Lost

College Boy has joined the Dharma Initiative a.k.a Fermilab, the world's leading particle physics lab. Monday was orientation and CB is amazed by the brainpower around him. With over 6,000 acres, Fermilab is a pretty incredible place environmentally too. We drove around yesterday when I picked up CB and found the buffalo herd. Nice. But we did get Lost.

Feeling Picky

Having delayed getting my Illinois driver's license since returning to the state, I finally read Illinois Rules of the Road. I guess we have a shortage of proofreaders.

Take Two Aspirin and Call Me in the Morning

Reuters reports farmers fear pigs might get “swine” flu from people. I must admit that headline made me laugh, but then upon reading further, I realized maybe I shouldn’t have. One Kansas hog farmer said he was banning visitors from his farm and anyone needing to be near the porkers had to submit to a sort of swine security clearance. A Purdue University veterinarian said, “Pigs get flu just like people get flu.” And an Iowa pork producer added, “It's a real issue. If the pigs get it, there isn’t much we can do. Water, aspirin, and bed rest, that’s all we’ve got.”

Last weekend when cable reporters were all over this story like hogs after slop (not that I think the media are swine), I dismissed the hubbub as more mass hysteria, whopped up by media with too much airtime on their hands. Could I have been wrong?

Here in the far reaches of Chicagoland, officials closed Batavia High School and a middle school on Thursday after suspected cases of H1N1 were discovered. The Batavia Park District canceled all programs and gatherings through Sunday for children, and suburban papers reported business at some Mexican restaurants was way off.

Over-hype or not, it’s too early to say. However, the economic consequences are real and there are sick folks out there. I’ve avoided the regular flu all season and just when I think the danger of that has passed, up pops the swine kind. As Rosanne Rosannadanna used to say, “It just goes to show you, Jane . . . it’s always something. If it isn’t one thing it’s another.”

Why do Folks up North Pay to Dress Up Geese?

Since I’ve lived in seven states I can tell you that what’s fashionable in yard art varies between states. In the three years I’ve been back home I have yet to see a yard goose dressed up in an outfit. If you see or hear tell of one in Alabama, let me know.

When we lived in upscale Glen Ellyn, Illinois, however, there were isolated sightings. The photo here was in a front yard I passed by every day on the way to my son’s school. The owner changed the outfits to fit the season or holiday and it was fun to see what was in style. There’s quite an Internet industry providing costumes for these plastic or cement creatures.

I’m not beyond my own personal quirky yard art. If you check the back yard at my house, you’ll find my two pink flamingos, Pinky and Wendell. Wendell is on the DL after a neighbor’s tree fell across our yard and took out his “legs.” Husband kindly tried to fix them back, and now Wendell looks okay. It’s silly I know, but silly in a fun way. I don’t spend any serious money on the flamingos, just what they cost to begin with. But I’ll admit to putting a red bow on them at Christmas time.

True Southerners don’t spend a dime on yard art. They are the ones with the washing machines on the front porch or the dead pick-up under the oak tree.