You can help preserve or improve some of the 12 million acres of land and water under Corps stewardship. Work at beautiful Corps lakes across the county with opportunities including watershed cleanup, campground management, archealogy preservation and wildlife work. Call 'em or click 'em.

Ah, the mailbag overfloweth this month. First, Bill McGown shows us pictures of Lake Mead, which he did just about the time other Seattle area residents were jumping out 8th floor windows with Seasonal Depression. (By the way, Bill. If you're taking the picture, who's driving the boat?)

HONEY, THE THIN MINTS SOLD SO WELL THIS MONTH...

And here's some 'net news you can use from our friends kEN and Wendy, though I'm beginning to worry about kEN who hasn't got any seasonal disorder to blame it on:

You can get free ISP, free emale (hotmail, juno,etc), free DSL line and places that pay you surf the Web. I just found a place that pays you EVERY TIME YOU HAVE SEX! its so ez. u just send them photographic proof and they pay u $1.25 each time. Been doing this 4 months now, last month i got a check for $6. Free money! Here's Wendy's check, lemme see what she got- hmmmm $35.50.wait a minute- WenDEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

Dave claims he solved this in 15 minutes. It took me 45 minutes, a box of Lucky charms, a Dust Buster and some razor blades.

Facts:
1. There are 5 houses of 5 different colors arranged in a straight row.
2. Within each house lives a different owner, all of a different nationality.
3. Each of the 5 owners drinks a different beverage, smoke a different brand of cigar, and keep a different type of pet.
4. You are facing the row of houses and read left to right.

Hints:
1. The Brit lives in a red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The green house is on the left of the white house.
5. The green house owner drinks coffee.
6. The owner who smokes Pall Mall, keeps birds.
7. The owner of the yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The owner living in the house right in the middle drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The owner who smokes Blend lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The owner who keeps horses lives next to the one who smokes Dunhill.
12. The owner who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes Blend has a neighbor who drinks water.

The Question: Who has fish for pets?

This is not a trick question... the answer can be reached using logic and deductive reasoning. Good luck!

AND YOU READERS THOUGHT I MAKE UP THIS STUFF.

I just finished reading your article on your "dumb-ass" trip to Lind...And although you are a little rusty in the terminology for combines, etc, your article was good...and I thoroughly enjoyed it.  (just in case you have another derby to cover, the "scoop" on the front of the machine is actually called a header....It usually has sickles which cut the wheat from the field..)  I was also intrigued with your explanation for naming Lind... Jenny Lind.  Guess that sounds as good as any, although the "other" Lind family would probably not approve. The opera singer didn't leave her mark, or her name, in the town.

Anyway, I copied the article for our Lions Club to read, who are, in fact, the sponsors of this event.  They have approximately 40 active members...and the weekend, (derby and rodeo) is their main moneymaker for the year.  The monies from the events are channeled back into the community, whereby they sponsor many activities....Last year, they donated nearly $20,000 to Lind's children...their activities and events, and to our senior citizens making opportunities possible that would not have occurred otherewise.  The community of Lind is extremely proud of the Lind Lions Club, and we all appreciate their hard work. 

Last year, they purchased and installed new metal bleachers to accommodate the growing crowds appearing for the derby, and this May, they will be adding more bleachers for this year's events. They also designed and constructed the arena...the chutes, the calf pens, and surrounding corrals.  (Work on these projects takes place on weekends and during spare time.  Since most of the members are farmers or employed in jobs relating to agriculture, their free time is limited.)   

I certainly hope that you will, as you stated in your article, come back to Lind for another derby.  Last year, 18 combines competed....with 3,000 spectators.  It was an amazing event....The cook shack, where you had your $1.50 cold hotdog, is also a new building......also constructed by the Lions Club and community volunteers.....So, it can accommodate more cooks, more hotdogs, and more hot water to cook them in....(During the 3 1/2 hour derby, they served 1,400 hot hamburgers, and 400 (hot) hotdogs.)   

I would enjoy meeting you...and if you attend this year's activities, please look me up. I am a member of the all-girl team and you'll find me in the "pit" area...I will be handing the duct tape and the baling wire to the busy crews...and at the same time, I'll probably be putting out brush fires! (Actually, there has never been a fire at any of our combine events...In fact, fire trucks have never been on site during the derby.) 

Seriously, I did enjoy your article....and I would certainly be pleased to buy you a hot dog at the next derby!  Hope to see you there!   

Carol Kelly ckelly@ritzcom.net

Thank you for your great letter, and for the invitation to live out something of a fantasy, I kid you not. The all-girl Raisin Cain has been my favorite battle-combine since the first time I saw it in all its grapey glory, and Martha Jordan and I will personally help you be-fringe the header for the chance to see your crew in action. (If you can possibly get Martha arrested - see the Dumb Ass Trip to see whale bones - this would make her day.)

I got the Jenny Lind reference from a Place Names of Washington book. Liars.

Actually, I did see a few small grass fires in the pit area, and a tanker (maybe not a firetruck) putting them out. Or perhaps someone was simply heating up a hotdog...

See you in the pit!

-Leslie "leavin' out the sheaves" Strom

Ilan Bernet sends us this camel picture from his last trip around his neighborhood (Gedera, Israel) Heck. All the wildlife we have is a few dogs knocking over trash cans.