A great story . . .

I came across this on Facebook and thought of you here, my fellow survivors, and thought you would like this story ~~

Y'all may remember that a few days ago I quoted this man, Bobcat Carter, a legendary Big Bend figure who lived to be 97 years old and who had some unusual characteristics, like an unwillingness to take baths and a diet that consisted of bobcats, javelinas, lizards and everything else he could find, with the exception of skunks. Bobcat wasn't a hermit, exactly, but more like a recluse, which is what any man who lived where he did in those days would naturally be. But he loved having company and there are so many stories about him. And despite his lack of hygiene and his unusual diet, he was in exceptional health 'til the very end of his life. He was doing jumping jacks and handsprings well into his 90's. It was nothing for him to walk 40 miles through the desert in a single day.

In 1935, at the age of 92, he was interviewed by a newspaper and this is what he had to say about his health:

"A man's a fool if he ain't his own doctor at fifty. I came to this country 40 years ago, skin and bone, couldn't lift sixteen pounds of water. I stayed here five years and still my health was bad. Then one day while I was going from Marathon to Ozona I took stock of myself. I decided that God (now here's where folks think I'm crazy) didn't just make all these things, myself included, and then run off and leave it. It's natural to come back and admire your work, just as an artist does. But somehow I wasn't there when he came. It's a trick of the mind. Every fellow has to learn for himself. I dropped sickly thoughts and knew that God would fix me up. Well, laugh or not, He did. I haven't spent one nickel for a doctor in 35 years."