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

If you have taken the kids to the land of Disney, you have no doubt ridden the "It's a Small, Small World" attraction. I bring this up because of an incident that happened to my youngest son David.

He works for a company that teaches computer skills and his first assignment was in Morocco. While he was in the terminal waiting for his flight, he saw a woman wearing a Lock Haven sweatshirt and struck up a conversation.

She promptly introduced David to Corrine Trumpie, who until recently lived in Rich Valley. Small world, indeed.

David found it interesting that the French and Moroccan students all spoke English. It's ironic that we can't get many Hispanics in this country to speak English. That's another subject I will discuss at a later time.

Morocco was ruled by the French for a long time and there is still a large French influence. David said he did not see any anti-American sentiment. Evidently our government has not had a chance to mess up relations with Morocco by interfering in their affairs. Our Diplomatic Corps is not very diplomatic.

The last time I was in Casablanca was 1958 and I can see by the picture of McDonald's that they have made a lot of changes. Except for the woman with the head scarf, you would think you were looking in the window of the McDonald's in this country.

Corrine Trumpie and David McDonald in Morocco.

My write-in campaign for President is doing pretty well so far. I believe I will carry Sylvan Heights. I will have to cut a lot of lawns for the votes, but I won't get any matching funds from the government.

I have been trying to arrange a debate with Obama and Hillary, but so far they haven't answered my challenge. If we ever get to debate, I will insist that it be held at the Cameron County Fairgrounds. I will even provide the spray to keep the ladybugs in check. It's hard to debate with those things crawling on your face.

Norfolk Southern Railroad settled with the state over the acid spill and, just as I said, the money isn't going to be spent on fixing up the Portage.

The rumor has it going over on the First Fork. I wonder when was the last time a train ran on the side of the First Fork? It sure makes a man ponder about the agencies that run this state. If they get their hands on the money, it's gone.

Spring has sprung but I am still wearing my long johns. I hope when the fruit trees start to blossom that we don't have a killer frost.

When it does warm up, and the pollen is flying everywhere, people with allergies and sinus trouble will be having a hard time.

That reminds me of a funny story. This truck driver showed up at the Pearly Gates and St. Peter asked him what he had died of.

"Seenus," the driver said. "Nobody dies from sinus trouble," St. Peter insisted.

"No, sir, I said seenus," the man replied. "I was messin' around with another truck driver's wife and he seenus."

The campaign managers for the two Democratic candidates are having a hard time not making the contest a racial matter. Regardless of what they say, the speech police make some kind of an issue out of their remarks.

Those police think the American people don't understand English so they have to explain it all to us.

Words can be tricky. For instance, if a white man's ancestors came from Africa, is he an African-American?

On Easter Sunday we motored to Benton and spent the day with my brother. The food was excellent and my niece and I went to a very impressive sunrise service on a high hill overlooking the town.

That was a great experience that took you back to that day more than 2,000 years ago. I hope that you all had a wonderful Easter, too.