On one of the TV programs the question asked was, "What’s the ugliest part of the body?" Some said the nose since it protruded out and had two ugly hairy holes. Well, maybe but I’ve seen some cute noses in my day.

Others said the knees. True, they usually are not a beauty spot but then again, I have admired many knees since the shirt went from the maxi to the mini. Maybe you are not old enough to remember, "cute as a bee’s knees!"

Well, the knees may not be great in looks but it certainly is the most abused part of the body. We start out crawling around on them and finally we learn to stand up and put all our weight on them. They are usually the first to get boo-boo’s.

Probably the caveman learned how to run when he first spotted a dinosaur. This added to the sudden jarring of the knees when landing on each foot. He may have also added to this when he first jumped off the ground and came down on them.

Since then we have come up with wonderful things such as football, tennis, basketball and track to name a few. All of which puts the poor knees through the torture chamber.

I think our Creator designed the knees to walk, sit and pray. I don’t think He planned on us doing all those other things. "Well, He probably figured in football somewhere).

Of course, the knees come in handy in case you are knighted, or you propose. It’s a great design; it only bends one way. I see no need for it to bend both.

The elbow is a similar joint but doesn’t take as much punishment. It bends just right for the hand to reach the mouth which comes in handy at the dinner table or the bar. It might have a good use in case it did bend both ways. Scratching the back for instance.

After about 60 years of punishment, the parts start wearing out. (Much better than our modern automobile.) This is when we start seeing people limping around.

Luckily, our medical and engineering knowledge made replacing the working parts with titanium possible. (He didn’t give us titanium for that, but He gave us the ability to solve the problem.)

My advice is to take care of our knees when you are young. We may run out of titanium when you get to be sixty.

Don Hill is a resident of Seymour. The author of two books "Ramblin’s and Recollections" and "I Remember my Firsts…", he also has served as a volunteer at the Southern Indiana Center for the Arts for more than a quarter of a century.