As the Calendar Turns

 

 Standing water in our French drain has frozen, creating a lovely palette of reflection in front of the house. 

Some flowers thrive the year around without much nurturing.

🌱🌷🌸🌹

Another year is almost completed, and during the past couple of weeks, I've seen and heard lots of laments regarding the past 12 months. 

Glad it's almost over, some have said.  

When I reflect on 2025, there is much sadness, more than enough madness, frustration and disappointment. 

I have yelled epithets at the TV a lot, I have sighed many times wishing my gut problems would just stop and I have shed more tears than usual when more than the usual friends have passed on.  

But for the most part, all of the above have been offset with an abundance of joy.

 

It's not the calendar's fault that bad things happen and that we deal with loss, frustration, challenges, madness and disappointment. 

That kind of stuff happens every year, every month, every week and pretty much every day. 

Happily, though, sprinkled in between or even alongside are endless moments of ecstasy, thrill, excitement, fun and total awe. 

It's the blend of life which unfolds with every breath and virtually every step we take, whether it's 1999 or 2025. 

We don't know in this late December 2025 what the blend holds for us for 2026, but as one year ends and another begins, we know that all of the above will happen and the upcoming changing of the calendars gives us a sense of hope for better times. 

 I love the idea below and thought it was definitely worth sharing. 

I have visited my horses twice this week and am thrilled that they seem happy to see me. 

It could be the treats in my pocket, but that's okay. 

Yesterday I took CB to the barn for some brushing, combing and clipping. 

He seemed to enjoy every moment.  

It's a rotational thing with the three of them.  Lefty will be next and finally Miss Lily. 

More time to work with the horses has at last become possible now that the Christmas hubbub has ended. 

This is the third year I've boarded them at Roxane's, here in the neighborhood, and it has created a lovely new dimension for winter days.  

It's a good get-out-of-the-house activity and often a social event when other horse owners are there to work with their beloveds. 

The change has helped make the winter months move by much faster. 

My friend and former student Jeff Bock had a pretty good seat at last night's Gonzaga-Pepperdine game in Malibu. 

It's always fun to have a correspondent at the game who can get some shots that we don't usually see on TV. 

Which brings to mind that lots of fans did not see any of the game on TV. 

Even though the DISH guide said the game would be on Fox 28 and even though it continued at game time to list the current programming as Gonzaga-Pepperdine, there was not basketball to be seen. 

Within seconds of tip-off time and when some sit com replaced the game, social media came alive with frustrated fans wanting to know where they could view the game. 

My sister Laurie found a link and sent it to me.  I sent the link other friends and posted it on the Facebook Gonzaga promo.

So,  many fans had to watch the game on their computers or their phones.  

ZAGS followers are beginning to groan because our winter entertainment is getting harder and harder to access, and there's often a certain amount of mystery in the effort. 

I saw a note online yesterday that avid football fans would have to pay for about eight or nine streaming services to see all their games on the weekend. 

In short, broadcast sports is not as much fun as it used to be. 

All this said, thanks, Jeff, for the photos. 

I keep wondering what is forming the hole in the anthill southwest of the house.  

Does it have ants in its pants?

As I ponder, I'll wish you a happy Monday. 

Icy but Pretty

 

My fingers told me it was really cold outside this morning. 

I think age caused them to numb up fairly quickly. 

Happily, they still worked when I wanted to snap some photos of the icy beauty of the dawn.

I love this weather, and if winter were always like these days, I'd never complain.   

My friend Brad Beal and his Firefly take a trip over the jump yesterday at the stable where I keep the horses. 

Brad is a fountain of knowledge when it comes to horsemanship and skiing, as he has a lifelong family interest in both. 

Plus, he's a fun person with whom to enjoy a visit any day. 

I stopped at the home of Bob and Carol Camp yesterday to drop off some gifts for their daughter Kelsi to take to my brother and sister-in-law in Frenchtown, Mont. 

With the sun once again shining and a skiff of snow on the ground the historic house looked amazing in its Christmas outfit. 

Kelsi told me that Carol does it all, even climbing through upstairs windows to put out Christmas wreaths.  Carol's a daredevil, I'd say, cuz she's my age. 

The home is always a beautiful sight any season, especially because of the beautiful people who have lived inside for so many years. 

The photos above and below were taken when the Camp family celebrated their home's 100th birthday several years ago.  

Carol Camp and her eldest daughter Kara are standing to the right. 

Locals may recognize the faces behind the pillars. 

How many of these words do you use in your everyday conversation?  

My usage includes about five of them. Serendipity and Epiphany come in handy quite often for me.

 Nowadays, I might have to work on using or writing "obambulate," "mumpsimus" or, maybe today "apricity." 

I liked this musing because I haven't seen midnight at New Year's Eve for at least a decade or two. 

No plans to change that this year, but it would be fun to get dressed up for some couch potato time on New Year's Eve. 

Saturday Slight

 

Schweitzer's ready, finally!

Yup, we sure did have a lot of rain yesterday, but now the ground is white and crispy. 

It's not crispy enough to slip and slide but crispy enough to crunch with every step. 

Interestingly, enough with the new crispy snow on top of partially frozen water, I now know what it feels like when horses have snow build up and turn to ice on the bottoms of their hooves. 

My boots had the same feeling this morning, after I walked through some standing but frozen water. I eventually had to go over to the fence to scrape it off on a board.  

Not easy walking when the boot picks up all that snow. 

We decided almost at the last minute to cut loose for one last night on the town, as Annie is returning to Seattle today. 

In the midst of all the minor calamities during her stay at the Lovestead, we have had a wonderful week. 

So, we topped it off with a meal at MickDuff's where we also had a nice visit with the three lovelies below. 

I have known Sadie (right) but met Tess (left) for the first time and Jacey (middle) for the second time. 

And, when I say "lovely," I mean it.  

I learned that Tess is the sister of Ashley, one of my favorite students from when I taught in the portables at Sandpoint High School. 

I first met Jacey while picking up my Ponderay Rotary flower baskets.  

She's somewhat famous in Sandpoint because there's an annual fundraising race named after her.  The funds go to cancer, which she fought and defeated as a child. 

https://sandpointreader.com/jaceys-race-help-need/

Since then Jacey's Race designates other cancer warriors each year and raises money to help them out. Jacey is now studying to be a doctor, and she wants to work with the elderly. 

Her dad Dr. Jenkins, a cardiologist, worked with my mother's congestive heart disease and the condition improved dramatically. 

There's a special place in my heart for Sadie cuz I taught with her dad, the sweet, funny and lovable Johnny Nitcy whom we all lost to cancer a few years ago. 

Johnny, a passionate student of history, devoted a lot of his time to supporting the honor flights to Washington, D.C. for veterans.  

Sadie told me last night that she is now teaching middle school at Frenchtown, Mont., just a mile or so away from where my brother Kevin lives. 

Annie also enjoyed meeting and visiting with these ladies, so it made a fun finale to her final night in Sandpoint.  

The following are suggestions on making life roll along better, from this morning's New York Times newsletter. 

Seems like a lot of good ideas here. 

• Nothing changes if nothing changes. — Kristine Tobin Balasz, Charlevoix, Mich.
• If it’s meant to serve you, and it doesn’t (and it’s affordable), replace it. Daily things like your bag, your water bottle, your socks. Find ones you actually like using. — Alissa Gulin, Laurel, Md.
• Before your kids go to college, find something you are passionate about other than work. — Sandra Beaulieu, Bellevue, Wash.
• You don’t need to tell everyone everything that goes into making the chicken soup. — Hannah Schoff, New York City
• Your parents are also doing things for the first time. Cut them some slack. — Katie Claytor, Richmond, Va.
• Don’t think harder, breathe deeper. Most of us are surviving on shallow sips of air. — Carly Sotas, Los Angeles
• Never second-guess going to a funeral. — Kathy Nechanicky, Lakeville, Minn.
• We tend to forget that baby steps still move us forward. — Becki Moss, Sarasota, Fla.
• Good conversations have lots of doorknobs. — Samantha Good, Portland, Ore.
• It’ll be fine or it’ll be over. — Nathalie Cunningham, Tacoma, Wash.
• Do dishes when the baby does dishes. — Lisa Francomacaro, White River Junction, Vt.
• Ask yourself: What if there was no problem to solve right now? — Brianán Kiernan, San Francisco
• Write what’s bothering you down on a piece of paper; put it in a little box. A year later, read what’s in there and see if you don’t start laughing. — Diane Huebner, Merced, Calif.
• “Wear the ring.” — A jeweler who cleaned a family heirloom I’d kept in a box for 50 years for fear of losing it. — Arline Sirkus, New York City
• Best advice for decluttering: If you didn’t own it, would you buy it again? — Margaret Roberts, Kodiak, Alaska
• Stop trying to calm the storm. Calm yourself, the storm will pass. — Lyn Banghart, Easton, Md.
• Go outside first thing in the morning before you do anything else. — Carrie Swift Heck, Lee, Mass.
• Your job needs to leave you enough time to go for walks with your old dog. — Gillian Williams, Madrid, Spain
• Ask for a favor, get advice. Ask for advice, get a favor. Asking for a favor can put someone in an uncomfortable spot, but asking for advice taps into their intelligence and shows respect. It may feel slower, but it ultimately gets you what you want more effectively. — Max Zawacki, Conroe, Texas
• Even in the hardest of times, you have the ability to whistle in the dark. — Kate Chimenti, Los Gatos, Calif.
• Don’t make what someone told you into your narrative. — Jean Anderson, Winter Garden, Fla.
• When going on a trip, ask yourself: Are you going to see places or show yourself? Then pack accordingly. — Marina Selcuk, Oakville, Ontario, Canada
• Always have a bottle of Champagne chilling in the fridge. — Helen Labun, Montpelier, Vt.
• Don’t pick up the rope: When someone is starting to argue, state the facts calmly and walk away. — Laurel Givens, Houghton, Mich.
• Why don’t you get hearing aids? — Amy Kepple Strawser, Columbus, Ohio
• In order to fall asleep, you pretend to fall asleep. Perhaps that’s how everything works … cheers to faking it ’til you make it. — Christen Bakken, Pine, Colo.
• Anxiety is not intuition. — Kaylee Davis, Fuquay Varina, N.C.
• When your 100-pound German shepherd takes off after a squirrel, drop the leash so you don’t end up with a broken arm. — Cherie Walker, Pickens, S.C.
• From a fellow vegetarian: Don’t bother ordering the sad, token meatless item on the menu when they drag you to a steakhouse. Just get dessert, and relish it. — Emily Wasserman, Portland, Me.
• Sometimes, you have to let people lie to you. You don’t always have to be right or call people on their nonsense. — Rob Lancia, Nanuet, N.Y.
• Put away your phone whenever there is a human being in front of you. — Emily Herrick, Vashon, Wash.

From wetness to whiteness;  just in time to be late for Christmas. 

The overnight snow created some beautiful scenes which would have been nice for Christmas, but oh well.  

Nature's beauty is welcome any day of the year.

Happy Saturday.