Through An 'Old Timer's' Eyes
By Howard 'Mac' McDonald

Our population seems to get smaller this time of year. Quite a few folks head to Florida for the warmer weather. Still, we really are losing some of our population in Cameron and Potter counties. That's not a good thing for the tax base.

The cold weather won't be with us much longer. Soon we'll see our friend, the robin.

I used to feel sorry for the robins, figuring that they wintered down south and then came north to shiver in our late snow.

Wrong.

The crafty worm-snatcher actually flies north and winters in the bogs and wetlands.

If I had my druthers, I think I would be weathering where it's warmer. The beach is nice, but sand gets all over everything. I do like to deepsea fish, but unless you own a couple of oil wells in Texas to pay the tariff, it's just not going to happen.

Florida is a nice place to visit, but I wouldn't want to live there year-'round. They can keep their tornadoes and hurricanes. Now, Hawaii has about the best weather of anywhere in the world. Maybe if I hit the Powerball, that will be my landing place.

Of course, if you live on an island you soon find out that if you motor too far, you run out of landscape. Been there, done that, as we spent two years in Taiwan and rode out three typhoons.

The high water of the typhoon would leave behind a snake parade you could not believe. We were told there were 57 species of snakes on the island and 56 of them were poisonous. The 57th one swallowed you whole. That was stretching the truth, but it got our attention.

There is one vacation I really would like to try and that is on a cruise ship. If that ever came about, I would have to go alone, as my wife doesn't like ships. That's probably because she had to spend 21 days at sea on a troop transport over the North Atlantic in December 1956. The captain told the passengers he had been at sea for 50 years and that was the worst storm he had ever sailed in.

They anchored in the middle of the North Atlantic for five days and bobbed around like a cork. Shirley said she was seasick even before they got past the Statue of Liberty so the trip was really hard on her.

I wouldn't mind flying to my vacation spot, but I'd rather drive so I could see the countryside and get out and walk around. I like finding a good place to eat and seeing how the local folks live. Also, I have friends in all parts of the U.S., including a lot of old Air Force buddies who are hiding from the undertaker like me.

If time allows, I like to stay off the interstates and travel through the towns and villages.

Just writing about vacations makes me want to take one. I can just hear Willie Nelson's classic, "On the Road Again."

Back in February 1953, my good friend Richard Knickerbocker and I were sent to Ladd Air Force Base in Fairbanks, Alaska, for Arctic Survival School. We rode the excursion train from Anchorage to Fairbanks and the scenery was spectacular. We counted 83 moose along the way. The dining car and club car also made this a very pleasant trip for two young airmen.

Today, that same train ride is advertised in all of the tourist guides. If you can ever get to Alaska, that train ride is a must. Maybe if that Powerball ticket comes in, I will go to Canada and take that train from the east coast to the west coast. I know some railroad buffs in Emporium who have taken that trip and I'm sure it is a voyage they will long remember.

As for me, well I guess I can hop the freight train all the way down south to Driftwood.