Wednesday Odds and Ends

By the time I finish this morning's post, three family members will have ended their summer and returned to work at their respective schools.  

My sister Laurie heads to Farmin-Stidwell for another year with fifth graders, while sister Barbara will be back at the high school preparing for her English and yearbook classes.

Our son Willie has already spent several days of August at Sandpoint High School where he advises the Cedar Post student newspaper, which means having his classroom open early for newspaper work and for staff members to take photos of every student for their respective ID/activity cards. 

As a result, Willie decided that his last day of official vacation needed to be spent outside the classroom on the St. Joe River.  So, he and his dad (who never turns down a fishing opportunity) fished the St. Joe yesterday, arriving home around 11 p.m.

Must've been an okay day, based on this tweeted photo which Willie posted to Twitter overnight.  From now on, his nose will be pretty much to the grindstone and trout swimming in his favorite streams can pretty much rest easy until next year.  

Wishing the best of luck to my sisters and son and all the other school staff as they take on another school year. 

I often wonder if the white turkeys feel any kind of racial bias as they trot with their flock or pick at bugs, seeds and other goodies in the farm fields.  

Seems the turkeys are ubiquitous of late.  Hard to look any direction out here in these parts without seeing a group headed somewhere.  

Again, if anyone knows where the turkeys go in their daily wanderings away from their regular roosts, I'd love to know.  They always seem to be on the move, with a purpose. 

I pass by this beautiful field with amber waves of grain every time I head to town.  The best part, I'm sure, for the owner of these oats is that the local elk herds have pretty much left it alone.  

Quite different from last year when deer and elk were munching on anything and everything. 

What's a day without a doggie fix???  The days are getting better with Liam as he seems to understand more and more that there are boundaries and that he needs to stay inside them.  

Since the cow herding incident at the next-door Meserve Preserve and the subsequent fence construction, Liam has been quite content to play in his own pasture and let the cows and horses graze in theirs.  

I hate to even write about such an achievement because he may make a liar out of me within the hour. 

For now, I'm quite pleased that he and Foster have such a good time together and that he doesn't like zucchini. 

Garden flowers continue to amaze me with their intricate beauty this year.  I'm hoping the upcoming cool weather doesn't get too cool and that they'll last for several more weeks. 

Today is a day of more outside work topped off by the annual "Ha Ha, We Don't Have to Go to School potluck" for Sandpoint High retired staff members.  Hard to believe that I've been attending these potlucks for 15 years.

We all keep getting older and generally staying alive, so the gatherings are growing every year.  Looking forward to seeing many familiar faces and longtime friends. 

Happy Wednesday.