Opinions

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.

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.

There is something exhilarating about facing tough odds while being in a hostile environment. Imagine heading on the road to play a college football game in Tuscaloosa or Baton Rouge after dark. Some might say the toughest place to be is at the Thanksgiving table as the only Conservative in the mix.

Good news is always welcome, and, while it is not nearly as fast in its travel as bad news, it is especially satisfying during the holidays. One is a national news story from just a few days ago. The others are local events that reflect well on the community.

When my 92-year-old aunt senses that matters in the family require immediate attention, she goes to her stationery drawer and begins writing. She has long embraced the theory that “the pen is mightier than the sword.” She uses her pen, in swordly fashion, to challenge lawmakers, to monitor her state’s retirement program and to chastise unscrupulous manufacturers for shoddy products.

One of the great joys in life is finding that which is lost.

When it comes to voting in America, it is highly doubtful that counting ballots has ever witnessed a completely clean election. Cheating surely happens far more often than we want to know.

If you don’t go to church, you won’t understand this column.

There are times when Life moves along at a pretty predictable pace--so much so that you get rocked into some sort of complacency about the goodness which surrounds you. When immersed in this complacency, you have time to look at that greener grass growing next door, or those Joneses who are retired and having a fabulous time in Hawaii, or that dear friend’s Christmas card where every relative is either a Harvard lawyer, found the cure for cancer, performed in the U.S. Olympics or painted a mural for the Metropolitan Museum of Art.