Our birds, ourselves
Booklady reports: “Our elusive partridge, Shirley, has been hiding since the end of May.
“Earlier, she had made regular appearances, even ‘helping’ me clean out the car by coming into the driveway to check on me when I went around to the far side of her watchtower rock.
“I missed her sneaking up behind me at the mailbox, or patrolling the boundary of the yard, pacing our car when we left or arrived. The frequent visits of foxes and bears to our yard had us convinced that she had been eaten.
“The wily fowl had been planning a nice surprise. She showed up unexpectedly the other day, accompanied by three chicks. It made my day!”
BULLETIN BOARD SAYS: We’ve developed an instant earworm — but when we went on the Google to find it, we found something “better”: the “Partridge Family” theme song from the pilot episode:
See world
Another close encounter of the natural kind, reported by Raindancer of North Oaks: “Subject: Not a care in the world.
“Some days, even in the minutes before a torrential downpour like this afternoon, there are rewards from looking at the little things in your garden.
“This little dragonfly was hardly two inches in length, but it was perfectly positioned — and patient. After all, where else did it have to go?”
The Permanent Motherly/Daughterly Record
Carol Ann Lawrence of Cottage Grove: “In May of 1947, I was making my First Communion at St. Peter’s Catholic Church in North St. Paul.
“My mother, Mrs. Charlotte Sorensen, and I took the streetcar from Larpenteur Avenue to downtown. We got off at the Golden Rule and shopped for a dress; then we went to the Emporium. My mother decided we should go across the street to Rothschild’s, where we found one. It was organdy, with painted-on roses. We also got my veil and First Communion purse.
“On our way walking up Seventh Street, we were met by a roving photographer. He snapped a picture of us — me carrying my veil, and my mother carrying my dress. After my mother passed away, my sister found this in a box she was saving.
“After the gentleman took our picture, we continued up Seventh Street to Schuneman’s department store. There we ate lunch at the River Room. After that, we made one more stop, at Field-Schlick (my mother’s favorite store), and finished our shopping. We returned to Seventh and Wabasha to catch the streetcar back home. I sure wish children these days could have such a wonderful time downtown, instead of a boring stop at a mall.
“I also am sending you a picture of me that a neighbor took, in his yard, after the ceremony.”
Bulletin Board stands corrected
Including: Fun facts to know and tell (Baseball Division)
Pastor Bill in Palisade: “The Bulletin Board about the baseball glove was fascinating, but contained a minor error. The radio announcer’s name was Torey Southwick, not Tobey. I oughtta know, since I grew up in Emma, Missouri, 60 miles straight east of Kansas City. My grandfather Joe Kirchhoff, who took my my first K.C. A’s game in 1962, often listened to KMBC, 980 AM, in Kansas City for news and weather. As I recall, Southwick worked there. The station later became KMBZ.
“As an aside: Three radio stations carried A’s games over the years: KMBC, KCMO and WDAF, now KCSP (for “Kansas City SPorts). The only one of the three receivable by us after sunset was WDAF. We were sorely disappointed in the years when the other two carried A’s games. This was before a radio network, as the Royals have now.
“I also became a St. St. Louis Cardinals fan in the early ’60s. Harry Caray and Jack Buck helped with that, as did their seven-game victory over the despised Yankees in ’64.
“Thanks for sharing this walk down memory lane with me!”
Vanity, thy name is . . .
Gregory of the North: “I just had to share a plate I just saw. It said ‘BYBYNOW,’ and it was on a 2017 Corvette!
“(Don’t worry; I’m in a parking lot as I write this.)”
Red’s Offspring, north of St. Paul: “The parking lot at the Shoreview Target provided two personalized plates which puzzled me:
“(1) A Mercedes: ‘IHUNIT1’
“(2) A Corvette: ‘IRLMWLM’
“As I was copying down the Corvette’s plate, the owner appeared and began loading his groceries into the trunk. A very pleasant man, he responded to my query thusly: ‘It means: “I’M REALLY LUCKY MY WIFE LOVES ME.”‘
“The Mercedes? Your guess will be better than mine.”
BULLETIN BOARD SAYS: We’ve spent as much time thinking about it as we are going to spend, and we have no reasonable guess at all!
Everyone’s a (books) critic (responsorial)
Just Jennifer of West St. Paul: “Read that Hugo Woman has four of her favorite books: ‘The Emigrants’ series by Vilhelm Moberg.
“My folks owned these. Last summer,while clearing out their apartment and having a garage sale, they had these for sale. Since they didn’t sell, I took them home to read and just recently started on them.
“Not sure how long they owned them, but the first book, ‘The Emigrants,’has a copyright of 1951 and cost 95¢. The pages literally fell off the paperback binding as I was reading it. I am now onto the second book, and it is holding up well.
“Those emigrants sure did have a tough life, and the decision to leave their home country of Sweden was very brave of them. It’s such a pleasure to have seen that someone else knows these books.
“P.S. Thanks, Bulletin Board, for the old clipping I held on to, to know how to get the cents symbol. :)”
Our flora, ourselves
Mounds View Swede reports: “I have been intrigued by the variety of hydrangea blossoms I am finding in Oregon. The first two photos are the ones I am more accustomed to seeing.
“The last three photos are varieties I have not seen before. I understand there are many more varieties than these, but these are what are near to my son’s house.
“I hope the Bulletin Board readers enjoy these, too. If you know anything about what I have shown, I welcome your input.”
Life as we know it
Al B of Hartland: “I was being released after a 17-day hospital stay when the nurse asked if I wanted a wheelchair to help me make my escape. I didn’t. I wanted to run outside.
“I was nearly a free-range human when an indecisive man got into the elevator and pushed the buttons for five different floors. It reminded me of an old story:
“Hospital regulations had required that a wheelchair be provided for patients being discharged. A nurse found an elderly gentleman dressed and sitting on a hospital bed with a suitcase at his feet. He insisted that he didn’t need help to leave the hospital. She reminded him that rules are rules. He reluctantly let her wheel him to the elevator. As they waited for the elevator, she asked him if his wife was meeting him. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘She’s still in the bathroom changing out of her hospital gown.'”
Band Name of the Day: The Shirley Partridge Family
Website of the Day, from Double Bogey Mike: “Check out this drone flying through a fireworks display. Turn the sound on.”
Bulletin Board 