As the owner of a 2008 Jeep Wrangler I like to think that I am part of a community for rugged individuals who lay claim to something of a Wrangler life-style. However, over the past few months I have observed other Wranglers which I consider NOT fitting that image. This Blog is asking for others to post their observed "Wranger Non-Nps."
1) A very pink Wrangler, something like a Peptobismal color.
2) A Chihuahua for a pet --riding on the passanger side.
29 April 2011
22 April 2011
The Hoot’s Corner Curmudgeon -- To Government Aid or Not to Government Aid?
PROPOSITION: The problem with this country is that there are too many people who begin discussions with the phrase “The problem with this country...”
TO WIT: This morning Sally Cooper, the newest and youngest reporter for The Hoot’s Corner Budget dropped by to “talk through” her most recent ethical dilemma. You see, Sally graduated from Harvard College with a degree in Moral Philosophy and a minor in Political Science. Some would see those two as contradictory, but for Sally, a peaches and cream complexion natural blonde whose father owns the newspaper, the real rub came when she began her reporting gig. Face it, there aren’t many jobs out there for Moral Philosophy majors, so the family business was a natural alternative to a “do you want an extra shot of expresso in that latte?” type of job.
Reporting the “truth” had come up against the hard reality of newspaper economics for Sally. Here’s her conundrum:
A recent survey of the residence of Hoot’s Corner by The Pew & Bench Public Opinion Group, showed that only one person in the entire town had never received some form of government aid.
For the rest of us—everything from food stamps to farm subsidies, from home purchase allowances to Cash for Clunkers, from school aid to subsidized college tuition, and from tornado and flood disaster relief to Extension Service advice on home gardens—some form of government assistance has made our lives easier, our cares less burdensome.
The one person who had not succumbed to the highly addictive “drug” of government aid was John Harington, the town’s foremost industrialist and its largest private sector employer – Harington Amalgamated Toilet Seats, LLC.
Known locally as HATS, the company has been more or less recession proof, never suffering from economic ups and downs. HATS was founded in 1926 by the late Maxine Ellsworth Harington, John’s doting mother. Mrs. Harington is also widely known locally for her philanthropic activities on behalf of feral cats.
The City Council is in the planning stages to present Mr. Harington with a plaque acknowledging his record of avoiding government subsidies of any sort, but Sally discovered something in government files. Using the Freedom of Information Act Sally uncovered the fact that while Mr. Harington has never personally received government aid, his company has been selling airplane toilet seats to the Pentagon for $600 each since the 1960s, and that the vaunted toilet seats that HATS made for the International Space Station had contracted out at a mere $1,299 each. The very same item at the Home-boy Depot retails for $24.95.
Sally whined, “The problem with this country is that everyone gets some sort of government help, yet everyone rants about the taxes to pay for all that aid, especially Mr. Harington, who spends large sums of money buying Tea Party ads in Daddy’s newspaper. How can I remain morally honest to myself if I do not report the $600 toilet seats as a form of government aid to HATS (a wholey own company of Mr. Harington)? But how do I keep Daddy happy if do report them?” Sounds like a great topic for a doctoral dissertation in moral philosophy.
Point. And period.
19 April 2011
Getting Into A Role
Part of the attraction of fiction (whether in book or visual mediums) is that the reader/viewer is transported away from her day-to-day life into someone else's world. During the early part of the 19th century ministers and physicians were critical of the popularity of novels because of the perception that people were avoiding their own lives to live in the worlds of people who were not real. That came to be known by the middle of the last century as the Walter Mitty syndromee.
Regardless of Walter's flights of fantasy to escape a hum-drum existence, people can succumb to thinking they someone else, even to the exclusion of the real world in which they are supposed to function. A similar unhealthy attachment to characters portrayed by actors is another sinister side effect of fiction.
Having read about actors like Hal Holbrook (who has done Mark Twain for decades) and how they can sometimes have difficulty separating their own identity from that of their character's, I was still not prepared for how attached I have become to Silas Wright Terry. He is the Civil War naval officer I portray in a one-man show. Researching his life and that of his family is taking over all my spare time (and some that is not so spare). It is quite astounding how obsessed one can become.
Having just purchased on-line an original document with his authenticated signature on it may qualify as obsessed--at least according to Boss Cook.
While I do not think I shall ever need mental health care for this, I am starting to be cautious with the time I devote to my new alter ego.
I supposed that one has to sacrifice for his art. Alas!
Regardless of Walter's flights of fantasy to escape a hum-drum existence, people can succumb to thinking they someone else, even to the exclusion of the real world in which they are supposed to function. A similar unhealthy attachment to characters portrayed by actors is another sinister side effect of fiction.
Having read about actors like Hal Holbrook (who has done Mark Twain for decades) and how they can sometimes have difficulty separating their own identity from that of their character's, I was still not prepared for how attached I have become to Silas Wright Terry. He is the Civil War naval officer I portray in a one-man show. Researching his life and that of his family is taking over all my spare time (and some that is not so spare). It is quite astounding how obsessed one can become.
Having just purchased on-line an original document with his authenticated signature on it may qualify as obsessed--at least according to Boss Cook.
While I do not think I shall ever need mental health care for this, I am starting to be cautious with the time I devote to my new alter ego.
I supposed that one has to sacrifice for his art. Alas!
16 April 2011
The Hoot’s Corner Curmudgeon -- Cash for Clunkers
PROPOSITION: The problem with this country is that there are too many people who begin discussions with the phrase “The problem with this country...”
TO WIT: In 2009 Herman Meister sauntered into my place, announcing his presence with “The problem with this country is them damned tax and spend Democrats.” He then proceeded to launch into a lengthy diatribe against the stimulus package and its impact on the long term economic stability of the United States.
For those unfamiliar with Herman, it should be noted that Herman relishes the fact that he “lives off the grid.” He has no mailing address, no TV, no telephone (cell or land-line), no Internet, no radio, and brags about the fact that he has not paid taxes since 1954. The only newspapers he reads are the ones in which his bottles of absinthe come wrapped. Herman’s son-in-law/nephew bootlegs the banned booze in from Mexico, so the newspapers that Herman claims to read are in Spanish; no one has yet to determine if Herman can read Spanish. But I digress.
Regardless of what sources of information Herman does not consult on any form of a regular basis, he is generally misinformed on all topics, a fact that has never stopped him from offering his profound and highly un-thought-out opinions on virtually everything.
Having completed his dissertation on the evils of the economic stimulus package, Herman then informed me with delight that he had just inked a deal for a new car, the first in his life time. The car was purchased under the “Cash for Clunkers” program. Herman traded in his 1962 Ford Galaxie for a new Focus.
The $4,500 that sweetened Herman’s deal for the new car was made even sweeter by the fact that twice in the last 47 years the Galaxie was totaled in car wrecks and Herman had been paid off by insurance companies for the “fair market value” of the car both times. Herman hoped that the fact that he had installed a 1947 Cummins diesel engine in the Galaxie the last time it was totaled would escape notice until all of the paper work had passed government approval. It seems that a 1947 Cummins diesel engine gets better gas mileage than the government requires in 2009 under the Cash for Clunkers program.
Timidly I asked he thought he was being disingenuous by condemning the economic stimulus package while taking advantage of it? After he spit chewing tobacco juice into the old Crisco can he carries for such purposes (note: he stopped smoking in 1974 when he learned that the government was putting chemicals in cigarettes that caused him to wheeze when he breathed), Herman opined, “Heck no. It’s the American way—get all that you can while you can, and if I got mine and you didn’t get yours, then that’s your problem.”
Point. And peiod.
12 April 2011
An Old Friend is Back
When I first moved to Freeport I rented a small room from an elderly lady. No TV (unless I wanted to sit in the living room and watch what she watched). Fortunately I was "adopted" by Jeanne and Paul Potter, who invited me to come to their home some evenings. It was the Potters who got me hooked on the British series "Upstairs, Downstairs" which ran on PBS' Masterpiece Theatre.
I just became enamoured of the series, delighting in each episode and the unfolding lives of the characters. One reason why the series appealed to me was that it gave me an insight into my father's parents. They were born into and raised to adulthood in the British class system that is depicted in the series. I came to better understand their attitudes toward many things.
When the series came out on DVD I bought the complete set and have spent days on end watching one episode after another--much to the dismay of my wife, who has never been a fan.
And now, o joy of joys, on the 40th anniversary of the start of the series, they have produced a three episode sequel. Last Sunday was the first installment and it lived up to every expectation. Only one cast member from the original series is in the new one (Jean Marsh who played the parlor maid Rose and now returns as the head housekeeper), which takes place many years after the first series ended, but in the same house (165 Eaton Place--pronounced One-Six-Five Eaton Place), and it follows the lives of both the servants and the masters of the house.
When I went to the UK in 1976 I forced my companions to accompany me to find 165 Eaton Place. Sadly there is no house number 165 on Eaton Place--which was probably a fortunate thing as whoever would have lived there would have had to suffer constant visitors looking for Lord and Lady Bellamy, or Mr. Hudson the butler or Miss Georgina (Lord Bellamy's ward)--can you say crush? And I was not the only one, even Snoopy in one of the Peanuts cartoon strips at the time was infatuated with her.
Welcome back my old friend, it's so nice to see you again. You've aged better than I.
I just became enamoured of the series, delighting in each episode and the unfolding lives of the characters. One reason why the series appealed to me was that it gave me an insight into my father's parents. They were born into and raised to adulthood in the British class system that is depicted in the series. I came to better understand their attitudes toward many things.
When the series came out on DVD I bought the complete set and have spent days on end watching one episode after another--much to the dismay of my wife, who has never been a fan.
And now, o joy of joys, on the 40th anniversary of the start of the series, they have produced a three episode sequel. Last Sunday was the first installment and it lived up to every expectation. Only one cast member from the original series is in the new one (Jean Marsh who played the parlor maid Rose and now returns as the head housekeeper), which takes place many years after the first series ended, but in the same house (165 Eaton Place--pronounced One-Six-Five Eaton Place), and it follows the lives of both the servants and the masters of the house.
When I went to the UK in 1976 I forced my companions to accompany me to find 165 Eaton Place. Sadly there is no house number 165 on Eaton Place--which was probably a fortunate thing as whoever would have lived there would have had to suffer constant visitors looking for Lord and Lady Bellamy, or Mr. Hudson the butler or Miss Georgina (Lord Bellamy's ward)--can you say crush? And I was not the only one, even Snoopy in one of the Peanuts cartoon strips at the time was infatuated with her.
Welcome back my old friend, it's so nice to see you again. You've aged better than I.
"Gone for good"
It must be the water I've been drinking, but word usage and phrases are suddenly catching my attention. And then they rattle around in the vast emptiness of my cranium until I can't stand it. Almost worse than getting a song stuck in you head ("Its A Small World").
To whit: "Then it'll be gone for good."
What does that mean? Is the fact that whatever "it" maybe, it is good that its gone? But if you use the phrase to say when some one died "he's gone for good," do you mean it is good that he's gone? Or that he went to a good place, assuming you have some knowledge of his ultimate reality.
These things hurt to think about.
To whit: "Then it'll be gone for good."
What does that mean? Is the fact that whatever "it" maybe, it is good that its gone? But if you use the phrase to say when some one died "he's gone for good," do you mean it is good that he's gone? Or that he went to a good place, assuming you have some knowledge of his ultimate reality.
These things hurt to think about.
06 April 2011
Your Basic Porcelain Throne Musing
“Crap. Crapolla. Feces. Turd. Poop. Doo-doo. The list of euphemisms is endless when it comes to that most basic of bodily excrements—shit,” he pondered as he sat upon a toilet awaiting his own body to work through the process of eliminating waste product. “Basically, what is this stuff? A by-product of what we eat, yet as a society we scorn its existence, as if the human body could survive without the regular purging of its own digestive tract.”
His mind then began to wander over the subject in a more scientific manner. He was curious as to what the medical folks had discovered about shit. He recalled that he had once asked his doctor whether or not it was possible to determine if one had the correct balance of fiber in one’s body based on the consistency of one’s own feces. The doctor was both stumped by the question and repelled by the though of contemplating such a subject. Yet, there have to be medicos who have studied the subject.
“So, Mrs. Young, what type of doctor is your son?” inquired the lady of her companion at the spa.
“He’s a proctologist who teaches at Johns Hopkins Medical School
“That’s impressive. In other words, he’s a doctor of shit, or perhaps a shitty doctor?”
“He does take a lot of crap over his job,” the sardonic mother intoned.
But really, surly some biologists and medical doctors know something about this generally unspoken of field of study. People suffer from constipation and diarrhea, and there are medicines to relieve such problems. There are all those ads on TV for fiber filled drinks and tablets for “regularity.” So somewhere, someone is looking into shit and its nature to create these medicinal aids. How would you write a research grant for this field? Who would fund such research? Proctor and Gamble? Is that where the name “proctologist” came from—the Proctor of Proctor and Gamble?
“But I digress,” he thought. “What about all the permutations of the word’s usage.” For example:
“Eat shit” sometimes linked with the perhaps more extreme command, “and die.” Which would be worse, to be forced to actually eat shit and then be left alive to remember the experience, or eat shit and then die?
“Tough shit,” which generally means “I don’t care.” Did that expression come about through the pain people suffered from constipation, and someone else not caring that the other person was hurting from a clogged ass?
“Beat the shit out of,” generally means to defeat another person or group to the point of humiliation. “The Cubs beat the shit out of the Cardinals,” is a usage of the phrase seldom heard, but one for which Cubs fans long. While in a baseball motif, there was once the newspaper clipping he had seen were a typo indicated that a certain major league player was in a “shitting slump.” Maybe that is a form of constipation.
“When the shit hits the fan,” gets used a lot. In polite company the phrase is sometimes rendered “When the ship hits the sand,” but either expression denotes a situation in which something bad happens. Does the phrase have its origins in a situation in which actual shit hit a fan and was thus spread across a wide area and onto many people? A sort of misplaced manure spreader? A manure spreader, the one product the manufacturer will not stand behind.
“Get your shit together” is another common usage. Did this phrase have its origins in a mother’s constant nagging of her son to clean up his totally messy room, the “shit” in this case being all the “stuff” lying around the room?
And that brings to mind a curious thought about the connotations of the word. In the “get your shit together” phrase, the connotation of “shit” can be either good or bad. In “this is some good shit,” the connotation is positive in that the grass is high quality. Conversely, “you’re in deep shit,” and “this ain’t worth a shit,” have the connotation that shit is bad. “Shit and shoved in it” is also a phrase that infers that the newly created pile of fecal matter is something that one has had the misfortune on having fallen back into.
Since the word “shit” is considered vulgar, the rules governing when it can or should be used do not exist. Hence an attractive woman can be referred to as “her shit is hot,” while her nose-in-the-air attitude caused by her good looks would be referred to as “she thinks her shit doesn’t stink.”
And then there’s the union of the profane and the scared —“holy shit!” Now, this does create a myriad of possibilities. Can something be both disgusting and sanctified? What defines it? When Pope Saint Hyginus (136-140) had a bowel movement, did he produce “holy shit?” During the Middle Ages when Europeans were preoccupied with the relics of saints, did anyone ever try to pass off a turd of St. Francis of Assisi
“Enough!” he thought. “I’ve gotta get more fiber in my diet. These mind trips while I’m waiting for the passage of one of the Rockies are pushing my psyche into some deep shit.”
I Get Strange Stories via Emails
Note to my readers: this story was the body of an on-line friend who said he was forwarding it to me as a "precautionary tale of what might come to be." Take it for what its worth.
FROM: The Standard-Journal On-Line – April 1, 2015
FEDS INVADE COUNTY: Hundreds Under Arrest – Judges and States Attorney Freed—Fired Finally Quelled -- By Jeremy Wilson, Special to the Standard-Journal
Over five hundred FBI and Alcohol, Tobacco and Fire Arms (ATF) agents, along with U.S. Marshals and the Illinois State Police broke through a corridor of several hundred members of the Stevenson County Sheriff’s “special posse” just before dawn this morning. According to a statement issued by the FBI’s Special Agent in Charge a brief gun battle was halted when U.S. Army armored personnel carriers supported from helicopter gunships joined in the assault.
"Seeing the firepower provided by the Army broke the will of the insurgents,” said Charles McMurtrie, the FBI agent who coordinated the attack which broke a thirty-five day stalemate between the Stevenson County sheriff’s “special posse” and a host of federal and state agencies intent on serving warrants and writs to officials in the county.
A potential second fire fight between the assaulting agents and sheriff’s posse members who had built fortifications around the Stevenson County jail was averted when the helicopter gunships began circling the compound. The total number of those rounded up by federal and state authorizes exceeded five hundred-fifty, although an exact count will not be known until all of those detained in the massive sweep have been processed.
Johnson Balter, Stevenson County State’s Attorney, along with Chief Circuit Judge Angela Rudy and Associate Circuit Judge Vincent Cashen were freed from the county jail where they had been held for over forty days after Stevenson County Sheriff Jimmy Pigeon refused to submit to arrest on nineteen contempt of court citations. When the Illinois State Police attempted to serve writs of habeas corpus to free Balter, Rudy and Cashen, Sheriff Pigeon deputized over six hundred "special deputies" to shut off all roads into the county.
The initial contempt of court citations stemmed from the refusal of Sheriff Pigeon and his cousin Timmy Pigeon, Stevenson County Board Chairman, to complete economic interest statements required by law. In addition, both the Pigeons and the majority of the Stevenson County Board have refused to complete W-2 forms needed to process their salaries, travel expenses and meeting reimbursements.
In a statement issued soon after he was elected, Sheriff Pigeon stated, “I will not provide anyone with information that links me in any way to the socialist national government, the unconstitutional income tax and the one-world government advocated by the Tri-Lateral Commission and its puppet the United Nations.” Since March of 2014 Stevenson County has been paying its employees without deducting state and federal taxes, as well as Social Security and Medicare. In addition the county ceased making payments to the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) on behalf of its employees. All moves order by the County Board as a protest against federal and state laws regulating local units of government.
When a group of county employees sought an injunction in circuit court to force the county to resume the IMRF payments, they were barred from the courtroom by sheriff’s personnel acting on orders of Sheriff Pigeon. Injunctions and writs issued by the Illinois Supreme Court and the federal magistrate in Rocktown proved fruitless of the same reasons.
Many county residents expressed relief that the situation seems to have been resolved. The virtual isolation of the county left store shelves bare, gasoline supplies dwindling and those employed outside the county unable to work. According to statements issued by Sheriff Pigeon, “the purpose of the blockade is to stop anyone not recognized by the Sheriff’s Office from entering the county and will in no way inhibit the movement of law abiding people or legal goods into or out of the county. I am the top law enforcement officer in the County,” the statement continued,” I cannot and will not recognize anyone from state or federal courts as having jurisdiction here.”
Fearing confrontations, most residents did not attempt to pass through the road blocks despite the sheriff’s assurances. Companies making deliveries to stores, businesses and gas stations in the county also refused to enter the county. Unconfirmed reports state that the Wisconsin State Police and a large contingent of the Wisconsin National Guard had assembled where Illinois routes 2 and 7crossed into that state. The Standard-Journal has been unable to determine whether or not those units participated in the relief expedition that began this morning.
The presence of the additional law enforcement personnel today provided the needed manpower to quell the riot and looting that had gone on in the downtown of Keysport. Four square blocks of the city have been consumed by fires started by rioters, but firefighters were prevented from reaching the fires due to absence of police personnel. In creating the “special posse” to guard the county, Sheriff Pigeon jailed any law enforcement officer in the county who refused to submit to his orders. Keysport as well as all the other towns in the county were left without police protection. Traffic accidents, including one involving a drunk driver that took the lives of four children on a school bus, went without investigation because of the stand-off with federal and state law enforcement.
States Attorney Balter stated that he believed that the county judicial and law enforcement systems will be back to normal in a few days. Illinois State Police District 29 commander will serve as the county's sheriff-pro tem until a special election can be held, according to a statement released by the Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court.
Editor’s Note: Much of the information reported in this article will either be news to our readers or confirm rumors that have circulated in the community. Since Sheriff Pigeon began his standoff with state and federal authorizes the Standard-Journal offices have been occupied by members of the “special posse” and all our editions have been subjected to heavy censorship. We regret that we were prevented from upholding our journalistic obligations when our community needed us the most.
FROM: The Standard-Journal On-Line – April 1, 2015
FEDS INVADE COUNTY: Hundreds Under Arrest – Judges and States Attorney Freed—Fired Finally Quelled -- By Jeremy Wilson, Special to the Standard-Journal
Over five hundred FBI and Alcohol, Tobacco and Fire Arms (ATF) agents, along with U.S. Marshals and the Illinois State Police broke through a corridor of several hundred members of the Stevenson County Sheriff’s “special posse” just before dawn this morning. According to a statement issued by the FBI’s Special Agent in Charge a brief gun battle was halted when U.S. Army armored personnel carriers supported from helicopter gunships joined in the assault.
"Seeing the firepower provided by the Army broke the will of the insurgents,” said Charles McMurtrie, the FBI agent who coordinated the attack which broke a thirty-five day stalemate between the Stevenson County sheriff’s “special posse” and a host of federal and state agencies intent on serving warrants and writs to officials in the county.
A potential second fire fight between the assaulting agents and sheriff’s posse members who had built fortifications around the Stevenson County jail was averted when the helicopter gunships began circling the compound. The total number of those rounded up by federal and state authorizes exceeded five hundred-fifty, although an exact count will not be known until all of those detained in the massive sweep have been processed.
Johnson Balter, Stevenson County State’s Attorney, along with Chief Circuit Judge Angela Rudy and Associate Circuit Judge Vincent Cashen were freed from the county jail where they had been held for over forty days after Stevenson County Sheriff Jimmy Pigeon refused to submit to arrest on nineteen contempt of court citations. When the Illinois State Police attempted to serve writs of habeas corpus to free Balter, Rudy and Cashen, Sheriff Pigeon deputized over six hundred "special deputies" to shut off all roads into the county.
The initial contempt of court citations stemmed from the refusal of Sheriff Pigeon and his cousin Timmy Pigeon, Stevenson County Board Chairman, to complete economic interest statements required by law. In addition, both the Pigeons and the majority of the Stevenson County Board have refused to complete W-2 forms needed to process their salaries, travel expenses and meeting reimbursements.
In a statement issued soon after he was elected, Sheriff Pigeon stated, “I will not provide anyone with information that links me in any way to the socialist national government, the unconstitutional income tax and the one-world government advocated by the Tri-Lateral Commission and its puppet the United Nations.” Since March of 2014 Stevenson County has been paying its employees without deducting state and federal taxes, as well as Social Security and Medicare. In addition the county ceased making payments to the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund (IMRF) on behalf of its employees. All moves order by the County Board as a protest against federal and state laws regulating local units of government.
When a group of county employees sought an injunction in circuit court to force the county to resume the IMRF payments, they were barred from the courtroom by sheriff’s personnel acting on orders of Sheriff Pigeon. Injunctions and writs issued by the Illinois Supreme Court and the federal magistrate in Rocktown proved fruitless of the same reasons.
Many county residents expressed relief that the situation seems to have been resolved. The virtual isolation of the county left store shelves bare, gasoline supplies dwindling and those employed outside the county unable to work. According to statements issued by Sheriff Pigeon, “the purpose of the blockade is to stop anyone not recognized by the Sheriff’s Office from entering the county and will in no way inhibit the movement of law abiding people or legal goods into or out of the county. I am the top law enforcement officer in the County,” the statement continued,” I cannot and will not recognize anyone from state or federal courts as having jurisdiction here.”
Fearing confrontations, most residents did not attempt to pass through the road blocks despite the sheriff’s assurances. Companies making deliveries to stores, businesses and gas stations in the county also refused to enter the county. Unconfirmed reports state that the Wisconsin State Police and a large contingent of the Wisconsin National Guard had assembled where Illinois routes 2 and 7crossed into that state. The Standard-Journal has been unable to determine whether or not those units participated in the relief expedition that began this morning.
The presence of the additional law enforcement personnel today provided the needed manpower to quell the riot and looting that had gone on in the downtown of Keysport. Four square blocks of the city have been consumed by fires started by rioters, but firefighters were prevented from reaching the fires due to absence of police personnel. In creating the “special posse” to guard the county, Sheriff Pigeon jailed any law enforcement officer in the county who refused to submit to his orders. Keysport as well as all the other towns in the county were left without police protection. Traffic accidents, including one involving a drunk driver that took the lives of four children on a school bus, went without investigation because of the stand-off with federal and state law enforcement.
States Attorney Balter stated that he believed that the county judicial and law enforcement systems will be back to normal in a few days. Illinois State Police District 29 commander will serve as the county's sheriff-pro tem until a special election can be held, according to a statement released by the Chief Justice of the Illinois Supreme Court.
Editor’s Note: Much of the information reported in this article will either be news to our readers or confirm rumors that have circulated in the community. Since Sheriff Pigeon began his standoff with state and federal authorizes the Standard-Journal offices have been occupied by members of the “special posse” and all our editions have been subjected to heavy censorship. We regret that we were prevented from upholding our journalistic obligations when our community needed us the most.
05 April 2011
How Comest Thou Hither?
As a city-raised only child, one of the places I always felt truly free was on the farm of my uncle and his eight children. I would spend several days there each summer, greatly enjoying the "different" life they led. No in-door toilet; all of us sleeping in one big room. Barns, corn cribs and machine sheds to discover. I was truly the proverbial city slicker, but mostly I didn't care.
Today, the free feelings from those days are recalled for me when I use the phrase, "Going to water the ducks." Through some accident of events, one of my cousins had discovered that the ducks would attempt to drink or caputre a stream of urine as it left his body. That got transformed into all the boys "watering the ducks" on numerous occassions. We thought it was great fun, and the ducks did not seem to mind. Whether this particular diet impacted the taste of their meat, we never knew. It was fun then and the memory of those times comes back to me with the expression.
My intent is to make this blog a place where I can freely express ideas and hear from anyone who wishes to comment.
Today, the free feelings from those days are recalled for me when I use the phrase, "Going to water the ducks." Through some accident of events, one of my cousins had discovered that the ducks would attempt to drink or caputre a stream of urine as it left his body. That got transformed into all the boys "watering the ducks" on numerous occassions. We thought it was great fun, and the ducks did not seem to mind. Whether this particular diet impacted the taste of their meat, we never knew. It was fun then and the memory of those times comes back to me with the expression.
My intent is to make this blog a place where I can freely express ideas and hear from anyone who wishes to comment.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)