Opinions

Dear Editor:

Society demands that young people make some of the most important decisions of their lives at an age in which they are least prepared. It is what it is.

Over 90 years ago there lived a man with bulging forearm muscles, a squinty eye, and an affinity for spinach. He appeared to get angry every episode, similar to Bill Bixby playing the Incredible Hulk in the 1978 TV series.

Beer! It all started with beer. Specifically, Coors Banquet in cans. In the early 1960s, we opened them with a “church key,” a hand opener that punched a triangular hole on one side of the top edge, then the opposite edge for glug-free drinking or for pouring. Most youngsters took an instant dislike to the taste of beer, if not hating it outright. It was the bad-tasting “medicine” you took to get high. I loved both the smell and taste. In Oklahoma back then, beer was only 3.2% alcohol, and it took quite a few to become tipsy. I became an expert.

For those prone to seeking the negative or the critical point of view about the Bluebonnet City, or anything for that matter, there are popular social media groups on sites such as Facebook. People interact and share the good, the bad and the ugly.

Musings at the final passing of that blasted year of 2020… Methinks the pandemic has forever ruined the strategic purchase and placement of mistletoe. Hanging a sprig of it – stems, leaves and berries, is part of folklore that permits one to plant a smooch on a desiring or unsuspecting person.

After the boxes and wrapping paper from Christmas Past had been discarded or recycled, I assumed a horizontal position on my favorite sofa, pulled the blanket up to my chin and grabbed the clicker, listening to all the television banter about the year coming to a close.

Dear Editor:

Thanks to government officials who have prolonged restrictions on the number of people who can dine at restaurants, or closed them down altogether due to the coronavirus pandemic, business review website Yelp has shown that approximately 60 percent of restaurants that had to shut down have done so permanently.

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.