Columns/Opinions

They called balls and strikes behind home plate for a combined 52 years, achieving greatness in the world of Major League umpiring until their retirement in 1999.

The pair’s plaque-filled walls in their homes are testimonies to their remarkable professional achievements.

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A Wildlife Wife

A couple of weeks ago I posted on my social media accounts some pictures of dead insects my husband brought to me and added the caption, “That’s what it’s like to love and be loved by a wildlife biologist.” Now, these were not just any insects—one was a Hercules rhinoceros beetle and the other was a cicada with its cellophane looking wings. Besides insects, he has brought home or shown me snakes, lizards, turtles, tortoises, various sorts of birds, and a wide variety of four-legged mammalian creatures. Hehas also brought in various parts to show me—hearts, eyeballs, eggs, etc.

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Ready, set, here we go… are you ready for some students? Teachers will start with four days of in-service and students will show up on Friday. I love the excitement of that first day. The kids are bright and perky; looking around for changes and new parking spots. They want their lockers labeled and books put in order.

Everything is a new adventure. That of course wears off, but for those first few weeks; it is a picnic. Please remember, parents, that if you need supplies, most of us have donations from folks in the community.

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Nature is not Neat

We have a term, "human nature," that is usually used to describe certain characteristics or traits of humans. It also sort of implies that "human nature" and "Nature" are different. And, although we are undeniably part of "Nature" and the "Natural World" or biosphere along with all other living things, we do have some traits that nothing else in "Nature" does.

The trait that I am thinking of right now is that humans have a thing for neatness or orderliness that nothing else in Nature does.

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There will be a blood drive at the Cherokee Church of Christ on Thursday, August 15th. The bloodmobile from Baylor Scott & White in Temple will be at the church building parking lot from 12:00 until 4:30.

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Wow, once I get out of a groove, evidently I have a hard time getting back into it!! Part of the problem is that I have been enjoying our business’s slow season and not looking at calendar nor-to-do lists with any regularity. But I am working to clean up my act now that busy season looms again.

Last week, I realized that I had fallen into the habit of getting up in the morning and looking at my phone for an embarrassingly long stretch of time before I got busy with my day. What triggered this realization is a FaceBook post by a friend that said “Who else wakes up in the morning and reads FaceBook like the morning paper?” The next day she posted a picture of a bunch of her friends sitting around a restaurant table all looking at their phones along with the caption, “We all gather together to look at our phones” (This was not staged). You could say I felt convicted.

Several years ago, I began a program of walking the same trail around 10-12 acres of woodland/ savanna around my house every month in order to observe and record the things in nature that I saw. Initially, I just walked the trail somewhat slowly looking for anything that caught my eye, spending about 30+ minutes doing it.

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Mort’s Foibles on the Fourth…

tions should he ever be on life support. “Should I ever be lodged between such a rock and a hard place, simply pull the plug,” he insisted. “Then, plug it back and see if that helps.”…

*****

He had observations about celebrants’ attire, always reminding guests to “dress down,” in case any of them want to compete in threelegged sack races, frog-gigging or crawfish-catching.

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The U.S. Supreme Court today (06/24/19) closed a window into the workings of the federal government when agencies withhold information about businesses it acquires as part of administering taxpayer-supported programs, the National Newspaper Association said.

Ruling on behalf of a business group representing food retailers, the Food Marketing Institute, the high court permitted the U.S. Department of Agriculture to withhold information on the revenues received by businesses when they sell food under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP.) The ruling, by a 6-3 majority, went against the Sioux Falls (South Dakota) Argus-Leader, which has sought information under the federal Freedom of Information Act for more than a decade.

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At the low-water bridge below Tom Miller Dam, west of downtown Austin, during the summer of his 10th or 11th year, Ken Roberts had his first encounter with cedar choppers. On his way to the bridge for an afternoon of fishing, he found himself facing a group of boys who clearly came from a different place and culture than the middle-class, suburban community he was accustomed to. “They looked hard---tanned, skinny, dirty. These were not kids you would find in Austin.” When Roberts’ fishing companion curtly refused the strangers’ offer to sell them a stringer of bluegills, the three boys went away, only to reappear moments later, one of them carrying a club. Roberts and his friend made a hasty retreat.