It was autumn, and Indians on the remote
reservation asked their new chief if the winter
was going to be cold or mild. Since he was an
Indian Chief in a modern society, he had never
been taught the old secrets, and when he looked
at the sky he couldn't tell what the heck the
weather was going to be. Nevertheless to be on the safe
side, he replied to his tribe that the winter was
indeed going to be cold and that the members of
the village should collect wood to be prepared.
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 indeed," the meteorologist at the weather service
responded. So the chief went back to his people
and told them to collect even more wood in order
to be prepared.
One week later he called the National Weather
Service again. "Is it going to be a very cold winter?"
he asked.
"Yes," the man at National Weather 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 wood they could find.
Two weeks later he called the National Weather
Service again. "Are you absolutely sure that the
winter is going to be very cold?"
"Absolutely," the man replied. "It looks like it's
going to be one of the coldest winters ever.
"How can you be so sure?" the chief asked.
The weatherman replied, "The Indians are
collecting firewood like crazy."
Cold Winter
Moderators: Pike Ridge Beagles, Aaron Bartlett
