Children found fishing with a relative, picking up trash, or wearing their life vests on the water could find themselves in a sweet position any kid would relish.
I don't know who came up with the idea, but give him or her an extra scoop of Pralines and Cream for convincing Arkansas Game and Fish Commission wildlife officers to hand out "citations" for free ice cream at Sonic Drive-Ins to children they find doing the right things.
As one observer was quoted as saying: "Things like this are why I love this place so much."
The citations can be exchanged for ice cream and 12,000 are expected to be handed out this year.
Where a list of possible offenses might appear on a real citation, the officer can tick off whether the offender was caught wearing a life jacket, fishing with a "favorite relative" or "keeping parks clean."
"Sometimes, you know, you get a bad rap for pulling somebody over and making sure they've got all the life jackets on the boat or ... a fire extinguisher," commission spokesman Keith Stephens said.
And now, this innovative plan that's been in effect several years is appealing to the youth of our state by showing the kinder, sweeter side of Game and Fish wildlife officers in the field, many of whom are parents themselves.
Cari King's GodNod
Cari King is among readers who not only appreciate "GodNods" that occur in our lives but she understands on a personal level.
"I was driving home from Tucson during lunchtime one day in August years ago," she explained. "I was hoping to get through the mountains before the summer monsoon storms boiled up. I didn't make it." She suddenly found herself heading directly into what looked to be an especially terrible storm.
"It was amazing how quickly those storms popped up, and I had nowhere to go. Although I had been baptized that spring, I was terrified. My prayer went like this: 'Father in Heaven, you see it. I have nowhere to go. I'm gonna keep driving because I'm fresh out of choices. If you want me to finish this trip in one piece, you're gonna have to step in and do something!'"
"Well, just like that," she continued, "a tunnel opened up in the clouds in front of me. As the road twisted and turned, the mysterious tunnel remained steadily in front of me. Everywhere else on either side was as black as could be. And so it went for some time, until I was out of the mountains. In my rearview mirror, the mountains had become completely covered in storm clouds."
If you, valued reader, have a GodNod story to share, I'd like to hear it. Just shoot me an email.
Protecting the pets
Finally, a compassionate and relevant city ordinance most Fayetteville residents can agree upon.
Fayetteville Animal Services proposed to make it a crime to leave a dog (and any other pet animal) alone in an unventilated vehicle when the temperature outside is above 70 degrees.
The city council passed such a ordinance last week as it should have considering there are no current laws restricting pet owners from virtually cooking them to death in superheated cars and trucks.
In a news account by reporter Joel Walsh, Justine Lentz, superintendent of Animal Services, talked about a judge dismissing just such a case of alleged animal cruelty because the definition was so, well, fuzzy.
Lentz said a "bright-line" rule was needed to define what temperature is considered safe to leave an animal unattended in a hot weather car.
It's a valid and important matter, considering the suffocating heat inside an enclosed vehicle can skyrocket an average of 40 degrees in an hour when it's a seemingly ideal 72 degrees outside. Another group says dogs can die or suffer permanent brain damage from heatstroke in as little as 15 minutes.
Studies have shown that cracking a window brings little relief since that has little effect on the overall temperature inside a vehicle, which can reach as high as 153 degrees in just 15 minutes when the outside temperature is 98 degrees.
On the other end of the thermometer, the ordinance includes making it a crime to leave a pet inside a car on days when the external temperature is below 30 degrees if the vehicle isn't being heated. But Lentz added they've yet to see an instance of that.
Either way, it's a good thing we humans care enough to define standards for the way we treat our pets and all other innocent animals who must rely on our judgment (or lack thereof) and caring for their very survival.
Godspeed, Jim Gaston
Fondest farewell to Jim Gaston, the legendary Arkansas outdoorsman, free spirit, photographer, patriot, friend to many and truly honorable man whose Gaston's White River Resort for decades has entertained and enriched the lives of untold thousands.
Jim died last week in Mountain Home. Now he's at peace and will always be remembered as a man who brought so much happiness to the lives of others. Godspeed on floating your crystalline river through eternity, Jim.
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Mike Masterson's column appears regularly in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. Email him at mikemasterson10@hotmail.com.
Editorial on 07/12/2015