Interesting news ... and weird, too
A classic G. George Ostrom from 1991...
Is this an unusual time to be living, or have there always been fascinating events, strange occurrences and odd behavior? How deep did you contemplate items in last Sunday’s newscasts and papers?
Example: A blue-ribbon chicken was saved from death by a fast-thinking poultry judge at the Western Washington Sate Fair in Puyallup, Wash. When the sultan hen almost drowned in a large bowl of soapy water, judge Sherry Milligan quickly gave it mouth-to-beak resuscitation. The chicken revived and gave a loud squawk. (This is my favorite of all the Sunday stories because it has compassion, humor and, of course, love.)
The owner of the bird, 12-year-old Daniel Burnson, had the big bowl of water there preparing to demonstrate “How to Wash Your Pet Chicken” and he didn’t notice the hen fall in.
Example: Blanche Riley of Brooklyn, N.Y. died 18 months ago but her five grown kids have been keeping her in the bedroom where she died…so she could be “resurrected.” I think this is a terrible way to spoil someone you love.
The weird scenario was uncovered by Blanche’s niece in Florida who was told over the phone one too many times that her aunt was “unavailable and…has been sleeping a lot.” The niece flew up to New York and marched into Blanche’s apartment. She knew right away that the old gal had been sleeping a lot more than her kids had mentioned…and sounder, too.
Example: Half the people in Missoula braved cold weather and winds Saturday to watch eight thousand rubber ducks “race” 4,000 feet down the Clark Fork River. The ducks all had numbers and wore sunglasses. The winning ducky won its “adopted” father a new car. There were 17 other prizes in decreasing value. It cost five bucks to adopt one of the ducks. Kids could watch, but were not allowed to play.
Oh yes! This year’s winner won by eight duck lengths.
Example: The Prestigious Hunting Library in Los Angeles announced it will start letting qualified scholars have access to its photo negatives of the rare and priceless Dead Sea Scrolls.
These are believed to have been written at the time of Jesus Christ. Five hundred of the animal skin scrolls were discovered in Jerusalem 40 years ago and contain ancient Jewish writing, including the first known copies of the Old Testament.
This story in itself is not so unusual, but it reminded me of hiking last summer in Glacier Park with Dr. Gordon Edwards.
While walking across a high slope of broken rock north of the Ptarmigan Wall, Doc told us he was leading us on the famous “red scree stroll.”