Tood's Town XIV

The image is a Lincoln Highway Memorial that was apparently built in Cairo in 1929. Additional information about the Memorial is being sought. Apparently, it was torn down within a few years of being built as no one currently living in Cairo has been able to provide any information about it.

The Lincoln Highway was from about 1937 until a U.S. Route 30 by-pass was constructed about a mile and a quarter south Main Street in Tood's Town. I remember a small red white and blue Lincoln Highway sign located near the intersection of Route 30 and Ohio Route 65.

Now to Tood's Town XIV. In my case, I have always believed and attempted to practice the old saying that “it is better to be quiet and let others think you are a fool than to speak and remove all doubt”. Additionally, my mind often requires input from others to start the process of thought that produces a verbal response. It is only occasionally that I have an unprovoked thought that requires me to start a conversation.

“Filling the air with words.” That’s how my father characterized conversation among family members. He was, when among his male friends, an outgoing and very talkative person, but at home with his family, he was generally reticent and saw no reason to merely fill the air with words.

I believe that this characteristic is not unusual among men although I have encountered families where the males are much more verbal than ours.

The non-verbal characteristic has carried over to most of my siblings and me. Also, I see this same practice of silence in my children, and male relatives on my father’s side and remember it was also present to an extreme in my paternal grandfather. An example, I believe, of the adage that a seed doesn’t fall far from the tree. In all probability it is a characteristic that is a small part genetic pre-disposition and in large part environmental experience.

On the other hand, when he chose to speak my father’s words often contained important life messages. History has confirmed many of those messages and proved others wrong. Sometimes, the messages were also humorous.

As stated in a previous posting, my dad was a horse trader and he also bought and sold used stuff of all kinds. A saying that I remember from my childhood coming from my father was "Nobody knows what they own is worth". I didn't really understand what he was saying until I started buying and selling stuff myself. I found it is almost universally true that people who are selling something do not know what it is worth. Many people believe their stuff is worth far more than it actually is while some place a very low value on their stuff. Nobody knows what they own is worth. I believe purchasing and sales agents exist because of this ignorance which exists in sellers and buyers.

One time, in the fall of the year in the late 1960s, a sportsman friend from Cleveland, Ohio asked me to take him to Tood’s Town to hunt for rabbits and Chinese ring neck pheasants. At that time, the pheasant population was low due to the widespread use of DDT as a pesticide by the farmers. However, my friend was convinced there were more pheasants around Tood’s Town than around Cleveland so off to Cairo we went. We hunted for a couple of days around Tood’s Town and stayed at our family home. Now my friend was prone to fill the air with words. Just how much he talked was brought home to me when my father commented to me as we were getting into the car to return to Cleveland “I’ll bet you don’t have to talk to yourself on the way home”.

Dillard Farnsworth