Opinion

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. While everyone has developed their own traditions, there are a few that are standard when it comes to the fare served at the table.

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. Now that I have my own children, I’ve tried to expand their experiences by taking them out to Mexican, Italian, Asian, Mexican and Mexican restaurants.

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. The gospel passage is Luke 21 which deals with Jesus’ teaching about some terrible, horrible, very bad things that will happen before the end of time, before he returns. I am also reading Isaiah 65, written long before Jesus’ earthly life.

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. “And just in case I don’t see one, I try to keep a snake handy in my other pocket.” At least a couple of times in my many years, I’ve crossed paths with one of the slithering reptiles in situations that were way too close for comfort. Looking back, I guess it’s good I managed to dodge suffering from snake bite as I never carried the medicinal elixir Robert relied on. Just in case he met a snake. Fortunately, it’s been some 30 years since my last close encounter of a snake kind. But for my friend who happened up on one in her kitchen a few weeks ago, the memory is still much too fresh.

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. First, I apologize if my statement implies that being over 65 and/or a renter equates to poverty (context of conversation is available at FSISD.net: Ag Barn Q&A video link).

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.

What does God want me to do with my life? I get asked that question a lot. We probably spend too much wasted energy trying to figure that out.