Slight Detour: Golden Daze and Such

What a beautiful day to have to drive to Sweet Lou's in downtown Athol, Idaho, for lunch!

Twas like floating through a zone of sublime radiance along every mile of HWY 95 South.

Golds, reds, browns, greens, in-betweens and intense sunshine teamed up to create scenes so perfect they seemed almost unreal.

Our Sandpoint High Class of 1965 continues to meet monthly for lunch and, more importantly, have a great time with each new meeting.

We've been doing our summer tour of eating places on the water or outside of town and will try one more before scheduling lunch gatherings in Sandpoint over the winter.

For several months, a couple of classmates have been coming to lunch from the Coeur d'Alene/Post Falls area, so this time we scheduled Sweet Lou's at Athol to make their drive easier.

Next month, The View at Cocolalla.

We all mark down the date and time and always look forward to those days when we can meet, comfortably sit around a table, enjoy good food and each other as we gab for a couple of hours.

At this stage of life, it's comforting to have this bond which has united us since our youth.

Speaking of "this age," today is maintenance day for me.

Last year's ongoing maintenance involved an unruly gut, which is finally behaving a little better, thanks to a restrictive diet.

This meal was pretty tasty last night: pork shoulder roast cooked for almost two days, homegrown potatoes and green beans and carrots.

This year I've dealt with getting used to wearing a fiberglass orthotic which is supposed to allow a tendon running through my left ankle to heal.

It's been challenging, especially with finding the right footwear, but I've finally reached the point of being able to jam my foot into the brace inside the shoe without too much discomfort.

When walking on level ground, I don't even think about the orthotic, but a step through some uneven ground will instantly remind me just how draconian fiberglass can be when the orthotic edges dig into my foot.

For the most part, I have adjusted to this lovely little accessory.

Today I'll experience another maintenance learning curve when I go to the dentist for two hours of "deep cleaning" of half my teeth. In a couple of weeks, I'll go again for the other half.

Having never sat through a deep cleaning for two hours, I'm reminding myself not to drink too many liquids this morning.

I've been told that I can opt for numbing to make this process easier. If only the same stuff could deaden my bladder.

Anyway, this will be a "live and learn" session and when I get out of that chair, half my teeth will be squeaky clean.

Then, I won't want to eat anything for fear they'll get dirty.

Always something but hoping that the dental program involves all the maintenance I face for the rest of the year.

I spotted these two charmers while taking a slight detour off HWY 95 to Blacktail Road yesterday.

The scenes on this back road were stunning.

I've heard that today will probably be as glorious as yesterday and then comes some rain, which is likely to wash away the last of our October beauty.

Another adjustment will come with that change, but then we should have ZAGS basketball to take our mind off from the blahs of late fall.