YES, I AM STILL HERE looking out my window on Main Street, and I need to hurry up and wish Merry Christmas to both of my regular readers.
Please enjoy a safe, holy Christmas and I’ll see you next year which SURELY will be better than 2020! Egads, I’m sorry to have already jinxed us.
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I WILL MISS. By social media Rick and Ann Hicks announced that this week they are closing their Western Sizzlin’ restaurant. They have said maybe they’ll re-open in the spring.
The virus got another treasure. Our thanks to Rick, Ann and staff.
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I AM OLD and don’t get invited to rambunctuous Christmas/New Years season parties anymore, and it is just as well.
I have heard about a senior couple who had a bit of trouble getting to a recent party. They put on fancy clothes and headed out. The wife remembered the address that was on the invitation. When they arrived they couldn’t see anyone they expected to see. Also, everyone else was dressed considerably more casual.
Nevertheless, they found a table and sat. Helped themselves to shrimp and refreshment. Nodded greetings to perfect strangers.
They decided to return home and change into more casual clothes.
Then they returned to the party. At some point the hubby began talking with another couple and learned to his horror that he and wifey were at the wrong party. They slipped out a side door and went home to examine their invitation. You can figure out the rest of the story.
I meant to tell their names but as you can see I’ve run out of room.
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I LOVE TO DRIVE on rural roads to watch the change of seasons and dodge deer. Something that is not so pleasant is noticing litter on the roadside. It makes me grumpy, especially at this time of year.
This past Saturday the Navigator and I took a drive down Schaal Road all the way to Cottonshed Landing on the banks of Lake Millwood.
The sides of the road are disgusting — the worst I’ve ever seen. This doesn’t look like stuff that’s just blown out of the bed of someone’s pickup truck. This actually looks like someone is dumping their trash.
My suggestion is for residents along that stretch have a community get-together and pick up some of that litter. And keep an eye out for whoever is littering. You probably already have your suspicions.
For your information, Howard County gave up more acres than any other county for Millwood Lake but there is only one ‘landing’ in Howard County — Cottonshed. How did the site get its name?
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ANIMAL CRACKERS. The latest email from ‘Birds and Blooms’ magazine contained a picture of a bird called ‘Yellow Bellied Sapsucker.”
Until I read the article I thought Yellow Bellied Sapsucker was just another way of calling someone a craven coward.
While the topic is birds, is it my imagination we have an overabundance of large crows this season? Maybe the smartest of birds.
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HEARD FROM. The Younk family lived in a South Main house where Terry Ray’s Realty is located today. In fact, the Younks sold the house and property to Dr. Jerry Herndon who built a nice new brick building for his dental practice on that spot. When Dr. Herndon retired, Terry put his business into the building.
They’ve both moved away from Nashville but the surviving Younks have continued to be loyal hometown newspaper subscribers.
Carolyn (Younk) Turchi read my comments about Christmas divinity candy. She didn’t send candy (like Jo Howard and Jenny Chandler did) but she DID send clippings about how to make swell divinity. Carolyn notes that she was NHS class of 1956. She hints that you shouldn’t make divinity on a humid day because the candy won’t harden.
Carolyn’s little brother, Tommy, was NHS class of 1960, and was a senior on the good Scrapper football team that was one year ahead of my sorry bunch. He donated an item that is in the county museum’s military display — the WWI field telephone that was part of his family’s own history.
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THINGS I LEARNED from opening (and believing) anonymous emails. Great truths that adults have learned: Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn’t even have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.
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WORD GAMES. The twins: Pots and Pans. They are working on getting advanced culinary degrees out at the college.
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HE SAID: “The Earth reminded us of a Christmas tree ornament hanging in the blackness of space. As we got farther and farther away it diminished in size. Finally it shrank to the size of a marble, the most beautiful marble you can imagine.” Col. James Irwin, USAF, eighth person to walk on the Moon
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SHE SAID: “I’ve been giving back since I was a teen, handing out turkeys at Thanksgiving and handing out toys at toys drives for Christmas. It’s very important to give back as a youth. It’s as simple as helping an old lady across the street or giving up your seat on the bus for someone who is pregnant.” Queen Latifah, songwriter and actress
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SWEET DREAMS, Baby
