Many years ago I wrote a column about a local phenemom that I dubbed “The Jackson County Wave.”

At the time, I had lived here about five years and couldn’t understand the reason people in passing vehicles that I didn’t know bothered to take the time to wave to me or my wife as we met them at an intersection or drove in the opposite direction.

It’s something that still happens to me and my family on a regular basis.

It still often provokes a war of words between me and my wife even niether one of us knows who the person waving is or why they are waving. And now I have a teenage son who could be the focus of the way, which just adds more fuel to the debate between me and my wife.

I grew up in Indianapolis and nobody in that fine city ever took the time to wave if they didn’t know you. Friends often do that in the big city, but never strangers.

After more than 20 years of living in the country, and yes Jackson County, even Seymour, is still the country to us city slickers, I think I’ve figured out why people like to wave.

It’s just their way of acknowledging that they know you exist and have a right to be here and you now know they exist and have that same right. Maybe we need a little more of that in this world.

Or maybe our taxi driver in Playa Del Carmen had it right. Waving keeps makes it easier to keep your hands off a hot steering wheel.

I have to admit it’s exciting to know that the newest Harry Potter book hits the streets at midnight.

I probably won’t rush right out and buy Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows, but I will get around to reading it pretty soon. Yes, I’ll admit that I’m just like thousands of other adults who have purchased and read every Harry Potters book.

I’m glad I have a son who likes Harry as well as I do. Colin struggled when it came to reading the other six Harry Potter books because they were so long.

Now he’s a teenager and has more important things to, but I know he still likes reading the books and watching the movies, and so do I.

 I don’t really what to know how the book ends because I hope we haven’t seen or read the last about Harry, but if J.K. Rowling decided to write Harry off, so be it.

The Harry Potter series has been characterized by some as bad reading for children because of it deals with witchcraft.

 I think the books have just been fun to read and should be taken from what they really are - fiction.

I’ve always been a Tony Stewart fan and that’s not going to change any time soon. Why? Because he’s a Hoosier and he knows how to win.

Tony wants to win every time he straps into a race car and there’s nothing wrong with that. I think he was probably out of line after Saturday’s incident with his teammate, Denny Hamlin, at Daytona, but even Joe Gibbs stuck up for two-time champion. I think he was pretty hasty in making a decision about who was at fault in this melee.

Tony often opens his mouth before thinking about the consquences of what he says, but that’s who he is. He reminds me a lot of Dale Earnhardt Sr., who never caused a wreck in his life on the track if you asked him. It was “just racing,” Earnardt would say.

It didn’t, however, change my opinion one bit about a Hoosier who claims he’s not a politician, but simply a race car driver who just wants to win.

I’ve not given up on Tony’s chances of winning another title although rival Jeff Gordon sure looks like he’s well on the way to another title. Tony is doing what he needs to do to make sure he makes the chase, but he doesn’t need anything similar to what happened Saturday night to occur again. It’s not been that good of a season for Stewart, but he can still turn things around. A couple of wins would do a lot to help the cause.