It’s late Fall, and the Indians on a remote reservation in South Dakota asked their new chief if the coming winter was going to be cold or mild.
Since he was a chief in a modern society, he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky, he couldn’t tell what the winter was going to be like.
Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he told his tribe the winter was indeed going to be cold and the members of the village should collect firewood to be prepared.
But, being a practical leader, after several days, he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked, “Is the coming winter going to be cold?”
“It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold,” the meteorologist at the weather service responded.
So the chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more firewood in order to be prepared.
A week later, he called the National Weather Service again, and asked, “Does it still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?”
“Yes,” the man at the National Weather Service again replied. “It’s going to be a very cold winter.”
The chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of firewood they could find.
Two weeks later, the chief called the National Weather Service again, and asked, “Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?”
“Absolutely,” the man replied. “It’s looking more and more like it is going to be one of the coldest winters we’ve ever seen.”
“How can you be so sure?” the chief asked.
The weatherman replied, “The Indians are collecting a ton of firewood.”
Quick Quiz
1.) Name the one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends.
2.) What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?
3.) Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?
4.) What fruit has its seeds on the outside?
5.) In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn’t been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?
6.) Only three words in standard English begin with the letters “dw” and they are all common words. Name two of them.
7.) There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name at least half of them?
8.) Name the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form except fresh.
9.) Name 6 or more things that you can wear on your feet beginning with the letter “S.”
Answers
1.) Boxing
2.) Niagara Falls
3.) Asparagus, rhubarb
4.) Strawberry
5.) It grew inside the bottle. The bottles are placed over pear buds when they are small, and are wired in place on the tree. The bottle is left in place for the entire growing season. When the pears are ripe, they are snipped off at the stems.
6.) Dwarf, dwell, and dwindle
7.) Period, comma, colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, apostrophe, question mark, exclamation point, quotation mark, brackets, parenthesis, braces, and ellipses.
8.) Lettuce
9.) Shoes, socks, sandals, sneakers, slippers, skis, skates, snowshoes, stockings, stilts.
Since he was a chief in a modern society, he had never been taught the old secrets. When he looked at the sky, he couldn’t tell what the winter was going to be like.
Nevertheless, to be on the safe side, he told his tribe the winter was indeed going to be cold and the members of the village should collect firewood to be prepared.
But, being a practical leader, after several days, he got an idea. He went to the phone booth, called the National Weather Service and asked, “Is the coming winter going to be cold?”
“It looks like this winter is going to be quite cold,” the meteorologist at the weather service responded.
So the chief went back to his people and told them to collect even more firewood in order to be prepared.
A week later, he called the National Weather Service again, and asked, “Does it still look like it is going to be a very cold winter?”
“Yes,” the man at the National Weather Service again replied. “It’s going to be a very cold winter.”
The chief again went back to his people and ordered them to collect every scrap of firewood they could find.
Two weeks later, the chief called the National Weather Service again, and asked, “Are you absolutely sure that the winter is going to be very cold?”
“Absolutely,” the man replied. “It’s looking more and more like it is going to be one of the coldest winters we’ve ever seen.”
“How can you be so sure?” the chief asked.
The weatherman replied, “The Indians are collecting a ton of firewood.”
Quick Quiz
1.) Name the one sport in which neither the spectators nor the participants know the score or the leader until the contest ends.
2.) What famous North American landmark is constantly moving backward?
3.) Of all vegetables, only two can live to produce on their own for several growing seasons. All other vegetables must be replanted every year. What are the only two perennial vegetables?
4.) What fruit has its seeds on the outside?
5.) In many liquor stores, you can buy pear brandy, with a real pear inside the bottle. The pear is whole and ripe, and the bottle is genuine; it hasn’t been cut in any way. How did the pear get inside the bottle?
6.) Only three words in standard English begin with the letters “dw” and they are all common words. Name two of them.
7.) There are 14 punctuation marks in English grammar. Can you name at least half of them?
8.) Name the only vegetable or fruit that is never sold frozen, canned, processed, cooked, or in any other form except fresh.
9.) Name 6 or more things that you can wear on your feet beginning with the letter “S.”
Answers
1.) Boxing
2.) Niagara Falls
3.) Asparagus, rhubarb
4.) Strawberry
5.) It grew inside the bottle. The bottles are placed over pear buds when they are small, and are wired in place on the tree. The bottle is left in place for the entire growing season. When the pears are ripe, they are snipped off at the stems.
6.) Dwarf, dwell, and dwindle
7.) Period, comma, colon, semicolon, dash, hyphen, apostrophe, question mark, exclamation point, quotation mark, brackets, parenthesis, braces, and ellipses.
8.) Lettuce
9.) Shoes, socks, sandals, sneakers, slippers, skis, skates, snowshoes, stockings, stilts.

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