Scott's Spot

“Oh my!  It’s so… unusual! ” Donna felt the words catch in her throat as she struggled against her immediate reaction to the gift her aunt had given her.  The old blanket she now held in her hands was unusual and, for the most part, colorful, but careworn and frayed around the edges.  It was just the sort of gift she’d come to expect from her eccentric Aunt Gussie. “I’m so glad you like it,” Gussie exclaimed, almost gushing.  “I know it’s old and probably doesn’t match your décor, but there’s a lot of history and love in that old thing!” To say it didn’t match the décor in Donna’s home was an understatement.  Donna’s home—her life—was the classic exemplar of monochromatic order.  Donna loved for everything to be “ just so. ”  She’d always been that way—it was how she’d been raised.  “A place for everything, and everything in its place !” she loved to say, emphasizing the last word as she moved something that didn’t “belong” to a well-hidden spot, out of sight and out of m

Just another "Texan Tall Tale".... “They look so young,” the gray-haired woman said wistfully to her spouse as she looked toward the counter on the opposite side of the small courthouse lobby.  He smiled and nodded in agreement. She had spied the youthful couple when they entered the building, holding hands and smiling as they strode confidently across the linoleum floor, across to the window marked, “County Clerk—Marriage Licenses.”   Seeing them made her think of a day long ago when she and her beau had taken that same walk. The woman began to create a story in her mind about the youngsters as she saw them being greeted by the clerk.  She imagined the young man to be named Mark, like her grandson.  In fact, he looked a bit like him. The girl?  She looked like a “Kelli” or “Brandi,” or some other name that could end with either “i” or “y.”  They’d probably met at college, through mutual friends, no doubt.  They looked comfortable with one another, she though

Bathrooms.  Who would have thought we would be talking so much about such private, yet shared experiences? Today, March 7, Senate Bill 6 will be heard in the Senate State Affairs Committee at the State Capitol.  Authored by Sen. Lois Kohlkorst (R-Brenham), the bill aims to restrict access for transgender persons to restrooms and other facilities. Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick has made bathroom access one of his top priorities this session, and his message sounds an alarm: “Menacing men dressed as women are preparing to assault our children and womenfolk!”   Mrs. Kohlkorst, ironically channeling former presidential candidate Hillary Clinton, wrote an opinion piece that appeared in several Texas newspapers this weekend, in which she wrote, “Women’s rights are human rights.”  She also wrote that opponents of SB 6 seemingly have only one goal in mind—to let boys and men into women’s restrooms to prey on girls and women.  “Young men who are ‘curious,’” she wrote, “or hold mor

January 21, 2017   The President The White House 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW Washington, DC 20500 Dear Mr. President: As a proud citizen of the United States, I want to extend my congratulations to you on the occasion of your inauguration.  The events of this weekend, starting with the words of your speech, all the way through the many demonstrations across the country in response to your ascent to the highest, most respected office in our great country, have moved me to write to you, my president . My president .  Many, like me, have struggled with that notion.  Many Americans have decided that they cannot refer to you as such.  They, like me, did not support you, nor did they vote for you.  They, like me, have been alternately baffled, amused, and frightened by the things you have said and done in the past months.  Though many of my friends and loved ones who did support you suggest that we take you seriously rather than literally, others, like me, are deeply