by Henry, ©2025
(Oct. 17, 2025) — “Cherokee Morning Song” (3:00)
“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to ‘The Pulse of the Nation,’ the place to hear it here first. Chief New Leaf would like to share his observations with us. Take it away, Chief.”
“Thank you. I will just state the facts; make of them what you will. When I first moved to the hills of Tennessee 15 years ago, I had 20 deer in my front yard in the morning and in the afternoon; they visited the back yard. Also, about a dozen turkeys would do the same.
“I fed the birds from my front feeder and on the back porch railing in the early morning and by 9:00 it would be all gone.
“My salt block would last 60 days.
“The button bush, when in bloom, would be covered in butterflies. Walking the dog in the evening I’d see bats, maybe ten, but then last winter I’d see only one. A raccoon and a possum would visit every night; now they don’t come around anymore.
“Fifteen years has passed, and this is what I see: one deer once a month, maybe a turkey or two once a week. The back feeder is empty at noon while the front feeder hasn’t been touched. Last spring the button bush had one butterfly. The salt block lasts a year and I’m lucky to see a bat. That is all I came to say. I am leaving. Thank you for allowing me to state the facts without rude interruptions. See you later.”
“And he’s off. We’ll pause for a short commercial break. Don’t go anywhere; be right back.”
“Tuba Skinny with Shaye on Piano” (5:00)
“And we’re back with Madam Shylock, who wants to comment on what the Chief just said.”
“I’d rather not, Henry. I mean, what’s to say? I’ve a feeling it’s not happening just here, I mean, in the Chief’s little corner of the world. Look at our oceans; heck, the Mediterranean is nothing but a septic tank for all the countries that live on it. Get real: we’re overpopulated, but the real reason for the pollution is nobody has a brain, because if they did there wouldn’t be even one plastic bottle lying as trash somewhere on the ground. Not one, but millions are lying all around us and in the oceans, so you tell me, are we the intelligent species or maybe the elephants are really smarter than we think we are? Huh? What’s wrong; cat got your tongue, or, in your case, lizard got your tongue?”
“No, I’m fine. Go on.”
“Thank you. Maybe there’s a connection between the water bottles and stupidity; you think so?”
“It’s possible.”
“We elect representatives to make our lives not any worse than they already are, and that includes treating where we live with at least a modicum of respect which we don’t see a smidgen of.”
“That is so true. People in the United States drain their engine oil right into the ground. How about a mandatory prison sentence of no less than ten years for doing something so stupid?”
“We have Special Forces who sit around and train and yet there’s poachers in Africa who make a lot of money killing animals for ash trays and junk. We have drones that could help the African police catch the poachers, don’t we? So why don’t we? We’re not afraid, or are we?”
“Maybe nobody cares.”
“You got that right. Let me tell you something: in every single county in the USA there’s a migration route of something. Maybe it’s crabs or caterpillars, or maybe turtles who cross a road, same time, every year, but the government employees are too stupid to care or to notice that maybe those migrating living organisms don’t have to be slaughtered every year just so so-and-so will be at Point ‘B’ in five minutes when he could’ve started five minutes earlier to go around the caterpillar or turtle road block. What do you say?”
“Sounds reasonable to me. Heck, I’m on your side.”
“And I’m glad you are, Henry.”
“We couldn’t agree with you any more than we already do. We see our lakes and streams. And speaking of lakes, outboard motors drip oil; it’s a fact of life. Oil destroys the egg sacs of the frogs.”
“You hit a nerve, Madam Shylock. Our time is up, so this is Henry, along with Madam Shylock, wishing MSNBC would tell the truth, but they won’t and never will. And now is the time we wish you all a goodnight: Goodnight.
“Good show; sad, though, about what we’re doing to ‘Mother Earth.’ You brought me fresh grubs? Thank you.”
“Let’s Dance” (2:26)