And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that I pretty much hibernate in winter as I age, but with the first of a few nice days recently, I ventured out on a trip to Lansing and parts of eastern Allamakee County.
I think I have to start getting out more, because I saw things which surprised me, and I admit to taking my eyes off the road for longer periods than I should have.

First sighting came just a few miles east of Waukon off the Elon Road. Out of the corner of my eye across farm fields and woods devoid of any foliage, I thought I saw a huge tree nest, and sure enough, it was an eagle’s nest. I know because there was a white head showing, meaning the nest was in use. I had heard that Pool 9 (New Albin, Lansing, south to Harpers) contained the greatest number of nesting eagles of any pool along the Iowa east coast. Have eagle numbers grown to such an extent that they are often nesting inland too?

Next to draw my attention was the amount of farm field work that had been done despite some rather adverse early April weather. I am not familiar enough with farm work to be able to say whether those fields had been planted, although some obviously were. Others were certainly prepared and no doubt have been planted by now. Taking too long to look for planter tracks while moving seemed not a good idea.

I took the blacktop from Thompson’s Corners down (literally!) to the Village Creek area, and shortly after crossing the creek, noticed bird movement in a flat area to my right. And there was this huge, long-legged bird, probably a Sandhill Crane, I was told. It looked about six feet tall in that flat, grassless field, but my “bird book” says four feet would be closer. It was brown, which the book says means it was probably female or young. But that same book says they are not found around here!

Final surprise came when I noticed the progress that has been made on the construction of the Driftless Area Educational and Visitor Center being built on formerly wasted county owned land at what we called the Columbus Bridge. It is close enough to completion that the finished product can be surmised, and it is going to be a huge attraction for that area. The view of the bend in the Mississippi River is unmatched by any other similarly intentioned structure that I am aware of. Will it attract tourists? The line from the movie “Field of Dreams” comes to mind ... if you build it, they will come.” I was saddened to see a majority of the county’s supervisors decided not to finish the attraction by paving the hundred yards or so of county road that leads to the center, Maybe they will relent once it is finished and furnished.

I referred to cool spring weather a few paragraphs ago. My electric utility informs me that average March temperature this year was 41 degrees, or 15 cooler than last year!
And about political correctness gone amuck on college campuses, from a recent column. Did you hear about the college freshman coed who, on her visit home, complained to her mother that her white clothes came out pink after she washed them. Her mother asked if she had not learned to separate whites from darks before laundry. She said they could not do that at college, because it would be considered discriminatory.