Slight Detour: It's Friday!

It's a pretty morning out there on this first Friday of November.

Grass is as green and bright as Ireland and thoroughly washed.

My only disappointment: seeing leaves on the ground almost everywhere that I picked up leaves for several hours yesterday.

The fact that I have picked up leaves earlier, however, lessens the disappointment.

Every leaf carried away or mulched into millions of tiny particles means one less leaf for me to have to deal with today or tomorrow.

Also, once the first major batch is gone, the rest are fairly easy, and if it were to snow on top of them, the job of cleaning them up in the spring would not be so challenging.

So, I'll keep at it and pick up leaves every possible day.

I'll probably give myself a break today because I have other items on the "to do" list, one of which is sheer pleasure: delivering Gonzaga posters to a circle of friends and family who have been receiving them for years.

As noted in past years, it's like Christmas, knowing that everyone will be happy and eager to see their posters.

Bill helped me out yesterday by combining a Costco visit with a trip into Spokane to pick up our men's posters, which finally became available Wednesday.

I like the posters this year but still wish they'd put names on the players. Seems like it would be easy, but there must be reasoning behind their absence.

Whatever the case, we can all settle in for a winter of ZAGS days. Often, these days provide some necessary excitement when the winter drudgery sets in.

In case you haven't heard, the ZAGS men play their first nationally televised game tomorrow at the Spokane Arena.

ESPN2 will televise the match-up between the ZAGS and the Oklahoma Sooners at 7:30 p.m.

Yesterday, after finishing up my lawn work and putting some pumpkin pieces in the oven to bake, I drove to town and then on to the old neighborhood, mainly to see the current status of the Amazon delivery center which occupies a section of our old hay field.

It looks like the place is well-established with a nice parking lots and some attractive landscaping. I'm told that it has also begun operations.

There's just something unexplainable about feeling the need to check out the progress that has occurred on what was once family property.

I guess it's that concept of "remembering when...."

I also drove on down Great Northern Road and while turning around in the Daher driveway, I got a good view of our former home where all windows are boarded up and the place is surrounded by tall grass.

Lots of memories, especially of the kids' growing-up days in that spot.

At least that home is still there, while not one sign that my family ever lived on the North Boyer farm exists.

Bittersweet, to say the least and a reminder of the time a negotiator in my folks' airport easement dispute years ago callously reminded them that the area in question in their hay field was all just dirt.

Seems there's a definite difference in the mindsets of those who live on, love and nurture the land and those who want it for other purposes.

I think the differences in those mindsets were clearly illustrated in Wednesday night's City Council meeting where those who love the City Beach and think of it as more than just dirt triumphed.

Good for the locals!