Columns

If you drive a truck, school bus, or other commercial vehicle, you may already know that keeping your DOT physical up to date is an important part of keeping your Commercial Driver’s License (CDL). But, there have been some changes in how your medical exam is reported.

On the very last day of July, I turned 70 years old. Do you know how hard it is to believe when you get to that age? It’s hard. I don’t feel 70. At that age, you are looking mortality in the face. Would I change it? I don’t think so? I was so blessed to be born into a better time than we have now. I know a lot of people would dispute that. Today we have computers and cell phones and technology that has saved a lot of lives. I appreciate that. I really do. But I also look back on my youth and think about what the kids are missing.

I was 17 when I left Lake Providence for Duke University. I decorated my dorm room with photographs from home, including one of myself, holding my cousin’s baby son, wearing a Confederate flag jacket over a cheerleader uniform. My face in the photograph was joyful and I remembered that time, beingapartofoursmallcommunity and school, as a good time, one that I was proud of.

Our nation is celebrating the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence from England. Moses Shelby Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution wants to continue commemorating the events following that Declaration.

I had a friend ask me and a few others this week a funny hypothetical. If I was put in the game for an NFL team, how many punts could I catch given 10 opportunities. This was a friendly debate among my friends, all giving different answers. I said seven, which is probably too high since I haven’t touched a football in what feels like years. But my reasoning was that I was on kick return in high school and fielded my share of kickoffs. I didn’t say I was on the front line and all of those would’ve been onside kicks, but I felt confident my fundamentals would kick in.

I guess this column would have been more apropos if I had run it last week, but last week wasn’t my week. Actually, that isn’t a good excuse, because the “powers that be,” meaning Cassie and Laura, would have let me run it last week.

The annual Soul Food and Heritage Festival was held on Saturday, Aug. 1 on the grounds of the East Carroll Parish Courthouse. The crowd was large and festive despite the heat. The festival activities included tasty food, great entertainment, family- friendly activities, and a place to fellowship.

It happens almost every day. At 8:17 a.m., a patient receives a notification that says: 'Your lab results are available.' At 8:18 a.m., the patient logs in.

I’m not sure whether the data center being built in Richland Parish is a good thing or a bad thing. I have seen the changes that have occurred in Richland Parish, and I have to say, I am more than a little jealous. The infrastructure is better. Their teachers and first responders are making more money. People in the surrounding parishes – not just Richland – have the opportunity to work at employment with a livable wage. New businesses. Population growth. Yeah, I’m jealous.

We had friends visit over the weekend. They live in New York and are fairly sequestered in a community of like-minded people – artists, musicians, Broadway performers. They’re my age, but in New York, it’s easy to stay young for a long time. They don’t have children, yet, and their backgrounds are strikingly different. She grew up in Puerto Rico; he in Tallulah. They’ve each now visited each other’s families.