October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and this year The Clifton Record is planning to put out a special publication to celebrate those who have overcome breast cancer, stand with those who are still battling, honor those who have stood by the side of their loved ones, and of course remember those who lost the fight.

The Texas House approved an elections bill Friday along party lines with 21 Democrats declining to participate. The bill, slightly different from previously passed Senate legislation, now heads a conference committee that will negotiate a final version.

There are plenty who don’t trust the vaccine. It’s never been political for me. I’ve tried to avoid politics while admitting I have both conservative and liberal leanings. Like many younger people, my kids become annoyed if I post anything online that even hints at conspiracy theory/far right. So I don’t. Many extreme posts from either side of the aisle are questionable anyway. I don’t trust social media fact checkers, but there are other ways to verify, which I do.

As if their seeds had been delivered to Central Texas by the spring gusts, windmills have been flowering throughout the region at a surprising pace. I first saw these impressive three-petal steel structures – and, at over 500 feet in height and weighing more than 300 tons in some cases, impressive they are – along Highway 10 driving West to Fort Stockton several years ago. I saw them again near Corpus Christi a few years later. More recently I found them literally next to a client’s house in Mart, then on both sides of Hwy 84 around Watt, and now they are all along Hwy 31 near Mt. Calm, where Mr. C. has his ranch with cows, hay bales, wind turbines and all.

For the past 20 years most of the residents of Bosque County have been served by FedEx Express employee Jeff Jaynes. Jeff always has a smile on his face and has done a terrific job picking up and delivering packages in snow, sleet and Texas heat! Over the years Lisa and I have had the opportunity to know Jeff as family and get to know his son, Hunter, through Baylor football games, hamburgers and good times.

October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month and this year the Meridian Tribune is planning to put out a special publication to celebrate those who have overcome breast cancer, stand with those who are still battling, honor those who have stood by the side of their loved ones, and of course remember those who lost the fight.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about an abandoned, barbecue pit/trailer we discoverEvery life has ups and downs. A few things I’ve weathered might seem catastrophic to someone else. And some of the stuff that’s laid me flat--- even if briefly--- might not phase another person. We all experience challenges; low times, loss, sadness, physical weakness, difficult recovery, heartache. If we’re fortunate, these are balanced by peace, happiness, success, contentment and great joy. Like a cousin used to say, “You take the bitter with the better”. Everyone reacts differently. I try to sail through with little drama. Some thrive on it, but not me.

A growing number of school districts, counties and cities have defied Gov. Greg Abbott’s executive order banning mask mandates, as COVID-19 cases continue to spike due to the delta variant and a low rate of vaccination among Texans.

A few weeks ago, I wrote about an abandoned, barbecue pit/trailer we discovered on our property. Turned out it was only temporarily parked here by someone who neglected to inform us. The barbecue trailer episode started us thinking--- again--- about a funny, little, homemade jewel that’s languished in a barn here for over 80 years. Like Rip Van Winkle. We first spied it two decades ago while trying to decide if the old barns were worth saving--- or if we should just light a match and stand back. You may guess that we saved them all to the best of our ability.

The number of Texans hospitalized with labconfirmed COVID-19 cases is increasing faster than at any other point since the pandemic began in early 2020, due to the highly contagious delta variant. As of Sunday, the Texas Department of State Health Services reported 8,892 people were in Texas hospitals.