Buzzing Bees

July 20, 2026

Good morning!

Hundreds of buzzing bees are feasting on the summer prairie flowers. We have had intense heat and THICK, THICK smoke — off the charts poor air quality from the fires up north. I’ve been imagining what it must have been like when the dinosaurs went extinct in just a few days — or what it was like during the great flood — — or, what a few volcanoes erupting at the same time would do to us… Do you remember the year 536 AD?  (Probably not?)  

Volcanic winter of 536 – Wikipedia

• It’s over, finally over.
  • Did you get addicted to — or even remotely interested in — any of the futbol*?
  • Fascinating:  A soccer (futbol*) talking head suggested the United States is deficient at soccer because it doesn’t know math, specifically spatial geometry.
  • As a result, I started watching the game differently — and perhaps the U.S. is deficient in math.  Hmmm?
  • One thing is for sure, the F.I.F.A.s know a thing or two about staging an opening ceremony; wow!
• What are you cooking and eating these days… in the 100-degrees heat?
  • Suggestions and recommendations are wanted/ needed.
  • How about this?  Delicately delicious tender baby summer squarsh delivered to your early morning door by friends…
  • Don’t screw it up:  Shave it into paper-thin slices, ADD fresh lemon + the zest, olive oil, Herb, Salt… chomp.
• The ubiquitous Hostess Twinkie might finally be dead — again.
  • Smuckers purchased Hostess a few years back only to discover the dry, tasteless little cake with a long shelf life no longer had its 1950s fan club.
    • (Most of the 1950s fan club has died off… I will refrain from the obvious punch line…)
  • And, logistics, always it’s the logistics…
  • Turns out producing delicious jams and jellies has decidedly different logistics than delivering fresh ding dongs, wax-coated donuts, and… Twinkies.
• A century apart and 1,000 miles distance on Road #94 between the two dramatically different structures.
  • Plan it as the Road Trip of the year.
  • From the South Side of Chicago to the vast badlands of North Dakotah — without a single stop sign or semaphore… just drive…
  • We will (hope to) make this pilgrimage.
  • Which one to do first if you start exactly equidistant betwixt the two?  (Making it a 2,000 mile journey, of course, if you do the math.)
  • The brand spanking new presidential libraries of Ted Roosevelt and Barack Obama.
    • Helpful Hint:  Ted’s will have smaller crowds and a shorter wait time for tickets.
    • • Population of the surrounding area:  37 — Population of Obama’s surrounding area:  20,000,000
• I was going to opine a bit more on the subject of artificial intelligence, but I’m sick of it — and you might be as well.
• Looking for a remarkably clever and cute movie?  Remarkably Bright Creatures, 2026 (Sally Fields, Etc., et al.)
  • Hint:  A talking octopus
• Much like European nations looked to the Western Hemisphere for resources 500 years ago, will the world now turn to the continent of Africa?
  • Different sovereign nations combined on the continent of Africa possess a vast majority (80%+) of platinum group metals — and the lion’s share of many more.
  • More than half of Tantalum, Cobalt, and Chromium, for example — and nearly 40% of the world’s manganese.  (U.S. Geologic Survey, 2026)
• Most leaders and managers won’t tell you the truth.
  • Not because they don’t see it.
    • Because it’s easier not to.
  • That’s the feedback gap.
  • Leadership IQ (2026) surveyed human resource directors and executives…
  • … 65% of managers regularly avoid or delay giving critical feedback.
  • Why?  Because it’s easier not to.
  • To get better at anything, a person must have a growth mindset — and then three things are required:
    1. Insight — knowledge about what or how to do something
    2. Action — doing it with consistent and accurate repetition
    3. Feedback — Hearing (Seeing) what worked and what didn’t — and modifications needed.
  • Oly 35% of leaders/ managers are skilled at giving feedback.
  • Employees who receive (honest/ accurate) feedback are three times more engaged and productive.  (Eades, 2026)
• Fascinating:  Ten Worst State Economies per CMBC