* Found out my sweet niece did the same thing that I did for the Fourth of July holiday! I didn’t have time to mow my entire lawn before that weekend, so I only mowed the front lawn to make it look presentable. My niece did the same thing! We must be related!

Imagine a world where you had to pay a royalty fee every time you sing the “Happy Birthday” song. We actually lived in that world, up until 2016. And who knew? To be clear, the copyright issue actually pertained to “public performances” of the song, not those sung around your dining room table when candles are a’blazing. Even so, the most recognized song in the English language (according to Guinness World Records) went through quite a squabble for many years, all about money.

Dear Editor: I had a collision with a deer on Highway 24, about five miles west of town, on the 9th of July, and I wanted to say “thank you” to those who stopped to check on my brother and me. Several people stopped to see if we were alright, and my brother called 911 for asswistance.

A LITTLE OF THIS AND A LITTLE OF THAT! * At the end of the day I am thankful that my blessings are bigger than my problems. * Dear Optimist, Pessimist and Realist, “While you guys were busy arguing about the glass of water, I drank it!” Sincerely, The Opportunist.

To say the Class of 2020 got gypped out of their Senior year experience is an understatement as well as an overstatement. Everyone knows it. Everyone agrees. Everyone has said it a million times. Everyone feels so bad for the graduates. Everyone went from feeling sad to being straight up mad. In my family, our senior granddaughter in Cheney, a Cardinal cheerleader, first cried her eyes out that State Basketball was halted. I imagine there were tears in Stockton, too, especially since the Tigers had just upset the No. 1 seed and were on a roll. Then came the news that schools were closed down across the state, and the tears flowed again—rivers of tears—thinking about no Prom, no track season, no graduation, no everything.

THIS AND THAT

I can’t wrap my brain around the fact that it is July. In some ways, it’s hard to believe we’re halfway through 2020, even though the coronavirus seemed to put us in slow motion; at least it did early on in the pandemic. Now it seems like everything and everyone is going full-speed ahead, as if the “re-opening” of many places and activities has been like a race to make up for lost time.

THIS AND THAT

THIS AND THAT

Dear Editor: