Our theater of seasons
5/7/5 Division
Lynda Lou in St. Paul: “It’s that happy time of year when the robins join us again.
“At a women’s retreat last year, the conversation turned to bird songs, and I commented that I love hearing the robins sing, but I have trouble describing their song. To me it sounds like they enjoy singing, but they don’t really know the tune.
“A few minutes later, a friend handed me this haiku that she wrote in response to my comment:
“Robins gather, loud
“trying to find pitch and tune
“fail, sing anyway
“That summed it up pretty well for me.”
Our birds, our squirrels, ourselves
Christy of Menomonie, Wisconsin: “The bird feeder was labeled as squirrel-proof. Ha, ha, I thought. But I bought it anyway. The price was reasonable, at 20 bucks; plus, it was quite attractive. It works well, as the squirrels avoid it — but unfortunately, so do the birds. Birds never perch on it, so it remains the only feeder I own that I do not have to refill unless the wind shakes the seeds out.
“Recently I saw the exact-same feeder in a specialty catalog, advertised in glowing terms for its design and beauty. The price? Only 60 bucks! Now that’s quite a markup on a feeder that doesn’t feed anything.
“Form over function, perhaps?”
Fellow travelers
Photography Division
Mounds View Swede writes: “Though the late snow and freezing rain may have wiped out many of the cherry blossoms in Washington, D.C., this year, on previous visits we had good success in capturing some of the magic of those days when thousands of trees are blooming at the same time. These photos were from April 4, 2009.
“Many of the cherry trees have sprouts coming out of their trunks, which made it easier to get a close-up of cherry blossoms.
“When you see a street like this, of course you want to park and take a walk and a look.
“A sunny day and blue sky helps a lot for this kind of beauty.”
The simple pleasures
Including: Everyone’s a (candy) critic! (responsorial)
Birdwatcher in La Crescent: “I just finished reading the submission by IGHGrampa and his desire for some chocolate.
“I am sure glad I don’t live at his house, where obviously they do not have a candy basket waiting for the chocolate/candy urge.
“I just took inventory of my candy basket, and in there are: Two Fun Size Milky Way bars; half of a 10-ounce bag of Butterfinger Nest Eggs; a full 9-ounce bag of Werther’s Original Creamy Caramel filled candies; six Hershey chocolate-covered-marshmallow eggs; a full bag of Riesen chewy chocolate caramels; eight Take 5 snack-size bars; a full bag of spice gumdrops; a full bag of Kraft Sea Salt caramels; five Lindor truffles; one regular-size Hershey chocolate bar; and seven candy canes left from Christmas.
“In the freezer, I have a six-pack of Milky Way snack-size bars; a 10-ounce bag of Kit Kat Wafers; an 8-ounce bag of Dove dark-chocolate eggs; an 11-ounce bag of Hershey miniature chocolate candies; and an 8-ounce bag of Dove milk-chocolate eggs.
“With all that candy in the house, you are probably thinking that is all I eat, when in fact I don’t have candy every day, but I keep buying it anyway. It is nice to have all this when the grandchildren come — drives the parents nuts!”
It’s a small world, after all . . .
Plus: CAUTION! Words at Play!
Chief Slippery Hands: “The Summit Lady regaled us with ‘small world’ stories. I have a subcategory of that called ‘Busted.’
“My brothers and I were attending a Cubs game on beautiful summer’s day. We had great seats: first row mezzanine, third-base side. We were also only 15 yards or so from the TV camera. During the seventh-inning stretch, Harry Caray got to singing, we got to singing, and the camera panned to us. We waved happily to Cubs’ fans everywhere.
“Up north, in Evanston, one of my patients was in labor, watching the game until the baby got serious. She cried out to the nurse: ‘There’s my doctor! At the Cubs’ game!’ Busted. (I was on vacation. My partner was attending her delivery.)
“On another note: In today’s PP, there was a story about Minnesota vintners’ wanting to use a higher percentage of grades not grown locally. An official of the Growers Association was quoted as saying that ‘there had been rumblings in the winemaking community that something like this might be brewing.’ I think ‘fermenting’ might be the better verb.”
Out of the mouths of babes
Gma Tom: “The scene is set in the kitchen of Gma Tom — with several family members gathered, making preparations for the final resting of Gpa Tom.
“Four-year-old great-granddaughter is keeping Gma Tom company in the kitchen as they, not so patiently, wait for the dinner to finish cooking.
“GmaT: ‘I’m starving.’
“GGD: ‘I’m starving, too. What does starving mean?’
“GmaT: ‘Well, honey, we are very hungry — but we are not really starving, because starving means you are so hungry that you die.’
“GGD: ‘Was Gpa Tom starving?’
“GmaT: ‘No, honey, Gpa Tom was not starving.’
“GGD: ‘Then why did he die?’
“GmaT: ‘He just got old, and his body wore out.’
“GGD: ‘Well, he should have gotten new batteries.’
“Now why didn’t he think of that!”
Band Name of the Day: Shake the Seeds
Website of the Day, from The Doryman of Prescott, Wisconsin: “AMAZING MODELS: Worlds Biggest Miniature Airport | Knuffingen Flughafen” (and please don’t blame us for the “music”!)
Bulletin Board 