Wheels, Elk and Eye Diseases....

Traditionally, Labor Day has been a weekend full of stress; school shopping for clothes and supplies, meeting the demands of a half dozen BBQ invitations, and soothing the nerves of my boys as they stare down the coming school year. Since we've moved to Idaho, Labor Day has taken on a different look. School actually starts around the 24th of August, so Labor Day has turned into a long weekend of leisure and fun....or at least it has the last TWO Labor Day's here.
This year we've had a strange mixture of fun, disaster and sickness. It made for an interesting few days....

What is missing in this picture? The wheel that was once on the left side of my cherished BBQ was burned to a black pile of plastic rubble on my driveway. You might also notice that the catcher that traditional sits beneath the the BBQ is missing as well. It was also missing when we brought all the food into the house, and left the BBQ to simmer and cool down. About a half hour later, after a few hot coals fell onto a piece of cardboard sitting underneath it, the wheel was fully engulfed. Had my sister not informed us of this bonfire on my driveway, who knows how bad this actually could have been.

Sunday evening, we were invited up to a beautiful elk ranch about a half hour drive to the east, to watch the elk rut and hopefully hear them bugle. Our destination was quite a bit off the beaten path and there is about 3 miles of gravel road to wind through to get to the ranch itself. What was supposed to be a leisurely jaunt around the property, turned into me changing a flat on rocky, uneven ground, and THEN driving down that rocky, uneven stretch on this little donut. I was angry and frustrated, but the gorgeous sunset helped to calm my troubled mood. We made it home safe and sound, albeit after a long, slow drive back.


Look at my right eye in each of these pictures. That is Viral Conjunctivitis. It's a little different than your run-of-the-mill pink eye which is more often than not a bacteria. Because its viral, there is no cure but time. I have drops that supposedly make it feel better, but its VERY temporary and I get very testy between the times when I can take them, which is four times a day. In the picture below, I am in between one of those times....can you tell?