One Wednesday, several of my friends and I put up a Democratic message on a billboard on I-40 at mile marker 177. Sometime the following Saturday night thugs slit it to shreds.

Like it or not, we live in a world of increasing division based upon real or imagined characteristics or traits. This column will focus on humorous differences you may have overlooked.

“April showers bring May flowers” is an old quote. We at the Golden Age Center have been so thankful for the rain, but with it has come one of the worst tornado seasons to hit Oklahoma. As Oklahomans, we will rebuild and recover as we care for our neighbors, friends, and relatives who have suffered these losses. Our prayers are with you.

I recently got my first bill of this session signed into law. Gov. Kevin Stitt signed my Senate Bill 1524 after it unanimously passed both legislative chambers. SB 1524 was requested by the Oklahoma State Firefighters Association to make it easier for rural fire departments to attract experienced firefighters. This measure, which takes effect in November, allows retired firefighters to serve as volunteer firefighters without their continued service affecting their retirement benefits.

From March 2020 through to the end of 2021, Mr. Right and I hunkered down and put a sign on the front gate declaring “Isolation in Progress.

TAO and Odyssey Astronomy Club provided telescopes and the people to operate them at the Eclipse Observing Event held by the Jasmine Moran Children’s Museum, in Seminole, for the school kids on April 7th and then at the Lunar/ Jupiter Viewing Event held at the OBU Soccer Fields in Shawnee and hosted by the Shawnee Public Library on the 13th. The weather cooperated nicely for both events and for the peak of the Lyrid Meteor Shower (22nd-23rd) but went downhill during the last third of the month with the threat of severe. May will provide a nice show in the early morning hours of the 5th as the Eta Aquarid Meteor Shower peaks in the hours before sunrise. This along with a couple more interesting events will be well worth observing….. assuming the weather cooperates.

Pomp and Circumstance In D Major, Op.39, No.1, better known as the “Graduation Song,” was composed by Sir Edward Elgar in 1901. He didn’t originally write this to be played at graduations; it was to be performed at King Edward VII’s inauguration. If you don’t know much about King Edward VII, the takeaway is that he was all about the exaggerated “Pomp” of events. Pomp and Circumstance is another way of saying, “Look at me and celebrate me in a grand way.”

Late last fall, the word went out that New Hope School was going to be torn down. When I heard the news early that morning, I drove to the school, thinking it might already be gone. However, I got to see the old school building numerous times before its demise in early January 2024.

Every state in the Union is confronting the threat to public safety created by the Biden Administration’s utter failure to secure the border. Even so-called “sanctuary cities” have been overrun and overwhelmed, their elected leaders calling for action and reform. New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the crush of illegal immigrants “will destroy New York City.”

Disclaimer: The best all time snake story and the best there will ever be was told by Wendy Bagwell, “Here comes the rattlesnakes” (You Tube). What follows are some personal accounts and my reporting of snake stories told to me.