Thanks to Stephen Baustert of Okarche for dropping off some pleasant reading material.
One of the items was a column written by John Martin for Central Oklahoma weeklies.
The second was a collection of Old West history, produced by Time-Life books.
The book features artists and journalists who entered the Old West first and sent back pictures and articles that piqued the interest not only of Americans in the East but people around the world.
One of the portions of the book that caught our attention dealt with the West’s proliferation of newspapers in the pioneer days. One item said two newspapers popped up at every wide spot in the road.
We’ll deal with Martin’s column first. We don’t know him personally but we’ve heard he is a retired school superintendent. He’s not like the superintendents we remember from our school days. We can’t remember smiles when they were talking to us.
We’re thinking Martin might have cracked a grin.
Anyway, here are a few excerpts from the column, which he headlined “Wise but careful sayings.”
Some are more applicable to our age than others. You’ll be able to figure that out when you read them. We’re interspersing them with current-day news and commentary items. They start below:

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The devil whispered to me, I’m coming for you.” I whispered back, “Bring pizza.”

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News item: Democrats land grab targets 3 million acres out West (From Free Press News Service:)
“Republicans claim that is what House Democrats essentially said on Friday in passing legislation that would seal off nearly 3 million acres of public land in the Western United States.
Republicans called the Protecting America’s Wilderness and Public Lands Act a “massive land grab” that will kill jobs, increase the risk of devastating wildfires, and reduce Americans’ access to public lands.
The legislation, which passed by a party line vote of 227 to 200, will permanently set aside more than one million acres in Colorado; 821,000 acres in California; 132,000 acres in Washington, and more than one million acres in Arizona.”
- Major News Media: Nothing there. This land is not your land; this land is for the political elite. And don’t pick up any deer sheds, if you accidentally step over the boundary.

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Me - sobbing my heart out, eyes swollen, nose red,”I’m not going to let you hurt me like this again.”
Trainer: “You did one sit-up.”

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News item: Since late January, more than 100 illegal immigrants who were allowed by Joe Biden’s team to enter the United States while awaiting their asylum hearings have tested positive for the coronavirus, reports say. 
Major Media: “Nothing there, either. President Joe says, “There’s no crisis at the border. Besides, who needs borders, anyway, if you’re part of a one-world government?

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Having plans sounds good until you realize you have to put on clothes and leave the house to do it.

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News item: Texas Gov. Greg Abbott said he has deployed the National Guard in response to the crisis at the southern border which he said gets worse by the day due to Joe Biden’s “open border policies.”
Abbott on Saturday ordered the deployment of air, ground, marine, and tactical border security assets to high threat areas.

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It’s weird being the same age as old people.

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News item: Women’s History Month Ignores Conservatives (From the Daily Signal)

March will be full of stories about heroic women ... unless they are conservatives. According to Heritage President Kay C. James, the refusal by leftist media and academics to acknowledge the contributions of conservative women leaders is a detriment to all women and to our country. “Women’s History Month is an important opportunity for us to pause and honor the profound contributions of women both past and present,” James writes. “That means honoring the accomplishments of all those who contributed to the kind of nation we live in today. Not just those whose politics or policies find favor with the left.”

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When I was a kid I wanted to be older. This is not what I expected.