Venus, hummingbirds are coming into view

By Darla Buckhannon

Happy birthday to Linda Lindy, Jenny Miller, Mike Mirly, Richie Rister, Jimmy Chambers, Bud Schilling, Garrett Senciboy, Charlie Dumey, Stanley Latko, Robin Gardner, Steven Dooley, Jimmie Banks, Larry Rogers, Sheila Eby, Mable Flanigan, MaKinsey Uhrhan, Mick Wessel, Dusti Garner, Lauren Anderson, Danny Penrose, Bob Owen, Ruth Glastetter, Michelle Daniel, Lindsey Miller, Jeannie Smith and Shelly Schrum.

Happy anniversary to Rob and Stacy Abernathy, Richard and Judy Sanders and Alvin and Betty Vandeven.

The planet Venus is now in clear view in the east as our "morning star." It will remain in view until late November.

We thank Betty Glastetter of Oran for calling and reporting her sighting of her first hummingbird of the season the day before Easter! Richard and I had a special surprise when we saw a male hummer on Easter Sunday in Dallas. I am certain he was on his way to Southeast Missouri! We usually just see them in the fall in Dallas on their way south, so this was a special treat. I put my feeder out but haven't seen another since.

Congratulations to Keith and Diane Chapman whose home on Davidson was selected as Residence of the Month by the Chamber of Commerce.

Congratulations to our Chaffee High girls' track and field team for beating out 16 other schools and winning the Johnny Merrick Invitational at Kelly High School. Way to go girls!

Hockey and more

St. Louis Blues fans have been keeping watch on the Stanley Cup playoffs. Replaced by associate coach Mike Yeo, former coach Ken Hitchcock has returned to Dallas as the Dallas Stars coach.

Here is a little update for Dallas Cowboy fans. Now that Tony Romo is joining CBS Sports, the focus is on quarterback Dak Prescott who has spent the offseason working with his conditioning coach in Florida and teammates at The Star in Frisco. Dak recently bought his first house, plans to buy his first pair of cowboy boots and will soon get a French Bulldog puppy. He adds his life is exciting and has changed a lot this past year: Trips to the grocery store and mall now include stopping for autographs; he has taken up golf; and he still struggles with the Dallas traffic and tollways.

Preservationists

I finally finished reading Douglas Brinkley's book, "The Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America." It took me awhile because the pages are many, the print is small and it is full of terrific information. Our 26th U.S. president was a naturalist and instrumental in establishing our national parks, game preserves and national monuments.

One of the interesting tidbits was about white storks -- a bird that continues to be associated with delivering babies. Roosevelt chose Paul Kroegel as his first wildlife warden. Raised in Germany, Kroegel became enamored with white storks when he was 3 or 4 years old. The sight of a stork nesting on a chimney was a good omen, and since these migratory birds arrived in Germany around Easter, the coming of the stork was a symbol of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

According to Greek mythology, a white stork was a fertility symbol, and if a woman made direct eye contact with the stork, she could receive the blessing of a newborn child.

The reverential attitude regarding storks was reinforced in Hans Christian Andersen's classic children's book "The Storks." To a child of Kroegel's generation and greatly influenced by Andersen's stories, hurting a stork would be like molesting the Easter Bunny or Tooth Fairy. Nicknamed "Pelican Watcher," Kroegel later was instrumental in facing off the feather hunters in the 1900s and was a pioneer in wildlife conservation in Florida, especially Pelican Island, and the entire nation.

Voice from on high

Several readers shared their special Easter memories, one of which was the singing of "He Arose" by Mary Hopkins, English teacher to many of us, at the First Baptist Church every Easter. She hit those high notes beautifully, often singing the Easter special from the upper balcony.

Great balls of fire

Richard and I have noticed a lot of empty Fireball liquor bottles along Dame Street on our recent walks. One has to wonder if the imbiber tosses the plastic bottles out of his car window on his way home. There must be 50 or so bottles strewn along the bar ditch.

Reminders

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

Email your news to darbuck2@airmail.net or leave a message at (573) 887-6430 or (214) 207-7839.

And then ...

Then there was the comeback of the pencil.