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Butch Furse
A few weeks ago we headed to Minnesota to visit our son; hope to do a little fishing; take a break from the hot weather; and simply “just get away from the problems of the world.” Well, we successfully completed one of four of the goals.
Number one we had a great visit with the son and were joined a few days later by the other son and grandson. However, we struck out on the rest of our wishes.
Hot weather followed us to northwest Minnesota and the area had drought conditions because of lack of rain and extreme hot weather. In our area only two rainfalls totaling just over one inch had fallen since early April and only one lawn mowing since spring was necessary for most residents, thus short brown lawns existed. Most area lakes were down at least three feet with the lowest-ever records set for some waters.
Fishing naturally was poor. If that wasn’t bad enough, it was reported that area fishermen (or fisherwomen) were being confronted by another pest besides Zebra Mussels. The new pest – Spiny Waterfleas.
I thought dogs were a flea favorite. But, now I’m being told the tiny invading Spiny Waterflea is spreading and was handed a spongy wet cloth to wipe down fishing lines and reels, as well as told to drain boat livewells and bait buckets. Don’t worry, we, or our dogs, plan to not bring Spiny Waterfleas back to the Cornhusker state.
Number four on our list of goals was also not met. We couldn’t get away from world problems. That’s because I couldn’t break the habit of watching evening newscasts, much to the dismay of the family.
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A minister was known by a few of his parishioners to be fond of Cherry Brandy and one of them in a mischievous frame of mind offered to present him with a bottle on condition that it was fully acknowledged in the church bulletin. The offer was promptly accepted and in due course this notice appeared in the bulletin: “The Vicar thanks Mr. McTavish for his gift of fruit and the spirit in which it was given.”
RL Furse is publisher emeritus of the News-Register
