A large percentage of the automobile fatalities we read about seem to be caused by over-correction when one lets the right front tire of the vehicle slip off the pavement.  Because of that, I would like to pass on a lesson I was taught about 45 years ago by Edward Murphy of Richmond, Ky.  Mr. Murphy was the uncle of one of my good friends and neighbors, and he and Daddy were friends through their Sunday School class.

When he heard I was about to make a trip down into Georgia, he told me that while driving a long distance, it was easy for one to get a little tired, and if that were to happen, I might let the front right tire slip off the pavement.  Now here is the lesson, and it works:  Mr. Murphy told me when that might happen, to first put both hands on the steering wheel, look closely at the situation, and when I had everything under control, give the car some gas and get back up onto the pavement.  That has worked more times than I can remember, and because of Mr. Murphy’s advice, I have never over-corrected when getting the car back upon the pavement.

Edward Murphy, who was in the retail furniture business with his brother and father represented Madison and a few surrounding counties in the Kentucky State Senate.  In doing his campaigning, he got a bunch of us kids together, and on Saturday he would take us to the various towns in the district in which he was running and we would pass out election material to everyone we saw on the streets.  Our pay was a good lunch, a sincere thank you and caring advice, such as when he took the time to make sure I understood how to get the car back on track if I were to let it slip off the pavement.

We are all blessed with these invaluable memories which are a comfort for many many years.

To get current and back to Hazard, I am most anxious to learn the suggestions that we will hear sometime next month from the University of Louisville students that have been here in Hazard studying ways to update our downtown area.  Without question, we are “sitting on a gold mine” here in Hazard, and all we need to do to bring about the potential this region has to offer is to keep the area clean and well kept as well as use what “mother nature” has provided us in a correct and proper way.  I think the potential the North fork of the Kentucky River has to offer our own residents as well as tourists to this area is so big it’s almost unimaginable.  To see that potential, we need to keep the river banks cleaned and mowed as if they were our front yard, and we need to keep the river body itself cleared of clutter as if it were our front porch.  With those things done, we could see a paddle boating business become something of great joy to all ages, even old folks like me.  From ancient history to today, there is not a natural enticement that out does that of water, and we have it right here in our “front door,” but we are not taking advantage of it.  I can only hope that the U of L students come up with workable ideas that will in time place Hazard and Perry County on many maps!

As is so often the case, the hearing of good news is offset with the knowledge of some bad or not so good news.  In this instance, we have just learned that the funding for the PRIDE Projects has been cut severely for the balance of this year, and as of now, it is totally out of the budget for next year.  Rosa Couch did have some good news to share with us, and that was that Perry County Judge Executive Denny Ray Noble had told her the projects would be kept alive by the Perry County Fiscal Court.  

The PRIDE project has meant much to our area, and there will always be needs for government intervention in the removal and disposition of garbage, but there would be less need for organized cleanup if each and every one of us showed more care and concern when doing away with garbage.  The first and easiest thing we could all do is to stop throwing trash, such as napkins, lunch sacks and paper cups out of our car windows.  

On that point, Margaret came home a few days ago a little warm “under the collar,” because she was behind a car with lots of religious stickers posted on it, but the lady driving the car was throwing trash out her window.  In my way of thinking, such a move is just not Christian.

Her telling me that story reminded me of reading about something close to that nature a few years ago.  It seems a man was sitting behind a car at a red light, and the front car had a rear bumper sticker that said “Honk if you love Jesus.”  The driver of the second car followed the instructions on the sticker and honked his horn.  With that, the driver of the car with the bumper sticker stuck his or her head out the window, cursed big and loud and ended the hateful remarks with “can’t you see the ‘d’ light is red?”

One other point, and I will not tire your eyes out any further.  If you still have last week’s American Profile, which is an insert in this publication, you might want to save the Presidential Trivia section for future writing assignments for your children, grandchildren or neighborhood children.  

Several years ago, as a member of the National Trust and a longtime friend of a lady who had known Montpelier as a young girl when her uncle was general manager of the farm during the years it was owned by the DuPont family, I was asked to drive my friend, Mrs. W.H. Denman to Montpelier, which was built by President Madison’s father and was divided into a duplex for President and Mrs. Madison and his parents to have their separated dwellings under one roof.  Until reading the Presidential Trivia section of American Profile, I did not know that President Madison was the first President to wear trousers rather than knee breeches.  Of course we all know the country will forever be grateful to his wife, Dolly Madison, for cutting loose the canvas of President Washington’s portrait from the frame, rolling the up the painting and saving it when the President’s home was burned.  She was also the country’s first First Lady to serve ice cream at what is now known as The White House.

One reason my columns might seem like they ramble too much is possibly the fact I am getting old.  I recently read that the Cabbage Patch Kids are now celebrating their 25th year.  That makes me realize that I am not the only one gaining years, because I can well remember our “little” girls wanting a Cabbage Patch doll!  Is time flying these days?  Whether time is flying or not, we all need to know that 66 percent of the American population is overweight or obese, and it is thought that condition is the result of poor diets and the lack of physical activity.  Those are two things that most of us can change with a little thought and determination.  With that said, I hope you have a good week.