May 2021

I’m not really sure what happened to the month of April, I’m not sure there’s any proof it happened this year. Perhaps it was cancelled? Either way, we’re on to May and the promise of spring showers and nicer weather.

Many things are in the works for the club, some of which will be announced before the May monthly meeting, so make sure you check your email. The board is having their quarterly meeting just before the May meeting, so there will be several announcements coming. Look for a training class for newer members starting later in the month, some additional opportunities for the club to come together to turn, and as the COVID restrictions wind down, a gradual return to whatever “normal” is going to look like for us.

We still have an opening on the board for the Vice President position. Much of the work for this year has already been completed, but it would be GREAT to have another voice that could weigh in with a new perspective as the board discusses issues and makes decisions. There is NO expectation that the VP will eventually become President! We are also looking for someone (or several people) to take over the raffle as an assignment, not a full board position. As with the VP position, most of the heavy lifting has already been completed for the rest of this year. If anyone is interested in stepping up and fulfilling either of these two opportunities, please contact me, or anyone on the board.

I do like Spring, though, it seems like a time of rapid change and growth. The ground seems to have finally woken up, so the sound of lawn mowers is once again the chorus of weekends. Cardinals and Blue Jays are fighting for dominance at my bird feeder, the squirrels are still trying to figure out why the big tree in the back yard is laying on the ground, and the rabbit continues to be a slow learner about staying the hell out of my yard! Perhaps the most sure sign that the risk of COVID and the warming weather is here is the number of couples walking, with or without dogs, that seem to take over the neighborhood every night. Luckily, there are no sidewalks on my property, so the endless parade goes by just across the street, where their conversations are usually not legible and drift into the evening chorus of birds, distant traffic noises, and the occasional dog barking.

One evening, as I was roughing out blanks in the garage, I left the door open to enjoy the daylight and light breeze. When I shut the lathe off to check the thickness, I was startled by an odd sound. Something that shouldn’t have been there. Something foreign to the normally peaceful evening routine. It was an argument. A heated conversation between two couples I had seen many times before. I moved out to the front of the garage to see what would have caused such a heated exchange.

What I saw were two younger couples, each with a dog on a leash, squared off just far enough that their dogs couldn’t reach each other. The two females were yelling at each other, using terms even my grand daughters would recognize as “bad words”. The males (husbands?) were holding the dogs back, both with sheepish grins on their faces. Given the way the women were loudly disparaging either other’s moral character, I was surprised to see them smiling and wondered why they weren’t taking sides to defend their partners. As others in the neighborhood started to take notice of the fracas, the two women (no doubt being aware of the growing audience) decided to end their performance. One of the women issued a parting shot as they both went back to their nightly walk that was clear as a bell.

“You need to keep a shorter leash for that rapist rat dog you’re raising!”

Ah, spring! A time when not just young men’s hearts turn to love.

Thanks for reading! Until next time, take some time to enjoy the warm weather, appreciate the rebirth of nature, and please remember to keep your dogs on a leash!