Just Summertime and Livin'

 

A little rain. 

A couple of lightning strikes. 

Some thunder boomers. 

Glorious colors in the early-morning sky. 

That's how this summer day in July started. 

It was nice, as was yesterday. 

With no immediate, major "next thing"  on the schedule, I could finally feel a sense of relaxation and less care for making disciplined use of time.

I enjoyed visiting with one of my friends long enough that a phone glitch cut us off. It was probably time to end the conversation, but we'd covered some good ground in our visit, and that was a nice change of pace. 

I even drove over to my sisters where we visited long enough for me head back home and suddenly remember the dozen eggs I'd left on the stove for hard boiling. 

Well, the hard boil progressed a bit: a couple of eggs exploded in the pan. 

The mess wasn't too bad, but one dozen eggs went to the garbage.  

I'll try again today and will definitely make a note to not allow anything outside to distract me from the eggs like it did yesterday. 

Then, of course, I'll have to remember to read the note. Just kidding! 😉 

I really appreciate days like yesterday because once again I could actually practice the definition of "laid-back." It's fun from time to time, especially because the "to do's" have already started mounting. 

I picked Lovestead berries yesterday, about 29.  

Both raspberries and blueberries are just starting to ripen, but it felt good to do the first picking of the summer. 

We have made good use of the garden lettuce for the past few weeks, and, so far, there's still much more to come. 

It's a welcome time without a full schedule for a while and definitely a time to take advantage of the empty slots in the day and on the calendar for fun stuff. 

In the world outside the Lovestead,  I see that the cease fire in Iran has turned into all-out bluster and bombing and insulting threats again.  

I guess when the USA lost out in the World Cup, we needed to concentrate on other world affairs.  

Couldn't our President do, like he did with the World Cup, just call someone who's in charge in Iran and tell them to knock it off? 

The day is young.  

The stock market is plunging.  

Maybe he will call before nightfall. 

Lots of dirt and heavy equipment on Center Valley Road these days.

It looks like new pipes for the Colburn Creek water line are going in. 

Farther east on the road before the intersection of Center Valley and South Center Valley, there's more heavy equipment and a lot more dirt showing.  

I heard over the winter that another horse stable may be contructed in that area, but I don't know for sure.  

In the meantime, it's fun to see the progress of projects which always start with dirt. 

I read about three former students  in today's Daily Bee.  

They were all fine young men when I knew them when. 

  Nowadays, they are all doing neat things for the community.  

So, I'll post a link to each story.  

BTW: the winemaker was one of our son Willie's classmates and the son of a former Miss Brown and colleague.  

Are ya listening, Stephanie?

Congratulations to all three!  You're from Sandpoint, and we are proud of you!

https://bonnercountydailybee.com/news/2026/jul/08/festival-at-sandpoint-welcomes-new-board-members/

https://bonnercountydailybee.com/news/2026/jul/08/spohn-approved-for-fair-board-seat/

https://bonnercountydailybee.com/news/2026/jul/08/sold-out-event-brings-winemakers-craft-back-to-his-hometown/

Enjoy the stories and Happy Wednesday. 

I used to the window next to the last stall in the Cedar Street Bridge lavatory was the best bathroom scene around.  

Over the past 20 years, however, I've changed my mind.  Our upstairs  window has offered some amazing scenes during all seasons. 

This morning's with the interesting cloud pattern grabbed my attention while zipping up my jeans. 

 

A Special Horseback Ride

 

It's a bond that began nine years ago when Marlo, from Salt Lake City, helped name CB.  

His registered name is Ravenwood CB Strong. 

CB stands for Cazzie Brown, Marlo's late father, an educator and popular football coach, who passed away nine years ago. 

 

Cazzie's memory lives on in many ways for the family, including through his namesake, a handsome Arabian gelding named CB. 

The bond between Marlo and CB enjoyed a new chapter yesterday when Marlo, her mom Heather, grandmother Beth, good friend Amelie and great aunt Sig came to my sisters' Tibbs Arabian Ranch where Marlo would ride CB for the first time. 

These family members are all what we love to refer to each other as the "outlaws," thanks to the fact that Marlo's great great Aunt Mary is married to my brother Mike. 

Over the past 50-plus years, as in-laws and outlaws, we've enjoyed a great friendship and many commonalities, including horses. 

So, once Bill and I rolled into the driveway and unloaded CB, we all headed toward the barn area where Laurie gave Marlo a formal lesson about horsemanship and CB. 

There was the grooming stage, the saddling up, then a stage where Laurie warmed up CB and helped acquaint him with new items placed around the edge of the arena. 

Once she had worked him both ways so that both eyes were familiar with all the potentially scary things, Marlo stepped onto the mounting block and climbed aboard her horse friend which she has visited off and on over the years. 

CB is smart and has become savvy enough to know that when a new rider climbs aboard, it's fun to test that person's knowledge of how to get a horse to giddy up and go. 

So, the ride started out slowly but revved up fairly quickly as Marlo learned from Laurie what level of assertiveness was most effective.

For the most part, the two had a great time with the maiden ride, but it was hot and CB eventually decided that the "scary" things should scare him so that maybe he could get out of some work. 

So, Laurie led Marlo through some new strategies to get CB back on track. 

It wasn't the perfect ride, but it was okay and loaded with some useful lessons to use in future get togethers. 

For all who were there, the ups and downs of the lesson paled compared to the emotional meaning of the experience. 

Marlo was at last riding the beautiful horse whom she helped name after her dad Cazzie Brown (CB). 

And, that was the mission of the day. 

Mission accomplished beautifully. 

Plus, we all had a great time visiting amidst the cats and horses  AND Marlo, now 16, wants to come back sometime for another ride.   

Great Aunt Sig labeled her helmet very appropriately for Marlo to use while riding. 

While people visited, some horses, like Chrome, cooled herself and provided some entertaining distractions. 

🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎🐎

After the horse lesson came World Cup Soccer where the United States fell short 4-1 against Belgium. 

One of my former colleagues John Hastings and his family still enjoyed a lifetime high in the stadium as they cheered for USA.  

John told me that he entered a lottery and three months later had the tickets in hand at face value. 

John and his wife Nancy own All Seasons Garden and Floral on HWY 200 in Ponderay. 

With the planned holiday weekend festivities now complete, Bill and I are going back to a normal routine of working around the place and engaging in whatever recreation attracts our desires at whatever moment. 

It's definitely summer weather, but happily, so far, it cools off at night, so I'm not complaining. 

Plus, the summer is already loaded with lots of great memories, and we're, of course, looking for more as they unfold. 

Happy Tuesday. 

Sunday "Seen's"

 

                                                                           --AI Enhanced

The gate just past the horse corrals was open. 

That meant we were able to drive further than usual on the Trail Creek Road yesterday afternoon. 

So, we did. 

I reminded Bill about how we had walked that stretch a couple of times on past trips and how the first section with all the curves always seemed endless.

That area eventually opens up allowing views of Bald Eagle Peak and pretty mountainsides. 

It's a great wildflower year, we decided.  I've never seen so much Indian paintbrush, and the ocean spray this year seems more prolific than ever pretty much anywhere we go. Same is true for daisies, and fireweed is both abundant and glorious.  

The Trail Creek Road near Naples off HWY 95 offers one of our numerous annual driving routes to the back country.  

There's a pass a few miles up the road with some beaver ponds, connecting two drainages:  Trail Creek and the North Fork of Grouse Creek.

 

Before arriving at the pass, the route also includes some stunning views of the Selkirk Mountain range where one can easily see Roman Nose, Chimney Rock and Gunsight Peak. 

In some places are views of the Kootenai Valley north and west of Bonners Ferry. Yesterday the air in that area had a hazy, brown cast, suggesting that forest fire smoke might be drifting in from somewhere.    

I had mentioned looking for huckleberries when we left home but forgot to bring containers.  We did see ripe berries along the roadside and along the narrow, rocky trail down to the beautiful waterfalls on the North Fork of Grouse Creek.

The walk to the waterfalls marked a nice triumph for little Foster.  I kept a short leash on him at all times, and we walked both slowly and very carefully.  

The little guy made his way down the trail with no incidents.  He even drank from the creek and got his toes wet.  

As expected, the trip back up the trail was much easier for me and Foster.  I'm always afraid that I'll trip over a rock or root and fall on him.  So, the extra care yesterday worked well for both old lady and the elderly pup.  

We enjoyed the drive, which offered a change of scenery and some relative relaxation after the prep and the experience of all the holiday festivities. 

Annie and Sam went on their way to Montana for some visiting, fishing and geocaching, so the house went back to its usual occupants---two dogs and Mom and Dad Love. 

It's summer so life is still far from dull.  I have an insurance meeting this morning and then will meet Marlo and her family over at Laurie's where Marlo will ride CB.  Since she helped name him, the experience will be very special. 

I also see from the edible growth around here that berries will soon be ready for picking as will beans. That means the beginning of picking and grinning season. 

Plenty of stuff available for keeping busy these days. 

Happy Monday. 

                                                                                                                          --AI Enhanced