Spring ahead this weekend

Sunday is the first day of daylight saving time, so you had best move your clock ahead Saturday night or you are going to be late for church Sunday morning.

Daylight saving goes all the way until Nov. 7 this year. The extra light in the evening is always a real plus.

St. Pats

Next Wednesday is St. Patrick’s Day. It’s always a great day to take in a little corned beef and cabbage. The wearing of the green is also part of the fun for the day. I’m sure there will be plenty of green drinks consumed. I may even put a little food coloring in my diet ginger ale!

Protest

I get a kick out of the kids protesting the school cuts in Des Moines.

The schools were so crowded back when I was in first grade we only went to school for half a day. Then my second-grade class had 30 kids in it. I would bet the graduation rate back then was higher than it is today.

Education shouldn’t be all about money. We have fewer and fewer kids in the state and we give more and more money than ever to education.

Education gets more than 60 percent of the state tax money and a good share of our property taxes. All the state cuts on education have done is added more to the local property taxes. And the graduation rates just keep getting lower and lower across the land.

Birds

I was out grilling last night for the first time this year and the birds were flying in by the thousands.

The mating pairs of geese are back in full strength at Taylor Park. The robins were “bob-bob-bobing-along” in the backyard.

It was kind of weird to see them all, while the snow is still covering a good part of the ground.

I get the impression we may be in for all kinds of bugs this year because of the ground not freezing under all that snow.

A publisher was infected with West Nile virus last year. He almost died and it has taken him seven to eight months to get back to normal.