The report from my family farm on Georgetown Island, Maine, this morning from Mother, after the recent three-day nor'easter, was that a propane truck managed to make it through safely to refill her back-up electrical generator tank. The driver must have been pretty bold, given the tangle of lines that were across the driveway. The lines were probably dead, given the other lines that were already taken down by trees closer to the main road. But there's always some risk of running across downed electrical lines with a propane truck, I imagine. His feat, however, has inspired the following ditty, to the tune of "Railroad Bill":

PROPANE BILL

Driving down Stone Bridge Lane,
Just see old Bill running propane –
Drive on, Propane Bill!

Chorus:

Propane Bill, Propane Bill,
He never shirked, and he never will –
Drive on, Propane Bill!

The wind was high, and it was pouring rain,
But there was Bill driving propane,
Drive on, Propane Bill! (CHO)

Bill saw downed power lines up ahead,
And he hoped them lines were safely dead –
Drive on, Propane Bill! (CHO)

Bill stepped on the gas, shifted into lower gear,
And for miles around you could hear:
Drive on, Propane Bill! (CHO)

Now Bill's in Heaven with the angel band,
There's a ten-foot crater from where he left the land –
Drive on, Propane Bill! (CHO)

Cheerily,
Charley Noble