That alone made it a Bonus Day for tens of thousands of Eastern Idaho residents.
We enjoyed several other bonuses yesterday. In the early evening, we received a visit from The Tamale Lady and her daughter. We never know when she's going to wheel her Red Flyer wagon up to our home. It's always a Bonus Day when The Tamale Lady pays a call. How can you beat six piping hot, perfectly done tamales for six bucks? They are easily the very best tamales we've ever had the pleasure of tasting. Susun and neighbor Danielle are all smiles about their Bonus Day culinary rewards.
Meanwhile, the awesome weather helped us get a jump start on packing the big truck. We worked until about 1 pm. The toughest and biggest parts of packing for the Arizona Trip are now behind us. That's a genuine Bonus.
Houn' Dawg and I enjoyed a spirited round of golf on the short course. I bet him five bucks on the outcome of the game. Naturally, HD elevated his game to a much higher level and we were tied stroke for stroke for the first few holes. I led by one after the fourth hole and he led by one after the fifth. It all came down to the final sixth hole. I reached the green on my tee-shot and HD was forced to chip onto the green in two. I blew my putting in the clutch and HD came through to win by two strokes. He scored a 23 and I a 25. It was my second lowest score there since resuming this arcane, so-called sport after a 45-year absence. We both agreed we each played our best golf of this fall season and that was a Great Bonus for the day. (In the photo at left, HD barely misses an eagle on #3. His putt came with an inch of dropping in!)
And to top it all off, we had several great phone conversations with Gary G. in Stanley, Idaho. Gary is easily the single most energetic volunteer we've ever met. There's simply nothing Gary won't tackle as a volunteer. He's fearless. He's also the most multi-talented, multi-tasker we know. From law enforcement to EMT skills to Ham radio to historic preservation, non-profit management, antique vehicle restoration, winter survival skills, and so much more, Gary's a Shining Star of Sawtooth Country. Gary put the icing on our Bonus Day Cake by sending one of his great photos to us. He's a lifelong accomplished photographer and his sunrise view of Williams Peak showcases his skill. If you look closely, you can see extraordinary detail in the photo. It makes you feel like you are almost actually there enjoying the same spectacular view. These days, Gary's main passion is the Sawtooth Interpretive & Historical Association (SIHA--pronounced "see-hah"). You can click here for SIHA's website. We spent some real quality time talking with Gary yesterday to provide ideas on how he can find a volunteer to run SIHA's superb historical museum and de facto Stanley Visitor Center alongside the headwaters of the fabled Salmon River. You can click here to read Gary's splendid Fall 2010 SIHA newsletter. Our life paths first crossed Gary's back in 2004 during our first season out at Bowery. We feel very fortunate to know Gary and we are honored to be able to provide assistance to him and SIHA. Working with Gary made yesterday a Double Bonus Day!
And, finally, to complete our Bonus Day, we baked a four pound pork roast to perfection in the cook shack. Susun thinks I've finally "got it right" and those three words of approval were as sweet a bonus as we could hope to have!
Have a great day and Many Cheers! jp
PS--Here are the Site Stats for the prior week. We upticked in daily users and the avg. time per visit took a pretty good jump, too. (Stats cumulative since 6/19--not since blog's beginning on 01/01/10)
Visits
Total ........................ 2,534
Average per Day ................. 21
Average Visit Length .......... 4:48
This Week ...................... 148
Page Views
Total ........................ 4,702
Average per Day ................. 41
Average per Visit .............. 1.9
This Week ...................... 287
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