I noticed some cricket noise last night. A hint of course that autumn will take over. The cricket sounds might be said to coincide with the county fair. We surely are on the doorstep of the fair.
We might as well have an overpopulation of crickets because all forms of wildlife seem overpopulated. Perfectly logical in light of the mild winter followed by the endlessly wet spring/summer. I had my encounter with skunks earlier this summer.
I typically awaken at about 4 a.m. and turn on the floodlights around the Williams house. Just curious as to what all is going on. Full disclosure: I often awaken at around 3 a.m. but I hesitate to profess that as it would seem odd. Well, I retire most early in the evening. A sign of advanced age? Lawrence Welk was known to live this way. So Johnny Carson asked him: what exactly goes on at (that early hour)?
Well I can report some activity from when I began my day this morning (Saturday). "Mr. Raccoon" traipsed by. Unwelcome visitor just like "Mr. Skunk."
Rabbits? I know people with gardens hate them. Jerry Witt had a reputation for taking a no-nonsense approach with rabbits. I am not aware of any harm these animals would do at my place. In many years I plant zinnias out front but I have found the rabbits are not attracted to them. This year I passed on the zinnias because we had such cool weather toward the end of May. I was concerned the flowers might not even sprout.
The adversity of May/June abated at my place: In other words the skunk family really did move on. This is a pest that can keep you awake nights obviously. My defenses in the future will be redoubled. Many people have this problem. People can get them under decks.
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| Well, hello |
Fargo radio has informed us that bear sightings have been up in Clay County. This is simply consistent with all my other observations. Wildlife is truly flourishing because of our pattern of mild and wet weather. Clay County really isn't that far away, is it? So we might wonder, really, if bear presence might happen here.
You might remember the black bear that came into Morris about a decade ago. Got up into tree and became quite the item of curiosity. Legend has it that a daycare group of kids got up close to the tree to get their fascination. Law enforcement tried selling us a story when that episode was over. But I was surprised and shocked how many people I knew believed it.
The police chief went right to the newspaper. The newspaper might have known, or could have assumed, that it was going to be used for spreading some sheep dip. If I had still been with the paper? Could I have kept a straight face? Would I be willing to go along with "humoring" our readers?
Do you remember?
I probably would have confronted anyone with my doubts, thus buttressing my already well-established reputation, but in the end I would have "gone along to get along." Was there really any alternative?
As I recall, law enforcement and the City of Morris staff reported that the bear had just moved along on its own accord. This after law enforcement personnel including the DNR had converged here. I remember reading about that. Converged for what purpose? Just to watch for a while and then notice that "Boo Boo" had just wandered away? Why bother?
Sorry to exercise my sense of reason perhaps excessively but there is no way that bear, which incidentally had been wounded, would be allowed to just leave and go who knows where. If it left going north, it might head out toward my neighborhood of Northridge Drive. My family had a little dog then and I often had it outside for his "business" once or twice during the night. A wounded bear bounding along would be most ominous.
The city manager wrote a column in which he thought the bear had "probably gone back to where it came from." Charming, yes.
In my estimation the bear was either put down or transported away post haste. Had the bear caused any harm to anyone after LE had gotten the full heads-up about it, we'd be talking lawsuit city. In Clay County I guess this kind of episode is a current worry.
The skunks were bad enough. Skunks are actually known to be pretty gentle and personable. Really. This is truly offset by their one scary quality. Raccoons? I don't know about them. I guess these are known to be around Lake Crystal. I know someone there who has live-trapped them and transported them to Long Lake.
Long Lake makes me remember the late Doug Rasmusson. He wrote about the carp. Quite the raconteur, Mr. Rasmusson was. He was a creative gem just like Delmar Holdgrafer of Donnelly. Whenever I ponder why I have never had a female significant other, the following statement surfaces in my head: "I don't want to end up like Del Holdgrafer."
But it's kind of sad. Such a relationship could be enriching. But the risk is concerning. For the time being I'll just be vigilant with the skunk/raccoon issue. Bears? Let's not rule it out.
Money matters
If I write about money y'all will continue reading, right? I quote here from an email I sent to Jim Morrison a few days ago.
Jim - I went to Dakotah Bank a couple days ago and got new CD that pays 4 percent interest for 17 months. A couple weeks ago I went to Cyrus and got 10-month CD with 5.25 percent. So for the foreseeable future things look OK.
The cacophony of voices never lets up for the necessity for lots of rate cuts beginning immediately. Your buddy Jeff Gundlach said the Fed should have cut at the last meeting.
I'm seeing commentators saying it's a certainty for a succession of rate cuts to happen all the way through 2025 and 2026. How can they be so sure about this? When I was young I was told you could never be certain of what the Fed was going to do. It was a truism. Now all these commentators have it figured out.
If all these rate cuts happen, wouldn't this push up inflation? How could it not? When will the American people actually start panicking about inflation? It hasn't happened yet. I got my homeowners insurance statement the other day and this time I don't think I'll pay it. It goes up drastically, continually, like car insurance, and then they tell us all the reasons why it goes up. They always have reasons. I may stop driving and use public transit. Besides, I don't want to have to figure out if I should get an electric car. Cars are full of electronic systems now and when they break down, it costs a fortune to fix. That's why car insurance rates go up too. And wait 'til we get our property tax statements.
We cannot rule out Trump winning election. And he says he wants "influence" with the Federal Reserve. Obviously that means he'll want to run it. Do not ever bet against him getting more power. He would never recommend an interest rate increase.
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| Just avoid Bremer, please |
Riverwood keeps pushing their "free checking" like it's a big deal. I want accounts that pay me something. Why should I "give" my money to the bank?
Bremer is the worst - they obviously have no interest in dealing with savings customers. I practically got physically ill trying to deal with them, and then a few months later I got a letter from Bremer in a window envelope pushing some "credit card." So they want my business for that. It's all about loans and credit cards now.
While inflation still threatens us, but nobody seems to care.
- BW
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