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Opinions

Spelling Bee stung me

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Not to brag, but as an elementary school kid, I was a whiz at spelling. When it came to putting letters in the right order, I was like a mail man. Back then, there was no such thing as Spell Check.

I heard the bells on Christmas Day

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Given my advanced age, I have surely experienced a handful of Christmases which landed upon a Sunday.

Christmas got-to-have gifts

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Having passed the getting older stage in life, methinks the next level, just plain old, is about as welcome as getting into the shower and discovering someone left the handle pulled out. What is worse, the cold blast of unexpected water or the thoughts of retribution?

Checking in during the holidays

Holidays are in full tilt these days, with Christmas trees, decorations and menorahs lit, and the Season’s Greetings letters luminated on the side of a building at McKinney and Ennis Avenue. Christmas music is echoing from the city’s downtown outdoor sound system. This week there were carolers stopping by shops with songs of the season.

Holiday pruning

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Sometimes I scare even myself. Shortly after we moved to North Florida, I developed a keen appreciation for palmetto fronds, noting how nicely they work in arrangements of greenery. I have only a little palmetto of my own, but my neighbors have offered theirs, willingly. “Take all you want,” one neighbor said, almost in disgust. Then he scratched his head and asked, “Why do you want it anyway?”

I'll be home for Christmas

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Bing Crosby had a No. 1 hit in 1943, “I’ll be Home for Christmas,” though it was originally written from the point of view of soldiers overseas. It has since become a traditional tune, but back in the turbulent 40s, when 298,000 American died while serving their country, the song also carried a melancholy line, “I’ll be home for Christmas, if only in my dreams.” Not everyone did.

Mysterious flying objects

Just this week the Associate Press announced the Pentagon has established a new office in Washington for the sole task of tracking reports of UFO’s. Yes, Unidentified Flying Objects. With so much of just about everything being renamed, this subject has somehow clung tightly to UFOs. One would expect them to be classified, by now, as extraterrestrial spacecraft.

A date with infamy

Oh, for leaders who lead, and who lead a worthy cause. And whom others follow their direction with the same passion and strength. It is not a common trait among those in elevated places.

No second-guessing Fauci

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Fair or not, decisions made in real-time are often proven wrong. Second-guessing is natural, but not to Dr. Anthony Fauci. He could do no wrong back when COVID was wreaking havoc. Clearing the way for whatever he said was a fawning media, especially since it hit during the Donald Trump presidency. The rulings and restrictions he fueled dramatically slowed a swelling economy, which prompted the Democratic party to defend and endorse his authority.

How many trees have you loved?

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My love interest with trees began when I was barely 5. My family moved into a new, red brick home with a huge yard, and my father-- who was apparently a direct descendant of Johnny Appleseed -proceeded to fill that yard with plum trees, apple trees, pear trees and a semi-circle of mimosas in the back yard which leaned gracefully over flower beds filled with roses. He scavenged nearby woods for two poplar trees which now tower above 100 feet Before any actual brick and mortar was placed on the property, he outlined the back yard with towering pine trees, flanked either side of the house-tobe with a magnolia, and put a baby pecan tree in the center of the front yard. On the sides of the front yard, he planted dogwoods in pink and white, with gardenias hovering underneath.