“I’m surprised to see all you fellas in here this morning, what with planting season beginning,” Molly Whiteside said when she brought menus to the guys at Mabel’s Grill the other morning.
    “It’s still a little early yet, especially after this winter and how it hung on so long,” said Dave Winston. “I mean the way winter kept on right into spring, I’m half expecting to get up one of these mornings to a snow storm.”
    “Besides, it’s good to have our talk to think about on those long hours on the tractor,” Cliff Murray added.
    “I thought you guys had radios in those tractor cabs,” Molly said.
    “Oh we do and I like to listen to CBC except when they get talking about what Donald Trump is up to,” said Cliff.
    “That’s what you get for listening to that socialist B.S. on the government propaganda broad-caster,” grumbled George MacKenzie.
    “I remember when my grandfather used to plant crops early like oats and barley, back before we grew so much corn,” broke in Dave, to change the subject.
    “Yeah, it’s funny how our crops have changed over the years,” Cliff added. “When I was a kid, nobody grew soybeans and white beans were a big crop.”
    “I sometimes wonder if there’d even be a Bean Festival in Zurich if soybeans had come in earlier,” George said.
    “Well, I can hardly wait to get the spring flowers out – the daffodils and tulips,” said Molly.
    “My wife planted dozens of daffodils years ago,” George said.  “I counted last year and they’ve spread to hundreds of blooms.”
    “Sounds wonderful, I’ll have to drive by and see them when they bloom,” said Molly. “Meanwhile, I’d better get your orders to Mabel.” 
    The guys told her what they wanted and Molly collected their menus and went back to the kitchen.
    “Looks like a nice calm day,” Cliff said. “I should take advantage to burn some of the branches that came down in that ice storm last month.”
    “You want to be careful,” Dave warned. “We don’t want any wildfires.”
    “Yeah, they’ve been talking about wildfires out west since about March,” George said. “I read somewhere that some of last year’s fires have been smoldering underground all winter and are just waiting to spring up again.”
    “Too bad we couldn’t have passed on some of our snow to them,” Cliff said. “I imagine by the time that snow melted it would have drowned the fire out.”
     “Speaking of flowers like we were a couple of minutes ago, my wife’s church group is going to Ottawa to see the tulip festival,” Dave said. 
    “Hey,” Cliff, “I was reading the other day that on May 8 we’ll mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War II. And for years the Dutch government has been sending thousands of tulip bulbs over to Canada to say thanks for Ottawa giving a home to the Dutch Royal Family during the war. In fact, Her Royal Highness, Princess Margriet was born here in 1943.”
    “I forgot that,” said George. “I mean I knew about all the tulips but I somehow thought they were to say thanks for Canadian troops freeing Holland during the war. My grandfather started farming after he came home from serving in the Canadian army in Holland.”
    “My mother went over to Holland with my grandmother to one of the celebrations years ago,” Dave said. “She said the Dutch people were so grateful you could hardly mention you were Canadian or everybody would stop everything to give you special attention.”
    “It’s a story most Canadians don’t know, with all the attention we give to American stories,” Cliff said. “It kind of helps get your attention when Trump starts talking about making us the 51st state of the United States.”◊