SO ONE DAY THERE WAS TOO MUCH MAIL AND NOT NEARLY ENOUGH TIME

EDITION OF MONDAY/TUES APRIL 21-22, 2025 [PetPowellPress] Busy weekend, lots of email on lots of topics and I even sent myself an email at 3:15 a.m. Monday with the subject line "TRADITION" and I opened it Monday morning to find absolutely nothing but that puzzling subject line.
I can only assume it was a reference to the amount of money I've made this month with rhyming poems, country songs and screenplays about gasoline-powered automobiles.
Or it could be that I was still awake at 3:15 a.m. and trying to conquer my ol' pal Insomnia. Enough whining, let's move on.
[On the right, that's our dog Dudley The Angel who has been complaining,
"This bed is just too short for me." Lower left is Senior Office Cat William Powell who asks, "Good grief, mutt, don't you know how to curl up?"]
Some idle thoughts for a Monday edition. And we'll be trying to organize a Tuesday edition, too. We'll call this VACANT MONDAY THOUGHTS, though "thoughts" gives these passages too much credit for intellectual existence. here goes:
(1) Some weekends, the email load is more than a person can handle on a Monday. Seriously, why do I need a cross-the-shoulder purse or a set of bargain tires. Or, my fave for this particularly Monday, "Red White & Beautiful Decor For Home & Garden."
I'd just like for the weather to stay dry long enough for me to mow the backyard without having to fight off the alligators and madcap geeze, er , geese.
(2) Ever fall off a horse? Was the saddle higher off the ground than you thought? Show of hands, if you can left your "landing arm" that high. Scream and cry for Mom or a Rodeo Clown.
(3) I have a favorite bug. True or False.
(4) I no longer have a favorite bug. True or False.
(5) I have trouble referring to the Monarch Butterfly as a "bug."
(6) I was OK'd to marry a girl because her cats liked me. True or false. (Thank you to Lucy, Bob and Cyril.)
(7) The most difficult creature to house-train (pick one): Large dog; small dog; kitten; rescued feral cat; human children; house horse; dairy cattle; newspaper co-worker at a late-night party on a Saturday night after making deadline and actually publishing on time. [That's rescued kitten all-grown-up Hasting Streetboy who was a splendid house-training student who continues to be exemplary when it comes to all manners.]
(8) House-training a High school marching band...oh, come on. That's a funny concept. How long would the lines be at the stadium's restroom doors?
(9) U.S. Congress --another funny concept. House-breaking the U.S. Congress.
(10) Time out -- I can't find a good house-breaking gag to go with any state legislature. Just keep the roads paved and lower the gasoline taxes every session.
(11)To all animal friends, I'm in an organizational state of mind today and we'll return to the regular appeal on behalf of animals and the people who are trying to help them when I can clear out the weekend's supply of "must have this" emails that loaded my inbox as if I had a bank account that was designated for "frivolous purchases."  [That's our big housedog Wendy giving me her "For crying out loud, let me sleep" look and suggesting that I move along and bother somebody else.]
(12) Thank you all for your patience today. The Holiday Insights people note that April 21 is "Kindergarten Day." Readlarrypowell.com would celebrate it but in our pre-public school era only rich kids in our town could afford to go to Kindergarten -- that's what Mom said.
OK, so Holiday Insights notes that April 22 is Earth Day in the U.S. (You didn't have to be rich to go to Earth when I was a kid. I think Mom may have actually said, "You kids get out of house and don't bring half the Earth back in with you." I either remember that or I remember making up Mom's dialogue for purposes of ending a writing session on a Monday in April, 2025.
[LARRY NOTE: Thank you for reading this far. To offer advice regarding barrels of email click "comment" below or, ironically, email [email protected] and put "DEAR SLACKER" in the subject line. ---