Slight Detour: That Time of Year

It's a potpourri of "awwwh's," "arrghh's," "YES's," "ahhhh's" and frequent changing of emotional channels.

That's March.

My Saturday illustrated all of the above as I left the world of cyber craziness and embraced a day to be topped off by Bill's pulled pork sandwiches and big hopes for the ZAGS as they bounced back from a devastating first loss.

I watched dogs, walked muddy roads with an ever-increasing array of potholes, vacuumed floors, watched some basketball, shopped and even stopped off at the neighbors' where I found a pleasant surprise.

More shopping, should I choose. My purpose in stopping involved leaving a message about a planned rendezvous at my sisters' barn today.

Turned out I had walked into the annual BB's Chicks sale. The sign on the door said, "Common on in."

As I opened the door, I saw three young ladies seated behind a table with goods for sale, including homemade goats' milk soap bars, feed samples and baby chicks in a nearby container.

I could have come home with some of those babies for a pretty reasonable price but opted out for an attractive bar of soap, sporting a handsome rooster in bas-relief.

It's much easier to find a home within our home for the soap than the chicks, as cute as they are.

My shopping experience turned out to be both educational and impressive, as Kaitlin, a friend of the neighbor girls, Boston and Terra, handed me a receipt and Boston and her dad answered a myriad of questions about their family chicken business, including each year's egg-to-chick incubating operation.

These young ladies are amazing as neighborhood farm animal entrepreneurs. This year they're adding equine education to their animal husbandry pursuits, and Mr. Lefty is gonna help them out with that. So, lots of excitement in store for all concerned.

My early afternoon walk revealed the potpourri of March weather conditions which do such a great job of eliciting most of those emotional responses listed above.

I seldom utter or hear too many "YES's" in reference to the outdoor mixture of too much snow, oncoming mud and roads destined to guarantee Les Schwab and other alignment wizards an ample work load.

But we did finally start yelling "YAY's" and "YES's," in the second half when the ZAGS came out of their post-first loss stupor and, at last, resumed the ZAGS basketball that endears them to so many fans.

The halftime locker room experience most likely lit some fires that for an entire first half refused to spark, let alone burn.

It was fun for me to be texting my longtime friend and classmate Janet who happened to be at the WCC tournament with her husband and our classmate Rick and another Sandpoint High 1965 grad Mike Parkins.

At one point just before halftime, I texted, "What the Hell is going on down there?" to which she responded, "Precisely the question we are asking."

So, it was obvious the lackluster performance appeared the same in person as it did on TV.

Happy Endings are much better than Happy Beginnings, as my sister Laurie said, and we were all very happy through the second half as we could hear the crowd in Orleans Arena get louder at the same time it did in our living room.

Yay, ZAGS! Keep it together, and let's hope for a tournament win to add to all the other wonderful recognitions the team and coaches have received this season.

Happy Sunday. Enjoy the "YES's" of your day.