Piney and She were re-learning Spanish as they were spending some time in Tampa and there Spanish was the real second language.  It was comparatively easy for the two people as She had studied high school Spanish, and Piney had “contact” learning for a bit of Spanish.

During last week’s heat wave, I was driving along the interstate in air-conditioned comfort when a sleek road-hugging shiny black convertible passed quickly on my left. 

On June 7, I attended the promotional event at the Marquee Cinemas for the Dreamworks animated film “Kung Fu Panda.” Accompanied by my good friends, Daniel and Jesse, we all enjoyed the humor of this family film, most of it courtesy of comedian Jack Black.  Black provides the voice of Po, a lazy panda bear who dreams of becoming a great kung fu warrior.  However, it looks as though Po is destined to spend his life serving noodles in his father’s restaurant.  That is, of course, until he is unexpectedly chosen by Oogway, the ancient warrior tortoise, as the dragon warrior who will defeat the evil Tai-Lung.  Under the mentorship of red panda kung fu master, Shifu (Dustin Hoffman), and his idols, The Fearsome Five, Po undergoes training to defend his village against Tai-Lung and restore its peace. 

WDBJ ran a report a few nights back about a guy in Roanoke selling these three-wheeled truck things that get something like 70 miles to the gallon. For about $6,000 you can buy this contraption that promises a top cruising speed of 45 mph, has an AM/FM radio and a heater. 

Slumped in the waiting room chair, I dreaded the receptionist calling my name. Actually, I was hoping and praying she would not call my name, that somehow I had the wrong day or the wrong place, that the whole thing was a bad dream. I was there for a root canal. A root canal is a dental procedure used to salvage what remains of dead or dying teeth, or to extract information. Concerning discomfort, it falls somewhere between a beheading and having a hot needle poked in your eye.

Wow, it’s been hot in our neck of the woods. You know it’s going to be a scorcher when the thermometer hits 90 degrees before our mailman runs--usually around 10 a.m. Farmers are smiling ear to ear making hay while this incredible drying season covers our region yet worrying all the while if this weather is an indication of another dry season ahead.

The bottle on my desk is blue and white with bold red print. It contains 8 oz. of a mysterious liquid, the ingredients of which I can hardly pronounce much less reprint here. I have never seen a product label exactly like this one. It reads “Wash Away Your Sins Hand Cleanser.”

Life would be infinitely happier if we could only be born at the age of eighty and gradually approach eighteen.”
--Mark Twain (Samuel Clemens), American author, humorist, newsman and raconteur.

At 18, I would never have agreed with Brother Twain. Now that I am far closer to 80 than 18, I agree with him wholeheartedly. Ordinarily, this would be my favorite time of year, late spring, early summer, the time when a young man was just tuning up for a summer full of fun.

Don’t feed the bears.
Sounds easy enough, but apparently not everyone’s getting the message.

Graduation season; it’s ¬a time when millions of graduates of all ages joyfully accept their diplomas, transfer their tassels, and offer a big sigh of relief thinking that they’ve arrived, their journey is almost complete. They think that life can’t get any better, but it does.