Earl K. Wood

For ye out-of-town socks, that's the name of our eternal tax collector here in Orange County, Florida.

Ol' Earl has been taking our money around these parts for forty-four years.

He's 92 years old.

He's running for re-election.

And, he's almost certain to win . . . handily.

I don't know what it is about our little corner of heaven. But, we seem to like it when geezers are in charge.

Look at Apopka's mayor, John Land!

Getting back to Earl, the oft-repeated joke this time of year is that Chief Osceola was his campaign manager when he first ran for office, because he misunderstood him to mean he wanted to be the next "Attacks Collector."

Hardy-har-har, huh?

Oh, well, the ol' feller seems to be doin' a purty good job. So, I reckon I'll probably vote for 'em again . . . and again . . .and again.

Can somebody hand be another pen? Mine's run out of ink from writing so many checks to Earl today . . .