Valentine's Day has been special my entire life. In large part, it is because my mother was born on Valentine's Day and was named after it – Vallee’.  For her birthday, I always knew she wanted flowers, any flowers, as long as they were roses! The flowers were to be accompanied by a card. My mom lived in Fort Worth later in life, and Bradley Florist would contact me if I did not order the flowers timely. Mrs. Bradley would call and say, "Randy, do you want to send some flower

Milo is our two-year-old Labrador mix – 95 pounds of energy and love.  He is a good dog -- most of the time.    Our neighbors have a Labrador as well, who's about the same age as Milo but about half the size.  Izzy is a Labrador full of love and energy and is a good dog -- most of the time.    Our yard joins Izzy’s yard, with a gate between the two. We open the gate so Izzy and Milo can play. But when Milo and Izzy get together, their collective IQ’s drop dramatically.  The “

It was November 10, 2025, a Monday. The day before had been windy with a chill in the air though it got up to 60 degrees. The wind was exhausting after several days of it.   That November 10th Monday morning Milo (my labrador mix) and I headed out for our morning walk along a draw near my home.  It was our first real cold day: 15 degrees. The sun was up just enough as to light the top of trees and cast long cold shadows. While some leaves had already fallen, particularly in t

My wife and I are on a vacation tour as I write this.  We arranged for a private drive around the town we were visiting to see some sites that were not part of the official tour.    Our driver, Manuel, was showing us those sites, but also taking time to explain to us foods of the area.  One was Nata, a traditional Portuguese custard yart with a flaky, buttery crust and creamy egg-based filing. Manuel pointed out the most popular bakery that made that pastry, as well as other

I have shared before that I love Halloween. The costumes, the decorations, the parties, the FUN. But not the scary, bloody and gory part. You can keep your horror movies and scary haunted houses, I’d like to keep sleeping at night.  I am going to share some nightmarish situations that have happened with our office. They will not have happy endings. I want to be careful to not make light of unfortunate situations, but I do think it is important to share our experience.   Joy T

September is upon us, and with it, the beginning of dove season. Each year during this season I think of my labrador retriever Star,...