And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, "Editor Emeritus"

... that government at all levels suffers from a lack of respect these days.

The comments I am about to make might come under the heading of “fake news” because I have not followed the story closely, since I had no personal interest.

When I saw the large tent set up along 11th Ave. S.W. with its huge ape-like inflated guardian, advertising the sale of fireworks, I wondered what effect sales might have on peace and quiet in the neighborhood. With the Fourth of July weekend past, I think I can say it had little effect, and in fact might have reflected the acts of government.

It is my understanding that the state government passed a law which makes it legal to buy and sell fireworks in Iowa, but also allows cities and counties to ban their use. And lots of cities did. Which begs the question, why buy them if you can’t legally use them?

I think I wrote a year ago that legalizing fireworks resulted in fewer being set off within my earshot than when they were illegal. This year was just as quiet.

Was that state law just so the state could collect a sales tax?

I don’t spend a lot of time outdoors these days, but on a rare excursion recently, I saw two Monarch butterflies. Are efforts to protect and encourage them paying off? We did it with eagles, so maybe we can help the Monarchs.

I experienced a minute of panic Sunday morning. When I went to change clothes after church, my billfold was missing. The comb which shares the right rear pocket was still there, but no wallet. That happened once before. I checked the car, but no luck. Church was the only place I had been, so I drove back there, figuring that if you have to lose something, church would be the best place to find an honest person to recover it. And sure enough, someone had, and turned it over to Father Mark, who met me halfway down the center aisle to return it.

Those who make men’s pants (probably in Asia now, but true when they were produced in the USA as well) put a button on the back pocket on the left side. But prior to my back surgery and for many years after, the pain that I felt in the sciatic nerve from the left buttock down the leg was made worse by the pressure of a wallet, so I started putting it on the right side, which does not have a button.

I don’t carry any money in a wallet, having gotten used to using a money clip while in the Navy, to guard against pickpockets. They find it easier to work a back pocket than a front pocket, I imagine.