I sure hope my readers don’t have some of the problems like old Charlie has had over the years.

I wrote an article several years ago about waking up one night to find a darn bat flying all around in my bedroom.

I immediately shut the bedroom door and called Peg for help.

I told her to go get a broom, but don’t open the door until I told her when

I had already got my 1940s Wilson Jack Kramer Pro tennis racquet (a collector’s item) from the closet.

So, after a good half hour of Peg swishing the broom and me swinging my old tennis racquet at the son of a gun, I was the successful winner with my old tennis racquet when I finally slapped the bat to the floor and made darn sure he was dead before lifting it off.

Another ordeal of mine was when a squirrel got into our house.

I scared him into my bedroom and finally trapped him in my double-door closet full of clothes.

Not knowing what to do, I called the Cass County Sheriff’s Office to get the number of the conservation officer.

They told me to call a number of a man in Goshen, Ind., that has a business catching varmints.

Well, I did and it cost old Charlie $75 to have him come and get the critter out of the closet.

It would have been cheaper to have made a pet out of it and feed it, but knowing that wasn’t a good idea, I coughed up the 75 bucks.

Another thing I remember getting into my bedroom one time was a mosquito buzzing in my ear in the middle of the night.

But here is something that takes the cake.

In July I had a lightning bug that decided to fly around in my bedroom for several nights, flashing his little tail light.

I guess the firefly finally died after several nights of not finding a mate.

I told my wife what will be the next thing to happen in my bedroom to keep me on my toes?

Maybe a deer will come crashing through my bedroom window, but if one does it would be the end of the old Cardinal.

A friend of mine told me that he and three of his friends all went into the service at the same time and all went to Korea to serve.

He said he cut a dollar bill into four pieces and gave each of his three buddies a piece.

If they all got back, they were to meet, I think, at the old Silver Creek Tavern to celebrate their safe return. He also told me two of the four are now deceased.

Here are some ads in my old Dowagiac City Directories: (1916) Olympia Candy Kitchen, only all mirror store in the city. Elkerton Hotel, John Lamberson, prop. Rates, $2 per day, $2.50 with bath. (1921) There was a fish lure made by Silver Creek Novelty Works in Dowagiac (I wonder where this was located). The lure was called the Silver Creek Pollywog.