Saturday Slight

When I went to bed last night, the KHQ weatherman was showing a web camera at Schweitzer Mountain Resort.  It was dark, but he pointed to the snow activity hitting the camera lens.

This morning, I can look out the window and see that the resort runs are white, as are the ridges of mountains to the north.  

In the valley, last night,  we were experiencing a pretty drenching rain storm.  Fortunately, the leaf pile I lit in late afternoon had burned off almost to ground level before the rains came.

We're starting this Saturday morning with clear skies and moderate temperatures---also a very clean landscape.  

I enjoyed walking in the dawn this morning.  While I was leading horses down the lane to the pasture,  the sky was sparkling with stars.  

Later, when I went to the paperbox and found it empty, a morning walk down South Center Valley Road seemed like a good idea.

It was a good idea for a few feet, but then Annie Dog appeared on the road behind, standing smack dab in the middle.  

Annie Dog may be old and deaf and a little blind, but that's just for statistical purposes.

Fifteen-year-old-plus dogs should be deaf, blind,  stiff and slow moving from arthritis.  

There is an instant, temporary cure for all this, I've found.  

I just step outside the house, try to sneak around to avoid Annie, and within seconds, she appears out of nowhere, quite willing to follow my every move, maybe even galloping a bit to demonstrate just how  happy she is.

Annie can topple over at any second with the flick of a feather.  

Well, she topples over mainly when Kiwi does the ceremonial run-and-ram action toward her old canine friend.

Nobody can convince Kiwi to take it easy.  Upon impact Annie hits the ground, plays dead and allows Kiwi to roughhouse with her. 

Once Kiwi leaves, Annie comes back to life, jumps up and heads on her way. 

Annie has a dangerous affinity with any moving vehicle, usually placing herself in harm's way.  

She loves standing in the middle of the road, acting like she's off in another planet while traffic slows down and meanders around her. 

Anyway, this morning I tricked the old gal and walked back to the front yard, moving quickly through the darkness.  She came back from the road, looked around for me, gave up and headed for the garage to sleep on the couch.

I then enjoyed my walk to Selle Road and back, noticing naked black tree limbs silhouetted against the gradually brightening eastern sky.  I listened a train whistle off in the distance and could hear a car rolling down Selle Road at a pretty good clip.

Last night we didn't complain about the rainstorm cuz we spent the evening with family members,  dining out at the Samuels Store.  

Every time we eat there, Willie orders chicken parmesan, Bill usually has fish and chips, while Debbie and I settle for the bacon cheeseburger with homemade bun.

I decided to try the chicken parmesan last night cuz I've been hearing that it's the best you can find anywhere in the area.  

Steve Holmes is an amazing chef, and now I know firsthand why Willie always orders the same plate. 

Mouth watering, delightful and definitely a meal for savoring every bite.  My sister ordered the pan pork chop---pork from Wood's Meats.  

I've never seen a pork chop quite like that.  It would have been fun to have a measuring tape to see just how thick it was, but I'm guessing twice as thick as any normal pork chop.

Barbara loved it too. 

Anyway, it's easy to say that Samuels Convenience Store/Blue Heron puts out wonderful dining choices, no matter what you order. 

After dinner, we watched the Gonzaga-Carroll College exhibition game----well, all but the last five minutes. 

My sisters had taped the game, but a technical glitch cut off the end.  It was obvious to us, however, that the Bulldogs would control the rest of the game.

Looks like an exciting season once again in ZAG land.

Hard to believe that we're back to watching basketball already!  In a couple of weeks, Willie will be back to coaching basketball, so we have a busy, fun winter ahead.

Snow on Schweitzer is good, and green grass down here in the valley is even better.  So, I'll just wish everyone a happy Saturday and take on the nice day ahead.