Brandon, the smart young man who has worked for me for years, isn’t impressed by much at all. He’s remarkably level-headed, so fame or celebrity bounces him like one of Penelope Ann’s biscuits bounces off the floor.

There’s a reason we still have our Christmas wreath on the wall beside the door – nearly in April.

Girl Scouts delivering cookies have said nothing. Friends arriving for dinner, or the carpet cleaning fellow – they’ve either not noticed or figured they didn’t really want to know why there’s a Christmas wreath hanging there, right at eyelevel. It has been there since late in Advent. And there is a reason it’s still there.

Author Gary Burge told about Jay Leno roving among his late night show audience several years ago, asking how much the audience knew about the Bible.

In a stunning disregard of the Constitution of the United States, the Connecticut Judiciary Committee recently proposed a bill stripping Roman Catholic bishops of their authority to govern fiscal and administrative diocesan affairs, according to a report by Fox News.

In America, 2009, things happen that you once wouldn’t have thought would happen, such as deference toward human life smacked down as outworn ideology. By the President of the United States, no less. So it goes in the Age of Obama.

All the snow is gone, but the freezer in the basement is now full of snowballs.

Growing up on Flamingo Street I learned that the best time to have a snowball fight is in the middle of summer.

Now that the federal government has decided to bail out homeowners in trouble, with mortgage loans up to $729,000, that raises some questions that ought to be asked, but are seldom being asked.

“A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step,” said Confucius. But a journey of whatever length presumes one has a destination in mind. With President Obama’s executive order authorizing expanded federal funding for research using stem cells, produced from the destruction of human embryos, the destination will be left up to scientists, as will any “speed controls.” The sky, or in this case the depths, will be the limit.

Government health care advocates used to sing the praises of Britain’s National Health Service (NHS). That’s until its poor delivery of health care services became known.

Back to civilian life…

After 14 months, the 25 nurses of the 803rd were rotated back to the States and Lt. Baer’s next assignment was a war bond drive in the form of an air show throughout the western states.

As the hyperventilating over Barack Obama’s election subsides, along with disbelief this could happen in America, maybe a white conservative man like me can finally say a few things.

The debut of President Barack Obama has left many people skeptical about his willingness to confront those who would ignore his lofty standards or plunder the treasury.

Last week, the General Assembly convened for days 25, 26 and 27 of the legislative session. We are rapidly approaching Day 30, known as “Cross-Over Day” which is the last day that bills originating from the House and Senate can pass out of their respective bodies and be heard by the other body this session. Last week we considered some important measures on the floor and in committee.

I love small-town newspapers. I’m all for hometown journalism that is the core of communities and the heart of their citizens.

In Deuteronomy 18:15-22, God, through Moses, gives God’s word to the people that they will need a new prophet — one like Moses himself, who speaks the words God puts in his mouth. The Israelites wonder, however, how they can tell whether or not a prophet is truly speaking God’s word. God replies, through Moses, that they can tell whether it’s God’s word by whether or not the word spoken comes true.

I was writing a postcard earlier this week to a young lady who is enduring boot camp in the United States Navy at the Great Lakes Naval Training Center in the frigid and wind-swept area near Chicago.

Last Sunday morning at 11 o’clock the first snowflake started to fall. Even though I had been raised better, I wasn’t prepared.

Feeling somewhat uneasy about their carefree lives in war time, the flight attendants listened to a legendary military man:

Colin had just turned two when the Imagination Movers came to Fayetteville. The year was 2007 and everything was hunky dory. At least, as far as I can remember. The Imagination Movers were performing at the Villages Amphitheater on a Saturday evening in May and, as sponsors of the show, The Citizen had some tickets. We decided to invite some friends and their kids to take in the concert with us, even though we had only seen one short video from “The Movers” on the Disney Channel a couple of times.

Traffic infractions are criminal violations. To be convicted of a crime, a person must be found guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

Edward R. Murrow, journalistic hero, a man willing to take on the biggest names in government, defending the American public from dishonest dealers, said, “The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer.”

Last week, the legislature convened for legislative days 22, 23 and 24. With the session now well past the halfway point, the legislature is moving at a rapid pace. The House passed several important bills this week, including the mid-year budget adjustment for 2009 and an important education related measure.

It was an interesting brief I saw in a newspaper industry bulletin the other day. A reporter from one of the South’s largest newspapers won the top prize from the Society of Professional Obituary Writers Awards.

That’s right. It’s not just for AA any more, and never was. Read on.

In fact, The Serenity Prayer, as we know it, was only shortened and adopted by the good people of AA after its original use.

Several weeks ago, the Rev. Mark Anthony, senior pastor of Trinity Fellowship Assembly of God, called and asked if I would be willing to teach a portion of a class for seniors at Trinity Christian School. I would be one of many local pastors who were being invited to teach and share.

When the stock market is receding to the levels of a decade ago, and no one agrees on what to do, the coming of the season of penitence might seem easy enough to overlook. Or, relevant enough to engage every fiber of mind and body and spirit.

There’s been a lot of talk lately about peanuts, most of it concerning salmonella. Being born and raised in this peanut state, I take great offense to it. It’s time to set the record straight – it’s time to fight back! This is war! Those little peanuts can’t defend themselves; it’s up to all of us.

An increasing number of recent letters and emails from readers strike a note, not only of unhappiness with the way things are going in our society, but a note of despair.

Attorney General Eric Holder said the United States is “a nation of cowards” when it comes to race relations.

In one sense, he is absolutely right. Many whites, from university administrators and professors, schoolteachers to employers and public officials accept behavior from black people that they wouldn’t begin to accept from whites.

NOTE: This was the first part of a Fayette Woman Magazine cover story that appeared in September 2003. Miss Essie died Feb.12, 2009, at 90.