Birds and On the Beach

Twas a day which began and ended with awe.

Grosbeaks, almost a dozen, showed up and took over the bird feeders.  

That didn't make the finches too happy, but inside the house while watching, we were delighted. 

I love those days when these beautiful birds show up and spend a while.  Hoping to see them again today.

Our morning awe also included an unusual sight:  a rainbow to the west.  It hung around for quite a while too. 

This amazing photo was taken from a home just up the road by our neighbor Mark Johnson. 

I borrowed his because I thought it was a great image and because mine were not so good.

Thank you, Mark.  Keep up the great photography. 

And, so it was lively and eye catching morning.  The next several hours for me were spent freezing on the lawnmower. 

I think I wore four layers to mow lawn yesterday.  Walking through tall, WET grass in the hay field to catch Lefty added to the feeling of frigidity. 

I wanted to get that lawn mowed so just kept on wearing the cold jeans and boots. 

Twas nice when I finished to change into some dry socks and shoes after putting the lawnmower away. 

Plus, the feeling of accomplishment and knowing that the next couple of days could be relatively relaxing with the lawn looking all nice and pretty. 

Plus, the sun finally came out.  

So, after eating a bite for dinner, Bill and I drove to town, even taking a spin around City Beach where we actually got out and walked the sidewalk so I could snap some photos of the sail boats out in the beautiful lake. 

Turns out it was a great evening to take a walk at the beach because we ran into friends and even enjoyed some quality visiting.  

First, we met up with Matt Burroughs and his four children, one of whom showed me her finger with stitches necessitated by a bite from a hungry hamster. 

Then, along came Dave and Candy Tate.  

Bill worked with Dave at the Idaho Department of Lands, and I've known Candy ever since she was a member of the SHS Ponderettes Drill Team.  Also taught both of their kids, Adam and Ashley. 

And, years ago, the Tate's gave us Bogey and Julie, the locally famous English Setter siblings from my story in Postcards from Potato (e) Land, called "The Gone Dog Blues."  

Because of many, many wanderings away from our home on Great Northern Road, Bogey and Julie knew Serva Burger and the Louisiana Pacific mill lunchroom really well.   

 Happily, last night's visit to the beach and drive through downtown, which was hardly crowded in comparison to past summer nights of recent years, turned out to be very pleasant.  

I even said to Bill as we drove home that the experience actually felt like good ol' Sandpoint because we actually knew several people in our brief wanderings. 

I'm sure that dynamic will change this weekend but still  feel grateful to have enjoyed a nice and somewhat nostalgic evening visit to the beach. 

                       ---Photo by Mark Johnson

I wondered last night how many hundreds or maybe thousands of peeps have set up this very photo-op scene during the time that Sandpoint's own Statue of Liberty replica has stood at the end of  this City Beach dock.

Lee Turner gave the community a nice gift so many years ago. 

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Breaking News from Morning Reads . . . .


My friend Glenn always finds the scoops and posts them on Facebook long before the Fake News has any idea. 

from an article in this morning's Daily Bee . . . . 

No need to worry about Covid droplets being launched through the air at tomorrow's Independence Day family events ------in the interest of safety, the watermelon seed spitting contest has been called off.  

I surmise that the organizers thought some people might actually wear masks in this event, rendering them severely handicapped in their chances to win. 

Gotta keep these events fair and equitable for all. 

Finally, just in case anyone thought Covid might be a slacker, someone on Twitter reminded us this morning that the disease will not be taking time off for the Fourth. 

All craziness aside, I sincerely hope that everyone has a wonderful Fourth of July celebration, doing exactly what they choose but doing so safely. 

As I heard yesterday (and I know this has become a cliche), we ARE all in this together. 

The sooner we come together and follow sensible guidelines to ward off spread of the virus, the sooner we, locally and nationally, can return to a life style filled with a lot more freedoms. 

There's still a lot of living to do out there, and we'd all like to get back to it.  

Just makes common sense. 

Plus, it would be nice to get back to some sense of normal. 

Happy Friday. 

Longtime friend Candy and her ever-present "Ponderette" smile. 

Candy and hubby Dave were riding their e-bikes when we met them and enjoyed some visiting.