We spent some time at Black Butte Ranch over the weekend. It was the usual poker crew, taking our show on the road for the second time this year. Time marches on. Three of the seven dudes at the table have now broken 60 years of age -- two of them retired and the third not far behind. To go along with all the gray hair, everybody's got a gadget in his pocket now. Wonder what we would have said if, 30 years ago when we started playing cards together, we could see ourselves these days.

The crew has worked this program to perfection over the years -- food, wine, cigars, cards, laughs -- and getting together to do it again never seems to fail. Our appetites for all aspects of the gathering get just a tiny bit smaller every year, but our abilities to savor them get sharper, too. If anything, we get a lot more out of a little less.

The way this round fell on the calendar, we left town in September and came back in October -- we left in the sun and came back in the rain. Life in Black Butte seemed right on the divide between the two seasons, perfectly still and with a billion stars. The river's at its lowest, the geese are on the move, and the deer are all over the place.

We caught "Car Talk" on the radio on the way back, the perfect soundtrack for a road trip. When we counted up our bucks at the end of our stay, we discovered that we had won a big five bucks over two nights at the card table. Better than that, we got our compass re-set a little, have gotten to see what our cronies are up to lately, and are ready to welcome fall.