Columns

Is your refrigerator running?

If some retro prankster had asked me a week ago, “Is your refrigerator running?,” my reply would have been, “It’s complicated.” (Actually, I would have reported the scamp to the authorities.

A summer perch in a mulberry tree

As you may have surmised one of my favorite things to do is to poke around in old newspapers, looking for little items that reflect the character of a place or of the times, or that just catch my fancy.

Sinning is bad, but not being sorry is worse

When I was in the second grade, I got myself into a bit of a theological pickle. Enchanted to the point of obsession by the art teacher’s collection of beads and baubles, I pinched a string of glass pearls one day when Sister Inez wasn’t looking.

Learning summer job dignity for $1 an hour

They called me “The Trail Blazer,” Good Buddy.  That was my citizens band radio handle in the summer of 1977, when the hit movie “Smokey and the Bandit” created a CB craze and millions of kids like me dreamed of getting one.

My dad taught me how

Need to learn how to unclog a shower drain, jump-start a car, shave your face without bleeding to death or successfully address dozens of other practical adult daily activities?

Will these pet peeves define your summer?

Prospects of a long, hot summer bring pet peeves to the surface. Surely someone besides me encounters deceptive packages of frozen microwaveable meat. “Tear here,” they cajole. So, you tear on the dotted line, only to discover that it’s an inch BELOW the grooves required to reseal the package.

The last, lovable, childlike, profane pirate

One of the few of Jean Lafitte’s ships to visit south Louisiana that we know by name was the Hotspur, which sailed up the Mermentau River in November 1820 to refill its water casks.

Manchin’s sin? He has a mind of his own

I find it interesting that Democrats are ganging up on Joe Manchin. It’s not exactly surprising, since the West Virginia senator hasn’t been a team player for a while, despite the fact that he is not now and never will be a Republican.

Covid has Catholic schools on the rebound

In 1970 some 4.4 million students attended Catholic elementary and secondary schools in America. Last year only about 1.6 million students attended Catholic schools, and lay teachers have almost completely replaced priests, brothers and nuns which has driven up the cost of tuition.

A simple rule for Flag Day

As the nation honors the Stars and Stripes by observing Flag Day each June 14 it is following the fondest wish of a soldier from south Louisiana who had a special place in his heart for Old Glory.