I was surprised recently to learn that the term "Hoover hog" is not familiar to some Texans old enough to know better. When Adali Stevenson ran for President of the USA back in 1952, the New York Times reported that he gave speeches in San Antonio and Houston which included this comment about the Great Depression: 
"In those days, I’m told, there were people in Texas, one of the richest states in the nation, who actually didn’t have enough to eat. They went out on the plains and caught armadillos and ate them under the name of 'Hoover hogs.'"

Question: How many politicians does it take to change a light bulb?

Answer: 1,000,001---One to change the bulb and 1,000,000 to rebuild civilization to the point where they need light bulbs again.

You are my students, my grandson, nieces and nephews, and most importantly, the future of our great country.

"There is no research stating it is harmful, but I wouldn't." These are the words of my wife's OBGYN when I asked him about spraying insect poison and its potential effects on my unborn son at the time. A very scholarly way of saying, “I don’t know.” And you know what, there is nothing wrong with that reply. It reaffirmed two points for me. The first being I’ll throw out the poison and well, bugs, "Welcome."

I have a vintage photo of my great grandfather, Richard Medford. The picture shows him sitting in a ladderback cane chair, with a scowl on his face that double-dog dares a passerby to get near his porch.

When I look back on my childhood, one of the things I am most grateful for is the bachelor uncle who lived with us and added so much to the education of myself and my brother and sisters. Uncle Doug was always there to encourage and stimulate us to be curious about ideas and books and the world around us. He took me to the State Fair of Texas when I was only five or six years old, when getting there involved riding a passenger train from Groesbeck to Dallas and back, an adventure in itself.

The race for maidenhood has been won by a few. Barbie is fifty-seven years old and doesn't have a single spider vein on the back of her knees to show for it. Pat Boone is eighty-two and comes straight from the kingdom of Shangri-La. Mickey Mouse is eighty-eight. I don't know how a rodent is supposed to age, but I'd say an animal on Medicare is a little old for short pants.

This is not your typical "first day of school" story. My oldest granddaughter entered college last month, and that led me to reminisce about the grandfather who was part of my extended family household. In the early 1890s my grandfather was living in his home state of Tennessee. His older brother Robert had already made the journey to Texas and was practicing medicine in the small community of Oletha in Limestone County.

As eloquently stated by James Alexander, "The loss of liberty in general would soon follow the suppression of the liberty of the press..."

Strangely, over a century, America's two major political parties gradually reversed identities, like the magnetic poles of Planet Earth switching direction.

Remember when the monthly charge for electric power was referred to as "the light bill" and we read our own meters once a month?

In the first eight months of 2016, 88 people died on Texas rivers and lakes due to drowning, trauma and other causes. Many of these tragedies can be avoided, which is why Texas game wardens are asking boaters, anglers and swimmers to make a promise to friends and family during the Labor Day holiday weekend to stay safe out on the water.