Bye bye summer - hello fall chaos

 GEESH - WHERE DID the summer go? We had a bunch of fun gigs and rock and roll recovery sessions the past few months. And it's just as crazy as September kicks in.

It starts tomorrow afternoon at the Adams County Fair for the Adams County Bicentennial celebration. The Whatevers have assembled as a full band and play on the WGEM stage around 4:45 p.m. until 7. Lots of great local bands, food and the headliners are Gretchen Wilson and Montgomery Gentry. See you at the fair!

 So .... the official schedule is below. All dates subject to change, of course. Support live music!

Saturday, Sept. 6

The Whatevers - Adams County Bicentennial Celebration, Adams County Fairgrounds, 4:45 to 7 p.m.

Sunday, Sept. 7

Private solo show, Douglas, Mich.

Saturday, Sept. 13

The Whatevers (Allison and Rodney), Quincy Brewing Company, 7-9 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 20

The Whatevers (Allison and Rodney), Sixth Street Promenade Makers Market, Quincy, 5-7 p.m.

Saturday, Sept. 27

The Whatevers, private party, Mendon Ill.

Saturday Oct. 4

Prospect Road, The Pour Haus, Quincy, 7-10 p.m.

Saturday, Oct. 11

Prospect Road, private party, Quincy

Friday, Oct.  17

Prospect Road, private party, Quincy

Sunday, Oct. 19

The Whatevers (Allison and Rodney), Ridgeview Winer, Camp Point Ill., 2-5 p.m.

Cats and tall grass

 IN QUINCY WE have issues with property not being maintained. Out of town landlords or homeowners who don't care are the main culprits.

The city recently took a guy to court and spent thousands cleaning out his junkyard, which was also his backyard, and it sparked great debate. It also got an alderman mad at a media person and the Junior High Joes came out in force. Geesh. I hope the media person is OK and didn't get her feelings hurt.

Calftown Cornfield is a great band name.

Just down the alley is a house with a backyard that has turned into a cornfield. I am not making this up. There is corn growing in the backyard. Big, tall, green and yellow stalks of corn. It makes you want to jump up and down and report the property.

"Wait. Don't jump up and down," said Taylor, one of my outdoor alley cats who lives in my garage.

"Yes. That's where we go, you know," said Bigsby, her brother.

 Taylor and Bigsby took over my backyard as kittens a few years ago after their mother decided to move in. Mom is long gone and so are two of their siblings. But Taylor and Bigsby are still here. They got fixed through the awesome Quincy Cat Coalition program, and they spend their most lazy and unproductive lives with no chance of reproducing. 

Man, are they happy.

I put a litter box in the garage but they don't use it. Most of the time they do their bidness by a plant in our backyard, and they cover it up. But the other day I spotted Bigsby all they way at the end of the alley in the cornfield.

"Yeah, well, I like to be discreet. Nobody can see me when the grass and corn are that high," Bigsby said.

Next to the cornfield is a pile of wooden pallets. A momma cat recently had kittens in a nearby garage and the kittens love to play in the pallets. And it's probably not a wild assumption they all do their potty stuff in the cornfield next door.

Eventually the city will come and chop down the weeds and corn. Maybe they can harvest the corn and use the proceeds to subsidize a fixing potholes program. But my cats will not be happy, and there will be one less place for them to potty.

"Disgusting," the Junior High Joes say. "Letting your cats run around and go to the bathroom wherever they please. You should be ashamed!"

Nah. Cats will be cats. And they will adapt, even after the Calftown cornfield harvest.