ON THE ROAD —It took three attempts to get out of Longview toward Austin after a long night of thunderstorms and sheets of rain that terrorized the dogs. They stood on the other side of the door leading into our second story, where all the bedrooms are located. Rosie whined. Sam thumped his tail nervously. I only know this because it awoke my light-sleeping Beautiful Mystery Companion. The noise-maker fan muffled the dog’s whining, but the thunder roused me frequently.
Sam and Rosie were not happy at our departure as the rain continued. A house guest would arrive by dinnertime to take over...
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I spend much of my waking hours in front of a computer screen, either at the office or at home. In my day job, I post items to Facebook, update the website, design fliers and brochures, process the photos I have taken in Photoshop, write press releases and other material. These are solitary endeavors for the most part, requiring the meager talents I bring to Thrive360, the nonprofit for which I handle communications.
Then I come home, and at some point in the evening return to the computer screen — either to write, process my personal photos, or work at my second job, which is as a newspaper...
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My buddy Leon, a fellow refugee from the newspaper publisher business, sent me a news release the other day, announcing that Sam Malone is serving as master of ceremonies at a Houston charity event. His subject line: “Is Sam Making a Comeback?” The text announced the Keels and Wheels Concours d’Elegance, with Sam Malone as emcee, would feature Mickey Gilley of Urban Cowboy fame at the charity fundraiser. Keels and Wheels is a classic car organization. I don’t think my 1965 Ford F100 qualifies.
What got our attention is the Sam Malone that Leon and I knew well passed on 16 years ago....
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My Beautiful Mystery Companion and I took advantage of a glorious Saturday in February, in this non-existent winter, to go hiking in Tyler State Park. I needed to pick up a laptop from the Mac store, so we left early to go tramp in nature for a couple hours. This was our first visit to the park in years, at least a decade for me and longer for my BMC. Admission is just $6, and the money goes for a great cause — our state and national parks. They allow millions of people to enjoy the outdoors at a reasonable price, to see great beauty.
Tyler State Park is not breathtakingly beautiful, especially...
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The Onion, a satirical magazine and website, frequently contains “stories” that are simply hilarious. The day after the New Hampshire primary, it published a Photoshopped image of a dejected Jeb Bush sitting on the ground, his back against a mud-spattered concrete block wall. The headline: “Demoralized Jeb Bush Succumbs to New Hampshire Heroin Epidemic.”
The headline cracked me up before I even got to the story. The lede (that’s how we newspaper folks spell it): Plunging into a downward spiral of despair and self-doubt after a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses, a demoralized Jeb Bush...
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Our house is 35 years old. Most of the fixtures are original. Plumbing issues pop up often, especially lately. A thread of consistency links each of these breakdowns. They always occur at night or on weekends. Always. Twice I have been forced to call a plumber on Saturday to clear roots out of a clogged sewer line. That is an unwelcome byproduct of having lots of trees in the yard. It was call a plumber on Saturday morning or stay in a hotel over the weekend. Actually, that might have been cheaper. Two fellows came out and used a giant metal snake to clear out the line. Drop rock salt in the toilet...
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IRVING, TEXAS — The last time I worshiped at a Catholic Mass in Latin was at St. John the Baptist Catholic Church in Allenstown, N.H. I received my First Communion there, and later took my confirmation vows. That Latin Mass took place in late 1964, after which the “New Mass” was introduced to parishes in the United States — an English-language liturgy. I was 9 and had attended Latin Masses since a toddler. I had a passing understanding of what was being said. A few phrases have stuck with me: “Dòminus vobìscum,” and “Kyrie eleison” come to mind. The former means “The Lord be with...
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A flood of memories returned as I participated in the Martin Luther King, Jr. march in Longview on a picture-perfect day. It was cool enough to keep one from perspiring while walking, but not so cold as to be uncomfortable. It took about 20 minutes for a few hundred folks to stroll and sing “We Shall Overcome,” from Broughton Recreation Center to Mt. Olive Baptist Church for the service. We walked down MLK Boulevard, of course, as is the case in hundreds of towns and cities across America. And as it should be.
I thought back to 1968, a seminal year in our country’s history and my own personal...
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Rosie is our smart dog. She is high-strung but controls majority-interest of brains in our two-canine household. Sometimes when Sam will not come inside, she goes out to look for him, shaking her little head. Rosie is a rescue dog who looks like Chewbacca when her fur is long. Her breed is uncertain, but certainly mixed. She is 5 years old, well-behaved and does not shed. Sam, on the other hand, is a 7-year-old sweet, special-needs dog. He doesn’t shed either, and appears to be part poodle, part cocker spaniel. The latter explains his dumbness. There is no such thing as a smart cocker spaniel....
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The war against squirrels has again erupted in our backyard.
We hung a new bird feeder in the backyard and another on the side deck. Both are easily visible from the kitchen and breakfast room. They provide a simple pleasure as birds ranging in size from a redbird and a woodpecker down to tiny wrens come to feast. The one in the backyard is the type that contains a cake of seed inside a rectangular cage. It hangs from an ornamental iron stand. I bought a plastic half dome that is supposed to stop squirrels from getting to the seed, since they slide off the dome as it tips.
I have battled...
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