LIFE

   Mel Weeks lit his pipe, paid two cents for a soda pop, and was sitting back enjoying his drink. Half way through his drink he said, �As I get older I think about how rotten this life really is.�

   �How�s that,� someone asked.

�Well,� Mr. Weeks said after giving it some deep thought, (you�ve probably noticed that nearly everyone in the old days thought deep thoughts) �just think about it for a minute. I can�t carry a tune in a bushel basket and yet almost every bird that flies can sing beautifulnotes.� Everyone must have heard Mr. Weeks try to sing in church, for once more they all agreed with him.

   �In spring when I try to plant my garden the ground is so hard I can hardly turn it over and it never rains. When it�s too cold for anything to grow there�s water all over the place.

   You all know I have the best cherry tree in the whole state, it blossoms profusely, and puts out more fruit than any tree I have ever seen. The day before I decide to pick my fruit the birds fly in and pick the tree bare. I never get to taste the cherries.

   Lately when I have gone fishing I haven�t caught a single decent fish. Fact is, the ones I do catch are usually smaller than my bait.

   My hair is starting to fall out now and pretty soon I�ll have more on my chest than I do on my head.

   My hearing is starting to fail a little bit and my vision ain�t all it should be. The other day I saw James Trott and he looked something awful, and I found myself wishing I looked that good.

   I bought a car because gasoline was so cheap and the day I signed the papers the price of gas doubled to twenty cents a gallon.

   My daughter ran off with a salesman and when my wife went after them, she stayed with them.

   I paid a dollar for a dog and that night he died eating a chicken bone.

   I bought a brand new guitar and the next day I broke all the fingers on my right hand when the crank on my car kicked back on me.

   He hesitated for a moment to relight his pipe. As he took in a deep breath of the smoke and blew a couple smoke rings into the air he added.

   �As rotten as this life is I don�t want to die just so I can make a change in the way I live.�