I love the doors to the barn below. It's located over on West Shingle Mill Road.
Yesterday afternoon Foster and I took a break from a busy day of yard work to go on a short drive around the neighborhood.
The bright and fresh colors of the barn door stood out as we passed by fields, still bland and blah from the winter's hibernation.
Still, spring is making its appearance rapidly each day as more and more snow disappears from those fields.
In some areas around the Lovestead, the grass is starting to turn green.
Also, after spending several hours mulching up approximately 1,402, 589 dead leaves and various-sized twigs, I felt great satisfaction at how much the appearance of the yard has improved in the past couple of days.
Enough snow has melted and leaves have been removed for the doggies to enjoy their first game of chuck-it in the front lawn for 2023.
They slept well last night after all that activity.
While I've been doing yard work, Bill has been in Moscow since Sunday for his annual forest land owners convention.
Except for the Pandemic, Bill has attended virtually every such gathering for decades.
He enjoys the convention, and I believe he still serves as its emcee.
Today I'll take time out from the yard work to have my pre-cataract surgery consultation with Dr. Torres as the local hospital.
It will be a while before the surgery, but at least I'm in line for what appears to be a very popular surgery for the Baby Boomer population.
Any more, you can't say that old people have gray/no hair and glasses.
Now, you can spot 'em when they're NOT wearing glasses. I'm looking forward to that new lease on life.
Loving the new busYness of spring.
Happy Tuesday.
by Dr. Barry Stoddard
Sandpoint High Class of 1981 graduate
📚📚📚📚📚📚
Against
the backdrop of the late Cold War, a tiny American start-up company
forged a secret deal to place American scientific payloads aboard the
Soviet space station MIR. Born out of sheer desperation after the
Challenger explosion and grounding of the US space shuttle program, the
agreement was negotiated and approved behind the backs of NASA and
Congress, with the help of US government officials inside the Commerce
and Defense departments.
On a cold gray morning in
February 1988, the company founder met with three graduate students and
their professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to put his
plans into action. Baikonur Man, written by one of those students,
recounts the subsequent five-year saga of how science, comradery,
hardship, drama, and occasional lunacy led to the first American
experiments and payloads to fly on Russian rockets.
📚📚📚📚📚📚
A couple of reviews from two of Barry's Sandpoint connections. Proud to say I taught both Barry and Keith in my honors English class.
"Barry Stoddard's winning new book, Baikonur Man, proceeds from
the initial assertion that it is rocket science . . . but also much
more: Santa Claus boxers, Armenian cognac with Russian engineers, fence
building in north Idaho, rides on a Vomit Comet, grim lodgings in
Kazakhstan, crystals in space . . . not to mention the collapse of the
Soviet Union. For readers who want to have a little fun with their
science and a little science with their fun-mission accomplished. This
book is for you."
-Keith Morris, Editor of the South Carolina Review, and Author of Traveler's Rest and The Dart League King
"Barry's book tells the story of a fascinating, high-level, and
intriguing adventure. I find it hard to conceive that when so many
aspects of this world seem tenuous, opposing forces can still find ways
to tackle important projects for the common good."
-Marianne Love, Author of Pocket Girdles, Postcards from Potato Land, and Lessons with Love
📚📚📚📚📚📚
Barry's book is available as of today. You can order your copy at the following link or through your local book store.
Pass the word!
No comments:
Post a Comment