My kids and I had a standard joke whenever we used to travel by car on vacation. As soon as we saw an apple maggot quarantine sign, we knew we were almost home.
On every major road leading into Spokane County, you will find a sign saying:
APPLE MAGGOT QUARANTINE AREA
DO NOT TRANSPORT HOMEGROWN FRUIT
If you would like to learn more about these ugly creatures, here is a link for you.
{See comments for link.}
If you are about to eat dinner, I would skip the link.
I get confused sometimes about placement of the signs. When I am coming from Idaho back into Spokane County, there is one at the border. I guess that means I can't bring an apple from my brother's house (if he had an apple tree) back to my house. But since Idaho doesn't have a similar sign, I guess I could take an apple with a maggot into Idaho on a visit. (Rita, I promise that I won't do that.)
Then when I am at home and want to venture a few miles north to Green Bluff, a big apple growing area, I encounter the same sign again. IF I didn't bring an apple maggot here from Idaho WITH me, how would I have one to take up to Green Bluff? And do people honestly transport these ugly things from one spot to another? I thought they got there accidentally.
The people who live in Green Bluff obviously sell their apples all over the place. So if they load up a box of apples at their house, drive outside the quarantine area to visit Aunt Sue and then return home still with their box of apples, does that mean they cannot transport the apples back to their own houses? It was homegrown fruit and now they are transporting it between quarantine areas. Is anyone confused or is it just me? OK, it's just me, so time to move on to the next topic.
Recent Headline from local paper: Cow Falls Off Cliff And Hits Van.
Obviously, I don't know how to do a link within an article but the one for this story is found below in a comment.
Fortunately, the out of town folks visiting Washington (for probably the last time) were not injured. They did end up with quite a story to share with the folks at home. The poor cow had to be euthanized at the scene.
Everyone who has suffered through this non informational article has two people to blame. Each of these folks insisted I write something today. I won't give their names but one person's initials are WD and the other person lists her husband's name first in their Gather ID.
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Comments: 107
Trying the link in a comment.
Falling Cow story
Glad I could provide this educational service. The PDF page that I couldn't set a link for, had lots of gross pictures. Please feel free to search for more info on your own. I can't do EVERYTHING for you!!
Love all your graphics as usual, Deb! Well, we kind of are in a quarantine area for all the whole state as far as transporting apples. Sometime I will pick a homegrown apple and drive all over the state with it. One of the sites mentioned the fine for doing that, less than $200, I believe. Don't know how the police could prove WHERE you got the apple. The Canadian border is careful about the transport of fruit and the border guards make you throw it away.
Norma, your computer and mine must be related. Mine freezes up if I turn it on before 7:30. I guess it likes to sleep in.
William's birthday is coming up and we have to make some unique gifts for that festive day. He has expressed a liking for vodka, so I thought maybe vodka soaked ants on his cake. I've already ordered a shipment of apples to be delivered to him.
Salud.
Mariana, it's great to see you!! We had always had to stop for inspections in the past when we entered California but the last 2 visits the inspection stations on the Oregon border were closed.
What happened to your friend Debbie that we all connected with. Dont see her around.
OH, NO, that wouldn't be a good idea. Maybe Elsie could sew up some parachutes for me; that would be more reliable.
So there!
Of course my favorite crazy song was the one I sang when I got mad at the boys father. They are coming to take me away, he he, ha ha, ho ho, to the funny farm, where life is beautiful all the time. The men with that funny white shirt.
Have to go to work now. YUK!
Along with a flying cow
Will get you a visit from Wilma and friends
Who will of course say Holy cow
No wonder we have all formed a gang. I am the tough guy who does all the fighting and gives everyone black eyes. Gee what a group. But arent we such a great bunch of friends to have.
The comments have been fun to read. Wish my brain was working fast enough for me to add some creative ones.
__
Off the subject for a second. I want to thank you for your support and prayers while my huband was ill. Do you know where I can locate restraints to keep him from moving around too much?!?
By cell phone of course and moo was the word
Wilma rushed in with some apples to sell
And told everyone about her pet flying cow
Now as they sat there eating apples with maggots
Norma said are these worms easy to digest
And Wilma gave a smile with her sinister eye
And told her they good raw and in apple pie
Now in stepped Bill, who of course is quite sane
And asked if flying cows could fly in the rain
Wilma said of course won't you have an apple to eat
And Bill saw they had maggots and said yum sushi
Now Wilma told us she was breeding a flock of flying cows
And asked us to invest for more moola would be swell
But Bill told her Elsie had just sold him the Brooklyn Bridge
And Norma said that's sane then gave him a shiner with her fist
I was trying to eat a Hamburger and read.
Mike, thanks for your insightful additions to this conversation.
Rose, I will e-mail you about the link when I get back to my computer. Have to rush off and check on some flying cows. They are having trouble getting airborne in the rain.
Give my little Liam a great big hug and tell him hello for me. Please dont spoil him ok???
Can you believe my grandaughter will turn 18 soon? Don,s middle grandbaby, the model, called him last night and was trying to tell him something but lost her signal on the cell phone. Since she isnt allowed to use the phone, we didnt call back.
1% - Yes
9% - No
90% - Undecided
Is Wilma sinister?
Yes - one person living in the environs of Detroit.
No - everyone else in the known universe and several dozen from the unknown universe.
That poor flying cow... I saw that on the news and couldn't believe it actually fell off the cliff! Poor thing.