By: Stan Jordan
Winter means different things to different people. I guess it’s your age, your temperament, your health, your hobbies and really lots of things, and yes there are different parts of winter.
For kids, they like snow. Cold weather doesn’t seem to bother kids, they like the snow, ice and sleet. First, school might be closed… a day of no classes. Mom gets tired of the kids in the house so she dresses them up in warm clothes and outside they go. Of course they track in water, snow and mud, plus some of the neighbor kids. If you’re a hunter, you like a good tracking snow. If you have a snow mobile, you want plenty of snow and winter.
A farmer likes a good layer of snow on his wheat field. If he still has a crop in the field to harvest, he likes cold weather to freeze the ground, so no mud. If the snow comes after Christmas, the kids can use all the new sleds and toys they received.
An ice fisherman can make good use of very cold weather. They have all kinds of equipment to cut the cold air.
The men who own and operate snow moving equipment, they can use a little snow, maybe a lot of snow! The clothing store people like the cold and snow because they can sell heavy clothes, overshoes, boots, gloves, you name it. The garage people will tune up your vehicle and look at the radiator and battery. The natural gas people and the oil people need bad weather for them to make a living.
I guess this winter weather and what it brings is who and what you are and do.
I hate winter!
See ya!
OUR TRIP TO BEN’S
By: Stan Jordan
I remember one time, I went to see Ben Franklin, it was in the fall, and everyone was busy getting in the crops and the wood and kindling for winter.
Well, Ben was glad to see me and Juan Valdez and we went down to a joint by the docks. This was Thanksgiving time in that area. Some folks were working hard and some were finished with their work and were having a good time.
Now the four of us, Juan, Ben, me and Ben’s girl, sat in the corner and listened to some arguments about those lousy Englishmen. Both types were there; some talked about leaving the English rule and some were for staying with the status quo.
Now I’m telling you, the talk ran loud and long. We just listened and drank some home brew. Some young fellow making some good points on breaking with England, was named Nathan Hale. He was sitting at a table with a man named Paul Revere.
We sat there quite a while and the talk got louder so we got out of the back door before the tempers got worse. Ben was staying in an inn and we stayed in his room for the night. His girl friend lived on the other side of town, and she went on home.
The next day the town held a big dinner and celebration because all the work was done and time to rest. Everybody was to carry in some food of their liking.
There was potatoes, gravy, noodles, dressing, all garden vegetables, deer, bear, turkey, squirrel, crab, lobster, lots of pies, cakes and puddings. We were invited to dinner and it was an enjoyable time. All you can eat of everything.
Juan took some children a ride on his burro and that went over pretty good.
See ya!
ME ME
By: Stan Jordan
I was a rural letter carrier out of Antwerp from 1949 to 1981 and I liked that job and loved all of my 165 families. I watched them get older and all of their children grow up. Now the children have children and I am always glad to see and talk with one of those folks.
The whole month of December was different. In those years, everyone sent a lot of Christmas cards and other types of greetings and well wishes.
If the weather was good, sometimes people would go shopping and they might stop me along the road and pick up their daily mail, but they would always be in a gay mood. At that time Glenbrook was the place to go and Pauline and I went there often.
At that time I always had mail for every box because of all the greetings and advertising. I always carried flag stamps but that time of year I would also have Christmas stamps and they weren’t 50 cents each.
Over this century that I have lived, stamps have gone from one or two cents to over 50 cents, but I guess everything else has gone up also. If you go along with high tech, electric and hydraulic life it is pretty darned good.
People are different but they still are the same. We still celebrate Christmas with the tree and colored lights and that jolly seasonal feeling it there.
Here in town they collected for Christmas For Kids, Coats For Kids and boots and shoes for the needy. I am surely in favor of their volunteers, even food for the needy, yes I know that feeling should last all year but it is a good goal any how.
I am an old geezer but I still enjoy Christmas, the holidays, the lights, the colors and all that goes with the season, but there is still the loneliness.
See ya!
THIS AND THAT
By: Stan Jordan
Well the Ohio State Buckeyes ran into the Clemson Tigers on Saturday night and were defeated in a close game, that ended the Buckeye’s win streak at 19. That is still a fine record.
Louisiana State walked all over Oklahoma. If the boys would have won over Clemson they would have met LSU and I’m not sure how that would have been.
I understand that the Antwerp Archers won the SR 49 Tournament. That brings their win streak to 8 in a row.
OLD TIMERS
By: Stan Jordan
