Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Meeting

I booked a packaged tour.

Way to go.

It includes flights, bus trips, a cruise, shopping and food.

If they’d be willing to eliminate four of those things, I might join you on the tour.

Driving by Bruce’s drive

I have a wonderful neighbor named Bruce. Whenever I pass his drive, thoughts occur to me, such as: The word on the street was that an opossum had been run over by a car. I drove past twin Harveststore silos on an old farm site. They were once towering blue landmarks that have become towering blue tombstones. The dairy barn was gone, but an old farmhouse, no longer inhabited, remained as evidence of the thinning of the herd of dairy farmers. I remember visiting farms featuring the big blue silos sold by the A.O. Smith Company. I recall the sweet smell of corn silage and the hope for better days.   

I drove by an old-fashioned gas station. I wanted to stop for gas and directions, but I was rushed. I once had a part-time job at a gas station in a big city. I wasn’t a grease monkey. I was a purveyor of gas, clean windshields and jokes. Drivers stopped to ask for directions. I didn’t know any. I could barely find my way to work. I was used to giving directions that involved herds of cows. When someone asked for directions, I’d assume a look as serious as a man wearing a shirt with Ralph’s name on it and inquire, “Do you know how to get to where you’re going?”

They never did.

I’d say, “Then I’m afraid I can’t help you.”

Putting the hick in Chickago

I spent my time in downtown Chicago being in someone’s way. Everyone seemed to be in a hurry to get somewhere they knew how to get to. I was in a hurry, too, but wasn’t always sure where I was going. The sidewalks were so crowded that it was like being on an aboveground subway. Someone was always standing on my foot. That someone was usually me.

A woman was writing my name down on a form in an art gallery I’d visited. She asked my first name. I told her that it was Allen and spelled it correctly for her.

“Allen, that’s not a name you hear every day,” she said.

Yes, it is.

The clownfish tasted funny, too

My wife found a box of crackers in a hidden corner of a cupboard. The expiration date had been in early 2015, but it hadn’t been opened. I love crackers. I really love cheese and crackers. It’s impossible for me to throw crackers away without tasting them. I tried one. It was OK, but a bit soggier than I like. It needed cheese. Lots of cheese.

Everything surprises a Grandpa

I watched a teenage granddaughter play nine basketball games in three days. She played all but several minutes. I’m impressed by her stamina and distressed by my own. I was exhausted after sitting and watching her play.

Swanny Tollefson of New Richland asked me if I was still playing softball. His question caused me to pull a hamstring.

Nature notes

I did a scientific and precise survey of the number of rabbits in my yard. I came up with way too many.

I watched a pair of eastern kingbirds harassing a crow moving along the ground. The kingbirds kicked the corvid’s butt. The scientific name of this kingbird is Tyrannus tyrannus. Tyrannus means “tyrant, despot, or king,” in reference to the aggression kingbirds exhibit with crows and others they perceive as enemies. I see them attacking hawks and squirrels. I wish they held a grudge against eastern cottontails.

All insects change in form as they grow. This process is called metamorphosis. Butterflies undergo a complete metamorphosis, in which there are four distinct stages: egg, larva (caterpillar), pupa (chrysalis) and adult. Monarch development from egg to adult is completed in about 30 days. The egg stage takes 3-4 days, 10-14 days as a caterpillar and another 10-14 days as a chrysalis.

The breeding population of western meadowlarks has declined over 1 percent a year between 1966 and 2015, a cumulative decline of 48 percent according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. The decline may be caused in part by the conversion of grassland breeding and wintering habitat to commercial, housing and agricultural uses. Other factors affecting meadowlark populations may include pesticide use, habitat degradation due to invasive plant species and fire suppression that alters native grasslands.

Meeting adjourned

  “What wisdom can you find that is greater than kindness?” — Jean Jacques Rousseau