Opinion

Igrew up believing that you judge a man by the size of his Christmas tree. Each December my father and I would jump in our Willys Jeep and rush over to the local drive-in theater.

We often think of winning one more soul for Jesus, when we hear verses about bearing good fruit. Who doesn’t want to be a good tree in order to bear good fruit. I for example, am concerned about not producing and being cut off and thrown into the fire.

Dear Neil: What can be used to kill these insects, and what are they? I’ve looked closely at your photo, and best I can tell, it matches up with this information from Florida about a microscopic mite Acalitus ruelliae, and a growth problem called an erineum.

When my wife poses that question, I always answer, “No, that’s fine,” because (a) I genuinely enjoy leftovers, (b) I don’t want to cause extra trouble for her and (c) I can’t afford the airline tickets to transport a Tupperware container of six-day-old broccoli to all those “starving children on...

Editor’s note: This column is an excerpt from Tom Purcell’s new book, “Tips from a New Dog Dad.” Read more chapters at ThurbersTail.com. My Lab puppy, Thurber, was born on Christmas Day, 2020 — the best Christmas blessing I ever received.

Dear Neil: We applied the pre-emergent as you recommended last spring. It helped a great deal with this year’s lawn through the summer (until the drought).

GUEST COLUMNIST Is the glass half empty or half full? In my experience it’s always been half full -- and that’s one of many things I am thankful for this Thanksgiving.