Features

One of the best feel-good stories I know of concerns an aging albatross on a tiny island in the Pacific Ocean.

After more than a year of no in-person classes, the Price Center is welcoming back three of its healthy living programs beginning next month. Easy Tai Chi, Zumba Gold and SMTX Yoga will begin meeting in person again at the center, with limited schedules and COVID-safe precautions in place, on May 3, 4 and 11, respectively. Additional dance classes and arts workshops sponsored by the Price Center are slated to return later in the year.

Q. I recently read the book The Midnight Library by Matt Haig. Could you recommend some other books like it?

My journey this week is a continuation of memories from writing this column for five years. Faithful readers, you know I have written many columns on veterans, especially on Memorial Day and Veterans Day. I am a Christian and a veteran — both are deeply woven into my journey. A soldier’s purpose is to protect life, not take life. I believe it is our privilege to remember the fallen and their families. “There blood may dry and fade, but it will always stain the hearts of loving families.” It has been my privilege to lead American soldiers in combat in The Republic of South Vietnam. In The New York Times, Thursday, April 14, I read remarks from veterans who served in Afghanistan over the past 20 years, and all these men shared both acceptance and regret over the Afghan withdrawal. Service to the nation has called for us to only place others above self. John 15:13 says: “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” Veterans of all ages, you are invited to the “Veterans Patrol” meeting on April 26 at 7 p.m. at 325 W. McCarty Lane (First Baptist Church) where you will find “veterans standing together in faith to support each other for inner peace.” We share a camaraderie and fellowship. (see veteranspatrol.org)

Last Thursday, our nation celebrated Earth Day… a day designed to reflect on how wonderful our earth is to have all the natural resources we have been blessed with to make our life just that much more comfortable. Unfortunately, we shouldn’t have to be reminded of this on just one day a year, but every day of the year.

Centro Cultural Hispano de San Marcos and five local restaurants have partnered to help celebrate the historic date of Cinco de Mayo — May 5. The event will be held this year once again, due to COVID, as a lunchtime curbside fundraiser to help boost the economic health of our local businesses and support Centro’s programs for children, summer camps and operational needs.

The history of the Phillips family in Fredericksburg is fascinating – and very long. The roots of Dr. Paul Phillips III (B.S. ’77) go back to the Civil War years in this Hill Country town.

On a long-ago trip to Peru, our tour group made a brief excursion to the San Blas Islands, just off the mainland of South America.

Vegetables are an important component of a nutritious diet because they are full of vitamins and minerals. According to the online medical resource Healthline, vegetables also are loaded with antioxidants and other plant compounds that help fight free radicals that damage cells.