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

I'm hearing complaints that the local hunters just about all got shut out on the doe license sales this season. The good old Game Commission goofed up somewhere along the way.

I'm not worried, because I got my doe last Wednesday night coming up the hill out of Sabula.

She jumped off the bank and I hit her in mid-air. If it would of been one second later, she would have come through the windshield.

I don't know what she weighed, but she cost my insurance company and me about $200 a pound.

Birthdays and anniversaries are a lot alike and sometimes I get confused as to which one is the most significant.

If you forget your wife's birthday, you are in deep trouble, but if you forget your wedding anniversary, the old manure really hits the oscillator.

It is hard for me to forget my anniversary, as it occurs on Veterans Day. Shirley's birthday is Jan. 2, so New Year's Day makes that a nobrainer.

Once we were stationed at Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, and our anniversary came up. It was deer season and one of my friends invited me to hunt with him that day. My wife handled this okay, as she knew I would be home to take her out to dinner, but our neighbor lady (who I will call the social director) said I should be horse-whipped for being so inconsiderate. I didn't get a deer, either.

First Baptist Church of Emporium celebrated its 145th anniversary. Rev. Mike Lewis, a missionary to Guatemala, was one of the speakers.

He talked about his roots in Emporium. His talk about a little boy he had helped almost brought a tear to my eye.

With the World of Islam out to destroy everything that is Christian, it makes me wonder when the churches are going to start worrying. There is never a word mentioned about defending our Christian way.

I like the old hymn, "Onward Christian Soldiers." So many of the our enemies have gotten across our borders that we will have one big battle when they decide the time is right for them to attack.

The other day I had a conversation with a guy about all the jobs that these greedy companies have taken overseas. Some of it is coming back to haunt them; for example, Mattel Toys.

Why do the CEOs of these big companies accept salaries up in the millions of dollars, but cut costs by sending their manufacturing base out of the country? I am glad I saved my grandmother's chamber pot, because you couldn't find one made in this country.

We were comparing American automobiles to the foreign ones and neither one of us could come up with a Toyota or a Honda that had the quality of a Ford, Chevy or Chrysler. Their owners will differ with you, but I will put up my Chevy against any one of them. Why are we not proud of the skilled people who make our products?

Cameron County, Penn State and the Steelers have all started their football seasons on the right foot. I hope the bubble doesn't burst for any of those teams.

It seems to me that the higher learning institutions don't put as much effort in the learning. Money is what they want and the TV contracts and the big gates are where they get it.

September is a month famous for poems, songs and paintings. I know there is a famous painting called, "September Morn." Willie Nelson does a pretty good job singing, "It's a long, long time from May to December, and the days grow shorter when we reach September."

As you grow older, you realize there is truth to those lyrics.