Saturday Slight

 

"Hot" sweet potato fries!

Not spicy. 

Instead, straight from the cooker.

Heavenly!

It's amazing how such a seemingly insignificant food event could make a day. 

Well, it was a good day yesterday all day long, but those fresh, hot fries made FRY-day something special. 

Most of the fries I've eaten since March have been worn out by the time they've reached my tastebuds.

With the routine of eating take-out dinners outside on Friday nights, we've learned to just accept the fact that the food may not be at its best by the time we indulge.

Well, last night was a treat, as four Love's came down from the mountains at the end of the Rapid Lightning Creek Road and decided to stop by Pack River General Store for our dinner. 

We sat outside at one of the picnic tables, and the waitress wasted no time bringing out glasses filled with water and an additional decanter. 

Within minutes of Debbie's going inside with our orders, the server returned again with our dinners, hot out of the kitchen. 

It takes just one bite into a fresh French fry to remind us how our lives and habits have changed since March.

And, every once in a while a reminder like last night's delightful dinner provides some hope that maybe some day we'll be back to normal and that those things we took for granted for so many years may just have new appeal. 

Willie and Debbie met us at the house after getting off from work yesterday.  The plan was to get back up to the aspen grove at the end of the road in hopes of a color show.

Well, it hasn't happened yet.  The past week has been so much like summer that the needed overnight color-changing freezes are still in the future. 

So, if think you missed the aspen show, you haven't. 

The lack of fall color in no way diminished our experience.  The area up there has a road network which allows for pleasant hiking and just plain enjoyment of the outdoors. 

We did realize, however, that hunting season may be on, and that, except for Willie, we were not exactly dressed with the best safety measures for walking around where hunters might be out searching for game. 

So, our walk was brief but still enjoyable. 

Later, after dinner at the store, we came home and enjoyed some coconut cream pie, which did not have to be hot out of the kitchen.  

We also learned from Willie how different life at Sandpoint High School is during these Pandemic times. 

The Commons serves as the choir director's classroom.

The lunch routine involves some bureaucracy for teachers as they take counts, deliver them to the lunchroom and then go later to bring the sack lunches back for their classes. 

Part of one class hour is set aside for students to eat their lunches and then class resumes. 

No Homecoming dance but dress-up days next week can happen.  

Very few students can attend varsity football games at Barlow Stadium because of social distancing rules. 

More students go to JV and frosh athletic events because they're held at the school facilities. 

Kids are good about wearing their masks.

A very different time to be a high school student.

Different times for all of us.   

Overall, yesterday's short hike and dinner offered a nice experience from home to the mountaintops and back again. 

I'll top off this morning's post noting that the area's most popular restaurant out there on Rapid Lightning Road next to Pack River puts out a heckuva delicious bacon burger to go along with those hot and fresh sweet potato fries. 

Happy Saturday.