Sideswipe: April 20: Trees have feelings too

From Riverhead forest last weekend.

Parenting is hard

1. "Young son woke up and to my horror he was really blue," writes Margaret. "Took him to doctors, sent to hospital, admitted, blood tested and lots of observations. Hours later discharged, nothing found. Next day he looked awful again – then realised I should have washed new blue sheets."
2. "Teaching my son how to ride a bike," writes Alister. "I opted for the tried-and-tested method of sitting him on the bike and pushing him down a hill. He crashed into this partial fence, which – if there are any small mercies – prevented him from going over a cliff. Twenty-five now, still a pedestrian."
3. Naomi writes: "I love old junk and brought a cannonball home to use as a doorstop. Heard a bloodcurdling scream from the lounge. My young son had tried to kick it across the room. He spent the evening in casualty with three broken toes."
4. Mark writes: "I proudly watched my son destroying all comers in a judo competition. After an hour and a half, I realised it wasn't him. He was in the medical room with a nosebleed."
5. "First time I used pay-at-pump petrol station I told the kids that I didn't have enough money, so we'd just have to drive off and could they keep an eye out for police! Eldest shouted, 'No! Go back!' so loudly and I didn't notice youngest in back silently crying. Not the laugh I'd hoped for."
6. "Not exactly a fail on my part," explains Graeme. "But having to explain to my 4-year-old daughter's nursery teacher that the five stick figures and the coffin she had drawn were the Spice Girls and Princess Diana. 'Is everything alright at home'?"

Come for the drinks, stay for the dancing sandwiches

We are entering a new denim cycle

The pandemic has implications for blue jeans fashion. Levi Strauss CEO Chip Bergh to the New York Times: "It's very possible that we're into a new denim cycle." By Bergh's reckoning, the denim cycle on its way out after a decade or so is one that has been dominated by skinny jeans. But based on sales during the pandemic, mom jeans—that is, high-waisted, loose-fitting jeans—are taking over, for both men and women. Levi's chief financial officer, Harmit Singh, tells Yahoo Finance that 40 per cent of women's business in the first quarter centred on "looser fit" jeans. In particular, a new "balloon" leg style sold well.

Brown egg, white egg

The only difference between brown eggs and white eggs lies in the breed of the chicken that laid them. You may have heard the myth that white-feathered chickens always lay white eggs and brown chickens lay brown eggs. While it's true that a chicken's colouring can say something about its eggs, you shouldn't be looking at the feathers exclusively. The colour of a hen's earlobes is actually the best indicator of what colour its eggs will be. Look at the flap of skin on a chicken's head beneath where an external ear would be: If it's white, the chicken's eggs will likely be white, and if it's darker, they will likely be brown.