We are certainly in the fall season, and you know what that means — flies! In fact, I am convinced that FALL stands for FLIES ARE LIVING LARGE. 

Some people associate flies with summer, and I can deal with them during those months. It’s when the weather turns cold that these flying rodents start seeking warmth, and that means my house, my office and my car. And, by this time of year, they are linebacker-sized, too. 

My dad would often state his feelings about flies. He took incredible satisfaction in squashing them. “He won’t do that again,” he would state after introducing each one to his flyswatter. 

Dad also had a nice, yet roundabout, way of reminding us kids about his dislike for flies. “Close the door,” he would tell us. “You are letting all the flies out.” 

I wish it actually worked that way, especially in my truck. I have a family of 12 flies residing in there right now, and they seem to like to land on my face while I am driving. Despite my best efforts to shoo them out the windows, they just zig-zag around my windshield. 

Clearly the brains of flies aren’t very large, but they must have an incredible sense of surrounding. Despite how much I try to swat them away with my hands, they keep coming back — until, of course, I have a flyswatter in my hand. Then they are nowhere to be found. I was baffled by this until I read that a fly can live for two days without its head. 

If you actually like flies, you may want to skip this paragraph. When we were kids, my friend Ian showed me how he would catch flies and put them in the microwave. We would patiently watch to see what would happen as they would buzz around inside the humming appliance for 30 seconds. Needless to say, it didn’t end well for the fly. It also didn’t end well for Ian once his mother found out he was doing this. If there is any solace in this story, it is that the life span of a house fly is only four weeks. Ian was just speeding things along. 

Have you tried one of those battery-operated, hand-held flyswatters? I love gadgets as much as anyone, but I have yet to buy one of these things. But, who knows, Christmas is just around the corner. Unfortunately — or fortunately — the flies will either be dead or be hibernating by then. Regardless, the flies are certainly slower right now, and, as such, they are easier prey. 

At least for some people. 

Have a fantastic Friday, and thanks for reading.

Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital editions
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707

While driving to work the other day, I heard a song that some of you may remember and one that certainly made me smile — “The Streak.” Yes, the “Ethel, you get your clothes on” song. Follow the link and give it a listen, but only if you want to smile. 

This 1974 No. 1 hit single by comedian Ray Stevens was sparked by the streaking trend that was awkwardly popular during the time, especially on college campuses around the country.

If you were in college at the time or remember the TV coverage, you may recall this naked explosion. As such, this definition of “streaking” was invented. The most covered incident happened in March of 1974 at the University of Michigan. Students wanted to introduce the idea of streaking to the masses with about 70 students going sans clothes and about 1,000 there to watch. This made Ann Arbor known as the location of the first large-scale streak. 

I was 6 years old at the time, but even I took part in streaking. One of my brother’s friends convinced me to run naked back and forth across the door to his family’s living room while his sister was studying there. He laughed. I giggled. His sister didn’t find it so amusing. I haven’t seen her since. Thank goodness.

I wasn’t the only naughty one. The Catholic students at the University of Notre Dame even sponsored a “Streakers’ Olympics” in 1972.

Streaking’s history, even on college campuses, goes back much further. The first recorded incident was in 1804 at Washington College (now Washington and Lee University) when George William Crump was arrested for running naked. Crump was suspended but later went on to become a U.S. Congressman. Go figure. 

Even Snoopy, the popular character in one of my favorite comic strips, “Peanuts,” got into the act as part of his Joe Cool persona. He took part in streaking by removing his trademark sunglasses and collar in his effort to appear naked.  

Some say this streaking trend was linked to the sexual revolution. Others say it was backlash against feminism. Still more say it was in response to the campus protests of the late 1960s and early 1970s. I say it was good, clean fun… with nothing on but a smile.

Don’t look, Ethel!

Have a terrific Tuesday, and thanks for reading.

Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital editions
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707

Hard, sturdy plastic. A palate of faded colors. Stackable and easy to clean. These words describe something most all of us used at more schooltime meals than we can count: the hot lunch tray. 

Its image is likely coming to mind now. A silverware space along the left-hand side. A large space in the lower right for the entrée. A round circle in the lower left for a side. A small space in the upper left for dessert. Another small space (with a circle in the middle) in the upper right for the milk carton. And a mysterious small space in the upper middle that went unused. These 10-inch by 14-inch trays were an everyday item for decades in schools. I can still visualize the lunch ladies spraying them down. 

Plenty of these — used and new — can still be found for sale. A couple decades ago, Jolene and I bought some. Our daughters were young, and we frequently went camping, so we thought these trays would be handy. They weren’t. They undoubtedly made life easier in cafeteria kitchens, but they were a pain to wash in the 10-inch by 10-inch sink of our travel trailer. Even so, they are a nostalgic piece of American history.

The school lunch itself also has an interesting history, which is described in depth at this PBS website. According to the site, Philadelphia and Boston were the first major cities to actively implement a school lunch program in the United States, sometime around 1894. It wasn’t national policy until 1946 when the 79th Congress recognized the importance of school lunch and made it official with President Harry S. Truman signing the National School Lunch Act into law.

But is hot lunch good for you? I recall a classmate of mine once asking a teacher that. His reply? “Look at the lunch ladies.” He later apologized to our class — and to the lunch ladies. 

Back to those hot lunch cafeteria trays. Are they now a relic? If you are like me, you likely haven’t eaten in a school cafeteria in quite some time. According to a 2011 story in USA Today, some colleges trashed the trays in efforts to save water. The story reported that a senior-level math class found that eliminating trays could cause significant savings in washing costs. Without trays, the school would use less water, cleaning chemicals and labor in the cafeteria.

One could argue whether that make sense or not, but a very important question still remains: What was that mysterious space in the upper middle part of the tray designated for?

Have a fantastic Friday, and thanks for reading.

Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital editions
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707

“If a rooster crows three times on the tail of a beaver, don’t take a bath.”

That was advice that a guy named Vern told my buddy Dave and me when we were in middle school. It seemed reasonable at the time. In fact, I still find times to use that memorable quote…  like right now.

I thought of Vern and his words of wisdom after reading an article from a few years back on The Guardian websiteabout the “world’s dirtiest man.” Now, I realize your brain may have just taken you in another direction, but this story is truly about a man who had not bathed for 60 years. His name was Amou Haji, and he resided in the village of Dejgah in the southern province of Fars.

Haji was a 94-year-old Iranian hermit who, maybe not surprisingly, also ate roadkill and smoked a pipe filled with animal excrement, according to the story.

A photo of Haji shows him covered in soot, and the story states that he lived in a cinder-block shack. The villagers said Haji experienced “emotional setbacks in his youth” that led him to the lifestyle of abstaining from showering or bathing. Haji said he believed that cleanliness would make him ill.

The villagers apparently persuaded Haji to wash for the first time — and then he died. Not immediately, but he did pass away just a few months after cleaning up.

Now I don’t know if a beaver was anywhere close, or if a rooster was crowing or not, but I do think it was a mistake for Haji to bathe. I know that sounds odd in our world of obsessive hand washing and sanitizing, but if he lived to be 94 and spent the last 60 years avoiding soap and water, well, maybe he knew something we still don’t. 

As far as eating roadkill and smoking a pipe filled with animal excrement, I am going to just assume those were coincidences. 

Have a terrific Tuesday, and thanks for reading.

Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital editions
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707

Cooler temperatures are on their way starting next week, and that means one thing for me: flannel. 

Yes, my inner-Elmer-Fudd will come out as I don my favorite flannel shirts once again, only to be way too warm for a few more weeks. This is that awkward time of year in Iowa when the furnace is on in the morning and the AC in the afternoon. I will take it, though, as we all know what the weeks ahead will bring — and that brings me back to flannel. 

The origin of flannel can be traced back to 16^th-century Wales, according to popular flannel-seller and one of my favorite clothing catalog publishers, Lands’ End. The early version of flannel was a “warmer and sturdier alternative to the wool garments that they wore at the time.

The same information says flannel made its way to France and Germany throughout the 17th and 18th centuries until finally showing up in the United States during the Industrial Revolution in 1869. We Americans are seemingly always late to the party — but we look good. 

The expanding railway system apparently created a need for shirts made of a worthy fabric “for the harsh working conditions and long hours of the American laborer.” By the early 20th century, the logging, railroad and construction industries dominated the workforce in America. As such, men’s flannel shirts became synonymous with blue-collar workers.

By 1950, flannel shirts were “the working man’s shirt and considered a symbol of American hardworking ruggedness, which was only illustrated further by the introduction of the fictional character of Paul Bunyan.” And let’s not forget Elmer Fudd, who first graced cartoons in 1937.   

Flannel found a newfound popularity in the 1990s with the grunge scene, led by bands Nirvana and Pearl Jam. As the grunge look faded, the hipster movement with “its earthy and artisanal feel” discovered flannel, too. 

I wasn’t into the grunge scene, and I am certainly not a hipster, but I do appreciate the warmth of flannel in Iowa’s fall and winter seasons. Flannel shirts. Flannel-lined pants. Flannel sheets. Flannel-lined slippers. I can’t get enough flannel.

Lands’ End says the future of flannel is “looking soft and cozy,” and that sounds wonderful to me — as long as it’s not 80 degrees in October. 

Have a fantastic Friday, and thanks for reading.

Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital editions
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707

Take it easy. That phrase became common in the 1970s with the Eagles hit song of the same name. Jackson Browne co-wrote the lyrics in 1972 with Glenn Frey and put Winslow, Arizona, on the map. But what exactly does it mean to “take it easy”?

Lionel Ritchie told us he was “easy like Sunday morning” in the Commodores’ 1977 ballad. I don’t know about you, but Sunday mornings were not always easy for me. Trying to get three daughters out of bed and ready for church was a time challenge each week in my younger years. After the service — and during times when our business needed each and every dollar to survive — the whole family pitched in to help clean our office. Our youngest daughter, Abby, was eager to help and would crawl underneath the work stations and move wires aside while I vacuumed. The system worked well, until I caught her hair in the vacuum rollers. That Sunday morning, particularly, was not easy. 

Easy as pie. This phrase is used to describe the simpleness of a task. Obviously, the person who came up with this never attempted to bake a pie. Pie is not easy. Ice cream is easy. Unfold the carton. Scoop. Eat. It doesn’t get much easier — unless the carton was edible, which isn’t a bad idea. 

Easy on the eyes is a phrase used to describe someone who is attractive. Now, let’s be honest. If we saw someone strikingly beautiful, we would likely look twice or focus more, which certainly would not be easy on the eyes. Something or someone bland or hardly noticeable would be easy on the eyes. 

Easy come, easy go. This one I agree with, as most things in life that come along easily are also lost easily. The most meaningful things usually take a great deal of ongoing work, and then we hold them dearly.

Meanwhile, Jackson Browne may have been onto something about taking advantage of every moment when he wrote, “We may lose or we may win, but we will never be here again.”

Have a terrific Tuesday, and thanks for reading.

Shane Goodman
Editor and Publisher
Times Vedette digital editions
shane@gctimesnews.com
641-332-2707