Not only do Ron Penner of State Farm Insurance and Michael Owens, DDS, share office space in the building at 521 Norris Ave. in McCook, they also are responsible for the very visible southeast corner of Norris and F.

Because of that, the men have had requests to place political signs al-ong the west side of the building, providing a convenient view for drivers and walkers headed north on Norris.

At first, all was OK. But, then, the first day of absentee voting, Oct. 2, came around and the insurance man and dentist received a visit from Pauletta Gerver, the Red Willow County Clerk.

"The signs must come down," she said. Since voting had officially begun at the courthouse, due to the absentee balloting, political signs had to be 200 feet or more away from the polling place.

Oops! The original place for the signs was too close to the northeast corner of the courthouse. But just barely. So out came a tape measure, and it was found that the northern edge of the property was slightly more than 200 feet away.

Now, the signs are back on the corner, but they're a little farther north than they were before absentee balloting began.

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The only time the political sign law is in effect is when voting is taking place. Therefore, the 200-foot away rule will only apply to precinct voting places on the day of the election, which this fall will be on Tuesday, Nov. 7.

Take note if you live next door or across the street from a voting place: an election day official may be watching for signs. And, this time, they have technology on their side. "I've heard they have lasers to measure such things," Pauletta said.

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One more thing before I get off this political yard sign kick. While checking out the signs at Norris and F, I decided to take a quick trip up and down Norris Avenue. Along the 20 plus blocks -- stretching from the depot to the top of the Norris hill -- I spotted 107 political yard signs.

Actually, the count could have been a little higher because several of the signs promoted more than one candidate.

Several of the yards had multiple signs, with some even having signs for opposing candidates. I guess you would call that an "Open Yard" policy.

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Butch Curl, the barber, was telling me the other day he had just met an honest farmer. "You know, Butch," the farmer admitted, "as far as farmers are concerned there are just four kinds of weather: too little, too much, too early and too late."

That story came to my mind last week during two days of steady, soaking rains. Yes, the rain was very much appreciated because it gave a boost to the newly planted wheat. But it caused a lot of trouble, too, for those who had to negotiate the muddy country roads.

Roger McCormick, a Gazette driver, said he talked to a rural resident out north who had watched five vehicles slide into the ditch. Roger understood why. If you had to get out of the middle of the road, to let another vehicle pass, you risked a slippery dip into a deep ditch.

Sarah Bryce, the Gazette's classified coordinator, witnessed such a slide. On her way to North Platte, she watched a pickup driver, approaching the highway from a mud-clogged side road, hit a dip and plunge into the ditch, throwing mud more than cab-high on both sides. "It was something to see," she said, still incredulous at the muddy mess.

Penny Johnson, marketing manager; Marybeth Roschewski, circulation director; and Billie Cole, newswriter, also had muddy experiences coming to work from their homes north of Indianola, Culbertson and McCook.

"It took me 15 minutes to go four miles," Marybeth said. Like Marybeth, both Penny and Billie were surprised they didn't get stuck.

And, after the rains stopped, country road drivers had the ruts to deal with.

Oh, well. It's been a long time since mud was a problem in this area. Even when it does rain, it's not usually continuous over two days.

And, besides, the inconvenience of muddy roads is offset by the blessings we have, including four-wheel drive vehicles; a good start for fall crops; and some of the best prices we have had for wheat in several years.