YES, I AM STILL HERE looking out my window on Main Street, and I must say that I was in despair that Democrats and Republicans would ever again work together until I saw an article that gave me hope.
It said President Biden had hosted a White House meeting of top Repubs and Dems to talk about ways to solve the semi-conductor shortage that is greatly affecting the manufacture of automobiles and other items that depend upon computers. The shortage is even affecting the military.
This month, CEOs from major affected companies met again in the White House.
I am in great hope that all sides can get together for the good of the country. On many issues.
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ANIMAL CRACKERS. A friend in the neighborhood advised me Sunday that Mississippi Kites have returned to our area. I keep forgetting to look up when I am outdoors, but I’ll take friend’s word for it.
Every year I promise myself I’ll take note of the day the Kites are first seen and the day they are last seen circling over the neighborhood buffet, but it doesn’t take much to detour a small mind. I still have no idea where they go for the winter.
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THE GOOD EARTH. It’s not so good, really. I keep learning of more bad things from our record-setting Deep Freeze of Februrarararary.
Not only peaches, gardenias and the like were damaged, Gerry Wenta says he thinks his fig trees were killed.
Awwwwww! I have enjoyed figs from Gerry’s trees, and I’m already dreading a summer without Wenta figs.
On the other hand, orchardist Tim Jones says he thinks he will have some peaches of certain varieties from his acres out near Center Point.
I have it on good authority that the Deep Freeze did not kill our copperheads. Or fire ants. Or poison ivy.
THE GOOD EARTH. There is more good earth-related news. The aforementioned Gerry Wenta says ‘we’ are getting closer to having our own local Master Gardener organization in Howard County. I have already been disqualified for membership because everything I touch dies within 24 hours.
AND our Howard County Farmers’ Market will open Friday, May 7.
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HEARD FROM. The son of an old friend from the ‘North End’ of the county agrees with me about the curse of litter in Arkansas, and he knows who’s at fault.
“It’s the governor,” this guy sez. He’s not blaming the governor for personally dumping trash on the roadsides, but he says the Guv has the power to make state police and county judges and sheriffs do something about it, but instead the governor is ignoring the litter crisis.
And another friend from our county’s northern latitudes says she must pick up roadsides at her home sometimes twice a day.
I’ve griped about empty cattle feed sacks, before, but she says the chief offender seems to be containers from fast food places. “Sometimes they just throw the whole sack out, leftover French fries and all.”
There’s plenty of blame to go around.
My friend also guesses that prices have recently gone up for aluminumuumum cans because she has espied some people sneaking along the roadside picking up cans.
They wouldn’t want anyone to think they were picking up litter as a community service or because they love the land.
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WORD GAMES. The Herb quadruplets: Parsley, Sage, Rosemary and Thyme. Their surname is pronounced ‘Errb.’ They know their way around the kitchen, and someone once recorded a song about them.
It’s obvious that I need to do some explaining.
A friend who claims to be a regular reader of this column said he didn’t understand Word Games. He’s a real smart guy and that means there may be others who are puzzled.
Word Games is my invention. They are just words that are commonly used together as figures of speech. Usually they come in twos. In today’s column, it’s four. It’s the first time I’ve ever put four words together. Often I refer to them like imaginary people — ‘twins’ or ‘triplets.’ It’s just my way of adding something a little different to the column.
One guy who DID understand was the late great Jerry Littlefield who would occasionally suggest a combination of words. His word combinations often came from oldie rock ‘n roll songs.
I keep a list of used and unused combinations in my computer so I won’t use a combination more than once. I keep a little notebook in my pocket so that I can write down a combination when my mind recognizes such a combination.
Here are just a few that I have ‘found’ and used:
Up and Coming; Few and Far Between; More or Less; Pints and Quarts; Nook and Cranny; Pots and Pans; Liver and Onions; Straight and Narrow; Tarred and Feathered; Rise and Shine; Time and Date; Cash and Carry; Plain and Simple; Fat and Sassy; Down and Dirty; Five and Dime; Spic and Span.
Well, maybe now you get the idea.
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HE SAID: “Plenty of people miss their share of happiness, not because they never found it, but because they didn’t stop to enjoy it.’ American writer and publisher William Feather
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SHE SAID: “They think they can make fuel from horse manure — now, I don’t know if your car will be able to get 30 miles to the gallon, but it’s sure gonna put a stop to siphoning.” Expatriate singer Billie Holiday
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SWEET DREAMS, Baby
