CAROLINE'S CORNER: WONDERING AS I WANDER

I fill my brain by wondering as I wander on road trips. My traveling companions usually tire of my comments, "I wonder why ...... I wonder why......"

When I have had enough hearing someone sing about "messed up in Mexico living on refried dreams," I just let my mind go and try to find answers by the side of the road.

Why do people have bumper stickers that say, "I just got a gun for my wife. It's the best trade I ever made." What kind of man would display such a bumper sticker, and is she still his wife after she saw the sticker on his truck? Is that the gun hanging on the gun rack behind his head? Was it an even swap? Does she care? Does he really think he is funny?

Why are redbuds pink? Was the person who named the plant color blind?

Why do calves never eat? How old are they when they start to eat?

Why are the pulpwood logs being sprayed. Surely they won't increase in size with irrigation.

Why do I drive and hit the metal strips between the white lines? Clump, thump, bump.

Why do ostriches have such long necks? Is it because their ancestors were so curious and "rubbernecked" too much?

Did someone really die in the silo? When I was a curious child, each time we passed a silo my father told me someone died in that silo looking for a corner in which to use the bathroom.

What was this delta land like before we came and cleared it for cotton? Were there trees?

How many students in that junior high school have guns with them today?

Is this the Tallahatchee River bridge from which Billy Joe McAllister jumped?

How do people drive 90 miles per hour and avoid getting caught or killed? If my speedometer slides over 70, officers jump from behind every tree and shrub.

Who is behind the tinted glass in that limousine? Is it a celebrity or someone who rented a limousine to make people wonder if a celebrity is behind the tinted glass?

Why do people throw trash?

Is that guy with the tattoo on his left arm John Doe No. 2? Was he in Oklahoma City and what should I do?

Where is that family moving and is it a happy move?

How does that pitiful little pine tree live on such a rocky ledge? Does he long for fertile soil and a drink of water?

Why do so many buzzards sit on the trees beside Interstate 55 between Cape Girardeau and Memphis? Once I counted 64.

Why does that family have presents wrapped in Christmas paper in their car in April? Why did they not get home for Christmas?

Is everyone in that cemetery really dead? When I was a curious child and we passed a cemetery, Aunt DeeDee always asked me how many dead people were there. I never knew. The answer was always, "All of them."

Why is the beach so far from Missouri?

How much farther is it?

Are we almost there?