Columns
It’s not that funny
Posted on May 12th, 2011
At A Glance
By Johnny Griffin, Editor
I don’t usually venture into national politics in this column, but several news headlines caught my eye today as our president visited Texas.
Monday’s headlines talked about 13 people killed in a gun battle between a Mexican drug cartel’s island encampment and Mexican Marines on an island in Falcon Lake. Falcon Lake is on the Rio Grande River and makes up a portion of our border with Mexico. It’s the same lake a U.S. citizen was shot and killed on a few months ago.
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No water at all
Posted on May 4th, 2011
At A Glance
By Johnny Griffin, Editor
The month of April brought no measurable precipitation to my nearly official recording source on Houston Street in Wallis. In fact, the last measurable rainfall recorded occurred on March 15 and was a paltry .19 inches. (more…)
A happy anniversary
Posted on April 27th, 2011
At A Glance
By Johnny Griffin, Editor
The April 27, 2006, issue of the Wallis News-Review announced new owner Joanie Griffin would take over publication of that local paper. This issue, April 28, 2011, marks the completion of five years of publication under her guidance.
It also marks the fifth anniversary of my bride’s decision to ask me along for the journey. It has been a wonderful trip.
Our family has seen a lot of triumphs and tragedies during those five years. But just like the communities we service, we continue to grow and continue to enjoy life in our little section of the world.
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A special Easter
Posted on April 27th, 2011
At A Glance
By Johnny Griffin Editor
Easter has always been a favorite season to me. It is first and foremost the celebration of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. That is what makes it a special time and what should be the primary focus of Holy Week.
It is also a special time for families to gather and celebrate their love with family activities. A friend and I were visiting the other day about special Easter activities and it reminded me of a short poem I wrote some time ago about how my grandfather entertained me and himself when I was very small. I never gave it a title, but here it is.
We tried for several years to catch the Easter Bunny.
I was serious as heck, that’s why he thought it was so funny.
We’d prop a box up with a stick, build a nest and bait a snare,
But on Easter Sunday morning there’d be nothing but rabbit hair.
We never caught the rabbit, but we always almost did.
It’s fun to live by your granddad, when you’re only just a kid.
Celebrate Easter at a church service this year, but don’t forget to take the time to form special memories with your family and friends.
Carl W. Buechner once wrote “They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel.”
Happy Easter.
Too much or too little
Posted on April 13th, 2011
By Johnny Griffin, Editor
A few weeks ago, I put $40 worth of gasoline in my little Toyota pickup for the first time ever. It only holds 12 gallons, so it had to be dead empty and gas was around $3.33 per gallon. Yesterday I put $45 worth in it. It wasn’t completely empty.
The folks on tv, who know everything, used to say gasoline could possibly climb to $4 per gallon by the summer. Now they are saying it will likely be $5, possibly before the summer heavy driving season starts.
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First impressions are cool, my birthday was too
Posted on March 30th, 2011
At a Glance
By Johnny Griffin, Editor
March is the month of birthdays around our home. My bride and I have the two most important and they are only two days apart. I celebrated mine on Sunday with a very special day and had some cool surprises along the way.
Our daughter Jamie and her band The Trishas were nominated for a couple of Lone Star Music Awards and my bride and I left early Sunday morning for the Texas Music Theater in San Marcos. The show was scheduled in the evening, but we spent the day around the river and in the parks with our daughter and her family.
A couple of hours before show time, we went to the theater so she could get everything ready. One of the first people we met was a friend of Jamie’s named Javi Garcia.
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Tough decisions by our neighbors
Posted on March 30th, 2011
At A Glance By Johnny Griffin, Editor The easiest decision made by members of the Brazos ISD Board of Trustees on Tuesday night was canceling the election for May. Three unopposed candidates for three positions made the decision a simple straight forward motion and vote. The rest of the night was pretty tough. (more…)
Far away is not so far
Posted on March 17th, 2011
By Johnny Griffin, Editor
My bride and I were up early last Saturday morning and enjoying a little quiet time with no radio, television or computers going as we got some household chores done.
A little after 6:30 a.m. the phone rang.
“Are Kelley and her family okay?” said the concerned voice on the other end of the line.
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Where have all the candidates gone?
Posted on March 9th, 2011
At A Glance
By Johnny Griffin, Editor
I understand that local elections don’t always draw everyone running down the street to get on the ballot.
It’s especially difficult when you know going in that school trustees have to make some tough decisions for the coming budget and city officials have a myriad of infrastructure issues to deal with in a tough economy.
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Is it nearly spring?
Posted on March 3rd, 2011
At A Glance
By Johnny Griffin, Editor
Someone told me last week that signs of spring were beginning to appear. I’m not so sure I agree.
It is March, but I’m not sure spring has sprung. Last year in this column I wrote an article in early April about the beautiful flowers and a particularly amorous redbird who had decided to attack our house windows and run off his perceived breeding rival.
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