Beech Tree News Network

Oh Snap-ple-The Return-The facts on the opposite side of a Snapple cap are very interesting.  Some are more interesting than others, to tell the truth.  The ones that you’ve really never thought of will at least make you go “hmmm”.  I’m sure some of these will be repeats from past columns.  For instance, I recall seeing somewhere that a pelican can hold more food in its beak than its belly. 

July 4th is a busy time at my house. We traditionally have extended family and friends come for a meal and to watch the evening fireworks. We’ve been doing this for more than two decades, and each Fourth of July has been a blessing.

I’m in mourning this week.  My hairdresser has retired.  Carol Deweese has cut my hair and my daughters’ hair off and on for nearly twenty-five years.  Carol has cut, styled, permed, straightened and teased other people’s hair for forty-two years.

•    I have a friend who is interested in my spiritual welfare (Lk. 19:10), and has been even at times when I have not been interested.

•    I have a friend who wants the best for me, even at times when I did not want what was the best for me.

•    I have a friend who loves me (Jn. 15:13), and has loved me at times when I was his enemy.

“Mind your own biscuits and life will be gravy”.  Every one of us gets offended every now and then.  It just happens.  I understand that.  What I don’t understand, however, is the moment in time where people would get so easily offended. 

We’ve been hearing for a while that our environment is in danger. On June 18, Pope Francis officially agreed: he called for decisive action to stop global warming and environmental ruin. He wrote, “We may well be leaving to coming generations debris, desolation and filth” (http://ncronline.org/news/theology/pope-francis-encyclical-urgent-call-p...).

As we recently witnessed in our United States Senate race, ordinary voices were silenced by the spending of corporations. And now a Florida-based corporation wants to bring this same evil to Kentucky’s campaign finance laws.  The Kentucky AFL-CIO believes that business corporations should be limited in their political influence and continue their role as commercial institutions. Corporations are not people!

In New Orleans, there is an insectarium dedicated entirely to the research and cataloging of bugs.  I know this because my daughter, Nikki, and I paid a visit to the place three weeks ago.  I have always been a fan of worlds not my own.  I’ve toured planetariums and space museums with my granddaughter, and I’ve gone to aquariums with Nikki since she was a little girl.  For me, the take-away has always been the same.  There is so much going on out there that has so little to do with me.  The insectarium gave me a very different impression.

The Louisiana Purchase was one of the largest land deals the United States has ever made! While this deal was made in 1803, the story begins in 1800. French dictator Napoleon Bonaparte forced Spain to cede the region between the Mississippi River and Rocky Mountains, called Louisiana, to France. He planned to build a French Empire in Louisiana with New Orleans as his imperial capital. By 1802, Napoleon tried to cripple the U.S. economy by closing down the Mississippi River to trade.