The Chairman directed extra attention be placed on things while the Election and Surprises are Looming. That means someone is supposed to prep for the morning Production Meeting, which produces some scrawls of unintelligible phrases.

This morning’s list started without identification of region. The strike at Boeing just re-ignited and it just had another satellite blow up. Or the ODNI report announcing foreign governments might try to influence the US election. There was a list of them including the Labor Government in Britain along with Russia, China, Cuba, Iran and Israel. This morning.

So, no surprises. Except which one is intended to produce what they want most. There were some footnotes and links on the post, but it was too early and the volume is down on the flatscreen to accommodate the rising campaign noise. There is a rising tide of some impossible things, including the accusations of horrific crimes, so we are turning down the volume. We read the footnotes, we swear. You don’t have to!

The one that actually affected us this morning was from the Cowboy State Daily’s headlines about the bear and the bottle. Wyoming Whiskey over in Kirby just “Hit No. 2” on a national list with some single-barrel bourbon. We are thinking about a seasonal replacement for the Monkey Paw Scotch, so that was an action item. The other one was personal.

We were last in the Grand Tetons on the last hurtled road trip between Virginia and San Diego between Fleet and Pentagon gigs. We lingered in the Tetons, camped out under those magnificent skies and taking some glory from the eternal peaks. We didn’t see any bear cubs, though it is possible they saw us, scoping for something edible in the wild. Like us.

That is why the real headline of this day was a striker: “Grizzly No. 399 died on a highway in Snake River Canyon South of Jackson.” Hit by a vehicle, driver OK. At 28 years of age, she was the oldest known reproducing female grizzly in the Yellowstone eco-system. She might have seen us back then, even if we weren’t alert enough to sense her. Reports from the scene were that she had a yearling cub with her and it eluded the scene. Park officials say it may be old enough to survive, and we are pulling for it.

Oh, the Footnotes Stuff? It is a relief to have voted already and be able to watch the show jut for drama!

Copyright 2024 Vic Socotra
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