Jane and I took our annual Fall trip to Chicago last weekend in our usual effort to remain on the Christmas Card lists of family members and old friends who are able to remember us now that we’ve been among the missing for 24 years!

By visiting in October, we are somewhat safe from driving through a blizzard, or as they call it in the Windy City, “lake effect snow.”

We also try to make an appearance in the spring, however every year seems to be more of an effort. It’s about a four-hour drive, but that’s just the beginning because most of the people we want to visit have somehow managed to keep far away from each other.   This makes for much more driving time while dealing with an entire city full of drivers who get immersed in dreams of competing at the Indianapolis Speedway!

I prefer a ride over snow-packed Wildcat Mountain in the Winter to 10 minutes on a crowded Chicago boulevard in the summer!

Needless to say, my daring and skilled wife does the driving while I cower in the back seat saying a rosary....and I’m not even Catholic.

There is no such thing in the Chicago driver mind-set that allows for a reasonable distance between a speeding car and the idiot driver in front of him who, by the way, is already tail-gating the moron in front of him, etc, etc, etc!

A huge percentage of Chicago drivers have never seen a tiny space on the freeway that isn’t large enough to sneak into, thus saving something like 56 seconds on the time of his arrival at his destination....if he is lucky enough to arrive at all!

I’m sure that you get the picture!

I can sum it up in a few words. Every time we arrive in Chicago for a visit, it takes me about 14 seconds to remember very clearly why I wanted to leave.

Nothing has changed!

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One thing was left out of last week’s report on Matt Stowell who just completed basic training at Fort Sill in Oklahoma.

Although he will remain at Fort Sill for AIT (Advanced Individual Training), his address has changed.

Needless to say, he really appreciates hearing from folks in Hillsboro. You can write him at:

Pvt. Stowell, Matthew T.

B Battery, 1-78 FA BN, 3rd Platoon

4402 Blair Rd.

Fort Sill, OK 73503

A cheery word from home is a true bonus for every soldier. It’s truly something they all have in common.

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Thought to remember: When everything seems to be coming right at you, it just might be that you’re in the wrong lane!