A Weekend in the Flathead

I worked at Camas Creek yesterday. It was a pleasant day, although a bit on the slow side. Most of our customers were tourists. We had visitors from California, New Orleans, New York state, Canada, and various other places. 

I've submitted three classes to the fall schedule already, but I've gotten requests for a couple more. I will try and get those submitted soon, although I sort of hesitate to schedule anything else until I get a transcription job. I need to find out how that will affect what I can do and when I can do it. 

I've discovered that I have a skill that could be very much in demand in transcription. Apparently, very few people want to transcribe for ESL (English as a Second Language) doctors because they are "too hard to understand." We had a lot of training with ESL doctors in the course I took, and I remember saying to the husband that not only did I not mind ESL doctors, I actually preferred them to English-speaking doctors. Even if they speak with a thick accent, they tend to enunciate and not mumble. And their speech usually has a distinct rhythm or "cadence," that is easy for me to pick up (I think because of my musical background). So I am hoping that my willingness to transcribe ESL doctors will land me some work. 

I did an interesting experiment this week. My sister has just been diagnosed with some food allergies, so I am cutting out a few things to see if it makes a difference. I never felt like I had any food allergies (although I cannot eat raw spinach). But this past week I cut out all bread. In fact, what I've mostly been eating is salads, because the lettuce from the garden tastes so darn good. Anyway, I haven't had bread for a week, but yesterday for lunch I went to the Wheat Montana deli across the street. Lunch was a salad and cup of soup (they have the most awesome Wisconsin cheddar soup there), and it came with a wheat roll. I didn't eat the roll at lunch, but after work I needed something to tide me over until I got home. As soon as I ate the roll, I got an upset stomach. Hmmm. 

So it wasn't so much that cutting out wheat made me feel better; it was more like eating wheat made me feel bad. Interesting. I'm going to continue the experiment and see what else happens. 

The husband and I went for a hike last night. We like to walk back in the woods a ways to the place where there is a creek crossing. It's the same creek that runs near our house, and it's water coming off the mountains. The last two times we were there, the creek was too swollen to cross. It was the same last night. I cannot believe how much snow is still up in the mountains. We can't get to one of our favorite hiking areas because there is still three feet of snow in the parking area. 

They've just opened Going to the Sun Road in Glacier Park. I think that's the second latest opening on record. 

We're eating strawberries out of the garden. Apparently this is a good year for berries. I was checking out the huckleberry bushes during our hike last night and it looks like there will be a good crop of them, too. 

I'm off to get some lettuce for my breakfast. Lettuce with dried cranberries, walnuts, bleu cheese crumbles, and bleu cheese dressing. Yum. And a few strawberries on the side.