Say Anything? Okay!

Dear Maria,

Thanks for describing the last letter as—chatty? Chatty. Much have I been accused of before, but never of being chatty. I thought I might be a bit more emboldened this time around. Or not. Does seem that verbal blasts are the coin du jour. Pretty much can say anything. I’ll try to sling around some bombast here and there. Please don’t fact-check me into the corner boards.

Still curious about the lack of smaller birds at the feeder post-flooding rains. No wrens, no finches, no sparrows. Just watched Carolina chickadees chasing each other away—I’m at my desk—off the feeder and into the bushes and back and forth. Three of them, and no peace at hand.

Maybe if Trump is elected he cuts his hair a la Putin and we get into limited war bully e bully, not in the Middle East, but across the polar North. Goodbye Vladivostok and Anchorage, goodbye Archangelsk and Fairbanks. Then we stop just in time, but not before Trump’s son has made his fortune in development around Thule. Could happen.

The roses—some of them, at least—are growing sideways and out through the lantana that is now reaching more than 3’ in height. The pyracantha berries are reddened, the mums that I stomped into the high grass two years ago are bloomed, and the loropetalums are well over my head. Could easily believe it a false spring around here.

On cue, Max just grabbed up his squeaky duck and chased about with it. Fall, that’s right. He’s not likely to be much of hunting dog given his aversion to loud noises. Nor am I likely to train him to be much more than an over-sized house hound.

Maybe we could issue handguns to everyone 18 and over and firearms deaths would decrease, which would raise life-expectancy averages. Seems counterintuitive, I know, but given some of what I read—perhaps.

Of course, I have the time—and the all-important inclination—to follow through on stories in print or via the internet. Whenever there is some kind of dust-up, I read the counter-arguments, listen to the entire lecture or speeches, and scratch my head. A lot.

I am ever grateful not to have to offer up an opinion—few of mine are conclusive anyway. Self-aware, in a way, because I was just recounting to a former student how a former principal once confronted me in the hall with the following observation: “Your problem is you ask questions about things no one thinks about.” Oh, I can ask, Ba-bee! Told her it was one of my proudest moments.

Chatty.

Okay, let me stick my neck out. Someday a good-sized asteroid is going to hit the earth. I guarantee it. Not as bold as the first human to eat a raw oyster, but there you have it.

Be well, enjoy the cooler weather, and wear a sturdy helmet. You have been warned.

Yours, srk