I’ve been thinking about all of the superhero-stuff we are experiencing today. According to the news, superhero movies are bringing in millions of dollars. This is quite a contrast to what I saw when I was growing up. At that time, the superheroes, Batman, Superman, Captain Marval, and Plastic Man were available for 10 cents in their monthly comic books. What has changed? Are we looking at heroes and superheroes differently now? Are our fellow citizens just looking at the superheroes as a 2-hour escape into fantasyland for entertainment or is it something deeper than that? Is something missing? Why are our people looking so desperately for a hero? Let’s take a look at this hero-thing.

Going back to 1954, the year I graduated from high school, things were much different. My hometown, Augusta, Kansas, a city of 5,000, was like most of the country. If I walked the sidewalks of our 3 ½ block business district, I would be surrounded by heroes. On the military side, there were veterans of WWI, WWII, Korea, and maybe even the Spanish-American War. The adult civilians would be people who survived the dust bowl and the depression. Heroes, all, in my book. They were all people of grit who had gritted their teeth and made it through.

The next big event was the Vietnam War. The attitude toward heroes was changing. Americans should be ashamed for the way young people who served were treated after giving their lives and limbs for their country.

Next came the Middle-East wars. Does anyone think seriously about them? It’s like we were sending those young people off to summer camp. Was anyone getting excited or worried about what was happening to the lives of those kids?

Attitudes toward leadership and heroes have changed. What about the single mom or single dad who are working 2 or 3 jobs to provide for their kids and still are taking the time to instill in them the qualities that make for a good citizen? This paper requires more smarts than I can come up with. I hope it provokes some consideration from you.

Dave Thomas

8/21/2025

A Real Homing Pigeon

Ordinarily, either three crows or five crows would show up for breakfast.  However, these last few days only two had come in. We were lucky in that it was Lame Foot and Clucker who were easy to recognize. Pat put out some food for them and then went back into the house. Suddenly, one of the crows started cawing, and Pat looked out and saw that it was Lame Foot.  He was giving a set of 3 caws over and over again.  The sounds were raspy and seemed to come from deeper in the throat than usual. After a couple of minutes of thism crows started landing on the driveway and they kept coming, one after another, until there were sixteen of them. They were both hungry and thirsty, and they really went after the food and water. Lame Foot and Clucker flew up and perched on the edge of the garage roof and watched or supervised the feast. Apparently, the crows hadn’t found a food source that morning and really needed some help. Pat had to replenish the food to get them filled up.

I understand that crows are just crows. However, they become quite interesting when you learn of their intelligence and some of the human-like traits they sometimes display. In today’s story, Lame Foot showed examples of his leadership ability   and his feelings of empathy and compassion for members of his feathered community.

Crows seem to know something about training, too. Lame Foot was one of the group of five crows that were being fed by Pat every day. Boss Crow was the leader of the group,                      and he strode around aggressively and jabbered incessantly. He would come right up to within two feet of Pat and would say what was on his mind. Meanwhile, Lame Foot just sat back and watched and listened as a good trainee should and never said a word.

When Boss Crow left, Lame Foot stepped up and took the leadership position. There was no question of who was in charge. Lame Foot handled the job easily. He continues to show up every day, and the other crows recognize that he is still the boss.

Dave Thomas

8/7/2025

Our grandson, Jeff, his wife, Shannon, and their daughters, our great granddaughters, Sage and Haven came to see us. After some visiting, Pat started entertaining the girls with stories about her crows and the interesting things they do. When she told about calling the crows in for breakfast, both girls got excited and wide-eyed. They both spoke and used their favorite nickname for their great grandma. “Can you really do it, G.G..?” asked Sage. “I want to see it, G.G.,” demanded Haven. Pat and the girls trooped outside, and Pat said, “Don’t be disappointed if they are too far away and can’t hear me.” She gave the magic call, “Caw, caw, caw, caw,” and told the girls to watch. After a bit, Pat says, “They may be too far away. I can’t hear them.” Then Haven said, “I hear them! Call them again, G.G.!” Pat gave the four caw call again, and, in a couple of minutes, the crows came zooming in. The girls started dancing around. “You did it, G.G.! That’s awesome!” After a few days, a text from Shannon said that the girls were still talking about the crows!

Dave Thomas 7/24/2025

You and Me

America is sick. The air is full of hatred in the form of racism, antisemitism, and a complete lack of empathy, compassion, or respect for the thoughts and property of others. Let’s get back to being the America of optimism, opportunity, and hope. It’s going to take years, so let’s get started.

Let’s begin with something that is simple and easy. “Do unto others as you would have them do unto you.” Say it to yourself, your kids, your grandkids, and anyone you come across. When I was a kid growing up, there wasn’t a week that went by that I didn’t hear it from my parents, teachers, or church. All it takes is belief and commitment. It’s up to you and me.

Dave Thomas

7/17/2025

Tools

New tools become available on a regular basis. Some are mechanical devices, and others come in the form of software. We become so dependent on this shiny new stuff that we forget about the primary tool in our tool chest. I’m talking about our brains. Sometimes the best solution to a problem is the simplest one. Explore all possibilities before committing to a plan of action and remember to make use of what you have on hand. I’d like to give you a few of examples from my own life.

Building an Airfield with Few Resources

Back in the 1940’s, during WWII, I learned a lesson that has stayed with me throughout my life: Use what you’ve got. At that time, when you went to the movies, the list of items viewed was always the same. You saw previews of coming attractions, one or two short subjects, a cartoon, and the feature movie. One of the short subjects might be the latest newsreel from the war. One of the newsreels really impressed me. The film opened to dozens of Chinese villagers, shoulder to shoulder, in a straight line and moving across a field. Each person had a hoe or rake or some kind of gardening tool, and they were leveling the field and removing the rocks and debris. They were making a landing strip for the Flying Tigers of P-40 aircraft. The P-40 was the hottest fighter plane of the time, but was useless without a place to land, refuel, and re-supply the ammo for the machine guns. Resisting the attacks of the Japanese, the Chinese couldn’t wait for Chiang Kai-shek or FDR to send bulldozers or road graders to build airfields. They had to do something now!

Robo-Dad!

My next example has to do with my dad. I wasn’t as big as my dad yet. It must have been about 1950 or 1951. One Saturday morning, Dad said he had promised to do a chore for someone downtown and asked me to come along. We drove down and parked on State Street in front of Cooper Drugs. Our town of 5,000 had a business district that was about 4 blocks long. Most of the stores had apartments above them on the second floor, which was the top floor. We saw a refrigerator sitting on the sidewalk next to the opening for the stairway leading to the apartment on the second floor. Dad said that one of Mom’s lady friends had asked if her husband could help her get the fridge upstairs. Mom said, “Heck, yes,” so that’s why we were there. The stairway was wide enough for the fridge, but there was no room for helpers to carry on either side. It looked like a stalemate to me. Dad rocked the thing back and forth to test its weight and then went to the trunk of our car. He returned with a strap about 4 inches wide and 15 to 18 feet long. I helped work the strap under the fridge and then across the ends over the top. Dad backed up against the fridge, pulled a strap over each shoulder, and then crossed them over his chest. He got a good grip on the straps and then gave me a warning. “Don’t get on the steps! If I lose control of this thing, it will crush and kill you!” My dad was 5’11 ¾ inches and 170 pounds. He and that fridge went up the stairs like it was nothing. I don’t mind telling you that I was mighty proud. There was no dolly and no freight elevator. There was just a good man with a good plan.

My Backyard and Plan B

In 1960, I was in the third year of my four-year Navy hitch. Pat worked, too, and we were able to buy a new 4-bedroom home. Like a lot of San Diego homes, the property backed up onto a small canyon. I wanted to put a redwood fence around the back yard, but the last 4 or 5 feet of the lot sloped off into the canyon. It might take a couple of truckloads of dirt to fill in the yard properly. As I said, we were doing okay, but with two kids to feed, there was no money for dirt. I had discovered soft dirt at the bottom of this canyon, maybe 20 or 25 yards downhill. There was the solution! I had a couple of 5-gallon buckets, so for the next few weeks, my spare time was devoted to carrying buckets of dirt up the hill and making a level yard. Plan B solved another problem. Again, always consider alternative ways of doing a job, and make sure you make use of what you have.  

Dave Thomas

7/10/2025

Lame Foot and Friends Updates

The crows must have found additional food sources. Pat has been used to seeing the original group of five birds and sometimes a few extras. The last few days have been only one or two. It’s always Lame Foot and Bouncer or just Lame Foot by himself.

We were worried about Lame Foot last week. Two times, while eating breakfast, he fell over. We thought he might be sick and losing strength in his good leg. He’s been acting okay since, so we now think he just wasn’t paying attention and lost his balance.

Yesterday morning, Pat heard a ruckus out front. She looked out the window and saw Lame Foot and another crow having a big fight. They were using their wings to beat the tar out of each other. I guess the fight was a draw as they both took off and flew away.

Lots of Friends

Yesterday, Pat had quite a variety of feathered aviator friends. There were two finches, two doves, and two crows. They all get along. The finches and doves eat little tiny stuff that Pat offers, and the crows eat the big stuff.

Knock Knock

Pat thought she heard a knocking at the front door. She opened the door to find Lame Foot pecking on the frame of the screen door. Thinking that he had certainly earned it, she put out some food for him. He ate his snack and flew away.

Can he dog paddle?

We have finally had two hot days. On the second of those days, a crow landed on the driveway. He looked around for a minute and then strode over to the water bowl and hopped in. He took a good bath, flapping his wings and preening himself. When he was done, he got out and flapped his wings to dry them and flew away.

What’s going on?

A dove hopped into the finches’ feed bowl. She fluffed out her wings like she was warming a clutch of eggs. After she left, there was no egg in the bowl, so we don’t know what she was doing.

Dave Thomas

7/8/2025

It was a little after 6:00 AM. Pat hadn’t felt well so she hadn’t put out any food out for the crows. She glanced out the window to see if any of them had arrived yet. There were no crows, but she could see a feather lying near the water bowl. That was strange. There hadn’t been any wind, so the feather hadn’t just floated in. The crows must have left it as a gift. In the past, Pat had received a stick, a pebble, and some peanuts from them. She was pleased but continued with her morning chores. A little later, the crows arrived, but Pat was still tired and wasn’t motivated to go out into the cold morning air and feed them. After a while, she looked out and saw that the crows were gone. She was surprised to see that the feather was gone, too. Apparently, the crows were irritated that Pat hadn’t fed them , so they took back the gift. I guess crows have feelings, too.

Dave Thomas

6/26/2025

My wife, Pat, had made a trip to Cosco to pick up a few items she needed. Like many people, we shop at Costco because the prices are good, and the quality is excellent. The only downside is that many items are packaged as multiples, making them heavy and hard to lift. Costco employees are trained to take care of their customers, though, so help is generally available.

On this particular day, the store was very busy, and staff members were running to keep up. Pat was in the health drink section looking at the Boost and Ensure displays. I’m probably the luckiest guy in town because Pat makes me a Boost smoothie or an Ensure smoothie for breakfast. This trip she had selected a carton of 30 bottles of Ensure and that made for a pretty heavy package.

I should note that Pat is 87 years old and arthritis has affected her hands to the point that she has little dexterity.

As she fumbled around trying to pick up the box, a blonde-headed guy shopping next to her noticed her predicament and said, “Let me help you with that!” She watched as the guy easily picked up the box and placed it in her shopping cart. She thanked him and headed for the checkout counter.

Pat paid for the groceries, went outside, and found the van. She placed all of the small items in the van and was struggling to place the box of Ensure in the vehicle.  Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a big truck loaded with construction equipment coming down the aisle. The truck pulled up behind her stopped, and a black man swung down from the cab and said, “Let me help you with that!” She thanked him and watched as he easily picked up the box and placed it in the van for her. Pat asked, “Did you just stop for me?” The man said, “I know that some things are hard for older people, so I lend a hand when I can.”

What a great day! Two good men in the same day. Gentlemen!

Dave Thomas

June 19, 2025

Crows keep close tabs on their food sources. They seem to know where Pat is at all times. If she is in the house, they will fly past the windows and peek in. If she is in the car, they will follow her to and from the grocery store, the bank, or the doctor. She’s used to it and really gets a charge out of it. Yesterday, though, she got quite a surprise.

We keep our roll-away trash bins in the garage just for the convenience of being able to roll them down the driveway to the curb on pick-up day. Pat had some trash to get rid of and walked through the house and out the door into the garage. She placed the trash in the bin and let the lid slam shut. Then she thought she heard someone knocking on our front door. She rushed through the house to the front door and looked out the side window. There was Lame Foot standing on the driveway and pecking on the garage door with his beak. He had heard her in the garage and wanted to get her attention. To reward his inventiveness, Pat put out some dry dog food, one of his favorites, and Lame Foot chowed down. You never know what they will do next.

Dave Thomas

June 12, 2025