After graduating from the University of Texas with a degree in journalism, Wes Reeves of Amarillo got a job at a newspaper and wrote about Panhandle people. Ten years ago he started writing free verse poetry.

week’s editorial will come across as a bit of a backhanded compliment, I feel that in striving for balanced reporting, since I have so often condemned the Rotan City Council for actions in the past, it is important to share positive opinions when I have them. Especially since the council swept away the cobwebs from a dusty old box labeled civil discourse, where officials discovered the contents inside still functioned, albeit a little rusty.

What a week we all had at Aspermont, the hail hit us about 9:30 in the evening and it was one more hail. It took care of Joe's onions just beat them to the ground, then it got his peach tree, the tomato plants he had set out and the pepper plants. It was horrible, our friends that live in trailer houses said they were scared because it was so large, they couldn't leave because if it got the windows they would need to be there to put something over them, and then it was too late to leave it would have ruined their cars. I told Joe well we still had a house, and west of town it was horrible, the wheat fields were so pretty, and as one rancher told me he didn't even have a weed left in the field much less the wheat was beat into the ground. Joe said 'The onions are ruined, we will just eat them now instead of letting them stay in the ground making heads and eating them this winter. They will have rotten spots in the center because of the hail so they won't be good. My flowers were pretty but they look pretty ragged now, I think Mother's petunias will put out, hopefully because you can't buy those plants like hers, and I couldn't believe the larkspurs were still standing. The primroses looked bad for a few days and they are trying to live, and the rain lilies are just blooming so pretty. I told Joe bless their hearts the rain came and they shot through the dirt and started blooming. We went Friday to Jackson Brothers and Joe is trying again, I don't know about the peaches on the tree, we will just have to wait and see, there are some left but I don't know if the spots will rot or not . He said ,'We will just try again, this time I'm putting something over the top of them, he had cans around all of them, it even took care of my bird feeder in the yard. Joe said, 'Carol I can take care of that I have some screen in the storage shed and I will put a new one in the bottom!!!!

Finally, we have a real sheriff with something to report. It is a shame he had to report the reestablishment of patrols as during the Wade time, there was no patrol. The deputies only responded to calls and sat at the station the rest of the time. Funny with patrol came 5 arrests and 17 cases filed. At the commissioners court of April 8, there was no mention of the SB22 grant request. Wade said he resigned so the commissioners could apply for the grant. All the commissioners need to do is sign the application and county law enforcement gets $250,000. It is apparent the commissioners and judge do not intend to apply this year and I doubt next. So did Wade lie? Of course. So why not apply? It should not be because as the judge said no employee is going to make more than officials when Simon Wade was attacking them last session. No, that is not the real reason I suspect. I believe that the judge is aware at $17/hr , we will not get people to apply for jailer/dispatcher. They can travel 15 miles to surrounding counties and get paid at least $20/hr. The lack of employees will keep the jail closed as the judge wants. So was Simon Wade lying when he told the commissioners there was no plan to close the jail? I believe so. Remember that come election time. Good thing we can elect a real sheriff. Commissioners, do the right thing and apply for the grant now and in September. Support the jail and its employees.

Israel Compos of Pecos has the nickname Pody. “Pody was a sheep dog and when I was in school I used to have long straight hair that covered my eyes most of the time,” he says.

Despite the pastelcolored controversy stemming from the mixed-gendered massages from the nation’s capital, most of the folks out in the not-so-woke towns along the Double Mountains celebrated this long Easter weekend at home, where we find it possible to eat chocolate bunnies and celebrate the resurrection at the same time.

Let's set awhile and visit and drink us a cup of coffee, this time change Joe is still snoozing and of course I'm up, wish I could sleep like he does!!!!! He was mowing and he came in the house and said, 'Carol you have a friend in the backyard!' I said, 'Did you kill it if not I'm not going in the backyarad!'He said 'It wasn't a snake Carol it was a cotton tail rabbit!' I told him I hadn't seen a cotton tail rabbit in so long I wouldn't even know what it was, so we have a little friend living in our backyard, hope the cats and dogs don't kill it. Yesterday evening when Joe and I were watering out of the barrels I saw some bees around my flowers!!!!!! I was so glad to see them, I told them welcome I am so glad you came to visit me and my flowers, I love the bees. I already have butterflies and I've got to hang out my hummingbird feeders so maybe I will have some of them. Everything seems to be early this year, my blue bonnets are so pretty, Joe has him some in the backyard and they are his blue bonnets!!!!!!! I have been resetting Mom's petunias that come back every year, the seed fell down my the steps so I've been resetting them in pots sure don't want to lose those seed, they are the old fashioned petunias that have been handed down and I'm the only one that has them now, Jay and Brian have both lost theirs.

“Well, it took me 17 years to get 3,000 hits in baseball, and I did it in one afternoon on the golf course.” -Hank Aaron You may fall into the camp of “baseball is the most boring sport known to man.” Fair enough. It is true that you sit and watch and sometimes nothing, absolutely nothing, happens that merits excitement.

“In this hair and with this dress, I look pretty. The kind of pretty that allows monsters to deceive people into forests, into dances where they will find their doom.” Holly Black, The Stolen Heir It was the most beautiful dress I had ever seen in my 14 years, especially for a poor girl. Lorie, my cousin, the soon-to-be bride, suggested that the dressmaker give it a few nips and tucks to make it fit my small waist.

Have you ever heard of the first law of thermodynamics? Thermodynamics is the study of heat, temperature, and energy, and their relationship to one another, as an offshoot of physics. There are four general laws of thermodynamics that explain the basic principles.