Slight Detour: Neighborhood Bliss and Then . . . .

I was going to post some lovely springtime shots taken yesterday afternoon from our place and around the neighborhood this morning, but I'll have to update.

You see my desktop computer is currently updating to Windows 10. I thought I had scheduled the update for a time when I would not be using my computer, but Windows thought differently.

So, this post will be updated if everything works smoothly following the upgrade. The photos happen to be on that computer.

The story this morning was going to highlight the beauty of our neighborhood with baby calves sunning themselves in fields and groups of deer feeding in a storybook setting on Center Valley Road and horses grazing in a field near a neat old barn on the Burt place.

The story, however, changed soon after I arrived home from my pleasant and relaxing photo shoot.

My son arrived home at his house over at Tibbs Arabians and took his dogs for a walk. Then, one of my sisters arrived home from her day at school. She started seeing police cars, and the action began.

Willie went blissfully about his dog walking while Barbara worked in the barn. It wasn't until later that Bill, who had been at choir practice, learned from his minister that there was heavy police action out on HWY 95 and Racetrack Road.

Racetrack Road is across the highway and just below my sisters' house, so Bill drove home that way to make sure everything was okay with the other family members at the Colburn farm.

He saw all the law enforcement vehicles, then turned on to Center Valley Road to be stopped by an Idaho State Police roadblock.

Turns out all that police presence was there in an effort to catch a man wanted for a homicide in Southern Idaho (March 11 stabbing in Nampa). He was traveling with his girl friend, and the two had abandoned their car in the Racetrack Road area.

When Bill came home and told me, I asked if he had talked to Barbara and Laurie. He said the cop told him to head on home and call from there. So, we called my sisters, and they had been outside when the call came from the sheriff's office instructing nearby residents to stay inside.

Well, my sisters thought that was a pretty good idea. So, they did stay in their house where they had a front row seat to watch all the activity, which went on until midnight last night. Laurie told me this morning that they watched about 30 vehicles come out of that area late last night.

It's been raining all night long, so unless the fugitives are holed up somewhere dry, they could be pretty miserable this morning.

During the first phone call to Barbara and Lauire, I called Annie in Seattle to let her know, and she found a sheriff's scanner so my sisters could listen and watch.

Later, when Debbie was driving home from a meeting in town, both Annie and I on our cell phones talked with her all the way to her house which just up the driveway from Barbara and Laurie's home. It was a pretty spooky trip home for Debbie.

Then, I called Barbara on the other phone, and we had a four-way conversation. It's all been pretty crazy and a stark, disturbing change from the blissful neighborhood where I was leisurely stopping and taking nice springtime photos just hours before.

The fugitives are still at large this morning. Homes in the area have been buttoned up tight, and I told my sister Laurie this morning while she was on her way to school that we would drop by to see that everything is okay at their farm.

That's all for now. When Windows 10 is finished updating, I'll update with photos and any new information. This morning, we're just thankful that a highway divides my sisters and my son and daughter-in-law from a scary and possibly explosive situation.

Now, Windows 10 has taken over my computer. So, I'm able to post my photos of the bliss before the scary stuff.