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Longing for her chest

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I approached the back door, and there they were: beautiful works of art, basking in the sun.

They were porcelain white and flawless.

I was in awe.

“How do you do it?” I asked my friend.

Is she a painter? You might ask.

A sculptor? You might wonder.

No, she owns the prettiest ice chests I’ve ever seen, outside of a retail establishment.

“Ours are only this white the day they’re purchased,” I admitted, and she was almost embarrassed for me.

Letter to the Editor

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Dear Editor,

The modern lunch lady

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Meals served at America’s public schools drew great attention during the onset of former First Lady Michelle Obama’s Let’s Move initiative in 2011 and again a year ago during the pandemic when students were often at home instead of school. Just how important is breakfast and lunch to education?

One-in-seven children experience hunger in the United States, which indicates there could be millions who are not receiving the sustenance their bodies require. That dynamic has a direct impact on how well students learn.

Fact-checking my dreams

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Understanding one’s dreams has been a quest for thousands of years. Are they true? Do they have significance in our present life? Or are the vivid ones simply the result of too much pepperoni on last night’s pizza?

Of the many benefits of dreaming is that you’re sleeping when it happens. Another is that the government has yet to tax this form of personal entertainment. Don’t let those bureaucrats know about your internal movie screen and Sensurround sound system.

The Fourth of July: it wasn't a party

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When I look back to the Fourth of July during my earliest years, it wasn’t a party. There were no computer-generated displays of fireworks.

It would begin, instead, with a qui et picnic lunch underneath a church cross.

The danger of belittling

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Looking down on those considered the opposition can be done, but history teaches that it’s not a well-advised practice. It doesn’t matter who warns against it, the list of the over-confident requires vast amounts of ink.

Suffice it to say, the words of Lao Tzu, the 6th century BC Chinese philosopher, states it well: “There is no greater danger than underestimating your opponent.”

Aye, aye captain

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It was a thousand nautical miles ago when the daughter and I rode in circles in our little, family boat, just beyond the boat ramp at Dekle Beach.

What we owe each other

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Most adults know what the Golden Rule is and we’re pretty sure what it means. Whether we practice it is another matter. We are likely to recognize it in its simplest of forms. The point of this editorial is an opportunity to display the Golden Rule that is overlooked to the point we will lie to keep from serving someone in need.

Juneteenth

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My son called me on Friday to congratulate me that from now on, my birthday, June 19, will be a federal holiday. I told him to enjoy the day off but still go ahead with whatever plans he may have had for sending me a gift. He was not amused.

Now in my eighth year in Ennis, the subject of Juneteenth has often filled this space, usually in a historical point of view.

Honor thy father

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When the Lottie Moon Offering was taken each year at our church, my father stood behind the back pew in the large sanctuary, which accommodated more than 200 people, while various women’s circles and youth organizations voiced their individual totals in an orderly process.

At the end of all the chalkboard notations, the chairman of the deacons would shade his eyes, and from the front of the auditorium, look toward the back of the church toward my father and say, “Ed?”

And my father would say, “Two thousand, seven hundred and 56 dollars, and 34 cents.”