Blogroll

Dec. 9 – The season’s third survey of bald eagles congregating at Lake Coeur d’Alene found another big jump in numbers from the previous week.

Today’s survey found 112 adults (white heads) and 24 immature eagles (under 4 years old with dark heads) for a total of 136, said Carrie Hugo, U.S. Bureau of Land Management wildlife biologist. About 80 eagles were counted at Wolf Lodge Bay last week.

Even more are expected before their numbers peak later this month to feed on spawning kokanee.

Dec. 9 – Confession time: My dad and I used to wait till my mom would move away from the mixing bowl so that we could sneak bites of her chocolate chip cookie dough. If busted, she’d issue a stern warning that we’d “get worms” if we ate too much of it. That warning was never scary enough to make us stop. But this bit of news might:

A study released today points the finger at ready-to-bake cookie dough for a 2009 E. coli outbreak.

The most surprising finding was that eggs were not to blame. It turns out, it may be the flour is the most unsafe part.

Dec. 7 – Walking through Riverfront Park alone on a chilly morning seems like the perfect occasion for some poetic reverie about life, the seasons and prospects for the future.

But what I found myself thinking, not for the first time, was this.

Those ducks at the park sound to me just like Burgess Meredith as The Penguin in that old TV version of “Batman.”

It’s a good bet that they aren’t really trying to quack like one of the Caped Crusader’s arch-enemies. But they still make me smile.

And who really knows when ducks are trying to be funny?

Dec. 7 – I have been doing research in our newspaper archives in recent weeks for various stories and always pause when I come across words that have died from common usage.

For some reason, the word “frock” has surfaced again and again.

Frock: A woman’s dress.

I’m surprised the word hasn’t been usurped by someone making it a swear word alternative. You know what I mean. I’m glad it hasn’t. When I see the word “frock” I think of times in decades past when women wore frocks most of the day, even at home.