Lifestyle

B Dear Aunt B, How weird is it that I am preoccupied with the Royals? I am embarrassed to admit it and not sure what it says about me. How do I break this addiction?

Our understanding of culture could be best described with the old Virginia Slims slogan. We’ve come a long way, baby. Yet, periodically throughout each of these last several years, I’ve noticed a trend in American vernacular. We love to speak cooler, hipper, and more urban than at any other point in recent times. I am guilty of this action, both in my writing and in my life overall. Maybe it’s the global takeover of social media in our lives. Maybe it’s the inundation of these terms in advertising. Maybe it’s our obsession with staying young, thus speaking young. It infuriates many people, especially when perceived to cross the thin line from recognition to emulation to cultural appropriation. I’ve been working on this idea of a column for some time, combing through a variety of publications that voice opinions on thematter.Fromwebsiteslike oprahdaily.com, sproutsocial. com, babble.com, and Illinois State University’s publication of Rachel Lang’s “Who Said it First: Linguistic Appropriation of Slang Terms within the Popular Lexicon” (2021), I hope to cover a wide range of examples and opinions on the matter. In the end, it may not be that we do or don’t use the phrases. It may center on intent. Worst case scenario, we’ll know where our favorite sayings originate. As with anything in this world, what you do with knowledge rests on you. Today, I will be playing the role of both the judge and the devil’s advocate. Let’s go!

“He loves us and cares about us,” says Karymeh, 7. “He made us and wants to talk to us. He wants to see us and play and have fun.”

B Aunt B, I can’t find contentment. My kids, my family, my job always leave me longing for something else. Most days are spent daydreaming instead of appreciating what I have. How do I find happiness and appreciation in my life?

The first day of school for the 2022-2023 year, August 11, is upon Forney, Texas and there is a palpable feeling of exciting learning in the atmosphere at every school campus. Many new students are calling Forney ISD their new school home this year with over 15,000 for the first day attending classes in 9 elementary schools, 3 intermediate schools, 2 high schools, and a learning academy. The entire FISD staff met on Tuesday, August 2, for convocation – the only time all of the staff is gathered in one location – and the event was uplifting for the new-to-thedistrict teachers as well as the returning staff.

There’s song Texas country artist Walt Wilkins used to do with his band, The Mystiqueros, called It’s Only Rain. The lyrics are haunting in a simple yet stunning sort of way. “Barn storm brewing up in the loft/When she comes down/She falls so soft/ Like rain/It’s only rain….Dust ball farmer/Red dirt clay/Drops his shovel and he kneels to pray/For rain/It’s only rain.” I saw Walt sing, intimately, at a house concert here in town a few years back. He performed some acoustic sets. Think Kris Kristofferson’s face with longer, grayer, shaggier hair. That is Walt. Someone from the audience asked him to sing It’s Only Rain. He gave a speech about the writing of the song and how he’d hoped it would be a chart topper. Then, he refused to sing it. I heard post-concert chatter of fallings out and hard feelings with some of the band members. Granted, until I started writing this article, I thought he was saying dust bowl farmer. I envisioned my grandfather, back in the 30s, trying to grow crops while unable to see through the opaque dust, the ground being where the sky should’ve been. I guess the sentiment is similar. The farmer in the song is literally growing dust balls instead of corn. Still, even though Walt’s wish for a chart-topping mega hit didn’t come to fruition, it’s a heckuva tune, and apropos for this column, since, at the moment in July that I’m writing this, it rained today for the first time in 6 weeks. We laugh about the drought. We roll our eyes, cause, Texas, ya know. It’s always too hot. There’s never enough water. We shout “rememberthesummerof80” like we survived the Alamo or something. Yet, this summer has seemed different. Parts of Royse City actually ran out of water suddenly. The Great Salt Lake is drying up. There’s something involved in this where the salt will kill the algae and turn everything into a form of arsenic that could be blown hither and yon by Utah winds. Local lakefront homeowners are suddenly realizing why they got that sweet deal on their property a few years ago. Boat lifts are dangling watercraft over empty channels that look more like the Sahara than a lake finger. And, as in all other years where we are sorely lacking water, we begin to get nervous. Where is the rain? Can we hunt it down? Can we dance it over? Can we pray it here?

By Carey Kinsolving (Part 6 of 6)

Fresh air, warm sun and delicious foods make brunch a favorite weekend event. Set the stage (and the table) for an inviting experience with recipes that cover all the bases from snacks and desserts to a mouthwatering main course.

The North Texas Municipal Water District (NTMWD) swept this year’s Water Environment Association of Texas (WEAT) Operations Challenge held at Texas Water 2022 to take home the coveted trophy for Overall First Place State Champions and was recognized in three categories related to water conservation and reuse, and public education programs.

Friday morning April 8th, found Don and Vivian on the road to Ft. Worth and the Will Rogers Coliseum complex, a place with such wonderful memories of a very early “Don and Vivian date” to see “The Statler Brothers” in concert (May 12, 1979) and sitting on the floor in seats #9 and #10, $6.50 each, three months before our wedding with the opening act, starring Barbara Mandrell. But this day, we were on the way to even better entertainment— seeing Granddaughter, Ella, dance competitively while visiting during free time with the rest of the family, too—Waylon, Mary Anne, and Luke! And, there was even more!

Based on resident requests, the City of Mesquite will soon implement improvements to several local parks. The Mesquite City Council passed several items during the Feb. 21 council meeting to allow for funding for new parks and upgrades to existing parks.

*These various memories were recorded around the year, 1984, and can be found in one form or another in History of Kaufman County, Volume II.*

What is better on a chilly winter’s day than a big bowl of just about any kind of soup, stew, or chili? Chances are good that if you hunt, you have some venison or wild pork in your freezer which can become the main ingredient for a tasty meal. Of course, domestic beef or pork is readily available at the grocery store if you’re fresh out of game meat, but why pay the high price? There is no better time to hunt wild hogs than right now while the weather is still cool. I am about to tell you my method of making an awesome pot of Mexican soup and my favorite meat is lean wild pork. Venison works well also but pork is often used in Mexican soups and I always have a good supply on hand.