"Live fast, play hard, die young 'n leave a beautiful memory…"  Faron Young

Errol Flynn wuz a certifiable icon back in the day…there wuz a popular phrase, "In like Flynn" that typified his status as a role model…now, of course, it's politically incorrect to hold a boozing, brawling, womanizer up as a model for young men but that's a problem for this generation 'n not mine…

This generation is told over 'n over that they must plan for their future else they'll be destitute in their old age 'n become a burden on the government…many of the young men of my generation followed the Errol Flynn plan for old age retirement…live as hard 'n fast as you can 'n you won't have to worry about old age 'cuz you'll be dead 'n nothing to worry about then…the big problem is, many of us that practiced that p'ticklar plan are surprised that we're still alive…I don't know what went wrong 'cuz it seemed t'me that we all tried really hard but, unlike Flynn who had the good sense to die at 50 years old, most of us are still here...

So, t'other day my good friend, GSam Piatt, reminisced about swimming the Ohio River as a boy…I wuz 14, I think, tho' maybe 13, when I finally got 'guts up' 'n swam the mighty Ohio…I did it alone which wuzn't my best idea ever but I got it done tho' I wuz, as they use'ta say 'worn to a frazzle' when I got to the other side….I rested for a long time before walking upriver to find a good place to begin my swim back…I walked all the way to the U.S. Grant Bridge 'n then I sat down 'n stared out across the river 'n made my mind up to forget about it 'n walk home…I didn't have a nickel for the toll but after a little teasing, the toll-taker let me pass 'n I trudged barefoot across that long, long bridge…

When I got to the Kentucky side, I cudn't face the walk down the road so I went down to the river, found m'self a bit of driftwood 'n floated downstream to Beattyville Landing…

I never, ever swam that old river again but I knew that I could if I wuz pressed 'n that wuz good enuff…'course, Hobo Cooper could swim back 'n forth across that river probably about as easily as I swim laps in the pool today…

"Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty 'n gradually approach eighteen."  Mark Twain