Readers Write: The mute button, roadwork, snowmobile registration, medical costs in other countries, Hennepin County libraries, the Sears catalog

Before it is too late, 'tis time to hail the unsung hero of even-numbered-year autumns: the inventor of the television remote-control muting button.

Useful for silencing hyperbolic football announcers and analysts, the muting button's greatest value lies in its ability to silence the political ads that pollute both local and cable television.

If he or she still lives, let him or her step forward and receive the thanks of a grateful people.

On a recent morning, as my 2012 Elantra threaded its way through the latest lines of orange traffic cones, following signs telling me that the right lane was closed and then that the left lane was closed (neither lane was actually closed; the cones were simply calmly lining the sides of the road, pretending they had no idea what was going on) but not telling me about the gaping hole in the middle lane — it occurred to me that I should probably thank the Minnesota Department of Transportation for keeping me alert behind the wheel for the past five months by requiring me to find a different route to work each morning.

I foresee a natural celebration: Have every child (and every adult) in the metro area costumed as a traffic cone on Halloween. You'll hear the children outside, glance out your front door to see how many treats you'll need — and watch striped orange cones with legs as far as the eye can see, converging en masse on your sidewalk, absolutely silent, holding out bags for candy, then flowing away down the street, or perhaps lining up on both sides of the street and holding up "merge" signs for the fun of it before returning to the search for sugar.

And then, the morning of Nov. 1, still coned up, we'll converge on MnDOT headquarters and array ourselves around the parking lot until we have generated a perfectly circular route without entrance, exit or rest stop: Maybe we'll put the Kingston Trio's "The Man Who Never Returned" on a continuous loop. And we'll laugh.

I recently received my registration renewal notice for two snowmobiles I own. One is a 1996 and the other a 1997 — 21- and 22-year-old machines. Each requires a fee of $111, a mandatory three-year fee when using the trails. That is up approximately 30 percent from three years ago!

This needs to be brought to the attention of state senators, state representatives and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources. Have registration fees issued on a yearly basis; don't force us to pay for three years. Please join me and speak your voice on this matter.

Recently, my wife and I were in Croatia when the vision in her right eye became blurry. A day later, we had an appointment with an ophthalmologist in Split, Croatia. She determined there was a torn retina. Laser surgery was performed immediately. Two days later, there was a follow-up appointment in Dubrovnik, Croatia, that determined the procedure had fixed the problem and healing had begun.

When we returned home, an appointment was made with our ophthalmologist to check the condition of the eye. He determined that healing was progressing well and that the Croatian ophthalmologist had done a good job.

Cost for Croatian surgery was $156. The follow-up was $62. Our ophthalmologist said cost for the surgery in the U.S. would have been $1,000. The eye drops to be used for three days after the surgery cost $2.56 in Croatia. The same drug in the U.S. would cost $200.

There must be a logical answer to the cost differences, but it eludes us.

My 23-month-old daughter and I arrived recently in Minneapolis (where I lived previously) for fall leaf-viewing, hayrides, walks along the river in the leaves, and pumpkin-patch visits — only to be greeted by 38-degree weather. The dreamed-of adventures would have to wait.

In search of inside activities, I entered Augsburg, a quaint library with lots of parking near a beautiful park with tall trees in Richfield. The robust children's section greeted us with an ice-cream shop, a bus and a vegetable garden in English and Spanish. Our afternoon was filled with play, books read, ice cream cones scooped and songs sung. It was magical. The next day, we spent the morning at the Southdale Library, with walls painted with colorful fish and flying hippos on the ceiling. This children's section hosts a play house, a tent, a vet clinic and, on this day, the librarian let us know that story time would be hosted soon. Oh, the play that ensued!

After nap time, we spent the afternoon at the Eden Prairie Library, where the bathroom sign reassured me with emergency diaper supplies and the children's room had an X-ray machine, a car tower and, on the wall, a locks-and-latches activity board. And if that wasn't enough, we later visited Ridgedale Library and enjoyed its puppet theater, farm-to-table egg cart and another ice cream stand.

My daughter visits the library weekly where we live, and we have nicknamed her "the Librarian" for her love of books, but we do not have these children's play areas with countless activities in our state library system. I loved that each children's library displayed a framed poster with what I would call its vision statement: "Talk, sing, read, write, play together." And so we did! Thanks, Hennepin County and all the librarians, government officials and volunteers who made these children's sections possible. In this time, where we feel that we have limited control over our elected officials and Supreme Court appointees, it is nice to remember the great services that our country hosts and enjoy the freedom to talk, sing, read, write and play together.

Recent newspaper articles have chronicled the place of Sears Roebuck in American history. I recall fondly the musical "Plain Hearts," produced in the early 1980s by the Great North American History Theater and written by Lance Belville and Eric Peltoniemi. The musical included the charming song "Dreambook," which celebrated the Sears catalog (though not so named) as it arrived at home in rural America. Thank you, Eric Peltoniemi, for that music! Maybe the musical could be remounted!