Falling Back . . . ?

Yesterday it was a fish out of water, suspended over a sea of autumn leaves.

Can't say that this morning.  It may not be swimming in a "crick" or a lake, but this fish is getting plenty of water.

I hear a steady, substantial downpour outside my window as I type.

Bill left early to go to work in the rain.  He owns an ensemble of rain gear that will keep him dry.

The rest of the crew around here on this rainy morning:  a bunch of wusses.

Foster did not accompany me to the barn.

Kiwi stayed in the garage on her own accord.

I heard one whinny inside the barn, but nobody stepped outside.

"Aw heck, I'll feed you in your stalls," I announced.  If there's such a thing as relief inside the mind of a horse, I'm sure they were welcoming my announcement.

So, horses are still in the barn, of their own accord, and dogs are tucked in, probably for most of the day in snooze mode.

Festus' door to his home in the shop is open, but I doubt that even he will step outside in the rain to spend his day in a cushy deck chair.

It's wet, and it's likely those leaves you see in the photo below will remain as is for a couple of days.  The rains are supposed to intensify over the weekend.

It's time for some substantial moisture, and from what I heard on the news yesterday, the droplets may turn to snow at the stop of Schweitzer.  That will make skiers happy.

Pretty season is all but over, and we're facing the dark zone in just one day. I'm welcoming it for a while.

Morning chores can once again be completed in daylight, for a while, that is. And, it's time that I attend to some indoor projects.  Could be a lot of magazine stacks get reduced in size today.

Time to clean up the clutter to get ready for more clutter when the holiday season drops upon us.

The dark also gives us an excuse to hibernate.  I'm lucky if I make it past 8 p.m. during this time of year.

Of course, being awakened from a deep sleep by that same unwanted spam call at 8:57 for the past three nights is allowing me to make it past 8 p.m., at least long enough to cuss and then try to get back to sleep.

Speaking of obnoxious calls, one came to our house and a whole lot of other houses in the area, while I was outside bringing horses up from pasture yesterday.

Its message even made it to our answering machine, unlike the "American Found Veterans," or the "UFA--what the heck is that:  Unidentifed Found Anteaters????.

Add to that "LifeGivingMoments." I wouldn't even want to go there on what that group does.

Those spam-a-lot entities just keep calling virtually every day, and when the phone rings, I always tell Bill, "Don't answer it."  But Bill's hearing is bad sometimes, so he does answer, "Hello, hello, hello."

No messages from those folks, and I'm wondering why---if they need to call us every single day---they don't leave a message for us to call them back.

As if!

Last night, however, we got a message---Robocall No. 2 associated with the Sandpoint Mayoral race.

Disgusting and clearly evident that here in North Idaho, some folks are "falling back" into old habits for which we received negative nationwide and worldwide attention for decades:  hate-filled, mean-spirited and insulting to most residents who spend the bulk of their time trying to build up our community through good works, generosity, fairness and kindness.

I personally doubt that either of the candidates for mayor is associated with these insidious, unwelcome robo-calls.

We do, however, have a bottom-feeding, perverse element lurking in the shadows.

I'm guessing someone of that ilk has come up with this grand plan to disrupt what should be an honorable civic process in this community.

I would hope that, as quickly as possible, both candidates would put the political sparring and social-media speculating of "who dunnit"  aside, long enough to come together very publicly and collectively condemn such a tactic.

If that were to happen, their gesture would be a win for Sandpoint and for themselves personally, regardless of who wins the mayoral election.

Maybe we could regain a sense of the honor, respect and civility that should be a main ingredient of our political process.

Let's keep the falling back limited to our annual time change and not our community's reputation.

Happy Friday.  Stay dry.