THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury “Doting” is an adjective often used to describe grandparents. In the case of Rick and Becky Cadden, however, “pranking” might be a better fit.Theirs is a family whose members are on perpetual look-out for ways to get a leg up in the prankster department, and grandchildren are not off limits. In fact, Rick

 THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury We laughed intermittently for weeks about our decision to embark on a 3,000-mile road trip because we didn’t have time to fly. As the date neared and mass media folks conveyed horror tales of passengers stranded in airports or delayed, our decision to take to the highways seemed well-founded. Our ultimate destination was

 THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury As chapters of life unfold, unlikely coincidences occur that are so rare that surely providence is behind the steering wheel. No doubt whoever won that $1.3 billion lottery will spend much of his/her remaining time on earth pondering the “what if’s” of choosing such a long string of numbers in perfect order to

 THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury The ditty written long ago is more accurate today than when pen met parchment. The exact wording may not be 100% accurate, but here’s how I remember its four lines: “How much I have seen and how much I have read, of the struggles of man to get ahead.  But me, I ‘m

 THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury I am admittedly a slow learner. Asked on a game show to name the presidential images at Mount Rushmore, I would redden with embarrassment. Only in recent years have I been sure there are four honorees. Even now–if asked how many–I’d likely wither under the pressure of TV’s bright lights, meekly asking if

 THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury They say that age is just a number, so I suppose churning out my thousandth column with this writing might be comparable to a yawn, wry smile or the lame joke about the needle’s question to the thread in a nudist colony-“Sew what?”To persons cracking wise, please remember that puppy love is real

 THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury The late Dr. Robert L. Smith and Ethelyn Hughes Smith, his bride, fell short in precious few areas of life, but when they did, it was never by intent. By a few weeks in each case, they missed a 70th wedding anniversary, he failed to attain age 90 and she was just short

 THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury Thomas Wolf, the author who insisted that we can’t go home again, got it wrong. One can indeed do so, but “home” may hardly be recognizable, and/or–truth to tell–noticeably improved.It’s a two-hour drive from our Metroplex home to Brownwood, our hometown, so our visits there have dwindled.Age has something to do with it.

 THE IDLE AMERICANCommentary by Dr. Don Newbury We’ve all heard of the futility of trying to take “country” from rural lads after they’ve moved to town, and the same likely applies to attempts to take “clown” from rodeo entertainers, even when they climb the educational ladder to school superintendencies. This seems to elevate truth to a higher level when a clown