It Was Pigeons

My dad raised pigeons right up till they moved to Palos. We did raise a brood of bantam chickens once from one mother hen. They had the run of the yard, which was a mistake, because they all mysteriously disappeared one day. I seem to remember some ducks too, but that was also a one shot deal. Central Steel must have bought the old house in 1966 because my parents were already in their new place when I came home on leave in June of that year. The store was closed some time in the 1950s and we turned it into a rec room, which might be why the house seemed big to Dory. I don't remember anybody having "Dory" as either a first of last name.

The article that Old Dog linked us to said that the declining birthrate was a bad thing, but I seem to remember reading that opinion someplace else previously. The theory is that less people leads to reduced economic activity. Smaller families generally have more disposable income, so that should mitigate the effect somewhat, in my opinion. Another thing they are worried about is that there will be less people working and paying Social Security tax to support the retirement of all us Baby Boomers. I have been hearing reports of Social Security going bankrupt since I first started paying into it, and I never thought I would see a dime of that money. I have gotten more than my share back by now so, as far as I'm concerned, they can pull the plug anytime.

I suppose that fixing the Cheboygan County roads is not the same thing as winning a war or educating kids. The reason I brought that up was that they had a plan with specific goals and a timetable to accomplish them, while neither the military nor the schools seem to. Uncle Ken would know more about the schools than I do but, at least with the military, I can tell you that, if you don't know where you're going or when you plan to get there, you will probably end up arriving late somewhere else. I don't blame the soldiers for this. Our government sends them into a country with no specific mission other than to go out on patrol, get ambushed, and then defend yourself as best you can. What kind of way is that to win a war?

Of course I thought of "The Jam on Gerry's Rock" when the article mentioned log jams. I understand that they don't float logs down rivers much anymore and, when they do, they break up log jams with dynamite. Seems like a better way, safer and more effective as well.

Those mutant ninja crayfish are pretty scary but, since they are all clones of each other, their lack of genetic diversity might eventually prove their undoing. Meanwhile, I hope they're good to eat.