An adage is kin to a proverb; it's a wise saying which has been around a long, long time. Benjamin Franklin coined hundreds of them and they appeared in his "Poor Richard's Almanac." Adages and proverbial sayings crop up in our everyday lives. Actually, they make daily speech a little more zesty, more colorful and expressive.

My sister and I were guilty of salting and peppering our conversations with old "saws" and old-timey truisms. We heard them from our elders, whom we deemed to be wiser and more experienced than ourselves and we were comfortable quoting them when the situation was appropriate.

When I was teaching in Harlan Middle School and before my sister started working at Creech Drug, we met daily at the end of my work day at Jay's Sandwich Shop on Central Street for a cup of coffee and to jointly work the crossword puzzles in the Harlan Daily Enterprise and Lexington Herald-Leader. She turned the puzzles toward me while she worked them upside-down.

During that time, little fourth-grader, Rod Bingham, came in after school to wait to be picked up by his mom. She was Robyn Bingham, talented, beautiful and flamboyant daughter of Jane and P.O. Lewis. She is noted for being our local dance teacher,