For Ladies Only

What do these handsome fellows have in common? Aside from gleaming white teeth, obviously.
Which, if any, would you like to have take you dancing?

I'll take all three!

Greedy!

Which one of them for dancing?

The one on the right, with the smiling eyes.

Dinner?

The one on the left, because he looks like he'd have the ability to laugh and hold his own in converwsation.

A day at the beach?

The guy in the middle.

There, that's my 2 cents worth.

Dear Dick,
I take the guy in the middle. He has nice eyes, nice teeth, and a fine ambiance of presentation. I do believe he is my kind of man. Not only that, he looks intelligent and not shallow. He is the real deal, will age well, likes hampsters and me. That is a rare trait for sure.
Love,
Betty

For dancing, Pam got it right. He was the 2007 winner of "Dancing with the Stars."
The thing they have in common is that all three are Indy Car race drivers, real daredevils. Each of them has won the biggest race of all, the Indianapolis 500, in recent years.
All are living in the USA because that is where they race. None were born in America.
On the left is Scott Dixon, a New Zealander. In the middle is Dario Franchitti from Scotland. On the right is Helio Castroneves, a Brazilian who had to learn how to dance very quickly in order to win that contest.
Dixon was married earlier this year to a beautiful woman named Emma. Franchitti is married to Ashley Judd, who I think is a singer or actress, something like that. Castoneves is single, but engaged. Too bad, girls.
Tune in next year and watch them in action.

Ok, I lost, but I won.

Speaking of the Indigo 500, here is the story.




When Wooffer leaped off the porch steps that morning, he knew right away that something was very wrong. There was no bird singing his good morning song, no frog saying goodnight. Everything was silent. Even as he sniffed the air, something did not smell right. He could not put his nose on it right away, but something was definitely wrong! As Wooffer stood very still and listened, a sound came over the wind… a wail of sorrow… not very distinct, not very loud… but there it was all the same. He listened with all his might and sniffed the air in all directions. Just as Wooffer was about to run in the direction he thought he had heard the sound coming from, Cho Lee Yen came limping up as fast as he could. “Come with me, quickly, and don’t stop to ask questions!” he said, and led the way as fast as he could to an area in the yard where the grass grew especially tall and thick. As they weaved their way through the tall grasses and brambles, the wailing became more distinct, although it was still a very quiet sound. At last they came upon a small, trampled area… and there on the ground lay Margaret looking very dead.

Reginald was wailing and hiding his head in his wing, then looking at Margaret and starting all over again with the wailing and hiding of his head.

Wooffer went right up to Margaret and sniffed her all over. She was still breathing, but she looked very bad. Every little while she would start to twitch and shake all over and Reginald would began to wail again and hide his head. Wooffer said, “What has happened to her? Do you know?”

Well, Reginald did not know. He was so worried, he just wanted her to get better. Cho Lee did not know either, but he said she had been fine earlier in the morning.

Wooffer decided that the first thing anyone should do was to go get his mom. He went off at a trot and brought her back to the trampled grass. She picked Margaret up and took her into the house. Wooffer told Reginald to try to be brave and not to worry. He knew that Reginald would worry his beak off anyway, so he asked Cho Lee to stay with Reginald until Margaret was well.

Wooffer’s mom called the doctor. Wooffer vowed then and there, to find out what had happened to Margaret… for the sake of all the animals on the farm. Who knew what terrible things could have happen. Perhaps there was a poisonous snake loose, or a rabid animal, or Brutus, Chipoff, and Blocko might be out again. He did not want to think of anything worse.

Poor, brave, decent Margaret had to get well… she just had to! Reginald waited and Cho Lee kept him company, telling him all the great things Margaret had done… fighting the dogs, saving his life, teaching Basil to kick… on and on he talked, and Reginald began to think that Margaret would be alright. She just had to be!

Wooffer had started his search with a good sniff all around where Margaret had been laying. There was something, but he could not put his nose on it, exactly. It was a strange smell, but he had smelled it before… somewhere… but where?

At one time or another, Margaret had been very rude to many of the animals on the farm. And at one time or another Margaret had actually flown feet first into almost all of their faces. Everyone had a motive to get back at Margaret, but not to really hurt her. Everyone admired and loved Margaret. At least Wooffer hoped this was true.

Wooffer had decided to find out what each animal knew about Margaret’s unfortunate accident. He started with Ho Chi. Ho Chi spent her days looking out at the world from her pen. Very little escaped her notice. It was not that she was a nosey busybody; she just did not have a lot to do except to watch the rest of the farm animals during the day. If anything happened within her area of sight, she noticed it.

“She left early this morning, she crossed the ditch, and that is as far as I could see.” Ho Chi motioned Wooffer to come close to her and whispered, “She was upset with the crows. They always laughed at her for trying to hatch eggs.”

The crows would be Wooffer’s next stop. It was not far because they were in the tree waiting for him to go away so they could eat Ho Chi’s corn. Wooffer looked up at the crows. they were nudging each other and and smirking and pushing until they were about to fall out of the tree.

“Did you see where Margaret went early this morning?” Wooffer asked.

“Look who is asking us!” sneered one old crow, “It’s the tree dog, free dog, one of a kind!” With this remark, one crow actually fell out of the tree on his head, he was laughing so hard. “Why don’t you FLY up here and ask us in person?!”

Wooffer could see that he was not getting any information out of these crows today. He knew they knew more than they were willing to tell, but they were such CROWS that they would not give him the time of day. He would remember this.

As Wooffer walked toward the house to see how Margaret was doing, he was trying to remember the smell that had been where Margaret had been lying. He still could not put his nose right on it, but it was coming to him…

When Wooffer reached the back door, he looked back at Ho Chi. She was surrounded by Crows. It seemed to Wooffer that the Crows were still laughing. It did not seem right.

The doctor had been to see Margaret and had looked her over very well. He had told Wooffer’s mom that she seemed to have been bitten by someone. “It could have been a spider, or a vole, or even a snake,” he said, “but she will be alright.” He had given Margaret a dose of medicine that had stopped her shaking and quivering and she was now sitting in a big box with a towel wrapped around her to keep her warm. Her head was tucked far under her wing. Margaret had a terrible, terrible headache, and she still could not talk.

Wooffer ran back to Reginald and Cho Lee to report all that the doctor had said and that Margaret was going to be all right. Reginald was so happy that he cock-a-doodle-dooed and erka-erka-erka-ed all around the yard. The birds began to sing again and the squirrels went back to their chattering. The silence was broken, at last, but Wooffer still wanted to know who had bitten poor Margaret. He ask every one he knew, but no one knew anything that would help him find the vicious fiend that had bitten Margaret. It seemed that the Crows were the only ones who knew anything, and they were not going to tell him.

It seemed that the only way he would ever know who bit Margaret was if he could remember what the strange smell was that he had noticed when he had sniffed all around her as she was lying close to death on the ground.

Just as he was going to talk to Ho Chi again, he saw a large, black crow standing just outside Ho Chi’s pen. Wooffer ran as fast as the wind and caught the big Crow by the wing just as it was about to fly. He held it down with his big front feet and said, “Now, tell me what you know about who bit Margaret, or else.”

The crow was so surprised that Wooffer had him held down, that he blurted out, “She went to the races! The Indigo 500… You know, the Snake Races. She got in the way and one of the snakes bit her!”

Wooffer let the crow go. What a crazy thing for a chicken to do! Snake Races! Now he knew what the strange smell was. It was an Indigo Snake that he had smelled. He would find this snake and teach him not to go around biting defenseless chickens!

Margaret got completely well in two days and was back with Reginald. Everything was back to normal with the animals on the farm. Wooffer was helping his mom pull weeds at the greenhouse when he smelled the snake hiding under some tall weeds. It was a chilly morning so the snake was not warm yet, and was still mostly asleep. Wooffer crept up so quietly that the snake never knew that he was there. Wooffer grabbed that four foot Indigo Snake by the tail and took off running as fast as he could. The snake’s head just bounced along the ground. Thump… Thump… Thump… all the way to where Wooffer’s mom was working. Wooffer dropped the Indigo right in front of her! Now, that mean old snake would get what was coming to him!

Wooffer’s mom screeched… “We don’t play with snakes! No! No! No!,” and picked up the snake by the tail and threw him across the fence. Wooffer smiled to himself thinking about what a surprise that Snake had gotten. It was worth getting yelled at by his mom!

When Margaret and Reginald and all the other animals heard how Wooffer had drug the snake by the tail and thumped his head along the ground, they all had a good laugh, too. “You are really and truly one of a kind, Wooffer, our true friend,” they all cheered. “Hurrah for Wooffer!”


Love,
Betty

I'm with Shelagh. Why settle for just one? If I had to choose, it would be the one on the right. He looks like he'd be more fun to be around!

None of the men appeal to me, but those gals responding to this thread - well that's another matter.

The Indigo 500 was more interesting, and very well done Betty.

Dancing?

I don't dance.

Okay ... so my new avatar is an earlier picture of me and two very very cute guys!

I was wondering who the handsome young fellas were.

Dick thanks for the debriefing! I never watched that Dancing with the Stars, but my grandmother was a dance competitor in England during and after WW2, and she LOVES that show! I might just have to take a look at the new season...I do not dance much, but always played in a band so tune in to the music. There were always lots of guys in the band too come to think of it...

Helio, who won the dancing competition, is a real hard-charger on a race track. So are the other two, of course. Seeing them racing side by side at 220 miles an hour with the wheels of their cars only a foot apart is amazing. If those wheels touch, a horrific crash takes place. That doesn't deter anyone from doing it.

Women generally are attracted to the risk takers, the dangerous fellows. There have been psychological tests done, and there is just something about dangerous men that appeals to most women.

Doggone it, I've always been a risk taker but it sure hasn't worked for me. Since sixth grade when I decided girls really did deserve to be on the planet they have fled whenever they see me coming.

Maybe you are just too intense. Most risk takers have a certain air about them. Errol Flynn types, perhaps? The 'bad' boys are the ones girls want to change. Evidently you were just perfect the way you were?

Maybe I was complaining too much, Zada. The girls at my last newspaper job seemed to think I was OK and having been married three times means someone must have liked me - at least for a while.

And Jackie was smart enough to latch onto you!!