My mother was a stereotypical parent in one respect—there was no one that I dated who seemed to meet with her approval. The relationships that did get “the nod” from her were always doomed to failure. Admittedly, most of the ones that failed to receive her approval also met a bad end.

Once, when Mother was in “flat-out terms” giving me her unsolicited opinion of one of my female acquaintances, without doubt the one Mother most despised, she hissed, “If only I could be a genie for a day!”

I am writing this article on the last day of July, 2024. It is the day before the local election. By close of the day tomorrow (or early the following day) I will know who the newly elected school board members will be as well as other politicians who will continue to campaign for a few more months to serve at the state or national level.

One of my favorite episodes of The Andy Griffith Show was the one in which Barney rigs up a camera in Wally’s Service Station to catch a thief. Of course Barney has to demonstrate his criminal genius to none other than Gomer Pyle. The resulting photograph is of Barney demonstrating his setup. Shrewd Barney Fife failed to reset the camera to possibly catch a picture of the real crook.

A very interesting book, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, was published in 2003 and made into a movie in 2004 (Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Five_People_You_Meet_in_Heaven). While going to Heaven is my ultimate goal, I didn’t have to go there to meet five interesting people during my first year of teaching at Luttrell Elementary in 1987-88.

I returned today from a conference at which every school superintendent in the state of Tennessee was present. The agenda for the last day had a musical theme, though no one sang.
I noted one of the session titles alluded to Elvis Presley’s song “A Little Less Communication.” Many of you, Dear Readers, might find this song worthy of a listen on YouTube. I just listened to part of it, and I don’t consider it one of Elvis’ best. I did a Google search for the lyrics, parts of which are interesting.
A little less conversation, a little more action, please

Things are not always what they seem, and names for items do not always give much insight into the actual origin or use of those items. Take hats, for example. Panama hats are actually made in Ecuador.

I remember well the first time I suffered a back problem. I was a teenager, probably about sixteen, and I was at the home of Marie, my youngest sibling on my father’s side. I was playing with her son Billy, my nephew, who was a few years younger than me. Other of my nieces/nephews/Billy’s cousins might have been there, but I only recall for sure the two of us.

Why Work?

The Union County Public School System lost one of its very best teachers to retirement this year. Not only was Ms. Kerrie Scruggs a wonderful educator, she was a caring person and good friend. Ms. Kerrie’s husband Steve wrote a book, and my fellow Gideon brother gave me a copy. The book explained why Steve’s father always ate a good lunch at work. I’ll return to that thought shortly.

One of the best favors parents can do for their children is to take them to the dentist very early in life. This prevents so many problems in the adult years.

We are told that teeth are meant to last for a lifetime. That doesn’t mean that periodic maintenance is not necessary. Just like houses, teeth have to occasionally be cleaned and taken care of to prolong usage.

I met with Lisa Carter, the fine principal of Maynardville Elementary School, last week. She was on the phone when I arrived, so I had a few moments of leisure to look around her office. On the wall directly across from me was a saying—“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”