Echoes from the Loafers’ Club Meeting I didn’t know you had dogs. Those aren’t my dogs. They are my sister’s. Well, your sisters are adorable. Driving by Bruce’s drive I have a wonderful neighbor named Bruce. Whenever I pass his drive, thoughts occur to me. I sat at a table where the conversation covered the weather. It keeps raining. We need the rain. The wind is supposed to pick up. If it gets much colder, it could snow. That wind makes my teeth chatter. The weather is getting worse. I live where weather swings are common. That means the playground swings can be freezing cold or scorching hot. Those swings prepare children to live in a place where bad weather is just part of the experience. Merry melodies and mondegreens When we mishear song lyrics, it’s called a mondegreen. A mondegreen is a misinterpretation of a phrase that gives it a new meaning. Everything was nearly copacetic when I took a break from a lengthy meeting with an extended tea time and headed to a restroom. I spotted it on my right. My mind’s band played, “There’s a bathroom on the right.” Creedence Clearwater Revival’s memorable song, “Bad Moon Rising,” includes the lyrics, “There’s a bad moon on the rise.” In local news A local softball team traveled to New Jersey. They thought it’d be the perfect place to buy new uniforms. Astronomer retires. No more Mister Night Sky. Local lumberyard offers priority boarding. The Eat Around It Cafe closed early after running out of grease. The airport manager’s hangar management problems led to his firing. I’ve learned The latest conspiracy theory is that we’re being brainwashed by shampoo. My neighbor became confused by all the lawn signs and voted for a realtor. You don’t know what you have until it’s gone—especially toilet paper. It was a pleasure working once again with a dedicated crew of election judges who provided public service at its finest. If the soup is too thick, it’s probably stew. I used to like orange juice with little pulp. That was pulp fiction. Now, I prefer pulp with little orange juice. Not everything needs to be run through a political filter. Chihuahuas were the original wireless doorbells. Putting memory foam insoles into my shoes didn’t help me remember why I’d walked into a room. Bad jokes department When my cousin Chumley won the lottery, he made sure everyone around him became rich. He moved to Beverly Hills. I don’t know how I lost a couple of buttons on my calculator. It doesn’t add up. What is the key to peeling a banana? A monkey. Nature news I’m an on-demand bird feeder who scattered millet seed on the ground for native sparrows like juncos, white-throated sparrows, fox sparrows, Lincoln’s sparrows, Harris’s sparrows, American tree sparrows and white-crowned sparrows. I relish the presence of birds, but opossums are nice, too. There were four young ones in the yard—Pogo, Gopo, Opgo and Ogpo. How do I know their names? By the name tags they wore. Opossums are nocturnal, spending the day in dens or protected spots, but they’re active at any time of the day, especially when food is scarce. I hear them going bump in the night. American tree sparrows are present from early November through early April, and they usually arrive and depart with the juncos. Chipping sparrows spend early April through late October in my company. It’s a common LBJ (little brown job) or LBB (little brown bird)” in yards. Edward Forbush, a noted 19th-century ornithologist, called the chipping sparrow “the little brown-capped pensioner of the dooryard and lawn, that comes about farmhouse doors to glean crumbs shaken from the tablecloth by thrifty housewives.” Its song is a dry, fast, high-pitched trill of chip notes that gives the bird its name and is sometimes mistaken for the sound of insects. The chipper is a dapper little sparrow, handsome and tame. It has been called a hair sparrow because of its habit of lining its nests with hair. I was happy to see some redbelly snakes this fall. It’s Minnesota’s smallest snake, about the size of a nightcrawler, is named for its bright red, pink or orange underside. I’ve heard it called a fire snake, and it feeds on slugs, snails and earthworms. Wild asparagus turns a lovely yellow. It’s the same species as the asparagus cultivated in gardens that have escaped into uncultivated areas where it persists. Now is the time to mark those spots for harvesting next year. Meeting adjourned We should T.H.I.N.K. before we speak. Ask if it is true, helpful, inspiring, necessary or kind. The post Ask a Trooper: Rain getting cold appeared first on Austin Daily Herald.