This is another of my “hopscotch” columns (a running of the words in street language).

Have you noticed how a fellow columnist is now writing with a bit of humor? Could it be due to a four-wheeled vehicle called a Studebaker?

The people of Portugal and Spain will traditionally eat 12 grapes just as the clock strikes 12 on New Year’s Eve. This is to ensure 12 happy months in the coming year.

I missed being able to tour the Christmas decorations at the Vince Peterson farm (Vince retired this year after four decades).

Have you been to the new business by Ellendale called Casey’s? Be sure and say “hi” to Larry on your next visit.

The Wagner Watch is a most appreciated ad in the Star Eagle.

An NRHEG alumni asked me to say “hi” to her fellow alumni (she goes by the handle, “Debbie Baas”).

Once again, modern technology blew me away. Genie received a letter from a classmate (Sandy Hargens) with a postage stamp that was a picture of Sandy’s dog, Echo. Yes, you can print a postage stamp of your liking from your computer.

We received a homemade pecan pie from Dan and Laurie (they live on top of the Green Mountains just outside of Burlington, Vermont) via USPS Priority Mail. It took longer to get here than it did for us to eat it. We eat good things fast.

Police statistic: The least number of cars stolen is on Christmas Day. The most number of cars stolen is on New Year’s Day.

Many stores in Mason City are entered via the door on the left and exited via the door on the right. 

The sentence, “The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog,” uses every letter of the alphabet.

In his end-of-the-year meeting with the heads of the U.S. church bodies, President Obama let them know he was aware that most church bodies were suffering financially. He asked if there was anything he could do to help their finances. The unanimous answer was, “Quit making $1 bills.”

While waiting to order at the busy local KFC, I started to talk with a lady also waiting to order. She let me know she lived in New Richland and worked in Albert Lea. I stated that I was a graduate of New Richland and asked her last name. She looked at me and said, “I recognize you, you write a column in the New Richland paper and if I tell you my name it will be in the paper and I don’t want that.”

She did okay giving her description: “About five feet, six inches tall, under age 40 with the outstanding feature of wearing pink shoes.” Tell her you saw her description in this column.

A duck’s quack doesn’t echo, and no one knows why.

There is a hotel in Sweden built entirely out of ice; it is rebuilt every year.

Her name is Sharon, his name is Jim; her name is Genie, his name is Bob. At the Senior Citizen Christmas Party, Sharon was the lucky winner of bottled wine. Genie was the lucky winner of a food certificate good for cocktail shrimp. Jim and Bob are waiting for the consuming party that they promised to invite them to.

How did Genie and I celebrate New Year’s Eve? At the stroke of 12, we each ate 12 grapes.

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Bob is a retired AAL (Aid Association for Lutherans) agent, currently working on his master’s degree in Volunteering. His wife, Genie, is a retired RN, currently working on her doctor’s degree in Volunteering. They have two children, Deb in North Carolina, and Dan in Vermont. Bob says if you enjoy his column, let him know. If you don’t enjoy it, keep on reading, it can get worse. Words of wisdom: There is always room for God.

When boxing hit its heyday in the sports world

(Editor’s note: Part six of a seven-part series about local, area, and state amateur and professional boxing.)

By RODNEY HATLE

Contributing Writer

Area sports pages in the winter of 1947-48 headlined Golden Gloves district tournaments that would culminate in Minneapolis for the Upper Midwest championships.

Reports were also about wrestling, basketball, hockey and others, along with enough baseball to keep the fans informed of the coming seasons: local and area as well as minor and major leagues.

Locally, it was the New Richland Red Sox of the Maple Valley League before joining others such as the Four County. Previous to World War II, the “Sox” had made the Southern Minnesota League playoffs twice. That league was now semi-pro and thus “expensive” with a membership which included the likes of Owatonna, Albert Lea, Austin, Faribault, Rochester, and Mankato.

Readers nowadays may be surprised to know that the University of Minnesota boxing team was then traveling to Nebraska with “three lettermen veterans of the 1947 team which ushered in boxing as an intercollegiate sport.”

Panthers thwart WEM/JWP in dual

By JIM LUTGENS

Editor/Publisher

Coming off an impressive dual-meet victory, the NRHEG High School wrestling team had a good showing Saturday, taking second in the 10-team Gopher-Valley Conference tournament at St. Clair.

Fairmont/Martin County West won with 179 points and the Panthers totaled 166.5, best of any Gopher Conference squad. Maple River was third with 159, followed by USC with 156, LCWM/Nicollet 122, Medford 121.5, WEM/JWP 120, Blooming Prairie 107, Madelia/Truman 66 and St. Clair 29.

“Our team is really making progress so far in 2016,” said NRHEG coach Shawn Larson. “We wrestled well on Thursday and at this tournament. There are still areas in which we need to improve upon, but it is so much easier to do when we are seeing the effects of our hard work.”

Panthers drop state championship rematch with Kenyon-Wanamingo

By JIM LUTGENS

Editor/Publisher

It’s been a season of streaks for the NRHEG girls’ basketball team.

After winning five in a row to start the season, the Panthers dropped two straight before reeling off another four wins.

They snapped another two-game skid Saturday, defeating Stewartville 68-52 in a nonconference game at Hayfield. The Panthers, 2-2 in the Gopher Conference, improved to 10-4 overall.

The Panthers made 19 of 32 two-pointers, 6 of 38 threes and 12 of 17 free throws as Stewartville was 12-for-29, 6-for-18 and 10-for-23. The Panthers outrebounded the Tigers 37-23.

By JIM LUTGENS

Editor/Publisher

Missing one third of their triple towers, the NRHEG basketball boys struggled early at Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Friday, Jan. 8. They could not catch up, dropping a Gopher Conference contest 62-51.

The Panthers took nearly six minutes to score their first points of the game. Fortunately, WEM only scored six.

“It seemed we were a bit tentative offensively, dropped some passes, didn't finish,” said NRHEG coach Pat Churchill. “We rushed a little bit and really struggled early.”

Tough defense helped the Panthers keep it close, according to Churchill.

The Bucs pushed the lead to double digits with six minutes left in the first half and went into halftime with a 31-17 advantage.

We recently started a new year, and when a new year is upon us, many of us try and adopt New Year’s resolutions.

I realize that 13 days of the new year are already behind us, but I recently learned something from Mayo Clinic doctors I feel is an important thing we all need to start doing. We need to drink more water.

Remember when we started carrying a bottle of water with us wherever we went? It may have been a fad back then, but it has been determined it is an important thing that we all need to do.

A cardiologist at Mayo Clinic has determined that heart attacks can be triggered by dehydration. It is important for each and every one of us to start carrying a water bottle with us wherever we go. Many people carry liquids other than water, which is not the same thing. Good, clean water is what our bodies need.

Even though many folks do not want to drink anything before they go to bed because they will have to get up during the night to use the restroom, it is important that they start doing just that.

Drinking one glass of water before bed helps people avoid stokes or heart attacks!

I am sure that many of you wonder why you need to urinate so much at night time.

If you ask your cardiac doctor he will tell you that gravity holds water in the lower part of your body when you are upright. That is why your legs may swell.

When you lie down, the lower part of your body is level with your kidneys, which makes it easier for your kidneys to remove the water, which contains toxins, from your body.

Believe it or not, there is a correct time to drink water. The cardiac specialists have determined that drinking water at a certain time maximizes its effectiveness on our bodies.

We should start drinking two glasses of water after we wake up in the morning. That water helps activate our internal organs.

We should also drink one glass of water 30 minutes before meals. That glass of water helps the digestion of the food we eat.

We should also drink one glass of water before taking a shower or a bath. It helps lower blood pressure.

We should also drink one glass of water before going to bed. That glass of water before bed not only helps our bodies avoid strokes or heart attacks, but it also helps prevent leg cramps.

I know that I used to complain about having to get up during the night to go to the bathroom, but I won’t complain anymore. If drinking a glass of water before I go to bed will help me avoid suffering a stroke or heart attack, I will do it and I hope that you will too!

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Some of our Star Eagle readers have commented that they like to read about events such as family and school reunions, birthdays and anniversaries, and birth and wedding announcements.  In order to read about these important things we need our faithful readers to pass along the information to us.

Also, if you have an idea for a story that you think would be of interest to our readers, please contact me.

If you have birthdays and anniversaries you would like to include, or news to share, please contact me via  e-mail, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., by postal mail, P.O. Box 192, Geneva, MN 56035; or telephone, 507-256-4405.

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Birthdays and anniversaries:

• Thursday, January 14th: Brooke Sorenson Krohn, Darla Hagen Matthees, Christine Hanson, Skyler Cromwell Lembke, Jenna Marie Abbott, Mark Langlie, Ryan & Kerri Wagner

• Friday, January 15th: Steve Bailey, Paul Christensen, Emily Crabtree, Angela Borchert, Brian Farr

• Saturday, January 16th: Carter Howard Hanson, Kiley Beenken, Craig Bailey, Remi Wayne, Joshua Crabtree, Joni Groth, Jeff Kaplan, Tracy Tracy, Melissa Wagner, Emily Bedker, Tena Bryce, Jeremy Anderson

• Sunrday, January 17th: Ava Elizabeth Schember, her 8th; Blake Michael Born/Norday, Don Anderson, Jan Bartsch, Annette Busho, LuAnn Johnson Prescher, David Strenge, Mike Peterson, Brayden Broitzman, Kayley Camerer

• Monday, January 18th: Madilyn Hamilton, Deb Bohnoff, Todd Holland, Julie Bunn Hunt, Annie Miller, Tabatha Miller, Mark Misgen, Vicki Babb, Ruth Neidermeier, Garret Schley & Ellie Schley

• Tuesday, January 19th: Brian Wayne, Laura (Otterson) Ortiz, Dennis Grunwald, Steve Jon Christensen, Barb Wayne Heyer, Kent Johnson, Thomas Kasper, Francis Misgen, Peter Spande, Dick Ewing, Dick & Laurie Swift

• Wednesday, January 20th:  Brentson Lange, Jim Krause, Marc Nelson, Jenna Nicole Cooper, Pastor Alvin Cooper, Anthony Thostenson, Alicia Lizaazo,

• Thursday, January 21st: Cooper Routh, his 5th, Joshua Dobberstein and Gerald Wobshcall

• Friday, January 22nd: Reese Hendrickson, Taylor Lunning, Christian Sletten, Tom Haried, Lyle Shaunce, Barbara Van Gorkom, Jeff Miller, Heather Sargent

• Saturday, January 23rd: Eugene Worke, "Emeritus" Bob Hanson, Eugene Cornelius, Rodney Sorenson, Dean Broitzman, Garnet Folie, Jeff Miller, Chris Paulson

• Sunday, January 24th: Morgan Sophia Luhring, her 10th; Renee Polzin, Greg Menefee, Mary Cunningham, Trevor Tracy

• Monday, January 25th: Calvin Thomas VanderStoep, his 6th; Sophia Mabel Olivia Mrotz, Max Thomas Powers Brekke, his 7th; Emma Meiners, her 7th;  Paula Olson, Vernon Simonson, Lana Thompsen, Troy Phagan, Ladawn Hatch

May your special day be a happy memory and tomorrow a bright new promise.

The Minnesota DNR has been making great strides towards improving our environment and habitat in pretty much all phases of the outdoors. The Lessard/SAMS amendment has been instrumental in the funding of many worthwhile projects that the DNR has undertaken since the amendment’s inception in 2008.

A record number of people visited Minnesota state parks and enjoyed trout fishing in lakes and streams in 2015, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

The agency noted other accomplishments in 2015, including a growing deer herd and increased deer harvest, an improved fleet of aircraft for fighting wild fires, more acres devoted to wildlife management areas and more fishing opportunities.

The DNR made strides in improving groundwater management, protecting waters from invasive carp and enhancing pheasant populations and hunting-land access.

“Whether you hunt, hike, camp, or just appreciate the state’s abundant natural resources, Minnesotans can take satisfaction in seeing more recreation opportunities and enhanced conservation efforts in 2015,” said DNR Commissioner Tom Landwehr. “We still have a lot of work ahead of us to increase pheasant and deer populations, which are key priorities in 2016, but I believe we’re on the right track.”

Among this year’s highlights from the DNR:

A record number of people visited state parks in 2015, with overnight stays up 11 percent from the previous year and daily permit sales up 17 percent. The DNR launched Parkfinder, a new mobile-friendly app that helps visitors learn about park locations and amenities. Also, a record number of anglers purchased trout and salmon stamps in 2015. The DNR allocated $1.2 million in matching grants to 51 shooting organizations to enhance trap shooting opportunities for the public and the growing youth clay-target league. In northwestern Minnesota, a new fishing boardwalk was opened on the Tamarac River in Waskish, providing a more enjoyable fishing access at the mouth of the river at Upper Red Lake.

The agency acquired 6,413 acres of new lands as part of 40 existing and new wildlife management areas in 28 counties. These WMA lands provide important habitat for game and nongame wildlife species and public access to hunting, fishing and wildlife-watching.

— — —

It looks as if it is business as usual for the local “hard water” fishermen as there have been many fish houses popping up on Fountain Lake in the past week. There were about 20 houses on the lake in the City Beach area last Sunday. I haven’t heard many fishing reports as of yet, but from some of the folks I’ve talked to it has been a little slow. If the trend from past years holds true the “hard water” fishermen should be getting sunfish, crappie and perch on a regular basis with an occasional walleye, northern or bass thrown in.

Although it is usually holds true that early ice fishing is best, I have to wonder if that still holds true when early ice is towards the end of December or if that has a negative effect on things? Either way you look at it, the lakes in the area are frozen, but with the snow cover that we’ve had I’d have to say “tread lightly” and I for one wouldn’t be driving my vehicle on this ice. I have always been a little overly cautious when it comes to ice fishing, but one experience a fellow told me about made me even more leery about driving on the ice.

A few years ago I was up at my cabin in the fall and decided to take a drive to a small lake close by our cabin, which is one of my favorite things to do that time of year. At the access I met this gentleman who said he’d heard about this lake and was going to give it a try. As we spoke, the topic of ice fishing came up and this guy said he had given it up after he lost his pickup. It seems he was ice fishing near Chamberlain, South Dakota and the ice was deemed thick enough for vehicle traffic. Unfortunately, shortly after ice-over they experienced some rain, then snow, then a warm-up followed by more snow. This created pockets of unsafe ice and as he was driving to his hot spot the ice started to crack and his pickup went through. Luckily for him he was able to get out before it sunk further into the water. After telling me the story he went to his car, an older model Ford Taurus, and reached under the seat to produce a photo album. He showed me pictures of the towing company retrieving his brand new pickup from the depths of the lake. I could tell it was a traumatic experience for him because his truck was gone and the insurance didn’t cover it, so all he had was pictures and a lesson learned a little too late.

Until next time, be careful when you do decide the ice is thick enough to venture out because with the weather we have been experiencing ice safety will be nothing but unpredictable.

Please remember to keep our troops in your thoughts and prayers, n not only during the holiday season but for the rest of the year. They are the reason that we are able to enjoy all the freedoms that we have today.

Echoes From the Loafers’ Club Meeting

I’ve got some bad news for you.

Give it to me. I’m sitting down.

I just painted the chair you’re sitting on.

Driving by the Bruces

I have two wonderful neighbors — both named Bruce — who live across the road from each other. Whenever I pass their driveways, thoughts occur to me, such as: Calories make the world go round. Most things are like toilet paper. You never realize what you have until it’s gone. The original punch line was, "Ouch!"

Fowl consideration

I could still fit into the clothes I wore in 2015, so it was time to think of food. Chicken came to mind. A chicken dinner, and I didn’t mean corn, would be sublime. The hotel clerk gave me the phone number of a nearby provider of fried chicken. She said that they delivered. That sounded like a plan, as I needed to put the finishing touches on a couple of magazine articles.

I called in the order and got to work. When I work, I lose track of time. At least until my stomach growled. I looked at the time on my digital device. Three hours had passed.

I’d been looking forward to fried fowl that would never arrive. My order had gone to that place where unfulfilled orders go.

I learned a lesson. Don’t count my chickens before they’re dispatched.

Operators were standing by

I’d tried to explain a rotary dial telephone to a youngster. His face went into screensaver mode.

That’s two hours that I’ll never get back. I didn’t even mention how people once held a hand over the phone's mouthpiece and snarled at their family, "Shhhh! It’s long distance."

Long distance was a miracle that only maps could explain. It brought voices of loved ones from faraway places.

Long distances aren’t as far away as they once were. The voices, still welcomed, are more easily heard. I no longer have a rotary phone in my office that used to be on the other side of the house. It was moved to its current location due to office politics.

My office isn’t that messy. Maybe it’s because I don’t do enough work, but I think it’s because I’m well organized.

Even though it’d be difficult to send a text with it, my office could use a rotary phone.

The Duke of Speedometer

I was driving a rental car, a Chevy Somethingorother, on a two-lane road in Ohio. It was a beautiful day and the traffic was behaving. I felt as rich as Croesus. The radio was tuned to one of those solid gold to make me feel old stations. Some old songs never grow old. "Duke of Earl" by Gene Chandler was playing. It’s a nifty number. The chorus goes like this, "Duke, Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl. Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl. Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl. Duke, Duke, Duke of Earl." It’s catchy and it brought back memories. My teenage set of wheels had been an old Ford (Fix Or Repair Daily) in which nothing much worked. The speedometer didn’t work, but the radio did. It was an AM version that allowed me to occasionally listen to "Duke of Earl." If each time Gene Chandler sang "Duke," my Ford (Found On Road Dead) passed a broken line marking the middle of the road, I knew that I was doing 55 mph. That's good to know if you have a broken speedometer and access to the "All 'Duke of Earl' Channel."

Those thrilling days of yesteryear

The weather wasn’t conducive to travel, but I had a date with an exotic beauty from far away. An exotic beauty from far away was any girl who lived 10 miles from me. This one lived in the Twin Cities. Ten miles multiplied many times.

"How long do you think it’ll take me to get to Minneapolis?" I asked.

My father replied, "In this weather, I’d say at least three hours."

"I’ll bet I could get there faster than that."

"I’ll bet you can’t," said the jury at my trial. "You can’t use the car."

There is good news today

Fortunate famished folks finally find flavorful food. The Village Inn in Hartland has reopened after being closed for over a year. Hurrah!

Congratulations to Stephen Langlie of Chisago City, whose personal memoir will be archived at the Eisenhower Presidential Library. Stephen wrote, "Me, from NRHS, imagine that! Miss Fick, my fiery NRHS English teacher, would be so proud."

Meeting adjourned

Mark Christenson of Minneapolis wrote, "Mitch Miller mentioned the word, 'Kind' in his closing song. It went like this: 'Be kind to your web-footed friends. For a duck may be somebody's mother. Be kind to your friends in the swamp. Where the weather is always damp. You may think that this is the end. Well, it is!'"

That was the theme song for my radio show for years.

I had a different column all ready for this week.

Then I watched the Minnesota Vikings lose to the Seattle Seahawks after they missed a potential game-winning field goal. So now you get this column; the one I had written can wait until next week.

I’ve watched a lot of heartbreaking moments as a sports fan, mainly as a fan of the Vikings. There was the NFC Championship Game against Washington where the game-winning touchdown bounced off Darrin Nelson’s shoulder pads. Who can forget Gary Anderson missing what would have been the deciding field goal against the Atlanta Falcons? How about Brett Favre throwing an interception against New Orleans that sent the game to overtime and cost the Vikes a chance at the Super Bowl?

Again and again, as a sports fan, I have watched my favorite teams blow leads and do things that seem unreal in new and creative ways to lose. How many times did Joe Nathan blow a lead against the New York Yankees that cost the Minnesota Twins, especially in the playoffs? How about the Minnesota Timberwolves, in their one and only shot to go to the NBA Finals, finding a way to lose a game they had in hand against the Los Angeles Lakers?

I’ve written a number of columns about coaching these past few years. Coach long enough and you’ll have your share of difficult losses. I’ve often said I’d rather lose by 20 than by one; you’re less likely to second-guess yourself. And trust me, coaches go over close games like that in minute detail, trying to sort out ALL the things they could have done differently that would have made an impact.

After bumping into a former basketball player of mine, I spent a little time this past weekend going through all my coaching files. I have game results and stats from all my years here at NRHEG. I was able to envision basketball courts and baseball fields and relive many of those games from 20 years here. I remember blowing a 10-point lead against Blooming Prairie in the last two minutes and losing by a point after a last-second shot by us bounced off the rim. I recall an extra-inning baseball game in Kiester where the ump blatantly missed an out call at first base that led to the eventual winning run by USC. I can still picture Blue Earth getting off a shot with half a second left in a tournament championship game to beat us.

Those are nights I didn’t get much sleep. One of my philosophies of coaching is that if you allow one play or one call at the end of the game to decide things, it’s your own fault. Put the game out of reach earlier and a bad call or a lucky shot won’t beat you. When my teams lose games like that, I spend hours rehashing things, even years later.

And I just coach junior high! I can’t imagine the pressure on a high school, college, or pro coach. How much sleep will Mike Zimmer, coach of the Vikings, get in the next week? Coaches put so much of themselves into their teams, and we hurt as much as anyone when we lose, maybe more. If I asked players from those teams where we lost close games if they remember them, many likely wouldn’t (except the last one since that was only three years ago). Ultimately, junior high games don’t mean much in the grand scheme of life.

On the other hand, if you coach long enough, you also have your share of thrilling victories. I had a struggling basketball team early in my career where we hit two free throws to tie it and then stole the ball and scored a lay-up at the buzzer to beat Albert Lea. I watched a pinch-runner scramble home on a wild pitch for the winning run after the player he replaced hit a triple and was out of breath. Already this season, my basketball team has had two one-point wins.

Watching our high school football team beat WEM by a point for the conference championship a number of years ago was only recently outdone for thrills when the girls’ basketball team won their first state championship by a point over Braham. We’ve all seen buzzer-beaters and walk-off home runs and even two World Series championships from the Twins.

This past weekend, my son’s basketball team won a tournament game when one of his teammates hit a 12-foot jump shot with three seconds left in overtime to win. After trailing much of the game, the team had battled back to that position. I can only imagine the other team’s coach still scratching his head at the final shot, but he probably is also remembering the four-point lead late in the fourth quarter that evaporated.

It seems I take the close losses harder than I enjoy the close wins. I, along with many others I’m sure, screamed, “NO!” at the television when Blair Walsh missed that field goal. But I’ll get over it by next season, and when the Vikings do eventually win the Super Bowl, all the heartache will be worth it!

Right?

Word of the Week: This week’s word is expurgefacient, which means awakening or arousing, as in, “The expurgefacient outburst online after the team’s loss almost broke the Internet.” Impress your friends and confuse your enemies!

The scurs had the Weather Eye checked out again at Ike’s to see if there was some way to get more heat out of it. Will it warm up or will we be stuck on winter for the rest of winter? Starting Wednesday, mostly cloudy with highs in the upper teens with lows in the low teens. Thursday, mostly cloudy with highs in the upper 20’s and lows in the upper teens. Mostly cloudy Friday with a slight chance of snow. Highs in the low 20’s and lows in the upper teens. Saturday, mostly cloudy and colder with a slight chance of snow. Falling temperatures with highs in the upper single digits and lows in the upper single digits below zero. Partly sunny on Sunday with highs only a degree or two above zero and lows again in the upper single digits below zero. Monday, mostly sunny and slightly warmer with highs near 5 and lows a few degrees below zero. Partly sunny skies for Tuesday with highs in the mid-teens and lows in the mid-single digits above zero. The normal high for January 15th is 22 and the normal low is 4. On the 19th we will have gained about a half hour of daylight since the winter solstice. It’s still only 9 hours and 24 minutes of light however. Armed with that information and with no more festive holidays in sight, the scurs will continue their quest for long winters naps.

Small accumulations of snow were common this past week, although we tallied roughly 2.4” of snow at the ranch in about four different snowfall events. Luckily this hasn’t been the kind of snow that needs a lot of attention as the winds have largely left it where the good Lord put it. By press time that will likely have changed some and there will likely be some drifts exactly where we’d rather not have them. Oh well, luckily it was 2.4 inches and not 2.4 feet of snow. It’s still taking a little getting used to the cold, however. We’ve become wimpy with all the warm temps in December and now we’re having to readjust. Won’t be long though and 20 degrees will feel good.

As temperatures have cooled, the frost depth in the soil as measured at the SROC in Waseca has increased form 7” on January 4th to 9” measured on the 11th. It is likely a safe bet that most primary tillage operations for the upcoming cropping season have been performed, at least for a while.  Tile lines continue to run reminding us that not only are soils not frozen at the tile depth but our soils are still relatively loaded with moisture across much of South Central Minnesota.

Bird feeding has become relatively routine with one minor twist: A female cardinal was seen by Mrs. Cheviot the evening of the 11th, so now begins the annual game of “Where’s Waldo” we play to spot the male. It’s been since last year about this time that we started noticing cardinals appearing. Safflower was recently added to the seed mix with the hope that they would appear again. Was wondering when we started seeing the mourning doves recently if the cardinals would show and sure enough one did.

The cold spell has meant adapting to conditions and in some cases taking advantage of it. For example, when it’s comes time to keep ice cream cold for a family gathering when the freezer is full, putting it in a cooler out on the patio outside works very well. Likewise one can hear the howl of aeration fans across the landscape as farmers try to cool any potential hotspots in their bins down and freeze the grain up for the winter. Sometimes I have to check to see that the one toilet flapper valve isn’t stuck as inside the house it makes a sound similar to that. Time to adjust the chain again. 

Fudgie and Ruby have adapted about the same as we humans have at the ranch to the recent cold snap. In other words, they don’t enjoy staying out in it any longer than they have to. Not unusual to see cold paw lifted up in an attempt to let us know they’re not liking this any more than we are. Once back inside like us they’re happy to get to their food dish and stay warm on a pillow or the couch. 

Ruby has developed a routine when it’s garbage pickup day at neighbor David’s. First off, the sight of the dumpster at the end of his driveway sets her off. It’s out of place and she sure everyone needs to know that. Then when the garbage truck arrives, it’s as though the world has come to an end just down the road. The barking, growling and whining makes me think she’s suddenly become a politician. The final straw though is when someone comes out to retrieve the dumpster.  Cause for more carrying on then more growling at the squirrel eating corn which is usually followed by a nap in sun on the rug. For a Border Collie, Ruby really knows how to get the most out of her entertainment dollar.

See you next week… real good then.