Nov 2, 2015

           Daylight Savings Time, over and done with for another season. Adjusting of households takes place again. School buses will be arriving in daylight, both morning and afternoon. Meal preparation has to be stepped up because darkness comes earlier now. Usually it takes about a week or two to get back into the preferred routine for families.

           Giovanni and Kristine Crosland and their family are now living in Blackfoot, ID. Gio is doing his medical residency at the Bingham Memorial Hospital, a residency in internal medicine. The Croslands have three children. Both sets of grandparents, Robert and Phee Crosland of Mink Creek and David and Sherrie Rawlinson of Franklin, ID, are happy to have this bunch a little closer to home.

           Ted Janke, a brother of Jody Janke, spent a few days at the home of Jody and Laural and their family. Ted lives in Ottawa, IL, and his job of supervising construction takes him all over the nation. This time he is assigned to work on a project taking place in Boise, ID. Jody's family is excited to do some visiting back and forth during the time of this assignment for Ted. They are doing their best to get him thoroughly acquainted with the beauties of Franklin County.

           During the absence of her husband, MaKenzie Gunter of Pocatello, came to see her parents, Eldon and Danita Wilcox, for a few days. Her husband, Tyson Gunter, has been legally blind since birth but doesn't let that stop him. Tyson has been clear across the world, competing in track events in Doha, Qatar, for the International Paralypic Athletic World Championships. He participated in the 100 meter and 200 meter races and the long jump. Athletes are judged by skill, fitness, power, endurance, tactical ability and mental focus, the same factors that account for success in sports for able bodied athletes.

         As October closes there is no question as to whether or not to expect a night frost. The other morning I enjoyed watching the frost line rise, bit by bit, as the morning air warmed. It started as a silver sheet laying over the fields, then it rose a few feet, a wispy white slice of crystal. Pause, then up a few feet again, another pause, until it was high enough to catch some horizontal movement that helped to lift it off our valley. Wish you could have been here, the words just don't seem adequate but I wanted to share with the readers who get pangs of Mink Creek homesickness.

         Snow is predicted before the week is gone. In the meantime we are having off and on rain. The smoke columns rise from our chimneys on such days. Still, we are greener than I have ever seen it for this time of year—that is fifty-three years worth.