And then I wrote...

by Dick Schilling, Editor Emeritus

... that my liberal arts studies did not include entomology, so I may display my ignorance as well as my curiosity here.
Again this year, I have let grow to blossom stage two large patches of Golden Rod. I have been assured by a horticulturist that pollen from Golden Rod is not the source of fall allergy or breathing problems.
I have been rewarded by the sight of dozens of bees, honeybees, I hope, frantically working over the blossoms. They don’t start early. Maybe they are teenagers. But they work until dusk. I know of no human tended hives in the area, so presumably these bees have a location of their own choosing. I don’t really recognize bees, but assume these are honey makers, else why would they gather nectar? There appear to be two sizes, one larger than the other. I think I heard that the drones are bigger than the worker bees, but that the drones never leave the hive, where their only duty is to keep the queen bee happy and safe. I hope somewhere there is a happy hive with a happy queen thanks to my Golden Rod.
My knowledge of butterflies is equally lacking. But I read a letter to the editor of one of the dailies from a woman who said she cared about Monarch butterflies enough that last year she planted several milkweed plants under the assumption they were the only food Monarchs eat. But she said she pulled them all out when she discovered the leaves were being eaten by big caterpillars. Am I wrong, but isn’t that the idea? The large caterpillars are the larval form of the Monarch, and they pupate in a chrysalis then hatch into a butterfly. Don’t they?
I watched a portion of the “debate” on Fox between the ten leading Republican candidates, and earlier a smaller portion of the debate among those who did not make the cut. I had never watched much of a TV political debate in previous years, and I confess that my watching as part of the largest audience ever for a non-sporting event on TV was the presence of Donald Trump.
It was worth my time, because I totally ruled out ever voting for Trump. It takes someone with a certain amount of narcissism to run for office, but Trump is an egocentric loudmouth who could be dangerous. I like a lot of what he says, but I fear him. His thin-skinned ego shows whenever anyone disagrees with him. I doubt that he would ever learn it is possible to disagree without being disagreeable, and that’s something so necessary in the holder of a major elective office.
Plus, he is a bully, like the rich kid who owns the only baseball in the sandlot game. If you don’t let him win, he will take his ball and go home, so nobody wins.
But beyond that, he confesses to bribing officials to get his way, and I figure that anyone who offers bribes will also take them.
And there’s enough of that going on now.