My son and a couple of neighbors have been telling me of a large buck and some other really good bucks the past few days. I knew that sooner or later the deer would find their way to my pond below the house. It happened this morning at daylight. Six bucks came out to drink and eat willow shoots and several does and fawns also came to drink.

One buck stood out from all the rest, a magnificent stag with antlers at least 24 to 28 inches wide, maybe wider. The antlers were also very tall. We have been feeding these deer corn and mineral blocks (at considerable cost) for over ten years now. It is a great day to watch them spar and kick up their heels and play in the water. Some of them are still in velvet. Some came up to the backyard to graze. I hope the bucks will come closer tomorrow. It's a great show.

Don't we all rejoice that the buck stops with Charlie? (I hear growls and grumbles from the mountain.) Six bucks even.

Instead of an office desk identifier block reading "The Buck Stops Here," I once had a desk-top identifier with my name on one side (you know, the "Allen" thing) that usually faced outward. On the other side was a message which I customarily rotated into view before leaving. It read: "Out to Lunch." (Snarls and subdued murmurs from the mountain. My lunch was always bettered by hot snarls and cold murmurs.)

The sad thing about conservation in this area of Arkansas, is that Chronic Wasting Disease is making its way towards us from Missouri. We need to harvest more deer to stop the overpopulation and spread of the disease before it overtakes the local herds. We hope the Game Department will allow more deer to be killed in our specific area in the short term. Those of us who manage the herds understand this problem and lament.

If you want to come and hunt, Allen, come on, with bow early, or firearm later. I have game cameras to place this week. Lots of turkeys too.

As an east-coast native (or at least a daughter of east coast natives) who has visited Missouri and Arkansas several times during the past nine years, I had to smile at the exchange between Allen and Charlie.

Meanwhile, a few years ago my current neighbors planted Leyland Cypress trees at the back of their lawn to obscure the view of the relatively new subdivision in back. The trees quickly grew so tall and thick that a deer has taken up residence in this new forest. There's no hope for any vegetable garden that isn't surrounded by a high fence. Funny how nature balances things out.

But butterflies have enjoyed the lavenders and wildflowers out front.

Good news my laptop is virus free at last. Bad news though when I reset to factory settings it had upgraded me to Windows 10.

Had a very productive day with my wonderful mentor, Jayne (Patience of a Saint) Osborn and managed to write a Kyrielle (I think) for "Yellow" the Oldie Comp No. 206. It's about time some of us youngsters won something once in a while. :D

I am still on 8.1 and intend to leave it as is. I tried three times to download that behemoth 10 file and the damn thing aborted each time, so a pox on you, Windows, for being too cheap to supply us with free discs.

I think Windows 10 is very good compared to its predecessors. Sadly, the free upgrade ended before I got around to installing it on my wife's computer.

Dave, you should have the option to revert back if you decide you want to. It's pretty straightforwardSee for example here for instructions.

About 6 weeks ago, I got Windows 10 forcibly downloaded on my trusty old Dell, and the darned thing couldn't even get out of it's own way. It was like the proverbial 10 pounds of you-know-what in a 5 pound bag.

I did a fix similar to Matt's, and Microsoft reinstalled Windows 7. Now the old Dell is humming along better than ever, since their Windows 7 install was a lot fresher than my old many - times - patched - up version.

Speaking of good news, last week I singlehandidly replaced the "2 stone chips and one crack" version of the windshield in my 1986 VW Cabriolet with a nice used one, and didn't break it during the install. Now it's time for some top-down cruising on the back roads of Maine while the summer sun still shines.

Thanks Matt the only thing I'm struggling with is Word Online instead of good old fashioned Word (which was installed at time of purchase together with Excell, Powerpoint etc.) I abhor change and am a Luddite where technology is concerned :D

Well said, Dave !

I've worked with computers for most of my life - since 1968 - but I am a militant Luddite when it comes to anything excreted by MicroS**t.

Well, I simply HAD to bump up this thread, in view of my surprise news this week! :) (Staff Announcements, in case you missed it.)

It's been a little while, so can we have some more happy events related here again, please?

Jayne

Is there no recent good news to relate? Surely there must be some.

Well, . . . while I'm here I'll give mine: I stood in for a speaker who was booked to give a talk at a conference yesterday, on meteorology, but he couldn't make it.

I know nothing about meteorology so I did my usual thing: I read some of my poems and did a few magic tricks (a fairly new string to my bow!). I felt that it was my best talk ever and the feedback was amazing. I also sold 8 books! :D

Jayne

I've really been enjoying this thread, so I hope it continues. I want to participate, but most of my good news isn't so newsy or is of the distinctly quiet kind:
We are still married;
The children remain healthy;
My summer teaching job was genuinely rewarding, even revitalizing;
I'm guest-lecturing at a local college tonight and looking forward to it...

But I did learn a few months back that I will have a book of poems (my first) published in 2018! Too soon for a post in the brag-forum, but--believe me--that will follow.

Well, I’m reasonably well, a bout of diverticulitis finally faded away, my obesity is on the wane, Windows 10 is nearly tamed (but I still hate it), I rhyme from time to time, only two fires have threatened my home so far, I pulled the plug on Rattle, my meatballs are to die for, cataracts are under control, touch typing’s proving to be the best academic course I ever took, rarely have a tremor from peripheral neuropathy. . . . So, what’d you expect from a geezer crowding 80?

Oh, and I almost quit drinking again!

I've done my big brags elsewhere, but I'm glad to report that I'm auditing introductory ancient Greek at the U. of MN, finally filling another hole in my education. When I finish I will be the equal of Shakespeare, having small Latin and less Greek.

It will, Simon, 'cos I can pull rank now and see that it does. Haha ;)
Your ''distinctly quiet kind'' of good news is still a pleasure to read about - and congrats on the future book.

Ralph,
You are truly amazing, you know that? I'm raising my glass to you this very moment. Cheers!

And Maryann, you are amazing too. Ancient Greek - heck! Good on yer, as certain dialects over here have it.

That's today's good news acknowledged . . . let's hope to see more soon; it's so much better than the bad news we get more than enough of.

Jayne

No good news to report. The bad news is, I'm still kickin'.

Thanks, Jayne, I'm enjoying this thread too! So let's see....

The weeds that threatened to take over the lavender patch have not returned.

I've now justified saving all those jelly jars, having made nearly a gallon of yogurt last night.

And a West Coast synth-pop band would like to "write a song around" one of my poems. I'm excited about this, even if the resulting lyrics will no longer be recognizable as a villanelle.

Claudia

I wrote a total of two poems on my outbound and returning flights from New Orleans, where I ate amazingly well. And I haven't been punched in the face for a really long time.

Apparently the muscle cells in fruit fly wings are astoundingly similar to human cardiac muscle cells. Who knew?

Well, a professor at my daughter's university did, and he's using a strain of fruit flies with defective wings to study the super-rare genetic problem that caused her to need a heart transplant three years ago. What amazing luck!

She somehow managed to sweet-talk herself into an internship in his lab, even though she's only a sophomore and doesn't know how to do much yet. But she's eager to learn, and thrilled to be potentially finding a way to spare other kids from going through what she did.

Teaching Romeo and Juliet to 14 year olds this week. On reaching the exchange in Act 2 sc2

Romeo - O, wilt thou leave me so unsatisfied?
Juliet - What satisfaction canst thou have tonight?

a voice charmingly rang out from the disaffected throng.

"Handjob?"

Yes. I'm afraid this counts as good news. Shows they were listening.

Julie, that is not only good news but also uplifting news, fantastic!

Mark, I'm afraid you only score one out of two, but I think you knew that already.

LOL, Mark! Silly requirement for more characters

It was lol-worthy, Julie. At least afterwards. Never at the time.

Your news is genuinely heartening. Well done her!

That's truly fantastic news, Julie, making this thread worthwhile.

Mark,
I taught Romeo and Juliet for years, though I never had a wag like that!
Heck, is it going to be on the curriculum for all eternity? I'm so glad I'm retired.

Jayne

PS. It's not that I don't like Romeo and Juliet, but the lessons and the homework get a bit ad nauseam . . .

Saw a magnificent sunset over the Hudson River one evening, all incandescent deep pinks and whites in striated patterns, spread out for miles and miles. And several more a few days later, over the low roofs of Greenwich Village.

Yes, bless you, Julie, and bless Jenn and her inspirational professor. May they make science sing and may thousands join the chorus.

Oh, Mark, I laughed too - but I understood your "never at the time". My sister rang me last night to share this. She works as a classroom assistant and has been undertaking assessments of very small children about to be admitted to the reception class. One of the "tests" is to see whether they can "listen and repeat" words to which they are unlikely to have been exposed hitherto. One of the words is "heliotrope".

One of the children listened to my sister and stared at her with a frown, obviously desperate to make sense of what he was hearing. She repeated the word slowly and clearly. He thought a little longer, then said, tentatively, "HillaryTrump?"

When we had finished drumming our heels on the floor and I had expressed my admiration for the child, we fell to speculating. After all, this was a four-year-old. In England.

Oh my good God. Maybe she can see the future, Ann, and was predicting the culmination of what would be the most disturbing political romance since John Major and Edwina Currie.

Jayne - Yep, it's still there. As is Of Mice and Men. I do an excellent range of voices, I'm told. My Lennie and Curley's wife are scarily accurate. Or maybe just scary.

We decided it was probably more a case of little jugs having big ears.

Your Romeo and Juliet story made my day. I haven't gotten to teach it for a few years now, and I miss it. I think it's a great text for introducing Shakespeare, and I love making fun of Romeo with the students--helps give them an appropriate sense of irreverence, I hope.

As for Of Mice and Men (or really any Steinbeck in the curriculum), I'm happy to say I haven't had to teach them in a few years.

Steinbeck's happy about that as well, I'm sure.

See, good news all around!

If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!
If you're happy and you know it, slap your glands!
If you're happy and you know it, and you really want to show it,
If you're happy and you know it, clap your hands!

And if you aren't happy, write a terribly good poem about it,
then flap your hands and send it off or post it here for criticism.

lol, Julie. Good news, hmm. I fixed an embarrassingly bad poem, and I think Hillary has the swing states.

*Messing around aside, on my last visit home, my mother surprised me with a CD she put together of these 40 some year old home movies that she found. Never been watched, or at least I'd never seen them. And they were in remarkably good condition. Best thing about them is that my father, who died at 50 over 25 years years ago, appears in some of the footage. He was usually behind the camera, so this was special and for sure I'd call this good news.

My dog had fallen into a state of in-coordination, unable to walk without wobbling, from which it seemed improbable that she should ever emerge. Many a test failed to discover a cause. But she has recently proven to be a phoenix, having recovered her old abilities in full of a sudden; no longer bound to the floor, she floors everybody bounding after the ball. Apparently, old dogs after a minor stroke have been known to lose and then regain coordination seemingly overnight like some kind of miracle.
Speaking of pleasant surprises, though of a different kind, I discovered an old epigram of mine was on Asses of Parnassus on the nineteenth.

I hope your dog is still doing well, Erik. Mine was 17 years old when she died and all the years of utter devotion from her were (and still are) precious.

Today's good news is that my husband and I have been married for 26 years. Rather than going to a restaurant, he cooked one of my favourite meals for us, and in return I bought him a bottle of Talisker Skye single malt whisky and some of these gorgeous French truffles that he loves.

Jayne

Congrats to you both, Jayne.

David,

Thank you very much! (And, speaking of meals, isn't it about time you and I met for lunch again, and had a catch up? :))

Jayne