Walkin Tall
Julie Broberg felt a sense of commaraderie with the Spaniards cited for walking pets in defiance of that government's stay-at-home orders. Here she's “walking” the famous Botero cat (El Gato de Botero) sculpture on a past trip to Barcelona.
The story of the real Botero cat is quite interesting.
Walkin Not-So-Tall
We had a brown and white Basset Hound named Sam when I was a kid. Sam and I were great friends. He had stubby Basset Hound legs, but it didn't stop him from wandering to the far reaches of town, maybe even the county. Sometimes Sam would join me on one of my sojourns through town, but his stubby legs made it difficult to keep up at times.
Once Sam and I were walking down the alley behind the furniture store, on our way to nowhere in particular. There was construction going on behind the furniture store at the time and the ground was covered with a grayish-brown dust of some sort. It was a fine dust that camouflaged the puddles still lingering from a recent rain. I always avoided puddles as a child (wink, wink), so I was careful not to step in any of them. Sam had lagged back a bit for some reason. Fearing he'd be left behind he suddenly broke into a full Basset sprint to catch up. As his massive ears flopped about like he was trying to take flight, he suddenly disappeared into a spectacular splash of gray-brown water from an exceptionally deep puddle he'd not seen due to the dust. With all the alacrity of sleep Sam clamored out of the murky dust-water, looking utterly stunned and perplexed at what just happened. Once I saw he was unharmed I couldn't stop laughing, which made poor Sam feel even worse.
As he sadly lumbered up to me I knelt down and gave him a big hug, covering me with rank dust-water. I really didn't care, though. He'd have done the same for me had I fallen in that awful puddle.
Nazar Reports
Our man in Turkmenistan reports of dire economic conditions in his home country, referencing a story from Al Jazeera.
Turkmenistan is facing its worst economic crisis in three decades, which has led to hyperinflation and widespread food shortages, despite the country possessing an estimated 10 percent of all proven natural gas reserves in the world.
Turkmenistan is claiming not a single case of COVID-19, in spite of the dire state of society and healthcare in the country. Nazar said that when asked about the rampant poverty and death in the country, the president claimed that it is not due to the coronavirus, but rather the citizens of Turkmenistan “are so happy to live under my rule that they are constantly celebrating. The excess celebrating has led to countless bankruptcies and unprecedented levels of exhaustion-related deaths. My people love me. What can I say?”
To prove he is a soft-hearted humanitarian President Gurbanguly Berdimuhamedov distributed the below photograph of him giving a puppy to Vladimir Putin as a gift.
“I would never let my people starve to death. I give puppies to everyone,” said the president. “Puppies love me and I love puppies, and I only shoot the puppies that don't love me.”
(Even Putin's thinking, “Wow! This dude makes me look nice.”)
What Shall We Do With the Dunken Senators?
According to an Argus Leader report,
Legislators who were at the South Dakota Capitol on March 30 testified on Friday that Senate Majority Leader Kris Langer, R-Dell Rapids, and Senate President Pro Tempore Brock Greenfield, R-Clark, were too intoxicated to lead the Senate in the final hours of the legislative session and that Lt. Gov. Larry Rhoden stepping in was the only reason the Senate was able to complete its work that day.
"There's no doubt in my mind that both of them were drunk," said House Majority Leader Lee Qualm, R-Platte
Some of the completely bonkers legislation passed by the state legislature is making a lot more sense now.
That Was Then
As suspected my mom was not aware of my train wheel-watching activities as a wee lad. It never occurred to me at the time to keep that a secret, as I didn't really consider such to be dangerous. I did, however, intentionally avoid telling my parents about another activity of mine that I knew to be fairly low on the safety scale.
We lived on Main Street during my early elementary school years. As such, my playground was quite different from the yards and farms my peers experienced daily. Some of those differences were to my advantage, as I never had to cut grass or rake leaves. I made sure to point that out to my pals when they complained about having to help with the yard work. They found little humor in the joy this gave me. On the other hand, I doubt my leaf-raking pals ever experienced one of Doc Nachtigal's pranks, as I often did when I'd wander into Paul Kramer's barber shop to see if Paul had a stray piece of candy looking for a home.
One particularly memorable prank involved Doc Nachtigal throwing a bucket of cold water on me as I strolled merrily past to the city swimming pool one blistering summer day. I doubt Doc coupled the heart-stopping water dousing with a piece of gum or chocolate. I do, however, recall him laughing uproariously, then turning to spit about a quart of tobacco juice on the ground before sending me on my way. But I digress.
The area encircled in the above picture is where I would access the roof tops of the businesses on the same side of the street as our cafe. The narrow structure tucked in between the two buildings had a very low roof access, which can be seen in the picture. Once on the roof of what was then Bischke Drug Store, which required jumping across a small gap between the roofs, I could make my way south all the way to DeHaan's IGA, although I don't recall actually getting onto the roof of DeHaan's IGA. I don't know if any of that's still possible today, but it was in the 1970's.
Running about on the roof tops was a big no-no, and I knew it. So, I made a special effort to keep my parents in the dark. As well, I knew it was dangerous at the time, but I didn't realize how dangerous until I was much older. I think the same can be said for a lot of things over time, such as not wearing seat belts or bike helmets. Hopefully, as we mature as individuals and as a society, we learn to better respect the dangers in life, and just what it is those dangers truly threaten.
Sorry again, Mom. I promise I will never again run loose across any roof tops. Mind you, I can't run out of a burning house anymore. But you get the idea.
But He Told Me To Do It
According to reports from multiple news outlets, including The Guardian,
A Phoenix-area man has died and his wife was in critical condition after the couple took chloroquine phosphate, an additive used to clean fish tanks that is also found in an anti-malaria medication touted by Donald Trump as a treatment for Covid-19.
“Trump kept saying it was basically pretty much a cure,” the woman told NBC.
She said her advice would be: “Don’t take anything. Don’t believe anything. Don’t believe anything that the president says and his people … call your doctor.”
I don't know who to blame for this pointless death, the President of the United States for irresponsibly promoting a false cure for COVID-19, or the victims of this tragedy for believing anything the idiot in the White House says.
Stay safe, distanced, connected and well.
Sluggo