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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Today we mark a New Year. While I am never, at my age, in a hurry for any of my allotted days to pass, I cannot say I will miss 2015. Violence and misery cropped up far too often, both here and abroad. While I pray for a safer, more peaceful 2016, there is little reason right now to believe it will be. That is the sad truth.
On that cheerful note, I will make a few modest predictions about what will take place this year.
For starters, we will elect a new president in November. Since it’s a leap year, that means an extra day of campaigning — and attack ads. I boldly predict that neither...
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And suddenly it is Christmas. It is likely to be raining and in the 70s. Three years ago it snowed on Christmas Day, the first white Christmas here in many decades. This year, we will be wearing T-shirts and shorts. You never know what an East Texas winter will bring.
This can be a melancholy season. Many of us more or less equate the Christmas season with tragedy and loss. We push through it and prevail. Everything usually turns out OK as families gather, a few empty seats at the table. But there is a tear in the fabric of our lives that cannot be mended.
My Beautiful Mystery Companion attended...
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BALTIMORE — Da Mimmo is a family owned restaurant in this city’s Little Italy, about eight square blocks packed with restaurants. My lunch partner chose it and ranks it at the top of Little Italy, with perhaps one other establishment vying for the title. This elegant restaurant, with linen tablecloths and fine china, is named for our waiter, Mimmo Cricchio, the son of owner Mary Ann Cricchio. Da Mimmo marks 32 years in business next month. It has won many awards, from being named one of the top Italian restaurants by Zagat, to “Best Veal Chop” in Baltimore. That is what my partner ordered....
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’Twas a few weeks before Christmas, and creatures were stirring throughout the neighborhood. This includes a mouse that seems to have taken up residence in the covered area that houses our HVAC units. My Beautiful Mystery Companion was enjoying a sunny afternoon when the little fellow stuck her head out between the bricks, which have a checkerboard design — bricks and small square holes that are mouse-sized. Luckily, they are not squirrel-sized holes. We appear to be especially overrun with those large rodents this autumn, likely because of a heavy harvest of acorns.
I’m not worried about...
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