like many journalists, I do not have a naturally stellar
attention span.
And
I’m grateful that I didn’t have ubiquitous digital temptations. I
learned much more — including how to build my attention span — than I
otherwise would have.
Above
all, my recent classroom experiences have given me empathy for
teachers. They are supposed to educate children, many of whom have still
not caught up from Covid learning loss, while in a battle for attention
with fantastically entertaining computers.
A growing body of academic
research suggests it isn't going well.
I've heard or read many other news reports prior to the starting of the nation's schools, focusing on the cell phone conundrum.
Personally, I have always felt relieved that my teaching career ended before cell phones became so prominent in virtually everyone's lives.
Like Facebook and other social media sites, the phones have their good and often invaluable side, and then there are the problems they have created in our society, which are not necessarily limited to school settings.
It will be interesting to see how, when or if this issue ever resolves itself.
I hope it does soon because a lot of young lives are at stake, as well as the future of society in general.
Finally, my phone here at my side tells me it's time to wrap up and wish everyone a Happy Friday.
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