Editorial / Opinions

A good friend of mine is convinced that veterinarians are smarter than medical doctors. “Think about it,” he once told me, “vets go to school the same length of time as doctors and they take basically the same subjects, have to diagnose and treat many species, plus they don’t have the luxury of their patients telling them what their symptoms are, so they have to be smarter. When I get sick, I just go to my vet.” I found no logical argument against his premise when he made that statement years ago.

I know it’s just now the beginning of November but it’s time to start thinking about our annual Country Christmas Cookbook. Christmas will be here before we know it.

A good friend of mine is convinced that veterinarians are smarter than medical doctors. “Think about it,” he once told me, “vets go to school the same length of time as doctors and they take basically the same subjects, have to diagnose and treat many species, plus they don’t have the luxury of their patients telling them what their symptoms are, so they have to be smarter. When I get sick, I just go to my vet.” I found no logical argument against his premise when he made that statement years ago.

I know it’s just now the end of October but it’s time to start thinking about our annual Country Christmas Cookbook. Like years in the past I am collecting recipes from our readers to help fill the pages of the 2014 Cookbook and I need your help.

Fall sure slipped in early or I didn’t get enough of summer to suit my subconscious mind. We had a great summer, no high usage of electricity at my house but we didn’t have lots of high temperature days either. My greatest fear is after the fall elections are held, many of the local TV stations will have to lay off people because they won’t be selling political ads. We have heard so much about political candidates on my TV this summer that we almost know what color underwear they wear.

A few weeks ago, I stopped by and had a visit with my only living aunt. A wonderful lady, in her 90s, she still lives by herself in the same home she’s had for over half a century, even though she has had to admit that she doesn’t feel up to putting out as big of a garden as she has in past years.

To me there is something enchanting about Century Farms and I love having the opportunity to visit Century Farms around the Ozarks. Over the last couple of weeks I have had the pleasure of sharing the stories of three Century Farms.

A good neighbor dropped by Sunday afternoon for a short visit and a wonderful surprise. Before leaving, he went to his truck and retrieved a paper sack. “You’ll like these,” he promised. He sat the sack down on the front porch and drove away.

To me there is something enchanting about Century Farms and I love having the opportunity to visit Century Farms around the Ozarks. Over the last couple of weeks I have had the pleasure of sharing the stories of three Century Farms.

"Your farm dams are leaking and you must have them repaired immediately.” That order came from the state of Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Quality to a rural landowner claiming that after the last heavy rains his two dams had sent lots of trashy branches down stream and this situation must be immediately remedied. This letter sounded very much like a presidential order to cure this hazardous problem or else.