Columns

For those who don’t keep up with the news, recently in north Texas, there have been eight school superintendents who have announced they are quitting or retiring immediately or at the end of the school year. According to news outlets, most of the separations were self-initiated and without questions of malfeasance related to the job or the law. The number of exits in a threemonth window is much higher than typical superintendent attrition statistics.

On Jan. 18, the Safe Outdoors Dog Act went into effect in the state of Texas. According to the Texas Humane Legislation Network (THLN), the Safe Outdoors Dog Act is a law governing the restraint of outdoor dogs by:

I have a confession to make. I’m still trying to put away our outdoor Christmas décor. It seems that every time I get started, it either rains, or another cold front blows through. Weather in our Lone Star State is always unpredictable, but this time I’m going to wear a jacket and tape an umbrella to my back and do it for sure.

Years ago, songwriter Mac Davis penned the lyrics to a song about a tiny orphan girl who evidently longed to experience being loved. In the song, “Whoever Finds This, I Love You”, she writes a note containing those words, and it into the wind. A lonely old man eventually found the note among the autumn leaves and read her plea for love. That was the beginning of a beautiful and warm friendship that both desperately needed.

This was the “runner-up”for the back of my Mama’s funeral program this past February. My siblings and I appreciate your attendance at this celebration of the life of our Mama, Wanda Sipes.

Dec. 10: The Grand Saline Chamber of Commerce is holding a Christmas Bicycle Drive. Monetary donations are also accepted. New bicycles can be dropped off at the Chamber Pavilion, Grand Saline, on Monday, Wednesday or Friday, 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Bicycles will be accepted until Dec. 10. For more information contact Mildred Rodgers at 903-962-7147.

Earlier this month, James Tiberius Kirk, Captain of the Starship Enterprise, and otherwise known as William Shatner, ventured where few have gone before — into outerspace. Not in his official capacity as a senior Star Fleet officer, mind you, but as a civilian just like you and me. Shatner made the suborbital flight atop a Blue Origin rocket at the invite of that company’s owner, Jeff Bezos (purportedly the richest person on the planet). And Shatner’s reactions to the adventure were much as mine would be, I’m sure: initially, terror at the thought that the rocket (fed up with the ups and downs of space flight) might decide to commit suicide by exploding, followed by the giddiness of gamboling about in the space capsule weightless as a feather, then amazed at the view of Mother Earth laid out below him. But finally, awestruck; awed at how thin and vulnerable Earth’s biosphere truly is. The only known life-sustaining biosphere in the whole of the universe.

Our friend, David, is a rancher who has handled and sold thousands of cattle through the years. One particular part of the job of raising cattle is roundup time in the fall. All those animals have to be gathered up so new babies can be branded, the unhealthy treated, older cows can be separated out to be sold or recreated as steaks, and the whole crowd counted and accounted.

Ever got a case of the guilts for taking a few minutes to do absolutely nothing that contributes to your finances, your job, or your family – simply doing what you want because you like it? The guilt is a pretty common reaction in our American culture that believes in the axiom, “Waste not – want not.” Unless of course, you are a part of the fluffy subculture that feels having experiences in life is so much more valuable than having stuff. You know, boring stuff like a job, money, a home or transportation. But that sentence leads to another topic entirely, so we will rapidly leave that thought alone for another day.

We’re fast approaching the season for the annual Walk to End Alzheimer’s. Current plans are to be back LIVE and in person this year! No matter where you live, there’s a Walk close to you! Texas Walks are just part of the over 600 being held nationally this year.