Author Archives: larryscheckel

 Yes, fish do sleep. Fish spend part of each day sleeping. They don’t have eyelids that open and close. Fish are sleeping if they are at the bottom of the fish tank and don’t move, except for making the minimum … Continue reading →

Continuing the Going To Town story from Seneca Seasons: A Farm Boy Remembers. We loaded up some pigs and took them to the livestock market at the edge of Seneca. Dad and the stock buyer, Bill Bernier, haggled over price … Continue reading →

Contrail is a contraction of the two words “condensation trails.” Contrails are those long, thin, artificial clouds that can form behind aircraft.  At high altitudes, generally 25,000 feet or more, the warm exhaust from aircraft engines mixes with the moisture … Continue reading →

“Going to town” meant going to Seneca, two miles southeast of the Scheckel farm. Seneca was established in 1857, when landowner Sam Langdon had 10 acres surveyed and platted. The town was named after the town of Seneca in New … Continue reading →

In 1982, a 61-year-old dentist, Barney Clark, became the first human to receive a permanently implanted artificial heart. It was known as the Jarvik-7 after its inventor, Dr. Robert Jarvik. Barney Clark lived 112 days after the operation. William Schroeder … Continue reading →

Continuing our journey from the Scheckel farm near Seneca to La Crosse, a trip we took twice a year when I was a boy, in the early 1950s. We were not allowed to walk alone because it was crowded with … Continue reading →

Yes, some animals are very keen in sensing a forthcoming storm or other natural phenomena such as an earthquake, tidal wave, and tsunami. There is evidence that some animals do make better use of their existing five senses compared to … Continue reading →

Continuing our journey from the Scheckel farm near Seneca to La Crosse, a trip we took twice a year when I was a boy, in the early 1950s. An artesian well was located near De Soto. It was clearly marked … Continue reading →

Continuing our journey from the Scheckel farm near Seneca to La Crosse, a trip we took twice a year when I was a boy, in the early 1950s. A few miles north of De Soto was Battle Hollow and the … Continue reading →

Animals have developed numerous remarkable defenses to keep from being devoured by their enemies. Grazing animals will feed in herds. The deer, buffalo, and zebra fall in this category. They will scatter when attacked, confusing their pursuers. Some change their … Continue reading →