My favorite poet, E. E. Cummings, once wrote "The most wasted of all days is one without laughter." Having grown up on the Reader's Digest and Saturday Evening Post, I still love humorous anecdotes and cartoons. None of these is original with me, but neither are they copyrighted by anyone else.

Remember those questions that suggested responding with a creative novel in suppositional fiction?

We parents have always been saps. Forty-one years ago, my infant daughter, who had no control over her bladder, was unable to feed herself, and couldn’t focus both eyes in the same direction, said clearly, “I want a Cabbage Patch doll for Christmas.” I was pathetic then and I’m still pathetic. When our children or grandchildren speak, we listen. When they cry, we start the motor of the car. When they threaten to stop breathing, we salivate, grow fur, and become predatory.

One of the cliches of self-help programs that I remember from my teen-age and college years is the importance of WILLPOWER. I recall there were many different books and short courses built around this concept, but in general their explanations of how to make it work were ambiguous and programs based on it rarely lived up to the promises they offered.

Because Santa Claus blessed me with a plethora of gadgets last Christmas, I was deployed to terra ignota (land of the unknown)---the kitchen.

The CIA's report in late November, 2018, strongly implicated Prince Mohammed Bin Salam in ordering the murder of Jamal Khashoggi, a US-resident and journalist for the Washington Post.

One of my favorite old sayings is "Be careful what you ask for." People my age grew up in a world where "labor-saving devices" were one of the most sought-after inventions. We were promised that the world of the future would be greatly improved by all the new appliances and ways of doing things, and I believed it. Some recent experiences, however, have given me serious doubts about that idea.

As private property owners, we learned some tough lessons during the last Texas legislative session when we were not able to secure desperately needed reforms to the eminent domain process.

To offer alternatives to fake health centers, local politicians and leaders in the Texoma region's thriving medical community should work together to offer more regulated medical resources for women's reproductive and sexual health.

The Old Farmer's Almanac for 2019 is now on sale, and as usual I pulled one off the newsstand and looked it over before deciding to buy one. Here are some of the reasons I decided this edition was worth the $6.99 it cost.

Chico's calls it Travelers knit. It’s that stretchy spand-o, papa-go, triple-zing fabric, personified. In other words, it gives, forgives, and can even remember from whence it came. We baby boomers love it because it grows as we grow. I wear it on long trips for the seventh inning stretch feature---comfort. In fact, I wear it on short trips, too, from the medicine cabinet to the kitchen window. The secret ingredient is a breathable membrane.

My stepfather, Charles Davidson, Jr. was a soldier in the 29th Infantry Division during the war. His unit landed on Omaha Beach and fought tenaciously in Normandy during the first six weeks of the liberation. My family is proud of Charlie and his service during World War II. What his generation did to restore freedom and defeat the Axis Powers is one of the most important chapters in world history. Over the years, Charlie has occasionally talked about his wartime experiences. One of the most emotional stories he has related involves the loss of two northeast Texas buddies.