I did my “happy Earth Day” activity last Friday, when I helped out several volunteers from the Creston Rotary and SWCC clean up the ditches of North Cherry Street. The stretch is the “trash can” for the customers of the Casey’s store on Townline. Some of the garbage found there include lots of Casey’s-branded clam shells that use to host sandwiches or some kind of food, plenty of cans and plastic bottles also on tap. The folks that smoke Marlboro Menthol in the blue box get my “what the heck is the matter with you?” award for throwing out so many boxes along the road.
After Casey’s, lots of Dairy Queen fans and customers also need a lesson on what a trash can looks like. Of course, this was the first year of finding masks littered along the road way. Please remember that just because there is a ditch on both sides of North Cherry, it doesn’t mean you have to fill them up with trash! Don’t be a litterbug!
Patience
With the country starting to open back up, one word everyone should learn “patience.” The local restaurants have started to fill back up in the last couple of weeks. The restaurants, like just about every other business, are having to operate with less employees.
With many businesses, working with less people, the service will be slower and maybe not as good as before the pandemic. You will also learn some needed patience in looking for certain articles. I know people that have been waiting for furniture, appliances and even just some basic goods for months! If you are looking for a certain car or truck, good luck. Most car lots now look closer to half empty parking lots than a dealership.
One person I know of said they went in a grocery store a couple of weeks ago and the main item they had advertised would not come in to the store for three days! The availability of items and shipping problems have slowed down being able to shop for many items. It is going to take a couple of years for things to get “back to normal.”
Plus, with all the government money sloshing around, people have a lot of “wants” that may take a while to arrive, so keep the word “patience” close at hand. You are going to need it if you want to keep your sanity.
Golfing
The SWCC athletic fundraiser golf tournament is coming up May 15, for those interested in having a team. If so, contact Doug North at the school. The Greater Regional Hospital golf tourney is coming up June 4. The tournament has 9 a.m., 1 p.m. and 5 p.m. tee-offs. There will also be served breakfast burritos in the morning and a prime rib lunch and dinner for the players.
Where’s spring?
The weather gods are not giving us a very nice spring so far. Snow flurries and the cold weather are not very spring like! I would guess that we have lost many flowers starting to bloom this past week, as the temps have been getting down to as low as 25 at night. Let’s hope the second half of spring brings us some warmer weather. Even though it has been dry in Iowa, looking at the area starting from western Colorado going west to California, those areas are in an exceptional drought, which has been the worst reading on the “how dry is it” scale. I read that they may start cutting back on water from the Colorado River to Arizona, Nevada and California. It might be necessary to take your own water to Las Vegas the next time you visit!
Fishing
The local fishing has been off to a good start this year. The crappies, bluegill and walleye have been biting pretty hard as of late. There have been lots of fishermen out lately testing the waters. It could be a great year for fisher-people here in southwest Iowa.
Thought for the week: “Being president is like is like running a cemetery; you’ve got a lot of people under you and nobody’s listening!” ~ Jimmy Carter