Halfway through stall cleaning yesterday morning, I put down my shovel and walked to the house.
"When I'm done with chores, let's go for a New Year's Day drive," I suggested to Bill, adding, "to Bonners Ferry."
"We need to be back by 2 so we can watch Chris at the Rose Bowl," I said while walking out the door.
Chris is Chris Pietsch, and he spent a week preparing for and chronicling all the events leading up to and including the "Granddaddy of them All," where Oregon's Ducks defeated Wisconsin in the New Year's Day classic.
Chris works for the Eugene Register-Guard, and, among other events, he has published an online collection of his photos from yesterday's game.
We did see Chris at the very end of the game, capturing photos of the victory celebration.
Anyway, Bill seemed quite okay with the plan to head north, and by the time I came back into the house, he had his pack ready to go.
We first stopped at the National Bird Refuge near Myrtle Creek Falls where Bill looked for a geocache, in vain. He was using his cell phone app, and wasn't having any luck.
So, we moved on to the Ball Creek Ranch Nature Conservany, each taking a trekking pole, which was helpful with the rough ground and slippery snow at the beginning of the trail, an old dike from the pre-Libby Dam flooding days.
As we rounded the bend along the river, walking became easier and the bird life in the river, more evident.
Twas mainly occasional ducks and a whole lot of Canada geese.
Blue sky and sunshine also added some color to our walk. In all, we hiked three miles by the time of our arrival back at the pickup, with one more plan on the docket.
I brought along my tripod and told Bill it would be nice for us to have a selfie taken at the start of the new year and decade.
So, we headed back to the bird refuge headquarters. While setting up my tripod and camera, I heard honking from a car pulling into the headquarters.
Lo and behold, who would it be? None other than the Young Loves, three grandpuppies and Swiss Miss aka Laura.
Ironically, they were headed to exactly the same spot to go hiking. At the Nature Conservancy, dogs can run free. Over the years, our dogs have enjoyed some great adventures along that dike overlooking the Kootenai River.
Since they were there and there was nobody else around, we set up, stood in line and let the camera do its thing.
While we Loves were all experiencing nature, Annie Love was doing the same thing along the ocean on a beautiful day in Western Washington.
So, for all, it was a great way to start out a new year, all of us walking into a brand new decade.
Seems like, in addition to recharging, engaging and helping others, the resolution of "walking" should join the list of things to do.
Generally, that's a pretty easy goal, 'cept for days like this morning when outside our house, the "killer ice" is so slick that even Yak Trax are almost ineffective.
Be careful out there.
Happy Thursday.
Finally, to Swiss Miss: you're flying off home to Switzerland today.
We have so enjoyed seeing you, and we wish you safe travels and best of luck replenishing that bank account so you can come back soon.
GO, ZA-H-H-H-GS," in their conference opener tonight vs the Portland Pilots at 7 p.m.
Besides breathing fresh air, keeping the ol' body in shape and absorbing stunning scenes of the natural world, yesterday's hike also provided time for reflecting on losses from the two days before.
Two former colleagues and longtime friends Jim Wilund and BJ Biddle, passed away on Monday and Tuesday, respectively.
These days there's the notion that those who pass gain their wings.
Surely, these two wonderful people earned their wings through lifetimes of service as educators and just plain outstanding examples as human beings.
Fly well, my friends.
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