Matters of the heart take center stage in February

By Darla Buckhannon

Happy birthday to Mildred Finney, Susie Pobst, Robert Penrose, Jerry Wolsey Jr., Linda Glastetter, Joann Brucker, Kenny Chapman, Kenneth Plunk, Jimmy Dooley, Cindy Teegarden, Connie Hamilton, Jeff Graviett, Joe Swain, Charlie Hindman, Troy Collins, Tyler Collins, Denny Rose, Ken Lowery, Randy Dooley, Tilda Davison, Martha Pierce, Barbara Tanner, Zach Horman, Sarah Hahn, Claude Ann Phillips, Marvin Kirkpatrick and Annabelle Dumey.

Happy anniversary to Laddie and Annette Bridwell, Mike and Connie Hamilton and Red and June Lynn.

City Hall again reminds residents to put address numbers on the front of your house so they are visible from the street.

The month of February is American Heart Month, Creative Romance Month, Great American Pie Month, Black History Month, Children's Dental Health Month, National Cherry Month and National Bird Feeding Month.

Wednesday is Valentine's Day. Happy Valentine's Day! Wednesday also is Ash Wednesday, and so begins catfish Fridays. This Friday is the Chinese New Year, and it is the Year of the Dog. Those born in the dog year are communicative, serious and responsible in the workplace.

In nature, screech-owls begin searching for mates and opossums begin breeding this week. The February issue of the Missouri Conservationist has a great article on the eastern screech-owl. You can pick up a copy at the Cape Girardeau Conservation Nature Center.

It is always fun to learn a new word, and I learned one reading Joe Sullivan's recent column. The word is "murmuration," and occurs when birds move in formation. I am familiar with emergent behavior, but not murmuration. I Googled the word and found a YouTube video showing starlings murmuring. It was set to music and so mesmerizing I had to remind myself that I am sitting here watching a bunch of starlings!

The sky show

In sky watch, we got to see another terrific celestial event. The first was the solar eclipse in August, and this past week many of us got to watch the lunar eclipse. Richard and I had a great view of the moon from our house, but we later drove to a better viewing spot before the clouds appeared.

In the news

It is always nice to see our Chaffee young people pictured in the Southeast Missourian. Featured on the All-Southeast Missourian Football Team were Kade Sullivan and Landon Tenkhoff Jr. Kade is the son of Billy Sullivan and Lindi Raines, and grandson of Bob and Janet Sullivan; Landon is the son of Dale and Patsy (Blattel) Tenkhoff.

I recently ran across some newspaper clippings my dad saved years ago. One was a page from the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, dated October 26, 1952. The pages were much bigger then, with this one measuring 21.5 inches by 15 inches. The article is "Perpetual Calendar." Employed by General Electric as an electrical engineer, Arthur A. Merrill devised this calendar in the predawn hours of a sleepless night. The years are 1753 through 2059, although Merrill stated it could be extended indefinitely. It was fun to discover that my dad was born on a Tuesday, my mother on a Friday, and they were married on a Wednesday.

Super inactive

I was one of those sports fans who vegetated Sunday watching the Super Bowl festivities and the big game. Being a Patriots fan, I was disappointed in the outcome, but have to hand it to the Philadelphia Eagles. Dallas Cowboy fans, of which I am one, are not fans of the Eagles.

For some, the holiday season extends through the Super Bowl. Once the big game has passed we all get back to our regular routines, clean eating and taking care of business.

Taxing activity

One priority is getting those taxes filed. Seniors can get AARP Tax Help every Tuesday from 9 a.m. to noon at the Senior Center and, if you picked up some pounds during the holidays, drop by the center at 9 a.m. on Friday for a fun, one-hour exercise class led by Brenda Freed with the Scott County Health Department.

John Loucks, son of Steve and Janet Loucks, got plenty of exercise when he ran in the 2018 Rocky Raccoon 100 at Tejas Trails in Texas. Of the 347 participants who started, 202 finished; John finished 53rd overall with a time of 23 hours, 20 minutes, 58 seconds. Way to go John!

As always

Remember to tell those special people in your life that you love them -- those three words mean so much.

Email your news to darbuck2@airmail.net or call (573) 887-6430 or (214) 207-7839.

And then ...

Then there was the bar that bounced anyone uttering the word literally.