Opinion Archive

Have you ever made a gaffe in public that was embarrassing, like, dig-a-hole-and-climb-in-it embarrassing?

One particularly memorable gaffe that had me longing for a shovel happened at another church in the same community where I was a pastor.

On Tuesday, the day this column was due, I erased everything I had written and started all over.

My original premise was to write about the homeless, since I always think of them when it’s hot or cold or a time of year when the rest of us are celebrating and they are trudging from campsite to campsite.

Full disclosure – our editor, Wendy Rudman, is helping me with this week’s column because I’ve been busy with some very important projects that I hope to share with you next week or the first paper of the new year.

Since you’ll be reading this just over a week before Christmas, I’ll start out with a Christmas theme.

The seasonally cooler weather has had a silencing effect on the nighttime chorus of insects, amphibians and most other animals. The frogs and cicadas are taking shelter in anticipation of the warmer months to come.

Common among the native nocturnal animals is the opossum (Didelphis virginiana). This resourceful scavenger is found in forested areas, fields and pastures, and even places with a high density of humans.

I am like a kid when it comes to Christmas. On our first Christmas together, I excitedly asked my wife the night before,

“When do you want to open gifts?” She answered, “Tomorrow morning is fine.” What an adult!

You can drive your self crazy seeking redemption. Emily Madril never got to that point. And now she’s a national champion.

Let it be known that the former Navarre soccer standout wanted redemption more than anything else in the world after the way last season ended. Florida State’s women’s soccer team lost in a penalty kick shootout to Santa Clara. Madril missed one of those kicks.

When Bob Dole died this past week, it reminded me of the Emerald Coast Honor Flights. They were the brainchild of a local panhandle physician assistant and our then U.S. Congressman, Jeff Miller, R-Chu­muckla.

The first Honor Flight took place in May 2005 and flew 103 local veterans to the newly opened and dedicated National WWII Memorial in Washington, D.C.

When I was a child, there was still such a thing as penny candy. It was taking its dying breaths, but it lived long enough for me to buy some.

People worry about inflation now, and rightfully so, but that transition into nickel candy was a painful economics lesson for a young child. Overnight, it seemed, a penny didn’t buy anything at all.