Opinion

GUEST COLUMNIST In the 1980s, I repeatedly watched a recorded copy of the film “Escape from New York” on my family’s Panasonic VCR – complete with tuning knobs the size of hubcaps. Little did I know that I would star in my own version of the movie (as a domesticated, tattoo-less and slightly flabby version of Snake Plissken) on a recent holiday vacation to the Big Apple.

GUEST COLUMNIST Before Republicans agreed to elect Kevin Mc-Carthy Speaker House, a handful of his colleagues demanded the implementation of a fiscal framework to rein in federal spending. The threat of spending reduction has launched a full debt ceiling “default” panic.

The Israelites gave us two innovative ideas: First, that history has a God-directed purpose. They believed God was not only responsible for the harvest but also for history; YHWH not only made the sun rise and the crops grow (natural events), he also defeated Pharaoh and set his people free from slavery (historical events).

GARDENER’S MAILBAG Dear Neil: Was this past fall’s heavy acorn crop due to the serious drought or just a random occurrence? Nut-producing trees are noted for being “alternate bearing.” They will have a heavy crop one year and a very light crop the next, swinging back and forth like a pendulum. Pecans are famous for it, but as you have noted, oaks act the same way.

January is upon us. The New Year has started and you may have started a diet so what better way to reflect and think about soup.

Voters are, to understate their mood, disenchanted with Congress. Yet paradoxically, voters re-elect, over and over, the same representatives they hold in dismally low esteem, consider ineffectual and out-of-touch.

When you have the beginning of a cold, nothing sparkly to wear and you really hate New Year’s, you watch television. If a certain station has the good sense to run a marathon of vintage Twilight Zone episodes, your choice is made from the moment you hear “doo dee da doo, doo dee da doo” coming from what you think is your flat screen-but which could, in fact, originate from another planetary system.

Some of us do not wrestle with God or faith as much as we wrestle with the Church. Research is showing more people are maintaining belief in Christ but abandoning their commitment to the community that bears his name. This is problematic for numerous reasons including the assumption that one can divorce a relationship with God from a relationship to his people.

Dear Neil: You have described Oakland hollies and they sound like just what I need for privacy. How well do they tolerate rocky soils, and when should they be planted? I’ll take the easy question first.