I recently received a wonderful letter from Rose M. Murray of Orangeburg, who reminded me of a past column about which she needed some further input. “I have quite a collection of your recipes from Wednesdays’ T&Ds that readers have shared with you and you have shared with us. I thank God for you and His blessing to you of writing the ‘What’s Cooking?’ column,” Mrs. Rose wrote. Thank you so very much for those kind words.

Mrs. Rose went on to say: “I am looking through some of my collection. And, though I have a copy of the Friendship Cake Starter and Friendship Cake recipes you printed in the February 21, 2007, edition of the T&D, I am sorry to say that it is not the same Friendship Cake Starter recipe I had many years ago. Ms. Hatchell, this recipe was fantastic! Let me tell you what I remember.

By WES MURPHY

When I think bout deer hunting, I imagine sitting in a tall gum tree overlooking an oak flat. The sky is that deep, clear blue that we only get when the weather has just enough chill to it to need a light jacket, even in the early afternoon. I can see that big buck as he strolls along the edge, looking for does.

Close my eyes a little longer and it’s a cold November morning. Frost on the ground, a light mist in the air, as the howling of distant hounds rings through the swamp. Soon I can see another big buck slipping through the cover, glancing back over his shoulder to keep an eye on the approaching hounds.

“Adrift” — with the subtitle — “Seventy-six days lost at sea,” is a book written by Steven Callahan, which chronicles his survival ordeal. He was adrift in a life raft in the Atlantic Ocean for an unbelievable 76 days.

He is the only man in history known to have survived for more than a month alone at sea in an inflatable raft. I have read and re-read the book several times because it is inspiring. It is a memorable lesson that people can, and have, survived seemingly hopeless catastrophes and misfortune.

The most dramatic university lecture I ever sat for was the opening one Dean F.D.G. Ribble used to give at the start of his course on “WILLS,” which was required for my law degree at the University of Virginia. We young men were frozen spellbound as he talked for 50 minutes about the fact that each one of us was destined to die someday. No two alike but unavoidable, inevitable.

When you’re 94 years old like me, you meditate about death, think about death, cogitate, ruminate, concentrate, muse, reflect, ponder, speculate, mull, envision death. We’re all going to die someday. As the old baseball player said, “No doubt about it.” Ready or not. Don’t dread it. Death is natural, even healthy. But be prepared. Write a will. Make your wishes clear about your last days.

Life provides numerous travel paths. Some paths have expected markers; some do not. Travel is, therefore, based on objectives and expectations. Travel paths have detours that make for ins and outs. Situational behavioral expectations abound on travel paths.

Wrote English librettist W. S. Gilbert (1836-1911): “Life is a joke that has just begun.” The greater the expectations in personal circumstances, the lesser might be the desired outcomes. Welcome to an era of greatly diminishing behavioral expectations.

Did you ever wonder about those recipes that are on the back of the box of cereal, on cans of fruit, and on packages of frozen vegetables?

It seems that almost every type of food that comes in a package has a serving idea or recipe somewhere on the label.

It’s hard to believe that three months of good old days of summer vacation, the much-needed break from academic rigor, the perfect time to snooze and dream about the future, are over.

As the time of “just do nothing mentality,” the time of dreaming, comes to an end, the time to be alert to plan, prepare, commit perseverance and work hard in efforts to bringing those dreams to fruition begins.

For years I drove Chevrolet automobiles. Back in the days when Mr. Pendarvis owned and operated Farmers Chevrolet, I remember a statement made by Sam Kirby, son-in-law of Mr. Pendarvis.

Billie and I had completed a sale, and as she prepared to drive the new car home, Sam said he hoped the day would come when there would be a perfume named “New Car Cologne.”

The great American success story is not dead. Like Thomas Edison and Henry Ford, we still produce a few young men and women who conceive an idea, stick with and work with it to produce a new item that improves the entire world. And get rich in the process.

Twins Geoff and Mike Howe of Berwick, Maine are a ripe 34-years-old. Their computer-directed armored tank goes into action carrying no men and very little armor. From one to five miles in the rear it’s guided and fired by a computer-trained soldier. The possibilities may greatly change ground war. Or it may be the future’s defense in gang war, border control or occupation.

We’ve all been told, probably at least once in our lives, to put our brain in gear before we open our mouths. I’ve heard it more than once; and I’ve said it to myself time and time again when something just doesn’t seem to come out the way I intended it to.

As I age, I discover that my brain gears don’t work quite as quickly as they used to. The nerve network gets its wires crossed and sparks go off that cause my brain to short circuit. Or some nerves, in the process of dying off, affect the functionality of the healthy nerves, knocking up against them and pushing them over like dead weight.