Some things I think while riding 16 hours in a bus to South Dakota and then back to Marshall.

-- Now that the Democrats have taken back control of Congress, will their party be beset by scandals?

-- Does President Bush have a clue about the real world?

-- It's a good thing that I live in Marshall. If I lived in some portions of St. Louis, I still wouldn't have my electricity on following the last winter storm.

-- What good is instant replay in football if the referees still blow the calls?

-- Iowa is flat. And that's all I have to say about that.

-- Oh wait, Iowa is flat and it is also the land of casinos. I saw several out the window on the trip to Sioux Falls, S.D. Now, that's all I'm going to say about Iowa.

-- Now that a common sense individual like U.S. Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.) is in change of the House Armed Services Committee, maybe we can make progress on the military transitions in Iraq and Afghanistan.

-- Thermal underwear is a wonderful invention for survival in the frigid cold of the Midwest.

-- How can the Kansas City Chiefs lose to the Cleveland Browns in overtime, seriously injuring their chances of making the playoffs? And the sad fact is if they were playing in the National Football Conference, a .500 record might be a shoo-in for the playoffs.

-- Shopping for grandchildren at Christmastime is fun. You can buy them gifts that will drive your daughter and son-in-law up a wall.

-- Holding can be called on just about any play in professional, collegiate or high school football. That the referees choose to call holding to decide a game, such as Missouri Valley College's contest against the University of Sioux Falls, is just criminal.

-- Purple and orange together are good colors.

-- Odell Street in Marshall definitely looks nice now with all the improvements.

-- Why is the ice so hard to scrape off the car in the Midwest? I once lived near Cleveland and I don't remember having to scrape ice so hard. Of course, when I had a garage to put the car in, that was nice in the wintertime.

-- But then, when I had the garage, I had to shovel out the driveway all winter. I'll stick to scraping ice off the car. It really is less work.

-- Singing with a symphony orchestra is so cool.

-- When the professional baseball players break for Florida in February, I will know the end of winter is near.

-- Isn't the Missouri Tigers' basketball team going to be exciting this season with the new coach and players? Look out Big 12.

-- Attending high school football games in Marshall is a delight. The seats have backs, which definitely helped my old back.

-- Not smoking cigarettes isn't that bad. Now if I could just control my diet better. But it is holiday time, and as usual, the desserts look lovely.

-- If I keep reading that book on Walter Cronkite at the laundromat, I just might get the darn thing finished.

-- Sometimes it is better to switch off the television and turn on the music. Isn't that Sugarland group something?

-- Or, even better, sometimes it is better to turn off the television and the music and listen to the silence.

-- Christmas candy won't make you fat, will it?

-- There's nothing better than a steaming, hot cup of coffee on a cold winter morning.

-- Are there really just 17 days until Christmas? I've got to get my Christmas cards out.

-- Sleeping on a bus is nearly impossible.

-- They don't build bus seats for guys six-foot-five-inches tall who weigh more than 260 pounds. They build them for petite women who stand five-feet-five-inches tall and weigh 100 pounds.

-- Maybe I'll take a train next time. The ride has to be smoother.

Mason is the editor of The Marshall Democrat-News. Spectrum appears Friday.