Slight Detour: Golden Leaves, Mountains and a Golden Cedar Post Opportunity

I raked and scooped up enough leaves yesterday to know that we're nearing the end of our fall color.

Still found some, though, in the pasture last evening (above photo) and along Colburn-Culver and Gold Creek Roads yesterday afternoon.

The nice part was that none of the roads had too much traffic while I was passing through, providing nice opportunities to stop pretty much wherever I wanted to take pictures.

The old side delivery rake sat at the end of a driveway, where a turkey had crossed the road and was entering. I had a couple of nice shots of the turkey, but they disappeared, thanks to a glitch in the downloading.

The afternoon was pretty overcast so leaves lacked radiance but certainly not rich color.

It will be sad to say good bye to these days of lovely landscape, but we've certainly gotten our bounty for this year.

Leaf raking will continue for some time as the hold-outs hold on, especially that oak tree in the west lawn. As Bill says, oaks take the longest, and it's usually spring before the last of their leaves finally let loose.

In other news, there's a photo and a link below, coming directly from the Sandpoint High School Cedar Post where a staff member landed an interview with NFL legend and Sandpoint product Jerry Kramer.

Kramer came to Sandpoint last Friday to present a golden football to the school in recognition of the upcoming 50th Super Bowl. Kramer played with Green Bay during the earlier glory years of the Packers.

I have a feeling a lot of locals would love to see the Packers in the 50th Super Bowl next year. For sure, Jerry Kramer won't complain.

On another note, Bill and I were talking in the car Saturday about how many area schools might be receiving golden footballs. I came up with Shadle Park as a possibility because of Mark Rypien.

We both agreed that Clark Fork might receive the commemorative ball too because of its alum Ron Heller who played for the San Francisco '49'ers---who won the Super Bowl in 1989 when Heller played on the team.

Moments later a post came up on Facebook via my cell phone from my Clark Fork friend Myra, wondering why she had seen no publicity about Ron Heller presenting a golden football to Clark Fork High School two weeks ago.

Other posts followed, and it seems that some folks think he'll be making a presentation in conjunction with the Super Bowl.

Myra has a good point. Clark Fork certainly deserves to be proud of their NFL player.

And, then let's talk Bonner County---- two golden NFL footballs going to high schools in this relatively low population zone this year.

Pretty neat. Congratulations to Jerry Kramer and to Ron Heller who have a lot of fans across the country and in their hometowns.

Anyway, an additional congratulations to the Cedar Post reporter who put together an excellent Q and A with Mr. Kramer.

Pretty cool. Happy Tuesday.