david f, I do not know if you are the oldest commenter to OLO but in my fanboi opinion you are one of the most venerable*.
(*the primary definitions - not the religious ones!)

As a birthday present for 31 October GrahamY might think about updating your author photo. Though on second thoughts, as you commence your tenth decade of life the kindest birthday treat might be to retain it?

I don't expect to have the clarity of expression you exhibit when I am your age... I'd be grateful to have it now.

Here's hoping you never get old enough to be over the hill without having got to the top.

The world is a better place for people like David who are simply excellent crap detectors.

David f,

May happy returns for the big day from me too : )

Have to admire your insightful contributions and your ability to be clear and concise in your delivery.

Let's hear it for david. f - and his wonderful longevity both in life and here on OLO.

(Good one, WmTrevor!)

And I too would like to add my own voice to the other contributors herein, who have acknowledged the pivotal contributions made by DAVID F. Without doubt, it's his superior intellect and critical thinking that has substantially augmented and elevated the intellectual standards of this Forum.

Personally I've learnt much, by observing his calm and measured way whenever he seeks to examine and evaluate a precise issue, rather than simply engaging in empty rhetoric, and banal verbiage. More power to you DAVID F !

A big thank you.

Add me to your list of admirers, David. Best wishes.

Dear Wm Trevor,

That photo means very much to me as I think about my wonderful grandmother.

She had swollen legs that were probably due to oedema. I suppose I was about the age on the photo when I asked her why she had such thick legs. She looked at me for a moment and then said.

“I was a young and beautiful woman on a summer night. It was warm and the shimmering reflections of the stars danced on the water. I went into the water dressed as I was. The water was soft on my skin and was scented by the cedars on the banks. I swam around forgetting the nearby millrace. I was pulled into the waterwheel and was battered around before I came out of it. It hurt my legs, and they have been like that ever since.”

Knowing my grandmother would never lie to me I believed the story. Ma as I called my grandmother once saw me with a pencil. She asked me where I got it. I told her that it was at the side of the road. She told me to go back there and put it where I found it. Maybe the one who lost it would see it. Ma would never lie.

Now I am an old man, and my legs sometimes swell so the anklebone is no longer clearly defined. I realise Ma didn’t want a little boy to think about aging.

I appreciate your kind words and the good wishes of BAYGON, Poirot and o sung wu.

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