Through an Old Timer’s Eyes

The Endeavor News

The wind blew and the snow flew and my trash cans looked like two ballistic missiles as they sailed into my neighbor’s yard.

I don’t know how cold it was, but when I went to church I saw a dog with his leg up and his stream had him frozen to a fire hydrant. Our January thaw is not coming at all. The wind whistling around the windows makes an old-timer shiver.

When I was younger and did a lot of snowmobile riding, winter was my favorite time of the year. I always felt like I was a fighter pilot as I zoomed across an open field or a frozen lake in Canada.

One of the best vacations I ever had was when two of my sons and I went to Yellowstone National Park and rode through that magnifi- cent scenery. I would like to do that one more time before the grim reaper calls for me.

Speaking of the grim reaper, he has been busy over the past few weeks. The funeral homes have looked like a bus terminal as the mourners pay their respects.

Now that tax time is here, the IRS is the grim reaper. That organization sucks the money out of you just like a mortician drains your blood. It is hard to stay patriotic when you watch the politicians wasting so much money and you know that they are coming after what little bit of loot that you have.

Even when you die they are still hounding you. They say you can’t take it with you, and that is true because the government takes your last dollar with the death tax. Isn’t life great here in the land of milk and honey? Oh well, there are worse places.

I guess the Republicans are trying to rekindle the Civil War. In the House and Senate there is some dissention between the northern Republicans and the southern GOP members.

The Yankees say the Rebels have less intelligence. I think that is a prime example of the pot calling the kettle black. I think they just want to show their oats and have decided to fight among themselves. The wishywashy Democrats won’t fight them.

Here’s a good one: in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, if you have a disabling sickness or a bad accident that lays you up, they take your driver’s license. True, you won’t be needing it for a while, but after you get well, try and get it back.

I have a friend who has been a year convalescing and is now well enough to drive. He has to take the written test and the road driving test. That is all well and good, but unlike a first-time driver, he can’t practice his driving skills. If he gets caught behind the wheel, he may never get his license back.

On a lighter note, the Attorney General’s Office has a contest where fifth-grade students across Pennsylvania are invited to enter their art work depicting messages about the dangers of drug abuse. There were 13 winners and the amazing thing is that two of them, Rylee Hooftallen and Julian Watson, came from little Austin Area School.

Stay warm, pay your taxes and look out for the grim reaper.

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