Well, it looks like it might be time for a little scattershooting this week as there are just too many thoughts flying around the community and in my head to settle on just one. So here

I have heard and seen comments all week with some putting a smile on my face, some a smirk, and a couple an ugly old man frown. It seems like folks just have to have something to argue about or find fault with and it all leaves a lot of us with the thought of “if you can’t say something nice, don’t say anything at all.”

One of the funniest ones out there is the whole “controversy” over whether folks should be putting up Christmas decorations yet. Well, I gotta tell ya, I used to be one of that bunch that was pretty vehement about insisting that Christmas décor did not go up until after the Thanksgiving turkey had been carved and the Dallas Cowboys and Detroit Lions had played their ball games. But, if you have happened to wander by the Tribune office this past week, you would have seen that the ghosts of Christmas past, present and future have stormed the place, and the Christmas spirit has exploded all over. Thanks to the ladies in the office, I have never seen so much Christmas in my life, and never this early in November. A tiny part of that is the fault of Stephanie Hawkins and her folks down the street as we down here on this end of the block are bound and determined to prove that we have way more Christmas spirit than they do on their end of the block. We will see how that turns out.

But, just let me say, lighten up folks. If your lady, your neighbor, your coworkers or the neighborhood stray cats want to start decorating for Christmas, just let them have their fun. What is it going to hurt.

Topic number two is a little more serious but has kind of the same answer.

I have heard much celebration at the fact that the famous Front Street Junction has opened its doors again and is back to filling the hungry belly of folks around Northeast Texas again. I for one am sure glad they did. My friends over there, Ted, Suzanne, Ashley and Tommy, and all of their crew, sure know how to cook up a juicy ribeye and I have been missing mine. The new place looks amazing, better than ever, and it is just really nice to have a mainstay of our area back open. Okay, now here’s the rub.

The Junction now serves alcoholic beverages. You can even get a frozen Crown and Coke, which just happens to be my fav. Gasp!!! Kenny, you don’t mean that a good Christian boy like you would drink alcohol??? Yesm, I shore do on occasion, might even have a cold beer when the urge hits me. Now, you can say what you want, and you can pray for me if you like (I can always use some extra prayers), but I will debate the subject with you theologically until the cows come home.

And my final thought of that conversation, and this column here on the subject will be the same. You worry about what what you have to answer to Him for, and let me worry about what I have to answer for. I am going to venture to say that having a cold one with my ribeye is not going to keep me out of Heaven.

Okay now, topic last.
Every year there is a lot of talk around this time about shopping local. Lots of folks talk about it, post cute little memes on Facebook and Instagram, and might even stop in to make a small purchase at a mom-and-pop shop to make them feel all warm inside, but let me tell you what I have seen year after year. People talk about it, but they don’t really do it.

Now I know that money is tighter now than it has been in a long time. It seems as if we can’t make enough money to live with everything in the world costing more. Purse strings are tight. But let me give you something to think about.
Next time you go to Target or Kohls or whatever big box store is your favorite, take a look at your buggy when you come out and see all that is in it that you could have bought from a local mom and pop store. Here is what I think you will find.
That sweater you just love, you could have gotten it at Tenille and Co. That new appliance that you just had to have, you could have gotten it at Larel’s or West Street or Henry’s. That new chainsaw, well you could have gotten it at DeKalb Hardware, or Boston Hardware. Those cute baby items you found, you could have gotten them at Henry and Jean. That new chair, you could have picked it up at Barfield’s or Rawls or Larel’s. I think you get the idea.

All I am saying is this. Think about the local store when you go shopping. Don’t order your flowers online, don’t spend the bulk of your Christmas dollars on Amazon, and instead think about your neighbor. You know, the one you go to church with that has her own shop. The guy you sit with at the ballgame that makes his living selling tires and oil changes. The family that your kids go to school with that needs your business to feed their kids.

Let’s all think about what we are thankful for this year and help make someone else be thankful too. And while we’re at it, kick Scrooge to the curb and light up those trees.
I personally think a hard candy Christmas is exactly what we need.