<html><head><meta http-equiv="content-type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"></head><body dir="auto"><div dir="ltr"><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> Holey hostas!</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> Hailstones larger than golf balls. A church steeple crashed to the ground during the storm.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> My wife headed out to check on relatives from a social distance. I stayed home to survey the damage and make proper adjustments. I carried sticks to brush piles and tried to count the six Fox Squirrels released at our place by the good folks at the Wildlife Rehabilitation Center. Counting squirrels is more difficult than herding cats.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> The hail clipped spruce tips. I thought of a guy I know in Haines, Alaska, who'd make spruce tip beer from them. The garden took a beating — especially the tomatoes and eggplants. Radish sandwiches would calm the peckish. </div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> I filled the battered bird feeders with bird fuel. I worried about the nestling birds — catbird, thrasher, robin, cardinal, Chipping Sparrow and more. I figured the cavity nesters such as the woodpeckers and kestrels weathered well.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> I opened the garage door and a Barn Swallow flew out. It had entered as my wife had exited.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> It was happy to see the world.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> So am I.</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> </div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"> Al Batt</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Hartland</div><div style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;">Freeborn County</div><div dir="ltr" style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto;"><br><div><h1 class="quoteText" style="margin: 0px 0px 15px; font-weight: normal; padding: 0px; line-height: 21px;"><span style="font-size: 17.33333396911621px; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0);">“Do something wild today. Look at a bird.” — Al Batt</span></h1></div></div></div></body></html>