Morning Glories . . . .

What started out yesterday morning as simply a mission to go get stamps  turned into another fall photo binge for me. 

I had already taken a few shots of the lovely flowers that have enjoyed extended life around the Lovestead.  And, of course, Foster looked cute loping through the field. 

After picking up two sheets of stamps at the Kootenai Post Office where the always helpful postmistress offered to order me a generous supply of LOVE stamps, I set off on another mission to help out a friend who's also a photographer. 

The object:  lovely red barns. 

I knew of a few, and one happened to be in our old neighborhood so I was soon driving Great Northern Road aka Memory Lane.   

Though the land around our former home is built up with industrial interests, the area in the vicinity of our old place still has an abundance of pretty sights, including beautiful clumps of trees along the railroad grade.

I could hardly stop snapping as the mid-morning sun from  cast a perfect accent to the trees which have grown considerably since we lived there----resulting in all the more fall brilliance. 

The photo taken to the south just off the Robinson Road railroad crossing shows our old farm to the left, and that's Gooby's big hay field to the right. 

Some folks call it Mountain View Road, but we still stick to Robinson Road in honor of Lloyd and Betty who lived there forever (in my lifetime anyway).  The area has grown up with housing but still with an attractive rural feel.  

A trio of nice looking horses never did notice that I was standing outside my car taking their picture as they grazed in the tall, amber grass. 

I drove on and found the barn I had remembered on the old Neal Cochran place where I have many good memories, including picking bucketfuls of huge cherries during a summer of abundance much like this year's.  

The new owners of the farm on the hillside have truly done the structure justice by adding some adorable accessories and a good coat of paint. I think my friend is going to like this setting, but I'm still happily on the lookout for more samples. 

 It's definitely not a bad mission for a barn-loving hick like me.  

President Obama with Pulitzer Prize Winning Author Marilynne Robinson.  The President interviewed Robinson last month in Iowa.  --Photograph: Andrew Harnik/AP

Finally, in the Always-a-Sandpoint-Connection Department:  My former student Luke Mayville, a post Doctoral fellow at Columbia University and lecturer at American University, posted this news on Facebook this morning about an interview between President Obama and Pulitzer Prize winning author Marilynne Robinson.

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2015/oct/13/president-obama-turns-books-journalist-in-marilynne-robinson-interview

The President wanted to sit down and visit with someone he admires.  He picked Robinson, whom he had met in 2012 while presenting her with the National Humanities Medal. 

This week New York Times Review of Books published the first portion of the interview where the President asked the questions of Robinson. 

Robinson, a professor at the University of Iowa has won and has received nominations for several prestigious literary awards.  

Marilynne Robinson was born and reared in Sandpoint, ID.  Pretty cool. 

Happy Wednesday.