Sisters High School Outlaws played their home opener against the Madras White Buffalos Friday night. On the opening kickoff the Sisters' field goal kicker was injured making a tackle. His mother came out of the stands to comfort him. That's the way it goes at a small town high school. Cory McCaffrey (shown talking to the quarterback Jarred Hasskamp) scored 4 times in the first half and the Outlaws were ahead 42-0 at halftime. The final score was 60-20. The social scene in the stands among the students was really laid back and the cheerleaders were having a hard time finding fans to volunteer to try to kick a ball through the goal posts during intermission. This was the first high school game I've attended in many years when I wasn't working. It was pleasant to wander around photographing another element of my new life in Oregon.

Before I ever understand spaces between leaves, which will likely take the rest of my life, there are other spaces that demand more immediate contemplation. The spaces between the cedar boards on our deck were full of decaying pine needles, dirt and debris from twenty years of neglect. The boards were sun-baked and had turned gray years ago. Our last big project of the summer was to refinish the back and front decks. This required several days of replacing boards, some with dry rot, getting all the squeaks out with over 750 screws and then two days of sanding with a large machine from our local equipment rental store. We finished sanding late yesterday and then overnight a weather front moved through and rained. We are glad for that because we could legitimately rest for the day and breathe a little easier for the firefighters trying to get a handle on the forest fire still going strong near Black Butte Ranch five miles away from us. The deck will dry in a couple of days and then we'll apply the stain and know intimately about spaces between boards.