Opinion

Spring is in full swing and staying true to Texas trends. Just when you think its going to be hot, it gets cold again. The emotional oscillation keeps the outdoorsman on edge, wondering what each day will hold in store. While the suspense is engaging, the fickle weather does not stop one thing, baseball. The ballpark was opened this past weekend in our hometown. The little guys and girls represented their teams with the proper pageantry and poise common among Little Leaguers.

Goodbye March.

Many thanks to the Woodson Volunteer Fire Department! Thank you for coordinating with the Easter Bunny and making the annual WVFD Easter Egg Hunt so much fun! Many satisfied customers of all ages! Seriously, thank you WVFD for all you do for the community.

Prom was still wonderful! Prom cleanup ended Tuesday (also wonderful). If you are missing anything we might have borrowed, let me know!

The eclipse is coming April 8! Get your eclipse glasses and watch this historical event!

One economist is calling it “the most profitable 22 minutes in Texas history,” according to the Texas Standard. The total solar eclipse on Monday, April 8 is expected to draw up to a million visitors to the Lone Star State, especially in its narrow path of totality.

Hills are greening up, fiddlers are tuning up and visitors from around the globe are showing up as the entertainment mecca of Branson, MO, gears up for a record-breaking season in the beloved Ozarks.

It’s a magical place known for musical excellence where God is honored — and where there are so many fiddlers — it’s difficult to predict whether “Cotton-eyed Joe” or “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” gets more play.

Most of us can’t get enough of either number, unflustered if the instruments go up in smoke as the music intensifies.

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Prom was a success and it is over! The Old Gym Venue was transformed to a beautiful garden and the kids danced until just past midnight! King Tommasso Trezi and Queen Baylee Gray were crowned and numerous prizes were given away throughout the evening.

Thank you, Class of 2025, and hope you, the Class of 2024, had a great time at your party!
“Dance with the one that brought ya!”

Since I was a small boy, I have heard older family members and friends discussing the old days, how things used to be, and how things have changed. I’m definitely a victim of this tradition as well. I watch society transpose before my eyes each day. Year after year, it seems the world is descending more rapidly into a strange vortex of technological noise and fury.

A very Happy 70th Anniversary to Mr. and Mrs. Laylon Peacock! Seventy years is a long time! Thank you for the example you have set and for showing us that love and commitment is the way to go. Jean and Laylon, you are beautiful people.

Spring break ended.

Belated Happy St. Patrick’s Day! I hope you wore green and no one was pinched!

The Woodson Volunteer Fire Department will sponsor an Easter Egg Hunt at 10 a.m. Saturday, March 30 at the community center on FM 209. There will be three age divisions. Bring your baskets, kids ages 12 and under! Thank you WVFD!

To most mortals — mere or otherwise — the thought of jumping rope 30,660,000 times causes hair to stand on end, eyes to cross and regimens to crumble.

Not so to a preacher man named Van Minter, whose morning routine is vital to each day.

He has kept this commitment for almost 12,800 days, having begun his 36th year on “leap year,” February 29. He made the pledge to himself upon completing his collegiate basketball career in 1989.

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Spring came early this year. When we experienced temperatures over ninety in late February, I understood that the almanac missed it. An unanticipated early spring changes the entire dynamic on a small farm like ours. The ensuing scramble to till the garden and plant has overtaken me.

When planting a garden, timing is everything.

In the last few years, our garden has been attacked by the cruel Texas elements and malevolent grasshopper swarms that embody Biblical plague status... at least to us.

Dear Rusty: I will be 64 in March and currently receive Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) payments. My full retirement age is 67, but I’m thinking about trying to return to work.

If I work and my earnings exceed the monthly disability payment limits, but do not exceed the annual limit, how will my disability payments be affected? Will working while receiving Social Security disability payments change my Social Security benefit amount when I reach my full retirement age of 67?