Indian Summer Finally Showed Up!

I post the Photos of the Day (taken earlier this year)
in defiance of all things cold, wet and/or white.
Something tells me this independent-minded stalk of corn would quite agree.
Hail the return of Indian Summer!
Seriously, who doesn't love it when it's 64 degrees after Thanksgiving and
you don't even need a jacket when you go for a jog?

This Just In ...

It's official. The D & C reported online tonight that MPN has been bought by GateHouse Media Inc. of Perinton.
Apparently, we, the staff, will begin to learn What It All Means tomorrow at 8:45 a.m.
I'm just sorry the first official word I heard was from a competing newspaper.

Fleming: Go Figure

So, the latest James Bond film, "Casino Royale," opened last weekend and I was the lucky reporter who got to interview moviegoers leaving the screenings and catch one myself, courtesy my soon-to-be-acquired employer, Messenger Post Newspapers. Read the article here, but in the meantime, let me share a little-known fact about beloved Bond author, Ian Fleming:

The same man who created 007 was also creator of "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang!" Chitty, of course, is the car that could fly and float, and what kid wouldn't want to daydream along that the family car Pop patched up in the back shed could actually do so? I believe a souped-up version of Chitty showed up in Pierce Brosnan's last James Bond film: anyone remember that disappearing car that zoomed all over the ice? (Technically, I suppose, that could be considered some advanced form of floating.)

Anyway, I don't know about all four of you semi-loyal readers, but I adored the classic children's movie with Dick Van Dyke. Not only are a few of the kitschy songs a bit more catchy than I might admit, but other whiz-bang (for the '60s at least) gadgets and such are also gleefully imaginative. Wouldn't you rather have a whistling Toot Sweet than a plain, old, boring candy cane? Me too.

In a way, it's ironic that a movie clearly celebrating childhood and everything playful and imaginative about it (especially the adults that encourage kids to dream and invent) also served as a bit of a Message Movie. You know what I mean, the kind that wants to impart an Important Lesson Upon Impressionable Young Minds.

And what lesson is it, you ask, that sticks out most in my mind from "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?" Well, that would be the one that Children Should Never Accept Candy From Strangers!!!! "Chitty" (the movie) features one heck of a scary villain who prowls the streets with his prison wagon, trying to tempt little tykes out of hiding with promises of candy for children. Our hero's two towheads fall prey to Mr. Bad Guy, driving home the Message, and then, as I recall, the rest of the movie centers on how Pop and Co. will save them from this evil kidnapper.

The whole thing got me thinking whether parents or public school leaders back in the '60s and '70s ever showed this film to kids with the express purpose of preserving them -- and their teeth, of course! -- from the perils of sugar-laden snacks. Given my 2 1/2 year-old niece's seeming addiction to plain M&Ms, I wonder if a dose of "Chitty" might not cure all candy ills.

Then again, she might end up asking for Toot Sweets for Christmas.

Postcard (2) from the Edge ... of Wildlife

I've really enjoyed getting "out and about" in Blacksburg, VA the last week and on many of my travels I've encountered a
number of animals. (And no, most of them weren't all drunken college students at the football game.)
For example, the sound of rustling leaves yesterday along the Blue Ridge Parkway scared my sister and I near-senseless while we were snapping photos of the sunset. Who can tell if it's going to be a white-tailed deer or a black bear, you know? It could be either, no guarantees. (In our case, it was the harmless deer, two of them actually, but still close enough to give you a scare.)

But on my near-daily walks, most out on the Huckleberry Trail that spans some six miles between Blacksburg and Christianburg, the next town over, I've seen lots of wildlife. Yesterday, a red Cardinal flew right across in front of me - I could practically see the little comb on his head-cool! The trail is also home to countless squirrels, cows (don't ask me which breed-couldn't tell ya), sparrows, and more. Then up on Mountain Lake Road, two large winged pheasants, took their sweet time crossing the road in front of my car. Well, they were either winged pheasants or wild turkeys. They were so big and so close and my memory of the last bird-watching book I thumbed through just wasn't sharp enough to distinguish between the two as I was crawling along in second gear praying I'd reach the bottom of the winding road alive. (I hate roads like that! Trust me, the bird-watching was the only redeeming factor about it.)

But beyond that, I've also seen plenty of Hokie birds. Ah yes, that would be the official mascot of Virginia Tech. If I understand correctly, there really is no such thing as a Hokie bird in real life, and it's some sort of cross between a wild turkey and I'm not sure what else. Or maybe the college used to have some other weird nickname for its mascot until the Hokie bird somehow just took over? Whatever.

Here's the nutty part: These birds are on nearly every corner. Life-size, fiberglass sculpture birds painted wild colors and donated/funded by various businesses. You know, the type we all got pretty used to as part of Horses on Parade, then Deer on Parade, followed by Animals on Parade? Anyway, guess what similar take-pride-in-our-city campaign apparently swept through Blacksburg not long ago? Hokie Birds on Parade. Ok, I'm not sure that's the official name, but that's what I'm calling it. I know a fiberglass sculpture parade when I see it. I've seen a granite-clad Hokie bird, one wearing a tuxedo, another playing bagpipes, etc. etc. Yes, I see y'all rolling your eyes! (Even from 400 miles away.)

The one redeeming trait of these birds is that I am taller than they are -- I think.
Hmmm, it would appear I was mistaken.