Olivia Fowler

On The Way

By Olivia Fowler

Every beautiful morning we’ve had is a reminder of how nice fall can be. Everything about this season is special. The temperatures are so mild everyone wants to go outside and work in their yards. We don’t see people raking as much as we used to, but we do see a lot of people out with their leaf blowers.

Years ago we put oak trees out in the front yard. They’ve grown for 30 years and now offer protection from hot summer days and branches for birds to rest upon.

I love trees and am constantly amazed

Ben Robinson

All About Ben

By Ben Robinson

I am kind of at a loss today because I do not have my wallet. I got up this morning, got dressed, grabbed my stuff and headed out to the car, ready for another interesting week of work. Then I casually felt in my back pocket and found nothing. No wallet.

No problem. I probably left it in the car. I quickly searched the car, and I could not find it. The clock was ticking away, so I needed to be on the road soon, or be late for the job I appreciate so much. I returned to the house, looked around and still no wallet.

Reluctantly I started the car and pulled out into the world. “Maybe I will be able to come home for lunch, then find the wallet,” I thought. “Hope I don’t run into any Highway Patrol on my way to work.”

Of course, my worries were premature. The Highway Patrol generally does not stop you just because you look like somebody who does not have a driver’s license. If you happen to have problems, you can just show some form of ID, they can radio in to find out if you have a license, or if you are some kind of convicted drug dealer on the run. Still, it’s illegal to drive without a copy of your license on hand, but generally they understand that you are human, or in my case, stupid.

I had to drive past the store this morning without getting my soft drink. There is a good-looking girl working there now, though I understand she recently got married. I don’t know what I am thinking, that perhaps she will ring up my soft drink, smile and say “Things are not working with my new husband, so he’s out. I want to marry you now and have your idiot children.” And the children would likely be idiots, taking after their father. Let’s hope they at least get their looks from their mother. Otherwise I might wind up with ugly kids who can’t keep up with their wallets.

Either way, with no wallet, I simply drove past the store. I know that deep down, she probably missed me.

Hopefully I will find my wallet. I just renewed my driver’s license, and I don’t want to get a new version. The lady at the highway department might say, “You again? These things last 10 years, you know.”

My credit cards are also in the wallet, or at least the ones from the folks still naive enough to give me credit. No loss there. If somebody tries to use one of them, they will have the humiliation I have had of having a nice-looking teenage girl say “Yeah, right.”

But not having the wallet has a psychological affect on me. Honestly, I probably would not spend much today anyhow. But knowing I can’t will drive me crazy, or crazier. I will go through today wanting to call up one of those DVD places and order the latest Sandra Bullock movie.

Of course, depending on whether I misplaced my wallet or it was stolen, the charge for the video may already be on the card.

Olivia Fowler

On The Way

By Olivia Fowler

A recent visit to the hospital ER showed clearly that we can’t do without Fowler on Fowler Farm. After a six day stay In Baptist Easley Hospital last week Fowler returned to the farm and everything on the place breathed a sigh of relief.

He got wonderful care at the hospital. The nurses and doctors were thorough and attentive and the hospital cafeteria was a pleasant surprise to family and friends who ate there.

We are so thankful to be back to the normal routine of the ordinary life we take so for granted.

We’ve all learned some good stuff. I know how to find the elevators and how to get in and out of the hospital late at night.

After walking around the ground floor corridors I noticed the painting on the wall with two

Ben Robinson

All About Ben

By Ben Robsinson

I have to admit something. For the last year or so I’ve needed new glasses. It started a few years ago. I was wearing glasses, prescribed by my eye doctor. One year the glasses were suddenly missing. My sister Rhonda was visiting from Virginia and she stayed in my bedroom at the house. My glasses somehow disappeared during that time. The theory was somehow my glasses got placed in her diaper bag she used for my nephew Kevin, and, given the contents of the bag, I figured it was not worth looking through that bag to find them.

By the way, Kevin is 33 now. He has not needed a diaper bag for quite some time.

When it came time to renew my glasses last I simply cheated on the eye exam. When the lady asked me to read line nine, I stole a glance with both eyes and was able to guess enough letters to pass the eye exam. The girl at the highway department was nice, and smiled when

Olivia Fowler

On The Way

By Olivia Fowler

Last week we read an article about an early detection test you can take for Alzheimer’s. It sounds highly improbably but according to this article this simple test, conducted at home, can alert you to the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease.

Individuals have been tested for the condition in the following way.

Researchers open a jar of peanut butter and ask the person being tested to sniff it when breathing first through the right nostril and then through the left. This is done by closing off the nostril not being tested.

If the subject cannot identify the scent when breathing through the left nostril, this means

Ben Robinson

All about Ben

By Ben Robinson

Now starts the time I should be used to: recovering from a letdown.

In case you did not see it Saturday night, Clemson University lost to Florida State in football Saturday night. Badly.

On the opening play from scrimmage, Clemson fumbled the ball. Florida State recovered, and a few plays later scored, taking a 7-0 lead.

Oddly, that was pretty much the most positive aspect of the game. The Seminoles pretty much dominated every aspect of the game from the beginning. This morning on talk radio,

Olivia Fowler

On The Way

By Olivia Fowler

If while traveling in a vehicle the interior becomes too hot for comfort, the air conditioner can be turned on. Under ordinary circumstances the vents can be adjusted for the desired air flow, and a cool comfortable trip is guaranteed.

Only cool air should stream from the vents. Under no circumstances should pieces of acorns shoot out. We take so much for granted in our high-tech world that when there is a hitch in the smooth operation of our machines we

Ben Robinson

All About Ben

BY Ben Robinson

It’s October, and I really don’t have anything appropriate to wear.

Pink is the official color of October, as this is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. And, pretty much by design, I don’t own anything pink. My brother Thom had a shirt that certainly looked pink to me, nut he said it was actually “chartreuse.” He’s a dyer, so I have to trust him on colors, especially ones I cannot spell.

I toyed with the idea of buying a pink tie, but remembered that if there is any way out of it, I will not wear a tie. That might be a reason why I’m in my late

Ben Robinson

All About Ben

By Ben Robinson

I’m so excited. Monday was my first day working part-time for the Courier. I will be working Mondays and Tuesdays, then running my usual route on Wednesdays, and filling in when needed the rest of the week. We will work out exactly what I will be covering, but I imagine it will be like most other weekly newspapers — you cover what you need to, then worry about if anybody else is covering something later before the paper goes to press.

It’s exciting because I will be doing what I love to do. The next part in my recovery is to put ill feelings that may be lingering behind me.

I just need to concentrate on doing this new job to the best of my ability. Putting the past behind me is the sign that I can be a well-adjusted adult. The future is what I need to concentrate on.

It took a little bit of getting used to. Getting up early Monday morning was an adventure. Getting ready and making sure my injured knee was not going to give me problems was another.

We haven’t written about the injured knee much yet. At home I tripped over a metal box and cut my knee badly. I should be thankful that I did not cut any muscles or tendons, or do any serious damage. But my shallow self keeps concentrating on the fact that I did injure myself.

The doctors took care of my injury well, but for a few days I had to carry a bag with me that essentially caught the blood coming out my leg. Not a good conversation starter: “Hi, I am Ben, and this is the bag I bleed into.” It doesn’t really attract females.

So when the doctors took away my “blood bag” last week, I was happy. I really did not care if I had a job. I no longer had to keep my blood, so I was ahead of the world.

So now I just keep the leg bandaged and I hope soon that too will be a thing of the past. There’s no excuse for me to not be able to cover any story, and I look forward to the challenge.

Of course part of this process involves you. A newspaper does not prosper by covering what a reporter is interested in. It needs to concentrate on what the readers want. So if you have any story ideas, no matter how silly you may think they are, please give me a call. I believe that there are no bad story ideas, just bad writers who do not think well enough to make something interesting.

So the Ben Robinson era at the Pickens County Courier has officially begun. From what I know about weekly newspapers, if it’s a success, the credit will need to go to these wonderful people I am working with. But if it’s a failure, you can blame me.

Olivia Fowler

On The Way

By Olivia Fowler

My grandparents eloped. She was a teacher and he was a farmer. They came from two political families from opposite camps, hence the elopement.

Grandmama was 26 years old, teaching in a one room school house in Allendale, N.C. She drove home every Friday afternoon in a buggy her Papa sent to pick her up in. She idolized her Papa and never considered marrying without his approval until Granddaddy appeared on the scene. Our Granddaddy was engaged to someone else before he met Grandmama. He and his fiancé had already built a new house on a portion of his farm and had selected furniture for it. Grandmother was beautiful, bright and much-courted