Opinion

A friend of mine recently lost his iPhone. I’ll call him Jack, since that’s his name. (He doesn’t read my column, so we’re safe here.)

Honestly, I’m glad when schools delve into poetry or offer students some semblance of art and music appreciation classes, but I worry about society’s overreliance on critics/ reviewers/public scolds.

Being a lifelong music fan and an occasional radio host, I’ve often baffled my family with my song selections.

I have been busier than a one-armed paper hanger or, as my Aunt Zada used to say, “a one-legged man in a butt-kicking contest.” My pet-sitting business has been so slammed that I have had to ask three other pet sitters to help me out to keep my clients happy. I have been trying to get my flower gardens in and spring clean.

Dolly Parton has been in the news a lot lately, and she appears to have overcome some health concerns. This is a milestone year for Dolly, marking her 80th birthday, the 60th anniversary of her marriage to the late Carl Dean, the 40th anniversary of Dollywood and the 30th anniversary of her Imagination Library. There is no better time to send a love letter to “our Dolly.” Born January 19, 1946, in Sevierville, Tennessee, Dolly Rebecca Parton has risen from humble beginnings in the Great Smoky Mountains to become one of the most successful people in the entertainment world.

Even people who don’t celebrate Passover have been exposed to lessons from the Exodus (if only through Cecil B. DeMille’s “The Ten Commandments,”) but some of us retain water better than we retain the significance of the parting of the Red Sea.

Let’s explore the origin of some common sayings. After writing several columns about sayings like, “Not my cup of tea,” and, “The straw that broke the camel’s back,” many of you suggested a few others. How many times have you threatened to read someone “The Riot Act?” What is that act, and why is there a riot involved? I’m pretty sure I “read the Riot Act” to my sons when they were teenagers, and I’m equally certain they rolled their eyes when I did.

A 1986 Pantene commercial carried the tagline “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful.” Similarly, I must ask my readers, “Don’t hate me because I’ve heard a rooster crow.” I tend to get up at the crack of dawn even though I eventually encounter a lot of grumpy people who wish they had the energy to show dawn their … well, never mind.

Certainly, I look forward to becoming reacquainted with all the groovy hairstyles, dated slang and kitschy doodads in a couple of years when my high school classmates open our 50-year time capsule, but I suspect most patriotic citizens are currently more focused on America’s time capsule.