Probably the biggest difference between modern air travel and flying in a WWII bomber, as I see it, is safety restrictions. Flying on a commercial airliner these days is a lot like being in kindergarten. No matter what you try to do on such a flight, a nice, condescending young woman will probably tell you to quit doing it and go sit back down.

I have one of these really fancy bread machines, but have never been too impressed with the quality of the breads I’ve prepared in it. I decided to come up with a recipe that produced a better product, so I began to experiment. Since it takes 4 hours to make a loaf of bread in my machine, I got to spend a lot of time wondering just exactly how each loaf would turn out.

The Mason Lions club met Tuesday, March 26th, for its regular weekly luncheon meeting. There were 31 members and three visitors in attendance. Lion Michael Murphy was responsible for the program and he spoke about his involvement with the Riata Service Organization on making Heritage Park more user friendly. Dr. Murphy is a retired Landscape Design professor at Texas A&M, and is very qualified in this area.

Let's hope that all had a blessed Easter. However, due to Z’s knee replacement, he couldn’t hop down the bunny trail this year. But, Cousin Louie would have been more than glad to have chased that bunny! Spring is officially here. Ladies, you may wear white shoes now. Gentlemen, you are now to put away your felt derby and begin to wear your straw one.

In the last two columns I have written about a couple of specific types of old maps, those “saddlebag” or pocket maps that fold up into a small book that could be used and yet were protected from abuse and were common with travelers from about 1830 to 1875, and secondly the larger folding maps that “illustrated” books on travel and exploration.

Now that we have wool as a cash product, there is more to the collecting of the fleece than shearing the sheep. There were practices that were more or less standard thru the countryside in the shearing pen. Most shearing rigs in the Erna area consisted of mostly a four-man crew.

Homocysteine is an important indicator of cardiovascular health. High levels of homocysteine in the blood have been liked to increased risk of coronary artery disease, stroke, and venous blood clots even among people with normal cholesterol levels. Abnormal homocysteine levels contribute to atherosclerosis by damaging the cells lining the inside of the arteries which leads to the formation of plaque.

The Friends of the Library Book and Bake Sale starts this Saturday! The sale is open from 10:00 A.M. to 4:00 P.M. on Saturday and 10:00 A.M. to 6:00 P.M. on April 8, 9, and 10. The proceeds are given to the library for buying books, DVDs, and other materials.

Grab your friends and join us for food and fun at the Dinner Tonight Healthy Cooking School, which will be presented by Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service on Tuesday, April 9, 2013, from 6:30 – 8:30 p.m. at Brown County Youth Fair Home Economics Building (4206 Hwy. 377 South, on this side of Brownwood, not far from the 3M plant).

Hope everyone had a wonderful Easter along with the added blessing of a little rain! The Art UMC Children’s Choir and visiting children had a “rain kissed” Easter Egg Hunt. In the included photo, the Children’s Choir is singing “The Butterfly Song.” With the beautiful butterfly stained glass window, the lighted empty cross and the lovely symbolic Easter lilies, we could feel and see the glory of our risen Lord through their enthaustic performance.

Unlikelihood hardly ever deserves bold-face emphasis as much as a classic car for sale now in May, Texas. It’s a 1958 Chevrolet Impala, and when May School Superintendent Don Rhodes saw it at Rick’s Automotive, he quickly stopped, eager to closely examine the immaculate vehicle. Licking his chops and shifting his memory into overdrive, he thought of his very own ‘58 Chevy, a carbon copy of the one now for sale.

Blah blah blah. Yak yak yak. Yada yada yada. Etcetera etcetera. You know what I mean? I mean, you know? And like, it was really like, real. Like, really. Like, you know? And so forth. And so on. Anyway… That’s the way of it. We fill in silence with language. Sounds. Words. Constantly adding and manipulating. Dissing. Chilling. Streaming. Language changes. Or it dies. Take “twitter” for instance. A new word in the lexicon. Makes me think of Tweety Bird. “I taht ...

Before we get to today’s topic (pirates) there are a couple of news items we need to mention, since this is, in fact, a ‘news’paper, and should contain news. That doesn’t necessarily mean news you need to know, but then, you can’t have everything. Where would you put it? Our first news item is the new Gun Free Zone app available for iPhones, Androids, and some other cellular telephones.

The Mason Lions club met Tuesday, March 19th, for its regular weekly luncheon meeting. There were 38 members and two visitors in attendance. Among the visitors was one Mason High School senior, Courtney Brown. Lion Fritz Landers was responsible for the program and introduced Max Hartman, Special Ranger with the Texas & Southwestern Cattle Raisers Association from Doss, Texas. Max served 35 years as a Game Warden, and after retiring from that job, has served the past 11 years as a Special Rang ...

We have “Earthly Pleasures!” What I consider an Earthly Pleasure, may be YUCK to someone else. These days mine are somewhat not “Politically Correct?” However, giving up one to please some folks, just isn’t going to happen. Number one are Cigarettes! Yes, I smoke! Thus I don’t frequent places that FORBID my smoking.