ON TOPIC: West Corydon Street resident Lance Begin shared information on two topics we’ve been talking about in our columns: Woolly bear caterpillars and old stores.

He brought one of several woolly bears he’s found recently. He found it strange that all the woolly bears he has found “look absolutely identical.”

We know it’s hard to tell in the photo we took, but the brown section in the middle looks shorter than it actually is because of how he’s curled up. Lance named this specimen “Bob.”

Lance told us he found on four different days in four different spots on his property four woolly bears with black on either end about 3/8 of an inch long, and a “healthy, rusty brown” in the middle.

Then he went to the Crosby Mart on West Washington Street and found a smashed caterpillar on the ground that looked the same. Tuesday morning he found another identical caterpillar behind a ladder on his property.

Despite the similarities between the caterpillars, he doesn’t know that there’s any truth to the creatures’ ability to predict the length of winter.

“I don’t put much stock in anything,” he said.

What does make a “good weather predicter?” His wrist bone, which he broke playing high school football years ago. He doesn’t have any idea what winter will look like, though.

Regarding stores that used to be in the area, Lance talked about how he grew up along South Avenue in Custer City and the businesses he remembers that were there.

We’ll tell readers in tomorrow’s column about his memories of Custer City, including where he bought groceries, who had the best fireworks and where he bought candy.

Being such a small town, Lance said his neighbors in Custer City were like family.