GILMER, TEXAS — A young boy, maybe 6 years old, is pulling a rusty red wagon with two rabbits in a cage. He is wearing a straw hat that nearly swallows his face, a Western shirt with images of a bronc rider, blue jeans, and cowboy boots. He is adorable. The little cowpoke is peering intently into a cage filled with white geese. He is surrounded by folks looking at cages and pens filled with all kinds of poultry, waterfowl, goats, rabbits, and dogs. This is the first of three annual East Texas Poultry Trades Day events held at the Yamboree Livestock Pavilion in Gilmer. Exhibitors have filled three...
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But your flag decal won’t get you into Heaven anymore
They’re already overcrowded from your dirty little war
Now Jesus don’t like killin’, no matter what the reason’s for
And your flag decal won’t get you into Heaven anymore
— John Prine
Beloved troubadour John Prine wrote Your Flag Decal Won’t Get You Into Heaven Anymore in 1969, at the height of the Vietnam War. At a live concert I listened to on Spotify, he said the song’s idea came to him while he was a mail carrier in Chicago. Back then, Reader’s Digest was highly popular. Prine said mail carriers hated the magazine...
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There is not much I find heartening these days, what with a needless war, a president whose Easter “greeting” was to use the F-bomb in a demented post, gasoline prices skyrocketing, and a feeling of dread that is hard to shake. One of my first thoughts each morning, besides “Man, I really need to pee,” is “What fresh hell awaits us this morning?” As I told a friend the other day, when I think it could not get any worse, it does. I do count my many blessings — good health and a loving family are highest on the list.
What I find truly special lately is the Artemis II mission, which...
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PHILADELPHIA — The City of Brotherly Love also seems to be the City of Light-Fingered Gloves. Walk into almost any pharmacy, and you'll see expensive items locked up. Customers must press a button on each display to summon an employee with a key to retrieve, for example, a bottle of Tylenol. My Beautiful Mystery Companion and I noticed this on a recent visit to an academic conference where we both gave presentations.
We had just left the famous Reading Terminal Market, one of the country’s oldest and largest public markets. It’s a great place to stroll and enjoy locally sourced produce,...
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