COLUMBUS _ It was a sunny day, a week before the start of summer and we were cleaning up, inside and out.
Hon and the kids were going through closets, getting out shorts and building a large pile of outgrown clothes, soon to be oil rags.
Uncle Chet and I were poking through the woodpile, culling punky logs.
``You’ve got brown ants AND black ants in here.’’ He quickly dropped a cherry log into the cart, brushed off his hands.
``We had black ones inside this spring,’’ I said. ``I think they came in on this stuff.’’
``Hate those things.’’
``It took awhile to get rid of them,’’ I said.
``You have to find out where they’re coming in,’’ he said. ``They always go to the ground.’’
``I found them,’’ I said.
``You can hold onto wood too long,’’ he observed. ``Half of this stack is no better than Dick Cheney.’’
``Now that is low,’’ I said, and the light metal cart behind the four-wheeler was nearly full as I dropped in some rotten beech.
``You drive; I’ll walk this load,’’ he said and I fired up Old Reliable, slowly circled behind the barn.
Uncle Chet and Daisy, our Springer Spaniel, took the shortcut across the driveway and met me on the other side, heading down to the brush pile.
``You’ve got enough biofuel there to run the Chrysler Building,’’ he said.
``It’s a big pile,’’ I said.
``Too bad you can’t burn it.’’
``I can, when there’s snow on the ground,’’ I said as the trailer clanked over a rut and came close to tipping over.
``You ought to roll this field.’’ He shook his head, straw hat swaying in the sun. ``Wouldn’t take more than an afternoon with your tractor.’’
``I’ve thought of it, but it’s never risen to the top of the list.’’
``Now that you’re 60, you’ve got to rearrange that list,’’ he said ``You’re on the far side, sonny, and it’s a quick bump down. Take it from me.’’
``I’m not 60 yet,’’ I said.
``You’re quibbling about days,’’ his sunglasses peered out from under the wide brim, ``and I’m offering wisdom from the ages.’’
``You are?’’
``Sure. For you, just three words.’’
``What?’’
``Get something done.’’
``Get something done?’’ I said. ``Right now, I’m getting something done. I’m getting rid of the rotten wood.’’
``Is that what you wanted to do with your life, when you hit 21?’’ He asked on this summer afternoon with a light breeze, a smell of mint, the engine idling and the old dog panting but determined to keep up.
``Now I get you,’’ I sighed.
``You have to focus, just as Obama has to focus,’’ he said. ``Ask yourself what’s crucial. What would you do if you could do only one thing? For Obama, it’s reforming health care, isn’t it? He’s said it’s an American right, so why isn’t it underwritten by the government?’’
``The public option?’’ I said.
``Public option, single-payer, something subject to voters’ control,’’ said Uncle Chet. ``All you have to do is look around the world at how others pay for health care. Face in any direction and you’re looking at a country with less-expensive health care.’’
``And lower wages,’’ I said.
``Don’t kid yourself,’’ he said.
``But they have higher taxes to pay for that health care.’’
``That’s not true when you look at the whole package,’’ he said. ``Look at the taxes and fees you pay now and what you get for them. Taxes on your land, your house, your car, your ATV, taxes on everything from baby clothes to old folk’s diapers. Taxes on gas, electricity and telephone, even on beer and wine when you want to tie one on and forget about taxes."
``Must come to plenty,’’ I said and curved around at the brush pile.
``More than enough,’’ he said. ``Fact is we’re already paying for the public option; we’re just not getting it.’’
___
Cooperstown News Bureau Reporter Tom Grace is traveling with his Uncle Chet, who he says is imaginary. Grace’s column appears every other week.
Columns
Travels with Uncle Chet: Obama’s cause is health reform
- Big Chuck D'Imperio
-
-
Upstate theme parks offered affordable thrills
I saw in the news last week that Disney theme parks are raising admission prices to almost $100 a person. Children (who Uncle Walt considers 10 and under) are now $86 a day.
Continued ... - Getting creative with gifts for grads
- Safety Patrol D.C. visits never get old
- My pal Brucie, savior of Sidney's hospital
- Catching a whiff of 'Vermont Vapor'
-
Upstate theme parks offered affordable thrills
- Cary Brunswick
-
-
Book-banning has a tendency to backfire
So what does the 1960s game show ``What's My Line'' got to do with the Bloomsday festivities occurring in Dublin, Ireland, this week? Surprisingly, there is a link.
Continued ... - Envisioning a world without terror
- We've become our own worst enemies
- Plenty of blame to go around for Bangladesh horror
- Obama is going against his word on Social Security
-
Book-banning has a tendency to backfire
- Chuck Pinkey
- Guest Column
- Lisa Miller
-
-
A view from above
Fire towers in the Catskill Mountains have always been destination points, built to capture some of the region’s best views. These sentinel stations served an important role for the earliest possible sightings of forest fires in the remote mountain ranges. But the fire towers and those who manned them fulfilled a multitude of other roles as well.
Continued ... - Being a parent is a constant learning process
- Healthy doesn't have to mean expensive
- A family era ends with close of Potter series
- Independent stores make up for loss of Borders
-
A view from above
- Mark Simonson
- Rick Brockway
-
-
Don't play around with snappers
The other day, I was driving along Route 205 between Mount Vision and Hartwick. Suddenly, I had to swerve out of my lane to miss a huge snapping turtle. It was crossing from a large swamp on the left to some higher ground on the other side of the road.
- Emmons Pond Bog is pretty easy to enjoy
- Fishing has gotten a lot more complex
- Waterfalls are even better when you keep them to yourself
- Kids have sparkle in their eyes
-
Don't play around with snappers
- Sam Pollak
-
-
Justice Dept., IRS abuses worth screaming about
"If this had happened while a Republican was president, the liberal media would be screaming."
Continued ... - THIS WEEK'S POLL
- Using time off in the worst way possible
- Terror lives on, and there's no end in sight
- Remembering the glory of their times
-
Justice Dept., IRS abuses worth screaming about
- William Masters
-
-
Schreibman tops Chris Gibson on women's issues
As the time to vote draws near, we need to remember how money can run politics more than we can. Raising funds is a prominent (if not the dominant) task of getting elected. Raising issues is also crucial, but those efforts are subject to distortion and fear-mongering.
- Republicans feelentitled to allthey can garner An entitlement is a legal benefit available from the government to individuals who are within a defined category of recipients, such as needing insurance for unemployment or health services.
-
Romney focuses on self; Obama emphasizes unity
Mitt Romney criticizes President Obama for saying a person's success is rooted in his community, and is not all his alone. Romney belittles this with his belief in individual initiative. He is better at the put-down than the push-up.
-
Romney shows little regard for common man
The Republicans in Congress have voted over and over, 33 times, redundantly and uselessly, to rescind what they call Obamacare.
-
Scouts' gay ban creates problem where none exists
The Boy Scouts of America's "emphatic reaffirmation" of its vow to exclude any and all homosexuals from its hallowed ranks is ill-considered and pathetic, especially in view of its having reviewed the matter for two years.
-
Schreibman tops Chris Gibson on women's issues



