Opinion

I went shopping this afternoon for my daughter’s birthday present. My daughter is grown, has a busy life where she works as an engineer for a large construction company, is raising two very active children, and makes enough money to buy everything she needs… or wants. Therefore, picking out a birthday present for her can be a challenge.

When I left town a couple of weeks ago, I had no idea that it was so late in the season. After all, this is Texas where the weather rarely gets cold before Christmas and then only for less than a day. Snow may come in on the wind from the north, fluttering about during a late season football game, but by midafternoon the next day, we’ll be leaving our jackets in the back of the car, our warm hats on the pews at church, and our gloves in the baskets at the grocery store.

Texas legislators are off to the races, filing more than 850 bills on Monday, the first day of filing season for the 88th session, which begins Jan. 10.

My dear old dad, who absented his earthly life three decades ago, loved good jokes--both the hearing and the telling--with a slight leaning toward the latter. He shared them on workdays with his co-workers and at gatherings of kinfolk.

Jerks and others of assorted intellects were jolted by a recent piece of news that is bound to reach front pages sooner than later. It’s one thing to consider the Energizer Bunny, hear commercials challenging us to “start something,” and marvel at the growing list of battery- powered mechanisms.

Voter turnout in the midterm elections again dropped statewide, with just over 45% of registered voters either casting ballots early or at the polls on Nov. 8. Republican candidates continued to hold a hammerlock on statewide positions, with incumbent Gov. Greg Abbott handily winning a third term over challenger Beto O’ Rourke.

Traveling for some of us is exciting. It’s been several years since I’ve ventured out into the world. The pandemic has kept many of us prisoner in our homes and communities where our only adventures have been to learn how to FaceTime the grand kids or to figure out how to find the local weather on Hulu.

Texas public schools would have to install panic buttons in classrooms and ensure all doors and windows are locked and monitored under new proposed safety standards released last week by the Texas Education Agency.

Most of us consider ourselves good listeners. We consider ourselves empathetic… we feel the pain when someone is telling about his problem. We suffer with them. We understand. The problem comes when we stop listening about halfway through and begin to go through our own experiences to “understand” their pain.

Some quotes linger, often for no reason. They may stand alone, bringing up the rear when other thoughts are locked in--safe for the night--in literature’s OK Corral. Yet, they are “ear-catching,” hard to shake when minds are in neutral gear.