Saturday Slight

 

I walked in the woods yesterday afternoon. I was kinda hoping I'd see that buck with the big set of antlers again.  No luck. 

My morning trips with Bridie enjoying daylight have now ended. Today was the first day I felt the need to carry a flashlight for our 6:15 walk in the hay field. 

If my calculations are correct, I'll probably be carrying that flashlight for the next two months. 

It's a little less than a month until the shortest day of the year, so add that time to the days afterward, and that's when I can leave the flashlight behind. 

My walks with Bridie by herself follow the early, early morning walk with both dogs when they do their duty. 

The second walk involves sticking to a discipline of making sure I get outside every morning about the same time that I would be feeding the horses their breakfast. 

Since they aren't here to feed for a few months, the walks around the place provide a substitute for that time.  

My theory is that if I maintain that discipline of getting outside at horse feeding time, it won't be a big deal when the horses come home in the spring and I start feeding them breakfast again. 

Probably sounds crazy but I believe that sticking to a discipline is more important at this age than at any other time in life. 

As soon as we start to slack off, our bodies get the message, and then when the slacking off opportunities end, we can expect some major protests from knees, feet, arms, etc. 

Anyway, I have been carrying a monster flashlight lately during the early early morning outings.  

Bill brought it home a couple of weeks ago to add to his fleet of flashlights.  Bill likes buying new flashlights. With his fleet of flashlights, of course, there must be accompanying batteries to fit all the models. 

That means that the cupboard over the dryer where he keeps all those batteries is getting more dangerous than ever.  

I've had a couple of situations where I've opened the cupboard doors to get something else from a shelf, only to have a sudden deluge of batteries fly and crash all over the washer and the floor.  

So far, no bodily injuries, but I will tell you that a bunch of batteries coming from above are just as scary as those WKRP turkeys must have been. 

Plus, like turkeys must be, they're noisy when they crash on the dryer.

We really do need more places in this house where necessities like batteries can be stored safely.  For now, it's take your life in your hands.  

But I'm not complaining cuz it's really nice to have the monster flashlight while walking through snow and over uneven ground in the darkness. 

Speaking of fleets, we're also amassing a fleet of coffee pots.  Bill brought home a new Keurig coffee maker from Costco this week.  

We now have three coffee makers AND I must add that we now have two vacuum cleaners.  

A new Shark upright came with the Keurig pot after Bill's Thursday Costco run, so yesterday I was having a great time taking stuff out of boxes and putting it together and then sampling coffee and pushing that new vacuum cleaner around the living room. 

The other vacuum had started an irritating habit of picking up stuff, making me think it's doing its job and then, when I least suspected it, the dang thing kept spitting out all the dirt and lint and hair all over the carpet. 

After I had washed and dried and reinserted the filter and the vacuum still didn't work right, Bill decided it was time for a new one. 

So, I'm happy, well-equipped camper this week with coffee making, carpet cleaning and walking in the darkness. 

I think the seemingly endless rain has maybe stopped.  We certainly received more than our share.  

The result:  lots of puddles, lots of melted snow and general ugliness any direction one looks. 

That's my excuse for not posting many pictures today, which may be the norm for a while cuz dormant plants, shrubs and trees do look a lot more photogenic with some color. 

For now, we'll have to depend on the deer and snow to spruce up the outdoors. 

Also adding a little adventure to our lives is the fact that Annie is spending the next week in Ireland.  

So, we can live vicariously through her travels. I'm hearing from friends that the place is quickly lighting up for the holiday season.  

In the meantime, there are lots of football games to watch today so I'll just wish everyone a Happy Saturday. 

Books, Bucks and Friends

 

I was sitting on the tractor plowing out some trails in our hay field yesterday afternoon when I saw this big buck jump up from its resting near the fence in our Lodgepole pasture. 

Its rack was one of the most impressive I've ever seen on a live deer. I tried to move closer to get a better picture of the antlers, but the buck bounded off into the woods. 

You'll just have to take my word; it was a spectacular sight. 

Hoping to see it again and get a good photo. 

The Corner Book Store is no longer on the corner. 

Since 1997, Jim Orbaugh has been selling new and used books in Sandpoint. 

His original store was located on the corner of First and Cedar, but for several years, his store has been located at 405 North Fourth. 

Since the beginning, Jim has featured my books in his collection.  I'm amazed that 30 years after the first publication of Pocket Girdles, he's still calling me up and asking for some books to sell. 

Yesterday, we swapped a few stories when I delivered the most recent order. 

Jim told me about a time when he received a check from the government during the Pandemic. 

"I didn't really need it," he said.  So he took some books to the Hoot Owl cafe for people to pick up and take with them. 

While sitting in a booth, drinking coffee, occasionally, when the server would come to the table, he'd hand her some cash from that check to give to someone at the book table. 

He loved watching the expressions of unsuspecting recipients while playing innocent at his table. 

I always enjoy catching up with Jim, and it's really nice to know that my books are still appearing on book store shelves.  

The group of friends in the photo below got together yesterday.  

Well, sorta. 

Longtime friends Chris Moon, Susie "Sky" Baldwin and Marianne Love two years ago at a rendezvous in Idaho Falls. 

Susie "Sky" Baldwin sat in her home in Colorado, while Chris Moon and I occupied a booth at Matchwood Brewing Co in Sandpoint. 

Unfortunately, Susie did not have a glass of wine, like Chris and me, but we toasted with her anyway. 

Knowing we would be visiting with Susie, Chris and I had found a table where we hoped we would not bother anyone while talking with the iPhone speaker on. 

The idea worked out perfectly because there wasn't a crowd at the restaurant. 

So, we talked and talked and talked for about an hour. 

Subjects ranged from the aftermath of the Presidential election to family and traveling experiences to some really great news Susie had learned this week after having surgery.  

No worries about cancer means a whole new lease on life for our friend, the lifelong outdoors adventurer who spent the past summer camping with her horse on several occasions.

Of course, we toasted her again with her good health news. 

The three of us have been connected as friends since our teenage and young adult years. 

Susie lived in Sandpoint for five years while her dad worked for the U.S. Forest Service.  Their home, a red house,  sat above Sand Creek off from North Boyer at what is now the Bonner County Fair grounds. 

I probably first met Susie on the school bus.  At the time she was a fifth grader at Farmin and I attended Sandpoint Junior High as a seventh grader.

We soon learned of our common love for horses.  Susie had free run of her old gelding Major because her folks, Dick and Marge, didn't have much experiences with horses. 

At my house, however, both parents had led a lifetime with horses, and they imposed rules---especially the one about never running your horse on the roadway. 

Well, Mother and Harold never really saw me running my horse on the roadway because once Susie and I met aboard Major and Largo on what's now known as Woodland Drive, the races began---clearly out of sight from my parents. 

We spent our time riding and often racing on the back roads until Dick Baldwin was transferred to Missoula during my senior year of high School. 

A couple of years later, I went to work as a survey aide for the U.S. Forest Service during the summers.  Eventually, Chris joined me.  

For three summers, we drove our "rigs" on the back roads of all the mountainous areas in Northeastern Washington, the Idaho Panhandle and Northwest Montana. 

We also did a little sneaking just like Susie and I had done with our horses.  In Chris's and my case, the sneaking happened behind the wheel on "slight detours" from our assigned job of reading and moving traffic counters from Forest Service Roads. 

One illegal trip took us to Chewelah, Wash., while another clandestine destination ended at the Canadian Border.  In each case we were driving miles from where we were supposed to be but never got caught.

I think the statute of limitations for our Forest Service bosses to discipline us has run out.  

When Chris and I worked together, we learned that Susie was our mutual close friend. 

One time, Chris and I were sent to Missoula to pick up a traffic counter which would be used at the entrance to main Forest Service Roads. 

We surprised Susie and had a great visit. 

We've enjoyed a few other visits as a trio of friends over the years---the most recent two years ago when we all met in Idaho Falls. 

We shared some reflecting yesterday on our longtime friendship and on where we are in life these days.  Both Susie and Chris are 75 this year, while I turned 77. 

We all agreed that we had the good fortune to be born in relatively blissful times shortly after World War II.

We grew up when prosperity began to abound and when life seemed much more simple and the pathway clearly comprehensible, thanks to the direction inspired by our strong family units. We also accepted  from parents and from other adults the universal respect for the values and principles that made America a great nation. 

The three of us all worry about the country's future and especially about the uncertain future of the generations who follow us.  

Speaking of uncertainty, we also agreed that we learned the most about life's uncertainty during the Pandemic and with the political situations that have followed. 

In short, yesterday's phone visit was very special for all involved.  

We are sincerely hoping for more visits where all three of us "golden girls"  can be together to raise a glass and to reflect some more on this life journey we've all traveled in different and unique ways. 

Happy rainy Friday.  Stay dry.   

Winter; Bananas and TBT's

I just shoveled a path through wet, heavy snow to the shop. 

Bridie helped me by standing nearby. 

During shoveling, I would take a break and proudly walk over the area that I had just shoveled. 

These interludes offered a nice break and allowed my upper body to rest and my legs and feet to feel somewhat free. 

Then, it was back to shoveling. 

While shoveling, I also thought about how much further it would be to shovel to the barn and how much more I would need to shovel just to get the barn door to slide open. 

I would also have to shovel a path from the barn door to the barnyard gate. 

Then, I would open the barn, load up a long, low toboggan with hay. Next, pull the morning feed for the horses to the barnyard where I'd be trudging through 5-6 inches of wet snow to scatter the hay. 

Then, I would lead each horse from its stall to the barnyard. 

After all horses were out eating their breakfast, I would come back to the barn and spend the next 20 minutes or so cleaning three box stalls, probably taking two or three trips outside with the sled filled with horse apples and bedding. 

Those trips would be around the west side of the barn  where I would dump the poop and shavings. 

That extended shoveling and trudging through snow and cleaning stalls did happen to be my winter morning schedule until last year. 

This morning I was thankful that my task outside just involved clearing a path to the shop. 

Things will get easier with winter, once Bill puts the plow on the tractor and gets in the groove with the snowblower.  Today's wet snow dump would be difficult to remove, even with the equipment. 

This morning's shoveling regimen reminded me how grateful I am to be able to board my horses and not have to clean stalls or haul poop on a sled through the snow to dump a pile. 

My body is grateful too. 

The snow has come and appears to want to stay, so I'll give up on the leaf pickup project and take the lawnmower to the barn where it will stay with the other two mowers for the winter. 

Three lawnmowers residing in the barn is a heckuva lot easier than having three horses staying there. 

The barn door can stay shut all winter, and I don't have to feed the lawnmowers. 

 

How much money does it take to keep changing the banana?

Apparently, $6 million will do. 

I can't imagine this piece of art lasting for more than a week.  After, all by that time, any banana I've ever bought has started to wither and to turn dark brown. 

So, there must be some maintenance necessary for the piece of art below. 

For $6 million, I guess it's worth it.  Wonder if they buy the fresh bananas on sale. 

You can read more by clicking the link below the photo. 

                                                                                        ---Eduardo Munoz Alvarez/AP              

 https://www.npr.org/2024/11/21/nx-s1-5199568/a-duct-taped-banana-sells-for-6-2-million-at-an-art-auction

Thursday Throwbacks . . . . 

Wednesday Album

Twas a feeling of  total ecstasy this morning when no weather bombs or atmospheric rivers appeared to hanging out in the area. 

We've had a little spitting snow this morning but hardly any cause for alarm or for groaning. 

Yesterday our daughter Annie took a day trip to San Francisco with some colleagues and returned to Seattle when the weather bomb was blowing around that area. 

She said the landing at Sea-Tac was a bit unnerving but successful. 

Other family members over that way told of trees down and power off, so, I guess----so far---we're pretty lucky. 

Yesterday afternoon here turned out to be nice and sunny with a little chill in the air. 

Plus, the wind was blowing when I spent some time at City Beach. 

Overall, it was gorgeous around the boat docks, with willow trees, still filled with golden leaves, fluttering in the breeze. 

Lots of geese, some ducks and seagulls were hovering in the water not too far from the jetty. 

Most didn't even fly off as I walked closer with my camera. 

Just a lot of squawking among the species of water birds. 

Happily, I was able to scoop up some more leaves south of the house. 

I told Bill that yesterday's pickup could be my last for before winter because the poplar trees have just a few hangers on as does the oak tree. 

If it snows much more today, those that fall might be covered. 

This morning also started with some good news when we learned that Willie's girls basketball team defeated Post Falls last night, giving them a 2-0 record.  

So, that's really good. 

I also have some sorta good news in the long saga of trying to get my nearly $400 drug bill from September reimbursed by my Humana pharmaceutical insurance policy. 

So, far I've accumulated a small booklet of letters from Humana, including some blank pages, two permission slips to use the drug I've already used, and two reimbursement rejections.  

In the past couple of weeks, I've been told three different reasons for having my reimbursement rejected.  This information has come through phone calls with agents and letters. 

In one case, I was told by the agent that rather than going to Super Drug as directed by the pharmacist at Wal-Mart when they did not have the meds I needed,  I should have, instead, gone to the local hospital pharmacy and then the company could reimburse me. 

I'm guessing that most patients when they are sick and need drugs don't know such protocol nor do they have time to go through a primer on what to do procedural steps.

Like me, they probably just do what they are told at the time. 

When I balked at the reason over the phone, the agent named Henry asked me to hold again and he would come back with some more information. 

He came back and told me that I was only allotted so much to pay for the drug that had been prescribed and he was wondering why had Super Drug charged me that much. 

Again, I said that I was not privy to drug prices because my insurance is supposed to pay the cost. He then said he would call the local pharmacy, ask some questions and then call me back the next day. 

That was last week.  

Still no call back from Henry. 

Yesterday, I received two letters from Humana in the mail.  The first told me that my reimbursement had been rejected because I purchased the prescription twice in too short of a time. 

The actual fact:  I purchased the entire prescription in two parts because of a clerical error on the original order. This was also clearly noted in the reimbursement form that I had sent to Humana via certified mail. 

So, it seems strange that three different reasons for rejection came up over a period of time. 

The second letter said that my reimbursement had been approved and that in so many days I'll be receiving a check.

 BUT,

it also pointed out that, for a variety of reaons like co-pay and deductible, said check which I should receive in the mail could simply amount to $0.00.  

That information made my day, and the fact the both letters included appeal forms did not bode well. 

So, I'm waiting patiently to see if that check gives me my money back or if it's the nothing amount that the letter suggested. 

This saga to receive a reimbursement for an out-of-pocket drug payment started in early October, and the stories continue to unfold. 

My question:  why is it so difficult for a company to send a reimbursement form for the patient to fill out and send back and then simply pay the reimbursement. 

The company has yet to send me a promised reimbursement form.  I used one sent to me by my insurance agent. 

In this process, I have talked to six or seven Humana agents who have all told me different stories, and my paperwork (my own and Humana's) could fill a book. 

It seems like there's something wrong with this picture. 

Yesterday, after showing Bill the correspondence I had received in the mail, I once more reiterated that, yes, it's about getting the money back but more importantly, it's the principle of paying for insurance and then having to claw and scratch every inch of the way to receive what the insurance promises. 

For some reason, I suspect that many patients in the situations similar to mine simply grow weary and give up and keep paying that premium.  

Seems like a good deal on someone's end. 

Okay, that's enough ranting for this morning. 

The snow is still falling, and because of warnings of atmospheric rivers, I do have some indoor projects to do and will get at them. 

Happy Wednesday.  

Enjoy the photos. 

                                            ---Jason Duchow Photography. 

https://bonnercountydailybee.com/news/2024/nov/19/prep-girls-basketball-sandpoint-cruises-to-win-over-post-falls/

GAME DAY

Gonzaga (4-0)  vs Long Beach State

tonight in the Kennel

6 p.m. pst on KHQ or ESPN+

GO, ZAGS!

🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀🏀