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

Ol' Man Winter made prisoners of most of us last weekend and made the fireplace the only cheerful thing around our house. The first snowflake brought out the soup kettle and my wife worked her magic that kept a warm glow in my tummy.

It seems like bad weather and bad news goes together. Stock market down, price of oil up, and more people losing their homes. Makes you wonder where it will all end.

With all the real news, the networks keep trotting out the statistics on where the Presidential candidates stand. After 11 more months, that malarkey is sure going to get old. SpongeBob SquarePants gets more interesting each day.

While lounging around the house, my mind wondered back to when I was stationed at Elmendorf Air Force Base in Anchorage, Alaska. Maybe it was the weather that reminded me of this base in the Land of The Midnight Sun. For some reason, I got to thinking about an old buddy from there, Bob Kirkpatrick.

That sent me to the book I have that listing all the living members of the Air Force Sergeants Assn. There are more than 20,000 names in this book and, low and behold, they had his telephone and address listed.

I was going to give Bob a call. The last time I had talked to him was in 1955. But I got involved with all the football and never got around to it.

About 8:30 that night, I was dozing in my recliner and the phone rang. The voice on the other end asked if I was the Mac McDonald who had served in Alaska. Then the guy asked me if I remembered Bob Kirkpatrick.

I almost fainted; it was him! Sort of spooky isn't it?

Speaking of spooky, I had a couple of things disappear from my house. Being an amateur detective, I have been trying to solve this mystery.

I hope that some clue will surface, as I have just about popped a hernia in my brain by thinking so hard about where they might be.

Some people have really gone all out with their Christmas lighting this year. It's worth a drive to go around town and check them out.

Pete Grimone has a really impressive display. I'll bet his electric meter is humming.

It's time to wish all of our readers a merry Christmas and a fulfilling new year. I hope that 2008 brings a solution to the mess in Iraq. God bless the U.S.A.