Spotted this robin in Anna following one of our recent winter weather events. I’m guessing the robin won’t miss snow, sleet, ice and cold much either.Did not know that finches like sweet gum seed pods. Maybe the “gum balls” created by sweet gums actually are good for something...

Let's skip February...make today January 55th

Please read this...

Once again this week, we’ll just kind of wander around, with a little bit of this...and a little bit of that...

Guess I missed the announcement about the speed limit on new U.S. Route 51 changing to something like 125 miles per hour. Apparently, tailgating at a high rate of speed continues to be proper driving etiquette for some people, as well...

Speaking of roads...skunks did not appear to be doing well along Union County’s highways and byways during the past week... and, yes... once again, I did see a dead skunk in the middle of the road... and, yes... it was stinking to high heaven...

Speaking of dead things in the middle the road... is it a bad omen if a vulture happens to fly overhead while you  are driving along, just minding your own business? Seems like it’s been happening a lot to me lately...

Moving right along...

Don’t know ‘bout you, but this writer is D-U-N with February...

I’ve whined about the month of February for many a year...to no avail. Something is just not right about a month with a major “holiday” that celebrates a rodent.

February, for the most part, for most of the time, just seems cold, gray, snowy, icy and otherwise the most forlorn of the 12 months of the year. February is the Eeyore of months. Why else would the person who invented the calendar only give it 28 days (and the occasional 29 days) to the second month of the year? Twenty-eight days means that we get to the end of the month faster... just doesn’t seem that way...

Many years ago, as I have often shared, I managed to ditch the cold and snow of February by leaving...as in leaving the Northern Hemisphere in the middle of the month. Went from the middle of winter in Southern Illinois to someplace where it was the middle of summer. At least it made February a little more bearable.

Once again, I will propose that we simply extend the length of the month of January...all the way until March... we’ll just do away with February...

We’ll celebrate Ground Hog Day on January 32nd. Valentine’s Day will be on January 45th. We can still get our sweethearts flowers and chocolates. Today, by the way, is January 55th...

Speaking of going places... one day last week, while out on a “beat” (that’s newspaper talk), I heard a couple of people talking about cruises... river cruises in particular.

If I were to go on a cruise, I would prefer to go on a river cruise. No worries about icebergs on a river cruise. Actually, my idea of a river cruise would probably involve a jon boat and a cooler... Just not on the Mississippi River in the middle of a “flood of the century...” Been there, done that. 

Speaking of not going places...seems like this winter, and especially this month, my mode of transportation to The Paragraph Factory has been frozen shut in the morning more times than I can remember, thanks to several rounds of rain followed by temperatures which seemingly allowed the nether world to freeze over. 

Let’s end this with a thank you to the fellow traveler on The Journey Through Life who shared a wonderful little guide about Illinois fossils with yours truly. The guide was, well, maybe a little bit “old.” Then again, so am I...and so are fossils... 

Stay safe...

The Gazette-Democrat

112 Lafayette St.
Anna, Illinois 62906
Office Number: (618) 833-2158
Email: news@annanews.com

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