Wonderful Wednesday whirlwind

Watching the sunrise while at the office of the Phillips County News on any given day is wonderful, but Wednesdays are particularly so. Shades of pink, red and orange mix with black, gray and blue until finally the mornings sky comes fully awake and day has arrived. I don’t sit in front of the office and watch the entire display unfurl, but rather catch it in bits and pieces as I venture outside in five minute intervals as I take a break from whatever work I might be doing inside the building.

I enjoy my alone time early in the morning at my office each day, but especially on Wednesdays as that is the day the newest edition of the newspaper hits the stands. Early in my time as the publisher of the PCN, Wednesday mornings were chaotic and angst-filled as my staff and I braced ourselves for any mistakes we might have made in the week’s paper. We were somewhat green seven months ago and no matter how hard we tried, we would inevitably irritate someone with a typo, missed ad or fact-flub in a story. We have become much better in that aspect – though we still don’t find all the typos. Now instead of Wednesday being the day we sit and wait for the other shoe to drop and someone to scold us, the day has now become one of a short celebration – because we got through another week – and a rebirth – because we get to start the process all over again.

This past Wednesday held true to the above rule, but on an even grander scale for Deb, Vikki and I as our Sports Editor, Pierre, took his family back east to Chicago to introduce his Windy City Fam to P.J., Pierre and Susan’s beautiful baby boy. Pierre’s departure from our office meant that we were going to be in for some wild days and for me, Wednesday was the wildest of them all.

The day started with the delivery of Newspapers at about 5 a.m. – an hour after dropping advertisement inserts into the weeks newspapers –and ended at about 9 p.m. following the Mustang’s football team destroying the Wolves of Wolf Point. During that 16-hour day, I took in three volleyball games, interviewed Punt, Pass and Kick placer T.J. Sewing, built some ads, tore down last week’s paper and if memory serves I also consumed two pots of dark-black coffee, two bottles of 5-Hour Power and two redhots at the football game. Because I was working a reporting-beat that I am not familiar with, I also had the chance to talk with two-dozen people during the day that I wouldn’t usually have the opportunity to chat with.

Right near the tail end of the day lightening started crashing around town and in my sleep-deprived mind, I figured getting hit in the head with a bolt of electricity would be a decent way to end the day. It didn’t happen. Instead, I walked the Mustang’s sideline while getting drenched and weary and about that time Ryan Labrie – also waterlogged on the sideline – said:

“Hey Mark, look, no mosquitoes.”

Ryan is a glass-half full kind of fellow and his comment put things into perspective for me. Sure, it was a long 16-hours, but it is 16-hours I would re-live in a second because I love what I do.

With that said, Pierre, please return this week, I need a nap.

Thanks and aloha.