Opinion

It takes a long time to write a book. Actually, writing a book does not take that long.

At least 11 people have died in Texas, nearly half of them children, after Winter Storm Fern swept the state last week, the Texas Standard reported. Among those killed were three young brothers who fell through ice on a private pond near Bonham. In the Dallas suburb of Frisco, two teens died after an accident involving their sled while it was pulled by a vehicle.

It just happened, you know? One of those serendipitous coincidences that occur when planets line up or you foolishly store oily rags together. It just … happened.

For the most part, I congratulate myself on being relatively competent at managing technology. I don’t have an overwhelming fear of learning new apps or platforms and have even caught myself feeling a little smug when others profess terror at the prospect of updating their website or mastering a new program.

The electricity grid covering most of Texas held up as of Monday during the latest winter storm, although localized power outages were reported in deep East Texas and far West Texas. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas dashboard indicated demand was running comfortably below available capacity.

One of the problems Marvin Pincus discovered about running the Fly Tying Love Center here in the valley is that there appeared to be more fly tying than love counseling going on. This particular morning he was whipping up a nice fluffy Adams dry on a number 12 and wishing everyone’s love problems were as easy to solve as tying one of these.

Last summer, Judy approached me one day when I was walking by an old church. “I see you walking by here every day!” she said.

The last day to register to vote for the March 3 primary is Feb. 2, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office. Early voting runs from Feb. 17 through Feb. 27, with Feb. 20 being the deadline for applying for a mail ballot.

Down at the sale barn Saturday, the think tank had coagulated there with coffees to go to celebrate life. Doc and Dud had their dogs with them, while Bert and Dewey and Steve went stag.

“I miss our conversations!” Marilyn wrote to me. I don’t know Marilyn well, but I like her very much.