This morning, I found the following paragraphs describing modern warfare and how the basics have changed due to the capability of drones fascinating.

From today's New York Times Newsletter

The rise of drone warfare has changed how armies fight. Soldiers used to march to the front. Now they have to crawl there at night, under thermal blankets that block the heat signature that would give them away.

Armored vehicles could scout the roads before a ground assault on a village or town. A few soldiers on A.T.V.s play that role now, riskily.

And trench warfare?

That’s over. It’s easy to target a trench. So soldiers hide out in abandoned buildings or dig underground bunkers.

And they stay a long time.

Regular rotation of troops in and out of battle is too dangerous under a drone-filled sky. Henadii and Mykhailo, the two Ukrainian soldiers The Times interviewed, were in the kill zone for more than six months.

(Like all Ukrainian soldiers The Times spoke to, they asked to be identified only by their first names or call signs, for security reasons.) Their experience was hellish.

Vehicles can’t bring supplies, so drones dropped them food and water, at least when the drones made it to them. Sometimes they didn’t. Each man lost 40 pounds.

It's been more than four decades of friendship for this trio. It started out with Kari and Jeralyn being kids of people I knew in the community.

Later, when they became my students at Sandpoint High School, a bond was formed, and that bond has remained for all these years.

A love of horses and the outdoors unites us.

Participation in school publications has united us, as have crazy trips to California and down trails in the back country of North Idaho.

Both Kari and Jeralyn went off to college at Montana State University and Gonzaga University, respectively.

After working careers in the big cities, they returned to their beloved Sandpoint and, with high standards, have continued to contribute to the community in too many ways to mention.

Through it all, our friendship has thrived and we do our best to get together for lunches or dinners to catch up on life. Through it all, we have always enjoyed the laughter.

That's what we did last night for more than two hours at Mick Duffs Restaurant.

It's been an amazing and heart-warming perspective for me as their teacher and as one who has watched them grow from children into adulthood, raise their families, work their careers and now look toward retirement.

It's also been a great run belonging to this trio of friends, and I know we all look forward to many good times ahead.

Thanks, ladies, for a fun evening.

And, Jeralyn, I promise not to tell anyone why you spent much of a summer painting the inside of Mick Duffs when it was the local library!

I promise!😇

In other, news, with the midterm elections just 12 days away, I thought the following letter from former Idaho Republican legislators offered some important perspective to share----especially when we consider whom these people are expected to represent.

I always thought they should represent their constituents, not a restrictive ideological organization. and through all the craziness of the past few years, I still think they should represent their constituents.

So, I'm happy to see this letter in today's Daily Bee from legislators I respect and who did their best while serving to represent and respect all their constituents, not just a faction.

These former legislators offer some vitally important points for voters to consider before casting their ballots.

46 years of Idaho service with an important message:

October 20, 2026 1:00 AM

Idaho’s constitution created a citizen legislature: three months in Boise, the rest of the year at home among the people represented.

Idaho has always been conservative. We work hard, help our neighbors and live and let live. Over the past decade though, the Idaho Legislature has drifted from the core state functions. Education, public safety and transportation are overshadowed by a focus on cultural issues pushed by outside groups. Even the one required action of the Legislature, passing a balanced state budget, has become a challenge.

Idaho now races to be first in the nation on creating law around abstract social issues, while our population booms, our roads have become dangerous, and state funding for our schools has declined.

The Bonner County Republican Central Committee was once a guiding light for the people we elected. Today the party apparatus demands loyalty over debate and treats disagreement as betrayal. Many longtime Republicans have simply walked away. All three Republican legislative candidates on this year’s ballot carry the committee’s endorsement, including its former chairman, who endorsed himself.

Ask yourself who these candidates are really working for. They answer to the Idaho Freedom Foundation’s legislative scorecard, not the needs of Bonner and Boundary Counties. They signed a loyalty pledge to the Citizens Alliance of Idaho, a political action committee run by people from outside Idaho.

A legislator’s loyalty belongs to the people who elected them, not to a scorecard or a pledge. These candidates appear to be counting on the “R” after their names to carry them to victory, and they don’t seem to believe they need to earn your vote.

We are lifelong Republicans who together served 46 years in the Idaho Legislature. Idaho’s success is based on our traditional Republican values. Candidates wearing the Republican brand, but behaving as activist extremists, will undo the work of generations and leave Idaho falling behind.

Each election cycle, Sandpoint’s news outlets host a candidate forum that packs the high school auditorium. It is voters’ best chance to hear the candidates in person.

This year, all three Republican candidates have declined to attend the upcoming forum. If candidates won’t face voters while they are asking for their votes, how will you reach them once they are in office?

This Nov. 3 is your chance to vote for representation in the Idaho Legislature. We urge you to look at the individuals on the ballot, those who will serve your interests, not their own ideology.

Listen to the candidates to hear if they understand the nuts and bolts of what our communities need, if they will talk with you and listen to you. We encourage you to learn about these candidates and vote for the candidates working for Idaho and working for you.

This election is critical. Let’s turn the ship before it is too late. Please vote on Nov. 3.

SEN. JIM WOODWARD

Sagle, District 1

REP. MARK SAUTER

Sandpoint, District 1

SHAWN KEOUGH

Sandpoint

Former senator, District 1

GEORGE ESKRIDGE

Dover

Former representative, Seat B, District 1

Yesterday when Jeralyn, Kari and I got together for dinner, Jeralyn brought along a partial package of my mother's cards with her pencil and pen-and-ink sketches.

Believe it or not, I did not have some of the cards in the package which Jeralyn purchased from Mother decades ago. So, it was a nice surprise and most appreciated.

Having a deep, nostalgic nature, I thought it would be fun to post of few of her artistic endeavors this morning.

Enjoy, and Happy Tuesday.