Heading for the border

Hi neighbors. It has been 11 years since I have purchased a car. I thought it was time to do so. Having done so just this week, I'm beginning to wonder if there is ever a good time to buy a new car.

I know my memory isn't what it used to be, but I don't recall it being quite so traumatic the last time around. Of course, I was younger and fearless -- well maybe just less fearful.

When I say new car I don't really mean "new" new car. A new-to-me new car is more like it.

I did find a really good deal though. A car owned by a little old lady who only drove it to church on Sunday -- or something like that.

Thinking ahead, I brought both arms and legs, and a few pints of blood if the haggling got too intense. Fortunately the seller settled for coin of the realm.

Although the idea of making payments each month for the next few years is daunting, I know I can handle that.

The biggest surprise was the sales tax. OUCH! Luckily the government has no hesitation in taking arms, legs and pints of blood in payment of taxes.

The saddest thing was saying goodbye to "Little Red" who had been a faithful vehicle for eleven years. It's funny how you can get attached to an inanimate object.

So now I can safely travel far and wide again, whenever I can afford the gas and the time off from my three sources of income.

Ah the American dream! Driving down the endless highway, hair flying in the wind, radio blaring, carefree and full of anticipation.

The American reality is more like staying in town to avoid buying high-priced gasoline and sticking closer to 55 mph on the open road to increase gas mileage.

Why or why are there not daily or even weekly, affordable busses or trains between Missouri's small towns? Probably those same high gas prices and other government regulations.

I just hope the world's oil supply lasts as long as my payment coupon book will.

Traveling onward...

This week I got to talk with Mr. Don Gilmore again. He will be giving a presentation at the quarterly Vernon County Historical Society meeting next Sunday, at 2 p.m., in the Bushwhacker Museum.

It is always a pleasure to talk with him. He is both knowledgeable and understandable which is rare when an expert shares his expertise with a lay person. His book, "Civil War on the Missouri-Kansas Border" has been available almost two years now and he travels and speaks at various clubs and organizations throughout Missouri about it.

He said he didn't really enjoy being a speaker, but was passionate about his book. His wife, he added ruefully, accuses him of speaking just to show off.

From the two conversations I've had with him, I think he has a lot to 'show off' about. His book will be on my bookshelf by next Sunday evening. I can hardly wait to read it and see how he has step by step disproved a lot of hollow history that can't stand up to real scrutiny.

The presentation will be enjoyable at the least, extremely educational and maybe even a little rowdy if any Redleggers show up. I reassured him that he would be quite safe in the Bushwhacker Museum surrounded by Missourians.

"That War" was over a long time ago -- so some say. Lots of folks in Vernon County were walking for lack of transportation back then too. Horses being stolen, oxen being driven off or butchered for food were not at all unusual during the Border Wars and of course the Civil War.

Many families gave up and left western Missouri when their farms, their food and their hope for a safe future were taken from them.

But some stayed, and some later returned to try again. Now here we are; rebuilt, re-established and relieved to have faster horses/cars.

I don't think western Missouri will ever stop being just a tad worrisome over our neighbors from all sides. Missouri has more neighboring states than almost any other state; and we probably don't trust any of them.

The last map I saw of the new Mexico to Canada trade route swings out west to avoid most of Missouri and touches only in Kansas City before turning back west to head for Canada. Maybe someone has been reading Gilmore's book in Mexico? Until the next time friends remember, a border is a border is a border and whether it is with another country or another county, borders are clearly marked for a reason.