Gardening often involves a lot of patience, as I learned recently with my roselle plants. Roselle ( Hibiscus sabdariffa), as its scientific name implies, is a member of the hibiscus family, and as such are distantly related to okra and cotton.

C By GARY BORDERS For the 30th consecutive month Texas showed job growth, reaching just under 14 million jobs and outpacing the nation in its annual rate of employment growth, according to the Texas Workforce Commission. “Our world-class Texas workforce has grown by more than 400,000 jobs over the last year, thanks largely to the energizing job creation by our private-sector employers,” said TWC commissioner Aaron Demerson.

I titled the following story: “Dad, The Turning Row Terror.” This is not out of disrespect for my Dad. We were brought up to always be respectful to our elders and to our mother and father. This was just a seven year old boy’s opinion and after 73 years, I feel it’s OK to relive it.

T EXAS History After Joe Horner’s battle with the buffalo soldiers on Oct. 11, 1874, the wild young outlaw seemed headed for an early grave.

A 1969 Chevrolet was destroyed by fire and about half an acre of grass burned on FM 154 between West Point and Muldoon. The La Grange Fire Department, which sent its booster truck to the scene about 4:15 p.m., could not save the car but extinguished the grass blaze before it spread further. Officers speculated a flat tire on the vehicle, owned and operated by Mrs. Ivy Whitworth, caused the fire.

To the Editor: We must all call Governor Greg Abbott’s office, now. He must do and can do more to control our southern borders.

To the Editor: There have been a couple of letters concerning school vouchers recently. Personally, I see no problem with options for school choice given what’s happening in schools these days.

With the heat of the summer keeping us close to the air conditioning unit, I decided to share a memory of cold weather from long ago. A paper route didn’t build my character, but it sure convinced me to avoid cold mornings! My folks owned the semiweekly paper in Littlefield, and the Sunday issue was delivered by my two grumbling sisters and me.

To the Editor: In this age of the snubbed, the silenced and the criminalization of free speech, aka dis-information, you still have a choice. You can choose to be the one no one talks to, the one made invisible, and you can choose to be the courageous purveyor of what once was the hallmark of being American, speaking your mind, while so many others are loosing theirs, conforming to cult-like beliefs and behavior.

Not all of us are big readers of daily newspapers, much less books anymore, but from the time I could hold a hard copy book through now, I have been a voracious reader of almost anything I can get my hands on. Now there are limits to what I enjoy, of course: all readers have tastes and preferences, and mine are as eclectic as anyone else’s who reads a lot. For me, the things I generally steer away from are horror, science fiction, utopian fiction, and bodice-ripper novels.