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Musings of a Senior Scribe
The Truth and The Goal
By Mona Lease

Hi, all! It's that time of year. Relatives are in town for the holidays, students are home from college, and friends are getting together for vacations. New recipes, games, music, and drinks are the party favorites.

I spoke with law enforcement officials from the Darke County Sheriff's Office and the Greenville Police Department. Ohio has no Public Intoxication Law  - as such. You may walk down the street legally "drunk." You may not walk in the street, road, or through someone else's yard. You may not be staggering. If you are stopped by an officer, just tell him/her you've been drinking - they patrol our streets and roads every hour of every day. They know the "foot traffic." Getting loud, cussing out the officer, and rude gestures get you the tickets - usually Disorderly Conduct and some sort of alcohol charge. It's a "probable cause" thing. Darke County Courts report the DUI Bonds are $2,000.00 for citizens in Greenville, $3,000.00 for citizens out of Greenville, and $4,000.000 for anyone out of state.

The "fly in the ointment", if you will, is this - alcohol, drugs, etc. act as a "stimulus" - they cause your body to operate in an unnatural state - under distress you might say. Among breathing (lungs separate oxygen from carbon dioxide and exhale carbon dioxide), heart pumps blood, kidneys filter poisons from the alcohol on top of the normal cigarette smoke-car pollutants, etc.,the liver filters these same toxins and regulates parts of digestion,and other bodily functions. While you are sitting or standing you feel "in control." When you decide to walk, the body compensates ..heart rate rises, breathing increases, the body gets rid of the "excess load" through sweat and increased urination. Dehydration starts. Add winter clothing to this. The body can not cool down quickly enough. (This is what allows people to jog in the dead of winter with only shorts and a tee shirt.). The body will protect critical areas -  brain, heart, and lungs - the T-Zone. This causes the dizziness you did not notice earlier. In this unnatural state, the body shuts down or, you lose consciousness. If this happens on the sidewalk you will probably be ok. If this happens in the middle of the road and someone else did not choose to walk, well you can figure the rest.

Saturday, 11/24, found me feeling "out of sorts" and restless. I've been working on a "goal."  I just do not seem to be making the progress I had hoped. Maybe I set the bar too high. Maybe I ought to lower my expectations. Maybe I ought to just scrap the whole thing, period. I went to McDonald's. Maybe I'll just "drown my sorrows" in a Big Mac. I drove in and the Drive-Thru line was backed up all the way to the Handicapped Parking spots. I looked around - no way to drive between the line and the parked cars. Great - I'm here for God knows how long. With the van idling in park, there was nothing to do but wait. The line inched forward and I finally saw the curious noise I had been hearing. Take a look at the picture. Do you see it? I sat and laughed like the proverbial "hyena."  I am a believer in answers to our problems and questions being around us, if we just look.

The wind chill temperature that day was 21 degrees. The wind was 9 mph. You could say this guy had a "goal." That was the day of the Michigan/Ohio Football game. (Ohio squeaked out another victory over Michigan.).Maybe he was after "game munchies"...it was noon. Whatever his reason - he kept to his "goal."  Therefore, I'll keep to mine. If he could brave the winds - I'll brave mine regarding my goal. Whoever you are, Sir; I hope you rooted for Ohio!!

Lastly, regarding "A Recovering American Soldier" - thanks to letter bombs, terrorist attacks, etc., letters addressed this way will not be delivered to Walter Reed Hospital. I spoke with our American Legion - Ohio St.,Greenville. Their van will be going down to the Dayton VA, Christmas Day. If you have a donation, feel free to drop it off at the American Legion any day between Noon and Midnight. People use this transportation for Dr. appointments, etc. all year so, Christmas is not the only time to donate to our service people.

Remember the kiddies and our service people. Be good to the furry and feathered ones out there. Be safe and healthy. See ya next time! Ever Toodles!! MONA

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