Opinion

Dear Neil: I have read that the tall shoots of my azaleas should have been cut back after their spring bloom, but I didn’t get the job done. Should I do it now, or will I be removing next spring’s flowers?

It’s fall y’all, and we know what that means. The holidays or holi-daze rush will be upon us before we know it. This is the time of year when families gather for fellowship, football, and gorging themselves on scrumptious food.

When I was growing up in 1970’s East Texas, my experiences with international cuisine were pretty much limited to pizza, spaghetti and an occasional tamale.

Friends turned on friends. Family members spoke ill of other family members.

It is Tuesday morning. I am in my office at the church reflecting on today and the days that will follow. I am also reading the lectionary passages for this week.

Dear Neil: Is there any trick to keeping birdseed from coming up in beds beneath my feeders? I’m tired of having all the grass germinating. That’s probably millet, a commoningredientinsome of the standard seed mixes.

During my working to get through college days, an old gentleman named Robert in the automobile service department where I worked carried a small flask of what he commonly classified as “snake bite medicine” in his jacket pocket. “That’s in case I run into a snake,” he would chuckle.

A just cause Dear Editor, Recently, in response to a citizen’s statement regarding people over the age of 65 and renters, I said, “those are the people whose kids would benefit the most.” I would like to clarify and expand on that statement.

My 23-monthold Labrador, Thurber, makes me laugh out loud at least five times every day. As I write this column — attempt to sit at my desk and write, that is — my silly puppy keeps dropping his ball at my feet, hoping to get me to play with him.