Nothing heavy today. Just finished up a round of deadlines and am tired. But thought you’d enjoy some word from small-town nowhere.
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Took one of my dogs for a walk downtown this morning and stopped at a tourist kiosk that extolls the local history, hardihood, and industry. For the first time, I learned that a large part of the local economy is based on “fur” trees.
I must say that came as a surprise. During all my walks in the woods I’ve never seen one. They must be rare but yield a very expensive product.
Don’t anybody tell PETA that they’re cruelly sawing them down.
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Was at a gathering a few days ago where a number of the attendees were of a certain age. Some had passed that age quite a while back.
“I need to make a phone call,” said one 70-ish lady.
“Here.” A 70-ish man flipped his cell phone open and tried to hand it to her.
She backed up a step. “What’s that?”
“It’s a phone.”
“They’re making them that small these days? Oh my gosh. I’ll bet that’s even one of those that takes pictures!”
“Yep. Here, I’ll take one of you.”
He raises the phone and presses a button — an act she clearly doesn’t recognize as taking a photograph.
“You can really take pictures on it?” she asks. “Have you had any of them developed yet?”
Oh, that’s funny. 🙂
But I remember my first “cell phone.” It weighed about 2 pounds and was just a step up from the old “bag phone” that weighed around 5 pounds. Ugly, far too big and heavy to hang on your belt or tuck in a purse… and it had no service almost everywhere out in the boondocks where I worked.
They’ve certainly improved a lot since then. 🙂
Even I have a phone that takes pics! but I have absolutely no idea how to go about downloading(developing?) them. Drag me kicking and screaming into the twentieth century.
Funny about the cells. My Dad, who’s 78, recently started texting and doing everything imaginable with his Iphone because, “I don’t want to be left behind”. No one in my family makes any statements without three cell phones immediately searching for confirmation/denial of the facts. He was getting a blizzard of texts from his sons and wife, not to mention pix of anything and everything that was taking place in our lives. So he entered the 21st century.
A little OT but Firearms school “Thunder Ranch”, one of the best firearms training facilities in the country is going to be offering a long range rifle class for woman. Typically their “High Angle Rifle Training” (HART) classes are filled with Law Enforcement and military snipers and teach how to hit targets out to 1200 yards… a fair distance. The important thing here is that TR is a business and although they are wonderful people they wouldn’t be offering this class unless there was a need. A lot of police snipers get their initial training at Thunder Ranch. I’m guessing it’s another sign we’re going to see a lot more woman cops become snipers. It’s “ON” for the ladies.
https://www.facebook.com/pages/Thunder-Ranch/120548841302589
Wow! Fur trees, who’d’a thunk it? Do they sell them by the pelt or by the board foot? I’m guessing they must be ‘soft’ wood? What about the bark?…………worse than the bite?
hehehe…..great!
I reads like you are beginning to get the local pronunciation correct. 😎
The fur trees should be easier to find in the winter when they have heavier coats. Gotta’ find ’em before they shed out in the spring though.
Might be more difficult in the north WET country……
Might have to carry a battery operated blow drier so you can be sure..
(what I wouldn’t give for some of those emoticons now)
Fred and Danny … pretty funny. Wish I’d thought of all that.
MamaLiberty … Oh man, you had to lug around one of those old things, even though it wouldn’t work in a lot of the places you went? Argh. I can see why you’d be an early cellphone adopter in your business, though.