Columns

Driving through Round Top around nine-thirty the other evening, I was struck by the sense of relaxed holiday ease. It was the first Saturday of the Antique Show and town was crowded. Yes, the weather that day had been fabulous. After all, it doesn’t take an Antiques extravaganza to bring people to our area on a beautiful day.

To the Editor: Every time we drive down Travis Street through the cemeteries, I think, especially during bluebonnet season, how beautiful and well kept they are. The city crews do such a wonderful job of maintaining them.

To The Editor: I appreciate the balance that the Record brings to the “Letters to the Editor.” I try to read them all even if I don’t agree with the writer typically, or if the writer has a tendency to be longwinded. I can imagine it must be a challenge to decide which letters get printed and which ones do not.

To The Editor: County judge, who cares? Well, I did some research to find out what a county judge does, and turns out this is a really important position. Being county judge is no small responsibility.

Nearly 7,500 cyclists will hit the road for Bike MS: Texas MS 150 on April 30-May 1. Hosted by the National Multiple Sclerosis Society, Bike MS: Texas MS 150 is an opportunity for companies, coworkers, neighbors, friends and family to team up for an extraordinary ride to make a difference in the lives of nearly one million people living with multiple sclerosis in the U.S.

Will someone tell me what day it is? I am asking that question more and more these days. Why is it I don’t know whether it is Tuesday or Friday? Last week every day felt like Saturday, and I couldn’t get my mind around the fact it was only Wednesday or Thursday.

On Mar. 30, 1870, Pres. Ulysses S. Grant signed the act that restored Lone Star statehood. Texans were, for better or worse, back in the Union after four years in the Confederacy and five as an occupied territory.

Editorial cartoonist Ben Sargent once penned a masterful sketch of a newspaperman — a skinny, bug-eyed fellow in a baggy suit with a press card in the band of his porkpie hat. The unnamed journalist was depicted in the simple act of entering a dark room at city hall and switching on a light.

Much of the state remains at considerable risk for wildfires through this week, largely because of higher-than-usual temperatures and drought conditions. More than 40% of the state is suffering extreme drought conditions, according to the U.S. Drought Monitor. Nearly the entire state is in some form of drought, with much of the Panhandle, High Plains and west central Texas most at risk.

I told you I planned to write a follow-up to my column concerning mis-speaks and self-embarrassments. I received quite a few suggestions from readers in different cities where my column appears. However, I had to discard many of them because of length, word-choice (too “blue” for a family newspaper) or the situation itself (too graphic or “racy”) for the same reason. They were funny--I want you to know that--but editors have to be careful in what they print. This led me to search for an old folder which I finally located yesterday. It contained cartoons, brief jokes and oneliners I had jotted down on napkins, envelopes, and torn sheets of paper that have since yellowed with time. I had saved these to use at speaking engagements to illustrate a certain point, but the pandemic has cancelled these for the time being. I tossed many of them, setting aside only the ones that still brought a big grin to my face. So instead of working them into a speech, I am throwing them out to you in a big heap inside today’s column. Ready? Let’s go! A cartoon with the caption “The last words of a do-it-yourselfer”