The Butter Rum Cartoon

Monday, July 13, 2026

HURRICANE IKE REACHED BRANSON MO

In 2008, Hurricane Ike blew down a huge tree in our yard. It fell right across our front yard, barely missing our front porch, our car, and our birth tub (as you can see in the picture). It caused us no damage, and an old-but-incredibly-strong fellow who needed firewood answered our ad.

I WAS IN RIPLEY'S BELIEVE IT OR NOT

It was a surprise to see myself in Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not in Seattle's Post Intelligencer newspaper on April 8, 1979. Nowadays my having a pet tarantula would be a common thing, but they were not considered pets in 1979, especially in the northern U.S. Two years before, though, I did write the first book on pet tarantula care.

Last week I went with my sons Andrew and Leif to the Ripley's Believe-It-Or-Not Museum here in Branson, Missouri, and got a kick out of Leif telling the lady there that I was in Ripley's.

By the way, when I was a bank teller at Seattle First National Bank in Bellingham, I did not look like this.