I took a bit of good-natured ribbing by the faithful Wolves’ fans at the last Coupeville basketball game I attended.

Several of them asked whether I’d encountered any trouble or had been accosted by urban youth gangs on my trek from the high school parking lot to the gym.

I replied that I hadn’t, nor had I observed any large, white rats lurking in the area.

I smiled a bit at their comments — at least some people are reading my columns before putting the Whidbey News-Times sports section in the bottom of their bird cages.

The construction company has straightened out the fence maze on the north side of the Coupeville gymnasium, so now Stuart Little’s cousin has a straight shot and can build up additional speed before plowing over unsuspecting fans as he seeks out his evening cheese snack.

I heard that he prefers Gouda, but that is just an unconfirmed rumor.

While walking out of the gym after the game with the Coupeville cheerleaders’ coach Sylvia Arnold, we both made comments about the latest efforts at “landscaping” that has been added to the construction zone.

Now running parallel to the fence is a ditch, apparently dug in an effort to drain off some of the water from the recent rainstorms.

At least I think it is a ditch.

It was dark and I couldn’t see very well but I swear, I could hear a volume of water flowing through said ditch so it could be a stream or possibly even a canal that was created when a back-hoe hit a spot where the water table was high.

Coach Arnold remarked that maybe someone should stock the canal with salmon, which isn’t a bad idea considering how everyone is concerned with salmon recovery these days.

That might also be a way for the Coupeville School District to pick up a little extra educational funding — apply for a Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife grant for the improvement of salmon habitat.

Think about the possibilities that would create both in and out of the classroom!

To name a few, you could have a salmon derby in town with the proceeds going to the school district, have promotional catch and release programs for little kids, and you would have an on-site outdoor lab where elementary and high school science and biology classes could study fish habitat along with the flora and fauna necessary for optimum spawning activity before the silvers return ocean waters.

With some of the “pork barrel” programs our government funds these days, grant money is available to just about anyone with a “good” idea.

A salmon recovery grant would be a little easier to obtain and make more sense than applying through Ducks Unlimited for a wetlands grant.

The area is a little close to buildings and residences to have someone standing in a marsh blasting away with a shotgun.

Failing both, the outfit that filmed the commercial with Fabio paddling a gondola through the Venetian canals could be contacted and invited to do a sequel in a town centrally located on Whidbey Island.

Life comes at you fast!