S. Steve Adkins of Lakeville writes: “In honor of Veterans Day, I am sending a copy of a letter that my dad sent to his parents just after the bomb was dropped.
“Two weeks ago, I stumbled on this letter while going through boxes of clutter. Don’t recall ever seeing the letter before! Dad’s letter passed through the censors with no areas cut out. Sadly, an amateur stamp collector removed the stamp.
“My dad, 1st Lt. Samuel Woodrow Adkins.”
Could be verse!
Tim Torkildson writes: “From the New York Times: ‘”In many species, males tend to do somewhat stupid things that end up getting them killed in silly ways, and it appears that may have been true for mammoths also,” said Love Dalén, an evolutionary biologist from the Swedish Museum of Natural History.’
“The mammoth was a mighty beast; his feet did shake the ground.
“His trumpet roar was hideous and heard for miles around.
‘But when he tried to take a mate by stamping on the ice,
“He sunk into the muddy ground and now sleeps with the gneiss.
“The dinosaur had massive brawn, though cousin to the birds;
“He could thrash and crash and mash opponents into curds.
“But after making sure his mate had laid her eggs discrete,
“He trampled on them tenderly — and now is obsolete.
“And so dumb beasts of male persuasion silly things will do.
“That is why we like to watch them living in the zoo.
“Human males are also prone to posturing unwise —
“Will they, too, disappear for good, beneath much better skies?”
Keeping your eyes open
Leading to: The great comebacks (or: The Permanent Fraternal Record)
KH of White Bear Lake reports: “Friday morning, I sent this sunrise photo (during my morning walk) to my brother.
“He is the type of person who will not be outdone. On Saturday morning, he sent me this pre-sunrise photo from his farm.”
Our flora, ourselves
Mounds View Swede: “My recent (11/4) visit to the nearby compost site yielded these ‘finds.’
“A kitty pumpkin.
“And flowers and buds that were heartening with their determination.
“Even the forget–me-nots had a little bit left.
“I suspect the coming really low temps will spell the final end to this year’s flowers. I have a couple of snap dragons that keep trying, too. I will try to get a camera look at them tomorrow.”
Fear and trembling
Al B of Hartland: “Horror movies and horrifying TV series remain popular. I look back on the horror movies of my youth as being more laughable than frightening. The Wolfman, Dracula and Frankenstein’s monster weren’t that scary on the big screen, nor as creepy as today’s zombies.
“The scariest movie I saw in my early years was a filmstrip shown in shop class before we undertook woodworking. I think it was called ‘Goodbye, Mr. Finger.'”
Band Name of the Day: Somewhat Stupid
Website of the Day: John Hersey’s “Hiroshima”
Bulletin Board 