Slight Detour: Saturday Slight

Shortly after the Gonzaga-Baylor game last night (tough loss but we're still diehard ZAGS fans), our spirits were brightened considerably with a text from Debbie.

Willie's SHS girls basketball team had defeated West Valley by more than 40 points.

We weren't really sure where the game was or what time it was played (hint, hint: a schedule? 😍😍😍), but we knew he had a game somewhere, some time.

We also learned that he has another game today in Sandpoint. Information below.

So, first thing this morning, Bill brought out our new stadium chairs so they will be ready for when we drive to town to watch the Bulldogs.

We saw them against Lake City in their opener, which they lost, and we were very impressed with their talent and skills.

Since then, they've won three straight games, including a tournament championship.

So, pass the word to come to Les Rogers Gym today, and say "Hi."

We'll be the old but proud parents of the coach, sitting in those cushy stadium chairs behind the team.

https://bonnercountydailybee.com/news/2022/dec/03/bulldogs-win-four-girls-hitting-double-digit-baske/

Sandpoint Girls Hoops

Friday night game in Spokane

Sandpoint 70, West Valley 27.

Aliya Strock & Kelsey Cessna with 16, Karlie Banks with 14, Daylee Driggs with 13.

Back at it Saturday against East Valley —

JV at 12, Varsity at 1:30.

Bill brought home a wreath yesterday, signaling one addition to our Christmas decorating program.

So, lights are on, and a beautiful wreath, compliments of Inland Forest Management, adorns the shop door of the house.

Our decorating program goes on through the first few weeks of December.

Next weekend, we'll probably go up to Gold Creek and pick out this year's tree from Dennis Warren's patch.

He'll come with his 4-wheeler and trailer, cut down our choice and haul it up to the parking lot where he'll clean up its base with the chain saw.

About three years ago, in the Pandemic, I started what has become an annual tradition.

The tree is set up and decorated on the deck.

It seemed ideal, since Bill and I were the only humans ever in our house for months. And, when Annie came that first year, she stayed at a motel in town and did her visiting outside the sliding glass door.

Strange times, when we think back on it, but we were all very careful that first year or so.

The tree on the deck made me realize that it was pretty out there and with not much room inside our house, it was a good idea.

So, a new tradition was born. I try to decorate as much as possible inside the house without the tree, and it seems to work.

Besides the usual universal rituals, we do have one long tradition which has stood ever since Bill and I were married. He brought with him from Louisiana the tradition of making blueberry muffins for Christmas morning.

This morning I read the following excerpt from the New York Times newsletter.

It's fun and often inspiring to read about the traditions others have adopted for their holiday season.

I hope you enjoy the ideas as much as I did. And, do tell if you have a special holiday ritual.

“Every December, I make a new cookie recipe each day for our family to try. I pass around the extras to our neighbors and my co-workers, so the wealth is shared.” — Stephanie Pak, Cocoa, Fla.

“I review my clothes closet, diningware, serveware for things that I am ready to part with. There’s a calm with owning less, plus a new resolve to not add more things.” — Esther Emma Audrey, Torrance, Calif.

“Holiday blues used to afflict me, and the sappy holiday background music helped bring me down. Now, instead of dreading the songs, I make a sport of mentally noting my Top 5 least favorites.” — Robert Brandt, Nashville, Tenn.

“Our holiday ritual involves stretching buñuelos over cheesecloth on our bent knee. We use a secret family recipe that my older sister has yet to share. Everyone is involved in an assembly line according to expertise, mixing, forming testales, rolling out perfectly round tortillas, stretching, then frying to a golden color!” — Elma Cadena, San Antonio, Texas

“My family and I burn a yule log on the winter solstice. We find a weirdly shaped or very large hunk of wood, decorate it with twigs, berries, foliage and other items as we see fit, then we fasten a note or make a marking on the log indicating some intention we have for the coming year.” — Candace Abraham, Newport, Wash.

“I carry around one $100 bill to tip someone randomly. I go about my business and when I find that person who needs a pick-me-up, I plant the big bill as I normally would: in the hand of the hair dresser, jar at coffee shop, billfold for server. And don’t stick around for the reaction. Let them enjoy their surprise privately!” — Jackie Shapiro Brooker, Greenville, S.C.

“My husband’s family’s 20-plus-year tradition of a Christmas Eve dinner we call ‘mishy mashy.’ There is one rule: Every person must bring or make one food item that they want to eat. Anything is game, and no judgment allowed. Soft pretzels? Yum! Oyster soup? OK! Cheese shaped like reindeer that you just bought? Looks good!” — Jen Bowerman, Traverse City, Mich.

“When I was in my early 20s, we lost my 22-year-old brother to cancer just before Christmas. As a means of coping, my mom and I took a class where we constructed a gingerbread house completely from scratch. Over 40 years later, I continue to make one every Christmas season with my daughters.” — Beth Q. Reynolds, Hopkinton, Mass.

“I grew up in a postwar building in New York City. We had no fireplace, so my mother hung our stockings on our doorknobs. I raised my daughters in a farmhouse in Connecticut. Despite having a large stone fireplace, I have always hung their stockings on their doorknobs.” — Evan Pepper, Wilton, Conn.

“We dedicate one night of Hanukkah to a visit to Waffle House. We tend to be loud, and it’s OK to be loud there!” — Sarah Fishburn, Fort Collins, Colo.

“I have a couple of traditions I like to intentionally save until after the holiday season: One is going ice skating, and the other is making homemade marshmallows. The winter months can feel long, and having rituals like these helps me keep the post-holiday blues at bay.” — Kathryn Braisted, Brooklyn