All in a Hot Day

 

Red sunrise this morning. 

Oh, so stunningly beautiful!

Another hot day awaits us, but we're surviving. 

This family spent some time nibbling around the west lawn and garden yesterday. 

It was fun watching them mosey around as if they owned the place. 

Their visit also alerted me that it's not quite time to take down the fence around my manure-pile garden next to the barn. 

A few potatoes (and this year, I've learned that there are a "few") are still growing, so I'll keep the area fenced off for a while longer. 

In other animal news, Bill and I have come to the conclusion that all those studies with mice in the laboratory may have resulted in a better, smarter mouse. 

Since the first mouse sighting a few days ago, we have set up the traps in the cabinets and on the floor in our garage.

The garage provides the entry way for mice to find a way to get into the house, so if we figure if we head them off at the pass, maybe we eliminate the problem of being horrified by the sight of a house mouse. 

Well, it looks like the challenge of eliminating the mice early on may be greater than usual this year. 

Either that laboratory research or maybe even some infusion of Artificial Intelligence has led to mice who lick the traps clean without setting them off. 

I noticed this with the first trap, which I set out soon after that first mouse sighting.  The next morning, expecting to find a mouse in the trap, I found that all the peanut butter I had put on the trap was licked clean. 

So, I reloaded and, hours later, observed that some of that peanut butter was gone but no mouse in the trap. 

The third time turned out to be a charm with that trap.  Since then, Bill has added almost half a dozen more traps to the arsenal.  One trap worked but several others (inside a cabinet) have been also licked clean. 

So, it may take a lot more peanut butter to decrease the population but we're not giving up.

Mice did die to have this story unfold, but our experience should serve notice that anyone else dealing with mice may run into smart mice too.

So, be sure to load up on peanut butter. 

No wolves crossed while this new power pole replaced its 47-year-old predecessor. 

Northern Lights crews came on one of the hottest days of the year yesterday to install the new pole. 

It was time for the old one to go, and the new pole allowed the power lines to be higher so we will not have to worry about our landscaped rows of cedars coming in contact with the power lines. 

Bill and I are very appreciative that Northern Lights found a solution good for all rather than cutting down the trees, which have been here for at least three decades. 

The trees form a beautiful backdrop for big flower and shrub beds, especially in the front yard.  

So, we are thrilled and the power company took the time to find a solution. 

Hats off to the crew who replaced the pole in the midst of extreme heat.  

I have decided that organizing a class reunion is very good for the souls of old people. 

I may not have felt that way 30 or 40 years ago but  must say that our planning meetings over the past year for our 60th Sandpoint High reunion have been a blast.  

We started with our first meeting last October, where the first basic rule was that nobody on the committee could die before the reunion.  

So far, they've stuck to that rule with smiles and fun, even though most of us have had our delicate issues over the last year. 

Our committee has also grown since we first met, and it seems like every meeting is even more fun than the last. 

Where else, at this stage of life, can we encounter a group of people with whom we've shared a common thread since our childhood or early youth (in the case of classmates who moved to Sandpoint)? 

That thread, over the years, has endured and probably has even strengthened by providing a sense of comfort among our group whenever we get together. 

The cliques of youth are gone; the aches and pains of aging may have replaced the need or security of sticking with one's own group.  

Nowadays, we all share the bond of physical aging and the reminders, through lost classmates, that life is fleeting. 

In these settings of lunch, planning and gabbing, we also share the memories of a time in our lives when we co-existed, mostly followed the rules and looked to the future. 

Now, we're looking back at that youth and reviving the good and wacky and naughty times as we do the work of planning an event. 

I come away from our class reunion meetings with a smile on my face, knowing that these people, most of whom I've known forever, are definitely friends but also like special family with whom the next few years will become more special each day. 

After this reunion has ended later this month, we'll still meet for lunch occasionally without worrying about organizational details.  Instead, our main agenda will be to just continue to enjoy each other. 

"Be true to your school" can be fun, and it can last a lifetime. 

Happy Wednesday.