Of all the things I see on T.V. these days, I think I dislike most of all, those ads which try to entice1 people to attend one of the gambling casinos2 to “have fun” eating gourmet foods, staying in the posh lodgings3, and winning big prizes at the gaming tables4. I know I am [...]
Probability, Risk and Gambling
March 17th, 2009 by huffmansFly Fishing
March 17th, 2009 by huffmans
A week or two ago, my friend, Mary Stark, asked if I’d again demonstrate fly fishing1 to her class in Environmental Literature2. A River Runs Through3 is one of the books which they enjoy, and fly fishing for trout4 plays an important part in that book. Some of the students know about fly fishing, [...]
Surprise Endings
March 17th, 2009 by huffmansThe last few weeks I’ve realized how important unanticipated1 results are in many aspects2 of our lives. First, I recognized3 that the football and soccer games in which our college was involved4 have been unusually exciting this year because of the team’s coming from behind to win, winning in overtime5, by some outstanding play, [...]
Football American Style
March 17th, 2009 by huffmansI know it’s true that for most of the countries in the world football is a sport which we Americans call soccer. I like soccer too, and I also like rugby, Australian football, and even touch football1, but in mid-autumn the Midwest, and most of the U.S. is in pursuit of2 football victories for [...]
Women’s World of March Madness[1]
March 16th, 2009 by huffmansLast week, the first weekend in March, Pella Public High school competed in the Iowa Women’s High School Basketball championships2, the first step of March Madness, which may be defined as the frantic, almost manic behavior of basketball fans3 related to championship tournaments4 during the month of March. Basketball championships are held at every [...]
Survival - Natural and Otherwise
March 16th, 2009 by huffmansDuring the severe winter weather1 in Iowa we usually put out food for the birds, squirrels2, etc. It provides a source of nutrients3 for backyard animals which otherwise might not survive4 the cold and icy, snowy season. And, from our office windows we observe lots of interesting behavior5 as birds, squirrels, striped ground squirrels6, [...]
Our Backyard Bird Feeders
March 16th, 2009 by huffmansDuring the past week and a half it has turned quite cold, and our backyard bird feeders1 have become very busy with all types of birds feeding on the various types of seeds that Kim puts out for them. Some tiny, frail-looking2 little birds called black capped chickadees3 have also been feeding there. We have [...]
My Christmas Cactus
March 16th, 2009 by huffmansI believe that my Christmas cactus1 has an identity problem2. I just don’t know what it is. A Christmas cactus is supposed to bloom3 at Christmas time4, but mine has been blooming since before Halloween5. We have had it in our sunroom6 for about ten years now, and each year it has been blooming a [...]
Cleaning Up After the Storms
March 16th, 2009 by huffmansThis winter was a particularly1 snowy, cold and stormy one in which ice and snow gathered on tree branches and caused many of these to break off and fall to the ground. In addition, there were many leaves on the ground that had fallen during the early winter, along with small branches which died [...]
Feeding the Animals
March 16th, 2009 by huffmansToday I plan to buy a big bag of unshelled peanuts1 and perhaps a bag of dried field corn on the cob2 I’ll use those for feeding animals, not elephants3 in the Des Moines zoo4, but the squirrels5 in our back yard.
I love watching the squirrels as they zip up and down our trees6. The [...]