Through An 'Old Timer's' Eyes

Mother Nature has provided us with some really spectacular days this fall. The oaks have an abundant crop of acorns and if you are fortunate enough to have a hickory tree in your yard then you will have hickory nuts galore.

The squirrels that live in the trees around our house are scurrying around all day long. They are about driving my dog crazy. They look like they have a case of the mumps as they carry their loot back to their nests. Some of my older and wiser friends say this is a sign that we are going to have a hard winter.

I remember hearing a story about some ranchers out west who always had coffee together in this little cafe. An old Indian was always in there at the same time and they would ask him what the weather was going to be like for the day. He would always give them his prediction and hit it right on the money.

This one morning when they asked him about the weather, they were really taken aback when he said he didn't know.

"Isn't your leg arching today or your lower back howling with pain?" they inquired.

"I don't have a bad leg and my lower back is fine," he replied.

The ranchers asked again, "So why can't you predict the weather today?"

The old Indian sighed and said, "The batteries in my transistor radio are dead."

People are a lot like squirrels as they tend to hoard things, too. Have you noticed the piles of firewood appearing in the yards?

I don't know if we save any money on our gas bill, but the pleasure we get from the warm glow from the fireplace really warms these old bones. After 57 years of marriage, the ambiance doesn't do much for the romance, but it sure makes you think of days gone by.

Every morning at the Cabin Kitchen, I take from my right front pocket my pill box. In this small container I have seven different pills, all a different size and a different color. Two are for diabetes, one for acid reflux, an aspirin for the heart and three vitamins.

One of the subjects that we discussed the other day was how do these pills know where to go in our bodies to do their assigned duties? We never did come up with an answer.

"Don't concern yourself with things that are out of your control," Al Hertlein said. "We are experiencing better living through chemistry."

We also discussed the rash of thefts in Emporium,

especially the

pilfering of lawnmower gas cans. This bunch of low-lifes return the cans to their original locations filled with water. Whoever said that there was honor among thieves never met these scumbags.

For the last five years there has been very little effort extended toward apprehending the local drug dealers. I am glad that is finally changing. The courts are really tough on DUI cases and it will be interesting to see how justice is meted out for these offenders.

In the past two years there have been three young people die from drug overdoses. I consider this a homicide and these dealers should be brought up on a murder charge.

Several homes have been broken into and the people's prescription drugs have been stolen. With the amount of medication that I take, I should be walking around on Cloud 9. I get no kind of a high out of my medication. Am I being cheated?