AUGUST 7 - AUGUST 13, 1999
AUGUST 13, 1999
Knowing the truth....
can be difficult. We are bombarded with so much that it is sometimes hard to decide
what is correct and what is not. It seemed that was the case at The Bradford Hotel last
night. It was one of those times when I was glad I had all the facts and had them at my
fingertips.
It started when Welfare Wes got on the Chamber of Commerce issue. It sprang out of a
short discussion over the SPCA and Janet McCauley's resignation. Anyway, Wes was taking
the side of the Bradford Area Alliance. (No one could figure that one out. Wes was so
scared of work, we figured he thought employers were Communists.)
"Mike Glesk was right," Wes said. "The Alliance knows what's best for
Bradford."
Grant Nichols was shocked at what Wes said. "Why do you say that?" he
asked.
"Because they provide all the jobs and without them there wouldn't be a
Bradford. Where would we be without Zippo or the refinery, or any of those
companies?" he said.
Now some might think Wes is lazy. I have never thought that. Some think Wes is
stupid, too. Nothing could be farther from the truth. He generally has all the facts when
he enters into an discussion about something like the Alliance taking over the Chamber of
Commerce. However, this time I knew he didn't. I stayed out of this, much like I had
stayed out of the SPCA discussion (I knew I had done enough already!). I just let it take
its course to see where it would go.
Mattress Margie didn't like what Wes said and she took immediate exception to it. I
could understand. While Margie may have been a woman of questionable morality from time to
time, and she did drink a bit more than most professional football teams as a whole, she
did work and she was not looking for a free ride like others who may have been
participating in the conversation.
"That's a whole lot of bull, Wes," she said. "Zippo gives us jobs.
For Bradford they are good jobs. For other places they are just jobs. Instead of having a
prison sitting up on that hill, we could have had Eastman Kodak. But no! Eastman Kodak
would have paid more. they would have employed 500 people! They would have put competition
in the job market. They would have had the best workers. So what happened? They were kept
out. And who do you think kept them out? If not the same people in the so called Alliance,
people just like them!"
"What's that got to do with running the Chamber of Commerce now?"
Wes demanded never taking the time to dispute what Margie had said.
"Everything!" she said. "Don't think they want to help us. Don't
think that for one second. All they want is to help themselves. If they can come up with a
way they can keep us under their control by taking over the Chamber of Commerce, then they
are going to do it. I am not sure why they were trying, but it was not for the common good
of anyone sitting in this room. No. It was for them and them only."
"Well it should be," Wes said. "They are representing some of
the area's largest employers. They are also major contributors to the chamber since dues
are based on employment. Mike Glesk said their contributions make up 90% of the
chamber."
Ironically, in today's paper, in a story headlined "Chamber decides to
work with Alliance" Wes' words were printed almost exactly. Evidently the
campaign they were waging has hit its mark.
That was when I spoke up.
"That's not exactly true, Wes," I said calmly. (Wes was getting excited
and I was trying to bring the conversation back to where we could exchange ideas and
complete a point.)
"How's that?" he asked. "It's been reported several times in The
Era, and even when Marty wrote her column "Alliance has lost credibility"
and she called Chris Hauser a chauvinist, she said they paid the greatest part, I think 90
to 95% of what the chamber took in with dues."
I laughed. "You read it where?" I asked teasingly. "Did you say the Error,
or The Era?"That was always good for a laugh and I sure got one on it.
Then I continued. I took a paper out of my pocket. I began to read from it.
"The total dues for 1999 for the Chamber of Commerce with 331 members is
$46,315. There are twelve members of the Alliance. American Refining Group pays $800. The
Bradford Era pays $441.50. Bradford Forest Products pays $320. Bradford Regional Medical
Center pays $635. Kessel Construction pays $275. KOA Speer Pays $525. McCourt Label pays
$385. McDowell, Wick, & Daly pays $192. National City Bank pays $1,050. Pitt Bradford
pays $350. Top Line Corp pays $105. And, Zippo pays $1,750.
"That's the Bradford Area Alliance and how much they pay in dues to the
Chamber of Commerce. When you add it all up, they pay $6,828.50 combined in dues. The
remaining 319 members pay a total of $39,486.50. Why should 12 companies say what is going
on and where do they get off saying that they are paying 90 - 95% of the dues paid to the
Chamber? In fact, where does The Era or anyone else get off saying that and
giving the impression that without them there would be no chamber? Tell me!" I
demanded, losing it a bit myself.
"Let me see that," Wes said.
I gave the paper to him.
"Where did you get this?" he asked.
I just smiled. "Where do I get any of my information? It sure isn't from The
Bradford Era," I said.
"Hey, The Era is a good paper," Mattress Margie said.
"I like it. It has good horoscopes and the lottery numbers every day."
"I think its good, too," I admitted. "I found it particularly
useful this morning."
"Really?" Wes asked.
"Yes," I answered. "I used it to kill flies. It did a great job.
And, beyond the lottery numbers and the horoscopes, unless what you are reading was
reported by someone with a national news service, I would not take it very
seriously."
With that Wes challenged me to show where they misreported some place else.
"Today," I said. "In their story about the Airport Authority putting
the restaurant lease out for bids they reported that Christine Thompson currently pays
$800 for utilities and $1200 in rent. That's a laugh. If we were getting that, we wouldn't
be putting it out for bid. That's what we want to get, not what she's paying. And
that's how they do it. Once it's printed, it's fact. People don't check. They do it all
the time."
I was disgusted and I finished and left. Knowing the truth is one thing. Having the
local newspaper report it is something else, especially if they hold an interest in the
misinformation they are trying to sell to the people.
As usual your comments are welcome at rdhedbud@penn.com.
AUGUST 12, 1999
Dave
Good morning. I was watching the Kevin Kline - Sigorney Weaver picture about a
stand in for the President taking over and doing good last night. I've seen the picture
many times. I enjoy it each and every time; and, I seem to take something new from it with
each viewing. Last night was no different.
I thought about coming in and writing then and not waiting until morning. I also
thought about including my two new companions, Cornplanter and Red Jacket, just to add a
touch of humor. But as I thought about it, and before I fell off to sleep before the
movie ended, I knew that what I wanted to say shouldn't be left as a joke, or even light
heartedness. No, I felt it should be serious.
As I said, I fell off to sleep and did not write the story last night, fortunately.
Humor has a place most everywhere. In laughing at ourselves we are best able to be
objective about how really insignificant we really are and how important what we do for
other people really is.
It appears that my spoof in the anniversary issue of The Mountain Laurel Review
offended Janet McCauley. I was not trying to make a laughing stock out of the SPCA. I have
always supported the SPCA both in spirit and financially whenever I was called upon to do
so.
But, when I wanted to show up the Bradford Area Alliance for what it really is, the
SPCA seemed like an innocent enough organization to be the next target. The purpose was to
show that these Twelve Apostles of Wealth and Privilege wanted power and control
over our destinies. And, as evidenced by the lies that were told in their attempted
takeover of the Chamber of Commerce, nothing was sacred and no one was exempt from their
grasp.
The idea of the Alliance taking over the SPCA was in itself a living caricature of
the Alliance and the people who comprise it. I am sorry that Janet McCauley did not see in
the light that it was intended. It was designed to show that secret meetings and secret
plans have no place in our lives if we are to go forward together as a community.
Janet didn't see it that way. Too bad.
Too bad because from reading the accounts of her resignation, it seems she chose to
step aside, to quit a post she has held for a very long time, over pretty much the same
thing. There is no humor when people meet behind your back, and from what it seems
Janet believed, conspired behind her back against her.
If three of four people came together, that would not have been a big thing. But,
when everyone except three are invited and then no account of what was really said given,
it has all the shades and tones of exactly what took place between the Alliance and Dale
Phillips. Many would agree with Janet's decision to resign under those circumstances. I
don't.
I don't because I am not a quitter. I like a fight. I like the challenge. But I
can't look into her heart and perhaps under circumstances like she was faced with she felt
it was no longer worth it. I can understand that and I can understand that there is
nothing funny about it, either.
So what does the movie Dave have to do with all of this?
It just might be that when Dave was challenged to find the $650 million in the
budget so he could have his homeless shelters, and he did, I saw myself and similar
circumstances.
For those of you who missed Janet McCauley's letter to Other voices in
Monday's Era, here it is:
"One of our county commissioners has chosen to make the SPCA the butt of
his jokes. Too bad he doesn't appreciate the bargain the county is getting: A $100,000 a
year animal shelter for $4,000."
Four thousand dollars is the annual allocation to the SPCA out of the County
Budget. They had asked for an increase but with dwindling resources (money), we were
unable to grant it. Unfortunately, the SPCA took a back seat to funding responsibilities
like Family Centers, The Airport, our massive Court System, and even demands from the
Imperial Dick McDowell for the county to pay for the upkeep on a ball field owned by the
University of Pittsburgh. What would she have had us do? Raise taxes?
When you keep in mind that the expansion of Family Centers haven't even cost the
County $4,000 from the general fund, the real bargain is what we have been able to do for
young families and children. That isn't a joke and it isn't funny, either. That's a little
known or appreciated fact.
I am sorry to see Janet McCauley go. She has done a fine job. None of us are
indispensable. The voters in the Republican Party told me that. Still, there is the matter
of being the butt of a joke or being part of humor aimed at another target. Go back and
read it again, Janet. I meant no disrespect to you or the SPCA. This column is open to you
if you still disagree. You don't need to write to anyone else. I'll print it here for you.
Your comments are welcome at rdhedbud@penn.com.
AUGUST 11, 1999
A Tale of Two Restaurants
All too many times we go out and find a good place, sometimes a great place to eat, and
we let it go at that. I don’t. When it comes to good restaurants, I am a bit of an
obsessive compulsive. (Or is that compulsive obsessive?) When I find a great place with
good people and a magnificent menu, I go back time and time again. That was the case with
two restaurants Sharyn and I found on our recent vacation.
Strawberry Hill, a Lancaster, PA restaurant and bistro, is located in
downtown Lancaster. Dennis Kerek is the proprietor and when Sharyn and I went back the
second night, we recognized several similarities between his operation and ours, The
Rainbow Inn.
Dennis sat at the bar, usually with a glass of wine in his hand, giving orders to a
tall young man with a pony tail. The young man was the bartender and his son, Chip. A
pretty young woman who was also a very talented and friendly wait person, was also his
daughter, Karen. With that, I phoned home and told my tall pony tailed son, Geoff, to
drive down the next night and have dinner with us. I wanted him exposed to the cuisine and
the presentation of the dishes. Geoff is our chef at The Rainbow Inn.
To begin with, Dennis offers perhaps the most extensive, if not the most snobbish
wine list I have ever seen. He proudly proclaims that they have over 1000 selections of
wine available at any one time. Obviously my tastes are not as refined or trained as
Dennis. I prefer a Bully Hill Niagara with seafood, fish, or chicken. Strawberry
Hill and Dennis offer no New York wines, as they also do not offer any
Pennsylvania wines either. Dennis pointed to the blending of wines that takes place in New
York as the reason. In saying that he echoed an old complaint that Walter Taylor, owner of
Bully Hill Winery, has long accused the California wine makers of doing. It was the
very reason that caused his initial break with the family owned Taylor Wine Company back
in the early 70's and ultimately partly led to the sale of the company.
Once past the wines, the dinner menu is one of the most interesting and tasty I
have seen in a long time. Again, being whatever I said I was, I became a creature of
habit. Eating at Strawberry Hill three of four nights in the Lancaster area,
I had the same dish twice. That was the MEDITERRANEAN STYLE SMOKED SALMON and NEW
ZEALAND MUSSELS with ARTICHOKE and SPINACH SAUTE OVER LINGUINI with FETA and TOMATO PESTO
SAUCE. That was reasonably priced at $16 and was so good I would have had it the third
night except Dennis shamed me into trying a different dish. I had the ROASTED ATLANTIC
SALMON with MEDLEY of OLIVES , SPINACH SAUTE, and SQUID INK PASTA with ROSEMARY INFUSED
TOMATO SAUCE. I liked the first dish the best.
Sharyn had the GRILLED FILET MIGNON with ROASTED PEPPER SMASHED POTATOES, SWISS
CHARD, and FRIED ONION, with AU POIVRE SAUCE. That dish was $24 and the filet was
sliced and tented over the smashed whole red potatoes, topped with the onions. She ordered
it the first two nights and then went to the PAN SEARED SCALLOPS the final night.
Like me, she like the first dish the best.
We began each meal with a generous and exceptionally large Caesar Salad which was
touted as "The Strawberry Hill variation of this classic salad." It was
delicious and unlike many Caesars that you are served, it was not a disappointment and
could have been a meal in itself. Appetizers and soups were delicious and offered a
wide and interesting variety. Nothing, absolutely nothing on the menu was a disappointment
and the surroundings were equally interesting and comfortable.
The restaurant itself was impeccably spotless and warm; but it was the personality
of Dennis and his children that made us want to be there. There was a warmth that is
missing in too many places. It was small, yet large enough to accommodate whoever walked
through the door. Dennis met us each night and welcomed us to the point that we felt he
was genuinely happy to see us. Whether he was or not, we did feel welcome and on our next
trip to the Lancaster area we will surely return to Strawberry Hill.
While we were in Lancaster, we stayed at the Host Inn Conference Center. We
were part of the County Commissioners Annual Convention. It is interesting to note several
things about the Host Inn. Aside from the friendly front desk
staff, for the most part we found our stay there rather disappointing. Evidently the rest
of the Commissioners thought so too. Faced with a choice of coming back in 2002 or going
to the Hershey Inn, the Commissioners overwhelmingly opted not
to return. Why?
The food was lousy and the service was worse. The carpets in the halls were in
drastic need of a good cleaning and the entire hotel needed redone. At one point in the
hallway as I walked to the lobby area, I could consistently smell the odor of garbage.
That is inexcusable and shows that the management has been lax in overseeing the
operation.
The main
bright spot of the whole hotel was the swimming pool. It is centrally located with the
rooms forming a circle around one of the largest hotel pools I have been to in a long
time. It was well cared for and it was very refreshing in the early August heat. I managed
to be in the pool every day I was there.
Another
bright spot was a young lady we met there. Kristy was a bartender who had the personality
that should have been the trademark for the hotel. Unfortunately, it was not. Still,
whether she was working the Lobby Bar, or if she was at the Pool, she brought that little
extra with her that made the stay well worth the trip.
The hamburgers and hot dogs she made on the gas grille behind the bar,
unfortunately for the hotel, and fortunately for us, was the only good part of the entire
food menu offered by the Lancaster Host Inn.
Thanks, Kristy. You are a sweetie and you made our stay great.
From
Lancaster we traveled down to Ocean City, MD. Our destination was the Sheraton
Fontainebleau, located beachfront on the Atlantic Ocean. The picture you see
here was taken from the ocean’s edge looking back up at the hotel. What a fabulous
place to stay! And, even though the hotel itself may be twenty or so years old, everything
is in the best of condition and the staff makes all the difference in the world. This was
a vacation I will remember for years to come.
Ironically, one of the first people Sharyn and I met was a bartender. Also, equally
ironic, her name was Kristy, too. This Kristy was every bit as friendly and talented as
the first Kristy. (Must be something about the name.) Kristy was at the Ocean Front Deck
Bar that they called Lenny’s Deck Bar. With my sensitive
skin, I spent a little time there, just to get out of the sun of course.
And Kristy typified the entire staff, too. Ruth, Kim, Zoe and Kate; Mike, Ian, and
Kevin, all were very friendly and a lot of fun to be around.. Just trying to get Mike to
stand still for a photograph was a chore in itself.
He
didn’t like having his picture taken, but he would tell you about the places
he’d been. He picked me out as being from Pittsburgh and told more than one good
story that went from drinking Scotch with Dudley Moore to irritation Tom Cruise. (Oh my!)
But, if you wanted ideas as to where to get good crabs (Phillips)
or steamed clams (BJ’s), Mike was your man. If he said the
food was good, you could take it to the bank.
And he
didn’t lie when he told us about Horizons. It is the grand dining room
of the Sheraton Fontainebleau which features a piano bar in the attached lounge every
Tuesday thru Saturday. Cathy Silva was at the piano when we were there, and, we
were also told that Cathy is a Sheraton favorite who has been performing there for quite
some time. She had a wide range of music and played all of it very well. She won me over
on Friday night when I was thinking of a song and she played it. I rose from my chair and
tipped her for reading my mind.
Like I said about Strawberry Hill, the people even more
than the food make the restaurant. That was the case here. We ate at Horizons each
night from Wednesday on and including Saturday. On each of the four consecutive nights,
even though we sat at the exact same table (102 in the Smoking Section at the window
overlooking the beach), we had four different wait persons. (Denise, the wait person on
Thursday, told us they were rotated to a different part of the restaurant each night.)
Jeremy was
our first wait person. He recommended the Fisherman’s Feast.We had a lot of fun
joking with him. Our son-in-law is named Jeremy and I asked him if he had a baby, what he
would name it. Never at a loss, Jeremy calmly told me "Red." Being a
redhead, I immediately liked the name. And, seeing how our daughter and our Jeremy are
expecting very shortly, I called home with the suggestion. Red. I like it!
Denise, our second wait person (never got a picture of her and it is everyone’s
loss because she was a doll!) was just a friendly, and certainly more pleasing to my eye,
than Jeremy. She was bright and fun to have wait on us. I had the Fisherman’s Feast
again - you know that compulsive obsessive or whatever thing. Sharyn had it too. We wanted
to make sure the first time was not a fluke. Believe me it wasn’t. There were two
lobster tails, scallops, Imperial Crab "Maryland," three shrimp, and a clam
casino. What a dish! Denise, too.
Then came Friday. We became daring. They had a special dish that night. Her name
was Ruth. Seriously, her name was Ruth. As for the special meal, it was Veal with Shrimp
and a delicious tomato sauce. We had the Manhattan Clam Chowder which was loaded with
delicious clams.
We had a great bottle of wine with our meal and we got to know Ruth. (She
couldn’t keep a straight face around me. I must have been funny looking. I can live
with that as long as the person laughing at me is as pretty as Ruth, who by the way is
from Lithuania and is here for the summer working and will return to school in the fall.)
Anyway, three great meals in the row!
Then
there was Saturday. If it was Saturday, then it was Gloria from Port Vue. If you are from
Pittsburgh, you know where "Port" is. It’s outside McKeesport and Gloria is
a Pittsburgh girl for sure. You can see from the picture how bubbly she is and even when
the dining room filled and she was literally running her butt off she kept that good
feeling about her. Me, I had the Fisherman’s Feast once more. If you have a good
thing, you stay with it.
I know I have made a big thing out of the people. You can’t help but do it.
From the lady who takes the reservations and seats you, to the bus boys, to the manager
himself, who helped out on the floor on Friday and Saturday when things got busy, they
made the place. A lady who was sitting behind us on Saturday night said that the best meal
she has ever had in Ocean City was right there at the Sheraton.
I know I have made a big thing out of the people. You can’t help but do it.
From the lady who takes the reservations and seats you, to the bus boys, to the manager
himself, who helped out on the floor on Friday and Saturday when things got busy, they
made the place. A lady who was sitting behind us on Saturday night said that the best meal
she has ever had in Ocean City was right there at the Sheraton.
While I
didn’t eat anywhere else (except for the Special Nachos at the Brass Balls
Saloon, where Nora, a new mom of five months - Robbie is her son’s name,
served us some cold beer and recommended the great afternoon snack.) I would have had to
agree with her. The meals that were served to us at Horizons were
presented in an attractive manner, and everything seemed to feature the Maryland lump crab
that was in season You really had to go a long way to beat those entrees!
Now
every great restaurant usually has a great bar. Horizons is no
different. And with every great bar, there is always a great bartender. Once more,
Horizons is no different.
"Stick" is an old time club manager from Washington, D.C. (The
Bastille) and a good friend with the band that plays the deck bar
between 3 and 6 and the dining room from 10 to 1 (The Second Coming).
"Stick" is also the dirty dog who taught Sharyn to play Keno (legal in Maryland
and makes them a whole lot of money) and turned her into a Keno "junkie." He
remembered the clubs from the seventies in D.C. The Pall Mall, Ventuno 21,
Archibalds, and on and on. I wanted to know what happened to Phil Haines, the
lead singer in the group The Inner Circle. He asked the band and
they said he moved to Ohio and was selling bibles. I always liked Phil. I hope he has done
well. He was a pretty good singer. I wonder why he changed careers?
Anyway,
between the food, the bar, the beach (How could I forget the ocean! The water was
wonderful and what was even better were all the beautiful women on the beach in the
bikinis!) That was worth the trip alone. And there were funny looking fat guys, (no
wonder Rita laughed at me!),
and
beautiful ladies (who were with the funny looking fat guys) who got hooked on Keno because
of that bartender fellow!All in all the Sheraton Fontainebleau is
a great place to vacation. It is open year round and from Northwestern Pennsylvania it is
seven to eight hours by car. It’s a great place to visit, relax and put on a few
pounds. (In my case it was more than just a few.) The Sheraton is on the world wide web at
http://www.sheratonoc.com.
As usual, all comments are welcome at rdhedbud@penn.com.
AUGUST 10, 1999
Back to the Bradford Hotel
Just like coming home and sleeping in your own bed, its always good to get back
to the neighborhood saloon. You can take only so much of those nice hotel bars with their
padded chairs, clean ash trays, and friendly bartenders. Really, there is no place like
home!
One thing you can always count on is if you are from this area, even though you
leave, you are still from this area. That's one of those givens and it pops up at the
strangest times. With me it was last Monday night at the Lancaster Host Hotel.
Sharyn and I had just come back to the hotel from a marvelous meal at a downtown
Bistro, Strawberry Hill. There was a comfortable looking lobby bar in the hotel so we
decided to sit at the bar and have a nightcap before turning in. Well we sat and we waited
patiently. The bartender was a man, strange looking as far as men go, but that should have
nothing to do with his ability to make and serve a drink. We waited and we waited.
He was in an out from the room off the end of the bar. Each time he looked directly
at us, and each time he ignored us. It was as if he knew me! It was as if he wanted us to
go away.
"My God," I thought. "Has my reputation made it all the way to
Lancaster?"
Finally, after an unusually long wait, he came out of his little room and with us
sitting at the exact opposite end of the bar, he hollered down to us.
"Are you here for something to eat?" he asked.
Now this is where I say you can take us out of Bradford but you will never take the
Bradford out of us.
"We here for drinks!" I said back to him. "If we wanted something to
eat we would go to the dining room!"
That shook him up. I don't know. Maybe they do serve full meals at the bar when
they have a 200 seat dining room attached to it. Even at that, had we been hungry and gone
in the dining room, wouldn't they have asked us if we wanted a drink first? You would
think so, and you would also think that if you did sit at the bar and want to eat, perhaps
they also should ask you if you didn't first want a drink. Oh well.
That's why it was good to get back to the Bradford Hotel. No false pretences there!
You walk in and you get a drink. If Sheffer's buying, you get it whether you want it or
not. That was what was going on last night. And who do you think he was buying drinks for,
too? None other than the Romeo of the Super Geriatric Set, Chief Red Jacket himself!
They didn't see me at first. Red Jacket looked like he had just gotten back from
the beach. He was wearing a very loud Hawaiian shirt and a pair of shorts. He had been to
the Nike outlet in Lancaster and was wearing a pair of black high tops. He also had a ball
cap on his head and on it, covering the name on the front was a large green election
button. I could read it all the way across the room. It read: "Cavallero with an e
for DJ!" I shook my head.
When I approached them Red Jacket was showing Sheffer pictures he had taken on his
vacation. You know, the one I paid for.
"Here's one of Denise," he said. "She's a pretty waitress at the
hotel we stayed at. This one is Nicolle. Look at that body! Look at the way she fills out
that bikini. And this one is Betty. Look at that bikini," he said.
Sheffer's eyes were bulging out of his head.
And there was a crowd around him too. Grant Nichols took each photograph and
carefully examined it. It was as if he was examining the artistic quality to see if it was
not a good enough photograph to run in the Bradford Journal and Miner. John
Satterwhite and Greg Henry carefully looked over Grant's shoulder as if they were
assisting him. Red Jackets photographs of pretty girls were quite the hit in Bradford last
night.
Cornplanter came wandering in after me. I had taken a seat away from all the
excitement and he came over and joined me.
"I should never have let him buy that camera," he said to me. "That
was my first mistake. My second mistake was showing him how to put film in it. Then, I
should have never told him about the One Hour Film Processing. He must have spent five
hundred dollars on those pictures."
"Where did he get all that money?" I asked. As soon as I did I realized I
would be sorry.
"He charged it to your American Express Card," Cornplanter said calmly.
I nearly choked on my beer. "I should have known it," I said. "I
should have known it."
Cornplanter just laughed. Then he pulled out an official looking document. It was
an application for a Hunting License. "Have you filled yours out yet?" he asked.
"Yes," I said. "Geoff, Gateser, and I do it every year. Why?"
"I think Red Jacket and I want to hunt this year. We're concerned about Y2K
and we want to get a supply of venison in before the food supply is disrupted. We already
have a generator and have been cutting wood for the stove. We think it would be nice to go
one the hunt with the white men this year."
I nodded appreciatively. It was good to see that the two old chiefs were cognizant
of the world around them. Besides, I wanted to hunt with them.
"Red Jacket is really into this Cavallero with an e thing," I said
casually to Cornplanter.
"You don't know the half of it," he said. "It isn't so much that he
likes this Cavallero with an e, it's that he doesn't like this Hauser guy."
"Why is that?" I asked.
"Every where he goes, he asks people about him. He was at the Star Bar before
we came here. He met some woman who said she was some relative to that guy."
"What guy?" I asked. "Hauser?"
"Yes," Cornplanter said.
"So what?" I asked.
"He was filling out his hunting application and she told him that
Hauser hated hunters."
"I can't believe that," I said. "How could Hauser live here in the woods
and hate hunters? That's absurd!"
"I know," Cornplanter said. "Red Jacket is convinced that Hauser hates
hunters, and you know what he's like when he makes up his mind about something. You should
hear him."
"I'd prefer not to," I said. "I don't believe that Hauser hates hunters.
I can believe that he hates cats. A whole lot of people hate cats. That makes sense. I can
even see Hauser hating cats big time, and I can understand why he is such a Chauvinist.
I can't see him as a Hunter Hater. That doesn't make any sense."
Cornplanter said he was inclined to agree with me. At any rate I was glad to be
home and see that nothing had changed. I finished my beer and called my niece to drive me
home. On the way up the hill I wondered about the Hunter Hater thing. I thought I might
call Hauser and ask him. Then I dismissed that idea. The whole Hunter Hater thing was
stupid. Oh well.
Your comments are welcome at rdhedbud@penn.com.
AUGUST 9, 1999
Home, and none too soon
Good morning. It's 49.5 degrees at 5:59 A.M.
I haven't started like that for awhile. You see the temperature itself is significant.
49.5 degrees is considerably lower from where it was when Sharyn and I left on July 31st.
I made a note of it, at 6 A.M. on that Saturday morning it was 74 degrees. Today's
projected high is only 71 degrees. It's August in the mountains!
We left the beach a little after eight yesterday morning. It was 76 degrees as I
was packing the car with our luggage and various treasures we accumulated. I broke a
healthy sweat. Within an hour, traveling north through Delaware on our way to the Bay
Bridge, it climbed to 86 degrees.
Around Baltimore, in the rain, the temperature dropped to 74 but went back up near
Gettysburg and stayed in the mid eighties all the way to Elk County. It was there abouts
that it began to drop and ironically, just about the time we got to the McKean County line
(about 4 P.M.) we went below 70 degrees for the first time since we left home over a week
ago.
It was good to get home. The dogs didn't even move when we walked in. You could see
how much they missed us. Aunt Rose just casually noticed us and my son hit me up for a few
dollars so he could go out. A friend came by hoping for a good Sunday night meal. I
accommodated him, fired up the grille and made my specialty, barbecued Chicken. It went
well with the corn and the watermelon we bought along the road in Delaware.
Ironically, with all the talk about water shortages and drought, it didn't seem to
affect the farmers very much. The fields were green and there was plenty of produce for
sale. A dozen ears of corn was $2.00 at one stop and $1.95 at another. And, by noon, the
fields were all being watered by those giant irrigation and watering machines. Aside from
a few parched fields, the alleged drought was not in very much evidence anywhere on the
trip home.
The nicest part about coming home is sleeping in your own bed.
The only way to get a good nights sleep in a hotel bed, regardless of how many
stars some obnoxious aristocrat from New York City may have placed on it, is to be either
so tired that you could sleep standing up, or get good and drunk to the point that you
could be sleeping standing up and not even know it. Sharyn and I were and did neither of
the two, subsequently we both complained about how uncomfortable the beds were while we
were gone. That brought us a whole lot closer because for once, instead of complaining
about one another, we were complaining about a common enemy ... the bed.
Our daughter and her husband stopped by just in time to eat. She's pregnant - due
in about three weeks. It was good to see them and as usual, I made enough to feed them,
too. Of course I had to get out my new digital camera and get a side shot of her. We have
a few of those all showing the progression of the pregnancy. I have thought about doing an
article on her pregnancy, but she hasn't had such a great sense of humor about getting big
and all that. Why is it that pregnant women don't realize that in their lives, perhaps
this is the most beautiful they ever will be? Why is that?
As the night progressed and we all sat down around the dining room table the dogs
realized we were home. Food was on the table! The tails began to wag and Willie, the
sixteen year old Golden Retriever, began to smile exactly as she did when she was a puppy
- minus a few teeth of course, but the thought was there just the same. Food! Give me
food! Not my food. Your food! It's better!
Going away is great but coming home is better. As nice as the Convention was, and
as good as the beach was, there is no place like home.
Today, its back to work. We have our Commissioners' Meeting at ten. No doubt there
are things I have to attend to and by five tonight it will seem like I was never gone. But
that's life and that's what vacations are all about. I was glad to go but I am happier to
be home. You just can't beat it.
Your comments are welcome at rdhedbud@penn.com.
AUGUST 7 & 8, 1999
There are no new stories. The update on the steak and beans contest is:
Vince is: 368
Bud is: 365
This is really a close one and our voters are dwindling. I will run the same story one
day next week. Thank you for your interest to this point.
If you have a comment on this article please click here.
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