East by Northeast can also be Hairy

The reader may remember North by Northwest, in which the debonair Archibald Leach, later known as Cary Grant, and the beauteous Eva Marie Saint, Hitchcock's blond of 1959, are talking to an idler in the Dakota territory, and he says "Funny thing. That crop-duster is dusting where there aren't any crops." Soon they are strolling down the highway and the plane comes behind them acting like he will land right on them. So they hit the asphalt, without noticeable damage to either Oscar-earning face.

A similar thing happened to this writer last week, and his helpmate, the saintly NEN, who was driving her late engagement gift (Beamer SAV) on I 80 where it skirted a rice field nearing the state capitol of Sacratomato. Suddenly, a chopper appears about 20 feet away and 20 feet up. "Sacre Bleu!", exclaims the saintly madame,"That character is usurping my right of way" Fortunately, the guy turns his machine on a dime (Remember, a dime no longer mails three letters and returns a penny change). The pilot cries,"Those blighters will never give the blight to this rice crop" as he sprays a swath in the opposite direction. This story must end without the vivacious NEN and her spoonerism-quoting emeritus professor chasing the bad guys over Lincoln's face on Mt. Rushmore.