Day One and Back to the Past

Algoma Slough---even without much water---offered a lovely artistic scene Tuesday morning.  So, rather than just driving by at 65 mph on my way to Lake Chatcolet, I pulled of the highway south of Sandpoint and captured a photo.

So, after yesterday, we've made it back to the future, and, sadly, not all prognosticated events in the movie came true.  

There's certainly a special ouch this morning associated with the Cubs who, according to the movie, were supposed to win the World Series this year.  

It was downright painful watching the faces of Chicago fans in Wrigley Field stands as the Mets emphatically dashed all hopes of even a Hollywood script allowing the Cubs to reach a place where they've never gone since 1945. 

I guess the 70-year drought will have to go at least another year. The good news is that the longer it goes, the sweeter it will be next time the Cubs make the Series.  Hope I'm alive to see that happen. 

I threw in a throwback photo this morning, which appeared on my blog ten years ago today. The first thought upon seeing it was is that my digital cameras and lenses have come a long ways over the past decade.

Ten years ago in October, I hiked up the cat track at Schweitzer and snapped several photos of the fall alpine colors.  It would be fun to take that same route and see how the trees have grown or not and how different the foliage may look with an updated lens.

Today's schedule includes a bit of another throwback event-----approximately 31 years' worth. 

Back in the day when we were first hosting foreign exchange students at Sandpoint High School, we'd have three or four.  Seems that these days a lot more are spending either a semester or year at the high school. 

One of the exchange students back in the 1980s came from Sweden.  Her name was Asa, and she spent time in my English class.  

I always marveled at how her command of the English language exceeded that of local students who had spoken English all their lives.

I finally concluded that students learning any language in a formal setting most likely are not influenced by its everyday informal usage.  I also concluded that Asa was a very bright student. 

Our family also had the opportunity to get to know Asa on a different plane because she loved horses.  

Therefore, it came as no surprise this morning when I read Asa's note from overnight, indicating that she sure would like to ride a horse during her brief visit to Sandpoint. 

Asa and her husband Olaf, both professors in Denmark these days, will arrive in Sandpoint this afternoon, and she may just be sitting on Lily by late afternoon.  

Plus, I think we're both looking forward to a lot of catching up from 31 years' worth of our respective lives.  

Once again, today's reconnection exemplifies another wonderful perk that comes with teaching----the career gift that keeps on giving.

I've posted some other photos this morning, taken yesterday from around the place---many of them feature familiar subjects for regular blog readers.  

Again, some scenes just beg to be photographed at the time, especially when the sunlight is adding its special touch to any scene.  Now, admittedly, with Festus, there's no sunlight story there; he's just always there on the deck, lounging and enjoying the good life.  

The sunlight did some good yesterday, warming up that old milk can lid.  A few weeks ago whenever I watered the deck flowers, the deck lid served as a watering bowl for the honey bees which spend the summers visiting from their hives across the road.

I had never had the experience of watering bees every morning, but the instant the hose spray hit that lid, bees came from all around to get a drink. 

Yesterday, for one of the first times this fall, the water was just thawing from an overnight soft freeze.  I tinkered with the photo, throwing a dead leaf into the mix. 

The south lawn photo with all the leaves is where I spend most of my time with a rake. Poplar trees drop their leaves for weeks on end, so I collect daily layers.  They're pretty but not so pretty in a deep, frozen or soggy bed, so I remain diligent about gathering each layer.  

Still lots of pretty scenes, and looking like another gift of fall beauty ahead.

Happy Thursday.