Opinion

This time of year, the days are long, and the weather is hot. Ahh, summer.

My maternal grandparents, Bert, and Hilda McNew had a little farm out southeast of Houston, Mo, a few miles. I was born in their old farmhouse. They were wonderful people whom I dearly loved and still do. Scratching out a living with a few milk cows and chickens and a hog or two was a difficult thing in those days, so Grandma sold some eggs and milk and butter, tended a big garden, and canned and sewed a lot. Grandpa did a little work on the side when he could find it. One of the things he did for a while was pick up trash each Saturday morning from businesses along Main Street to haul to the city dump in his old faded red pickup.

My uncle Norten has been gone for several years now but I came across this story recently that I thought today’s readers might enjoy. It is almost 20 years old.

In a field of milkweed, Rob Perez sits with Mary the Monarch Butterfly. Rob Perez: Mary, thank you for taking the time.

Between the inked pages of any local newspaper and beyond news stories, there are stories of wins and losses, businesses and social doings, deaths and births and entertainment. There are advertisements, legal notices and in our paper, there are prayer requests. Our newspaper like others, are more important to a community than some might suspect.

I was sitting in the backyard, listening to the Royals losing again, taking a break from chores, and waiting for the fireflies. Here came a little green man.

It did not take me long to realize that, as grateful as I am to have this opportunity to write, having a weekly column is not without its own challenges. Some weeks the topics – and subsequent words – flow easily. Other weeks, they trickle. And then, occasionally, the flow is completely damned up. This has been one of those weeks. I still have quite a number of special memories to share, but I’m determined to find accompanying photos before I go with them.

Without your immune system you will die so it is a good idea to learn more about just what it is and how it works. Bull Shoals Library has just the book to help you understand this very complex system on which your health depends. Immune by Philipp Dettmer explains elements of the immune system including defenses like antibodies and inflammation as well as threats like bacteria, allergies, and cancer.