Jackson County Herald-Tribune (Edna, Tex.), Vol. 106, No. 39, Ed. 1 Wednesday, July 17, 2013 Page: 2 of 18
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Page 2A
Jackson County Herald-Tribune
Wednesday, July 17,2013
Viewpoints
Age is just a number or 60 is the new 40
I had a mind-stopping
experience a few weeks ago.
I was having a conversation
with my daughter Jessica’s
boyfriend, Steven, and he
said, “well, you are almost
60.”
What? I had to stop a
minute and think about what
he said. Jessica was suitably
horrified that he said that
and chastised him for it, but
the damage was done. It was
there all along - the unspo-
ken elephant in the room. At
58 years old, I am almost 60.
There, I said it. But it does-
n’t make it any less strange
because, you see, I feel like I
am still 30-ish.
Now, I have considered
myself officially 50-ish for
some time (probably after I
turned 55 because before
that I was in my late 40s.) I
have heard people say that
age is just a number.
According to Wikipedia,
the average life expectancy
in 2011 for Americans was
79. I know lots of people in
their 70s and 80s who don’t
look or act like they are liv-
ing on borrowed time. They
are enjoying themselves,
staying active and living
well. My dad is 86 and he is
of sound mind. It’s his body
that is letting him down.
I remember nearly 30
years ago meeting an older
neighbor, Mrs. Diffey. She
was a sweetie, full of fun
and very intelligent. I was at
her house one day and she
needed help getting in the
bath tub. She said to me,
“My body is falling apart on
me.” That impressed me
then and I have remembered
it many times since.
My point in all this is that
even though our bodies are
aging, our minds have not
caught up. In my head I am
still young. In many ways I
still think like I did when I
was a teenager. So it was a
surprise to have someone
actually say I was almost 60.
People in my generation -
baby boomers - have seen
and experienced many won-
derful things. I like to
remind my children that I
didn’t have a microwave
oven until Travis was born,
and he is turning 30 this
year! When I went to school
there were no calculators, a
testament to the multiplica-
tion tables and mental math
we had to learn. Typewriters
were the thing and they
weren’t electric. Computers
were not available to the
average person and cell
phones were something we
saw on Star Trek.
As a child we used a
wringer washer and hung the
clean clothes on the line to
dry. There were no VCRs,
DVDs, or Netflix. We only
had 12 channels on the TV
and no cable, so we spent
endless hours riding our
bicycles. I bought a small
transistor radio (that’s what
they were called then) when
I was 13 and carried it
around at the city pool. All
the technology put into use
since then has not been lost
on this generation. We
embraced it, learned it and
mastered it. And just when
A1 Gore helped create the
internet, we learned that,
too.
Keeping all these things in
mind, we should have a new
appreciation for our older
citizens. For you see,
although their bodies may
not reflect it, inside their
minds is a treasure trove of
information gleaned from
experience. And believe it or
not, it is still relevant to
today’s society.
So, yes, I guess I am
almost 60, darn it. But I can
still remember being a
teenager, young adult, new
wife, new mother and new
grandmother. I have lots of
life experiences that shaped
me into the person I am
today. I guess when I look at
it that way, it’s not such a
bad thing after all.
Chris Lundstrom can be
reached at clund-
strom@jacksonconews.com.
Popped over ‘The Pond’ to jolly old England, Scotland
If I’da known Billy
Shakespeare’s momma was a
Webb, I’da worked harder in
English Lit classes. But, I got
a book full of lessons on my
second “pop over the pond”
(that’s British for “flew over
the Atlantic”) on many things
Brit and some things Scot.
London and Edinburgh are
great places to visit, but I
wouldn’t want to live in
London (as the adage goes),
however, I might ‘ave a go at
Edinburgh.
Since Webb is an English
name, I’ve always wanted to
go to Great Britain, particu-
larly London. It is extraordi-
narily enjoyable, but I found
Edinburgh more interesting
and laid back.
My only personal purchase
in the United Kingdom was a
100 percent pure wool Scot
plaid tie. It’s an Ingles
Buchan (brand, which does-
n’t mean anything to me but
maybe it will to someone
more with it), in Stewart
muted blue (that name does-
n’t ring a bell either). I just
liked the look of it and if I
ever wear a tie again, it will
go with at least two sport
coats in my limited retire-
ment wardrobe. This Scot tie
is a “relaxed,” informal look
much more suited to my blue
jeans tastes and mind.
Of course, when you go to
a European country, such as
the British Isles, you expect
to see architecture much
older than in America.
•
Willis
t J
Webb
r* Ma
Structures in most places are
several centuries old. You
won’t find much in America
older than 250 years but, over
the pond, a thousand years is
not extraordinary.
Most structures are built of
stone, brick or masonry.
Wood is at a premium and in
a nation as limited in space as
Great Britain, the best bet has
always been stone. Forests,
replanting and 20-30-year
growth are out of the ques-
tion. Most streets are well-
worn cobblestone or brick.
Compared to our concrete,
asphalt and gravel streets, the
British roadways are rough,
but not enough to make for an
unpleasant ride.
In addition, apartment
buildings can extend several
stories beneath the ground, in
addition to many more stories
tall. Often, one’s residence
might extend under a street
and down a few levels. And,
most Englishmen live in
apartments (quite often they
own them).
As for mass transit, we
don’t even have the begin-
nings of the concept down
compared to our Brit friends.
Trains are a major travel
vehicle, both above and
beneath the surface, in large
Jackson County
Herald-Tribune
The Jackson County Herald-Tribune (USPS 168-400).
Established Nov. 22, 1906. Published each Wednesday
by Jackson County Publishing, LP, 306 N. Wells, Edna,
TX 77957. Jim Moser, Publisher. Periodicals postage
paid at Edna, TX.
Editor!
Publisher
Chris Lundstrom
Staff Writer
Lisa Shapiro
Sports/News Writer
Millie Diaz
Advertising Director
Pam Harvey
Advertising Design
Connie Moseley
Sue Capak
Office Manager
Kerry Karl
POSTMASTER: Send address changes to: Jackson
County Herald-Tribune. 306 N. Wells, Edna, TX 77957.
Yearly subscription rates: $31.50 in Jackson County;
$41.50 elsewhere in Texas; $44.50 outside Texas in
USA, Phone (361) 782-3547.
The Jackson County Herald-Tribune and www.jacksonconews.com, as
well as any reasonable derivative of these names, are trademarks of
Jackson County Publishing, LP and use of these trademarks without the
express written consent of Jackson County Publishing, LP is strictly pro-
hibited. The entire contents of each issue of The Jackson County Herald-
Tribune and www.jacksonconews.com are protected under the Federal
Copyright Act. Reproduction of any portion of any issue will not be per-
mitted without the express permission of Jackson County Publishing, LP
cities and between towns. We
took a train from London to
Edinburgh, a four-plus-hour
jaunt and it was great. The
accommodations and service
were first class coach.
Libations and meals are as
good or better as you’ll get on
any mass transportation trav-
el.
City bus service within
both London and Edinburgh
was outstanding.
Double-decker tour buses
with at least part of the upper
deck al fresco are a great way
to get around. A ticket
enables you to get off wher-
ever you like, then board
another bus at appropriately
marked tour stops and contin-
ue your rounds. We did this in
Edinburgh, and London to a
lesser extent. However, we
found riding the train or tube
(underground train) the easi-
est way to get around London
efficiently.
'We splurged on one live
stage show to break up the
sightseeing and touring.
Jersey Boys is a musical that
has been running for several
years in both London and
New York’s Broadway and is,
obviously, quite popular.
It is an American story of
Frankie Valli and The Four
Seasons. As you may recall,
the music is great harmony
and much of it the rock and
roll beat that swept both
countries in the 1950s-60s,
when that group was at its
zenith in the two greatest
English-speaking countries in
the world.
Thankfully, I had an aisle
seat with plenty of passage
room because my right leg
stuck out with my foot tap-
ping enough to the music that
my knee was going up and
down noticeably so even
someone with Mr. Magoo
glasses could see.
There’s much more of
interest about the trip and
from time to time I’ll spin a
column or two about the UK
trip and how old retired, po
folks can swing it.
Willis Webb is a retired
community newspaper editor-
publisher of more than 50
years experience. He can be
reached by email at
wwebbl937@att.net.
The three of them stood looking at
The Fertilizer King’s new entry into the
world of corporate success. Dewey
Decker, founder, shoveler, president and
chairman of the board if there was a
board, stood next to Emily Stickles, cor-
porate financial vice president and girl-
friend, and Windy Wilson, willing vol-
unteer.
In front of them sat an older model
riding lawn mower they borrowed from
the Jenkins kid, hooked up to an old 55-
gallon steel drum and a series of pipes
coming out of it with spray nozzles on
them they picked up cheap at the hard-
ware store. In the drum was about 50
gallons of liquid manure, soaked in
water until it was the color of iced tea,
with some inexpensive acid added to
make it perfect for growing plants.
Dud Campbell had done the neces-
sary welding on the sprayer, and now all
that remained was to turn it on and drive
around on Bert’s lawn as an experiment.
Emily, the designated note taker, was
going over things.
“Okay, Honey, I have this pretty
much figured out. Five gallons of ‘cow
pasture tea’ should cover 500 square
feet of lawn. Not counting labor, there is
45 cents per gallon of added ingredi-
ents, and we’ll have to figure in about
two dollars a barrel for the gunny sacks
used for straining it.
“So if we add this, divide by five, and
carry the four, this comes out to your
cost of 74 cents per 100 square feet of
lawn. Does it matter what kind of grass
is in the lawn? No? Okay then, 74
cents. Then there are the labor costs to
be added to that ... shall we say five
bucks per average-sized lawn? Because
you have to pay Windy something to
drive the lawn mower. That’s right. I
know you volunteered, Windy, but your
time is valuable and Dewey may need
you on a non-helper day.”
Windy devotes one day each week to
helping someone, for free, just because.
“Then of course, you have to figure
in riding mower rental and welding
charges ... I know they did it for noth-
ing, but you have to be fair and be a
businessman. So you then add on
research costs, long-term debt service
... don’t interrupt ... and it comes out
to just under $10 a lawn.
“If the yard is twice as big as most
yards, charge $20 for the ‘tea.’”
Windy and Dewey just looked at the
smile on her face and smiled, too.
Corporate progress is an amazing
thing.
Brought to you by Home Country
(the award-winning book). Take a look
at it at wwwslimrandles.com
CHAMBER CHATTER
Jackson County Chamber of Commerce a Agriculture
PO BOX 788
Edna. Texas 77 9 57
381-782-7146 j.cha muertfatt.net
Fax 361*782-2811 wvm.iacKsoncourtylexas.com
317 W. Main St., Edna, TX
Are you searching for a home to
rent? Two of our Chamber members
currently have housing available. For
information call Texana Real Estate
at 361-771-3387 and Flag City
Mobile Home Community at 713-
202-8069.
Large office space available in the
perfect location. Call Shelly Srp @
361- 782-5949 for the ideal place to
showcase your business.
Head Start s currently accepting
applications for the 2013-2014
school year. TMC Golden Crescent
Head Start offers pre-school services
to children ages 3-5 years. For more
information call 361-582-4441.
Grab your towels and head out to
the Edna City Pool to beat the heat.
Great family fun for a great price.
Ask about renting the pool for that
special birthday. For more informa-
tion call 361-782-5124.
EISD coaching staff will hold a
Football Fundamental Camp July 24
-25 at Shelby Park. The cost of the
camp is $20 per student for ages 6-
12. For more information contact
Mike Pierce at mpierce@ednaisd.org
or call 979-541-3086.
Letters to the
Editor Policy
Editor's note: This newspaper wel-
comes responsible letters to the edi-
tor, provided they are of reasonable
length, free of libelous content and
written in good taste.
All letters must be no longer than
500 words, and, in order to appear in
the newspaper, each letter must
have its writer's name pub-
lished. Letters submitted via email
or fax must include the full name of
the writer as well as his or her resi-
dential address and home tele-
phone number.
Also, only letters that are originally
composed by readers of the Jackson
County Herald-Tribune will be con-
sidered for publication. No form or
sample letters that are rewritten or
passed along by our readers from
lobby groups, political action com-
mittees or similar organizations will
be accepted.
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Lundstrom, Chris. Jackson County Herald-Tribune (Edna, Tex.), Vol. 106, No. 39, Ed. 1 Wednesday, July 17, 2013, newspaper, July 17, 2013; Edna, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth774361/m1/2/?q=green+energy: accessed July 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Jackson County Memorial Library.