Opinion

This year, my eldest and most expensive daughter embarked on her senior year at Texas A&M University, and my wife and I embarked on another year of wondering whether credit cards can actually implode from overuse.

Sun, moon, and starry sky early summer evenings, when the first stars come out, the warm glow of sunset still stains the rim of the western sky. Sometimes, the moon is also visible, a pale white slice, while the sun tarries. Just think -- all the celestial lights are present at the same time! These are moments of wonder -- see them and remember.

Dear Neil, our lawn maintenance company mowed our grass about a month ago. I noticed a spot that almost immediately appeared beneath our red oak. It was about 4x4 ft. and looked like it had tire tracks going through it. A few days later, we had our trees trimmed, and the company dragged limbs from our yard. Many more of the spots appeared almost overnight, again looking like tire tracks. We sprayed with a fungicide, and the grass began to look a bit better. One thing that showed up on web searches was Ascochyta leaf blight. We’ve never had anything like this in 11 years of living here. I’ve known how to deal with chinch bugs from reading your columns, but this one has me stumped. Any suggestions?

Philly cheesesteak conjures visions of tender slices of juicy beef, the tang and sweetness of vibrant bell peppers, the intense yet delightful bite of onions, and the ooey gooey goodness of melty provolone cheese.

“Don’t let the noise of other’s opinions drown out your own inner voice.” — Steve Jobs (1955– 2011) American businessman, inventor, and investor best known for co-founding Apple Inc They were sitting on a park bench at Veteran’s Plaza: the little guy and the old man. I saw them when I paused there during an after-work stroll, taking in the beauty and cooler days of a Hill Country fall when I published the newspaper in Boerne thirty years ago.

In the current economy, when a visit to the grocery store requires a long-term financing plan, it has become clear that our family must find ways to spend less. This is especially challenging for us considering that we have two daughters in college, one daughter in private school, and three pets, all of whom seem determined to ensure that we won’t be able to purchase hamburger meat without selling our plasma.

The U.S. Constitution may very well have been an attempt to subdue negative traits of human nature, with four of those being greed, despotism, cowardice, and foolishness. There are more, yet these four may be the most harmful. Thomas Jefferson warned that the U.S. Republic could turn into an “Elective Despotism.” John Adams said the U.S. Constitution was written for a “Moral and Religious People.” Seeing the growing number of despots, the decline of morals, and a growing contempt toward true Jews and Christians in the U.S., we might deem Tom and John to be prophets. If God did bless America, then his free will does exist because false Democrats, RINOS, and other reprobates have done a good job of crapping all over God’s blessing and the U.S. Constitution. Elections are coming in November. May there be enough true Jews, real Judeo-Christians, and other God-fearing moral people with clear thinking who will be voting in 2024? May they overcome an assault of the many self-serving control freaks and God-hating ghouls in the USA. Maybe then God will see clearly to bless America once more.

“Uninvited, he sat down and opened up his mind, On old dogs and children, and watermelon wine. — song lyrics by Tom T.

At a Borderlands Research Institute staff meeting recently, one of our researchers commented about some “cowboy science” he had recently conducted— a simple comparison of whether native grasses grew better with or without mulch. He didn’t take precise measurements, but he learned that mulch made a difference.