“Like many pals, Antonin Scalia and Ruth Bader Ginsburg could have a pretty good argument now and then, but not let it affect their close friendship.” – NPR’s All Things Considered. February 15, 2016

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg died. As I write this, I’ve just heard the news. As you read this, some days have passed; but the impact of her departure is almost certainly still being assessed.

One of Justice Ginsburg’s best friends preceded her in death – her ...

Do signs really change anyone’s mind?

We must think that they do. We buy and put out a lot of them.

Some signs are intended to sway your way of thinking, while others are meant to be funny.

Sometimes, they’re meant to be the former, but wind up also being the latter. In other words, the intended message gets lost and winds up being amusing.

For example, when I was driving past the lake, I saw 59 Trump signs; 1 Biden sign; and 12 ...

The curling iron changed things. From the male perspective, not necessarily in a good way.

It’s the amusement of women’s approach to fixing their hair that men miss.

No doubt, the curling iron is efficient. A lady just plugs it into the wall, adjusts the heat, and curls her locks to her liking.

But as a son, brother of a sister, and a guy who dated in the 70s, I miss the orange juice cans, the pink spongy rollers that snapped when locked ...

Folks who aren’t from the South invariably aren’t familiar with grits. When they come for a visit, they often twist their eyebrows into a John Belushi-type look after they spot them on their breakfast plate.

I have kinfolk who live somewhere up close to Canada. They’ve missed out on one of life’s lovely pleasures by judging grits without actually trying them.

It’s time that the stigma was removed from this amazing delicacy. Let’s do that. We’ll start with a definition.

The online Merriam-Webster ...

My father couldn’t pass a roasted peanut stand without stopping to buy a bag. He loved them.

Canton, Texas, has one of the largest flea markets in the world. During the late 1960s and throughout the ‘70s, my family frequented Canton. My father must have visited every peanut stand scattered throughout the grounds.

His favorite combination was a bag of hot roasted peanuts and a cup of ice cold, freshly squeezed lemonade.

His tastes were spot on. It really is a great combo.

My ...

Charlie is 7. Part Basset and part Beagle; he was placed in an animal shelter. Not once, but twice. That means he went through three different homes.

I can’t imagine.

Whoever had him first took him to the pound. Two families fostered Charlie from the shelter, but brought him back.

There are many reasons that people take in an animal and then change their mind, but to me, none of the reasons ever hold water.

If you commit to one of God’s living creatures, ...

Writers do what we do because we are unable to not do it. In spite of our efforts, most who write for a living can best be described with one word: broke.

But every now and then, a writer succeeds in such a large way that their work affects millions. They connect with an audience and make a great living doing it.

Paul Henning was such a writer. Never heard of Paul Henning? Even though he had unparalleled success, he remained in ...

Photo from the Facebook group: Memories of Crystal Springs Beach Maud Texas / Todd Prather. Date of photo is unknown.

In the summer, all of the kids went swimming.

We didn’t have video games or movies on demand. We had a bathing suit, a designated towel, a supervising adult, and a destination.

For those of us who grew up in southwest Arkansas, northeast Texas or northwest Louisiana, that 1970s destination was often Crystal Springs Beach.

Crystal Springs, as most of us called it, was a large lake located on Highway 67 near Maud, Texas. For decades, ...

It seemed at the time that my senior year in high school was busy – and tumultuous.

That’s because it was.

When some of my fellow 1980 classmates and I began working on plans to get together for the 40th anniversary of our graduation, memories came flooding in. Memories that had been filed away.

I pulled a stack from the grey matter file cabinet, blew off the dust, and poured over a few.

The year 1980 was the first year in my life that ...