THE GOOD EARTH.

Possibly inspired by my recent exotic cooking reports, Nashville native Cordelia Tollett Lyons shares recipes using Kudzu, and she says the main ingredient can be found in abundance between Saratoga and Fulton on Highway 355, between June and October every year.

The recipes are for Kudzu salad, Kudzu Colada (whatever in the heck Colada is, although I wonder Kudzu Colada is anything like Pina Colada), and Kudzu tempura chips. I’m saving Cordelia’s email in case any of you want copies of those recipies.

I noticed that Cordelia didn’t include a recipe for Kudzu sauerkraut and sausages.

If you kventure out to pick a bunch of kudzu near McNab in June, be on the lookout for the copperheads, ticks and chiggers.

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TIME TO GIVE TICKETS.

Nashville police have given motorists enough courtesy warning; now it’s time to give real traffic tickets for ‘J Turns.’

I wish I had a dime for every illegal turn made on Main Street, Monday thru Saturday.

Only district court fines — or a low concrete barrier — can put an end to this aggravating parking habit.

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BLESSED.

I’ve been trying to decide which Norman Adamson story to share with you. Friend Norman was buried at Center Point last week. After his retirement from the Postal Service more than two decades ago, he ‘came home’ and impacted our community greatly.

First, he launched a summer reading program for kids at Center Point. Then he moved his energy to Nashville and began a new project. At-risk kids could come to the family center of the church where he was pastor, get an after-school snack, do homework, and be tutored in the school topics where they had need. The extra attention resulted in soaring grade and deportment improvement.

But the story I’ll tell you is from one of our last conversations. He had retired from his ministry and was blind due to diabetes. His late-life illness wasn’t simple. He also had Multiple Sclerosis. Yet, he was still a chaplain/counselor at Tyson Foods where he had yet another chance to affect people when they needed it the most.

I asked him how he stayed so positive in view of his health problems and his loss of sight.

“Louie, in my blindness I am blessed.”

He explained to me that his blindness helped him empathize better with people who had come to him with problems. It meant a great deal to him that he could continue to serve others.

Just knowing Norman blessed me.

“In my blindness I am blessed.”

Peace to Helen and his family, and thanks to the Almighty for putting such people among us.

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HONORED. Nashville Native Leland Tollett is among a group of six persons who will be inducted into the Arkansas Agriculture Hall of Fame in March. Leland served as chairman of Tyson Foods two times.

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SHE’S A SURVIVOR. Our town’s Mayetta Wilson is a cancer survivor, and to show her gratitude she knits scarves. She and her daughters, Terre Tollett and Tammie Van Scyoc, have sold the scarves with all of the proceeds going to cancer-related causes including our gasoline voucher project. The voucher project helps cancer victims with transportation costs for doctor appointment, clinic visits, radiation or chemo sessions, blood transfusions, hospital stays, etc.

Only persons who have had cancer or who have been a cancer caregiver can understand how the disease wrecks you physically, emotionally and financially, even if you have good insurance. It also tests you spiritually, and that brings me back to Mayetta’s laudable project which is her way of thanking the Almighty for her continued recovery.

Her scarves may be seen and purchased at the Hospital Auxiliary “Pink Ladies” gift shop in the lobby of Howard Memorial Hospital.

Thanks to generous people like Mayetta, our project has put about $25,000 in gasoline vouchers into the hands of cancer victims and their caregivers for our previously-stated purpose.

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FAST FLIGHT.

How long has it been since you’ve heard a ‘sonic boom?’

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SURE SIGN OF THE END TIMES.

Whilst trying to jaywalk on Main Street, last week, I respectfully stood aside as a swell new Cadillac swept past.

It had a rattle.

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REMEMBERING MLK.

“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.”

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PUNS AND adult truths from my piano friend at Fellowship: If the professor on Gilligan’s Island can make a radio out of a coconut, why can’t he fix a hole in a boat?

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HE SAID: “Gardens are not made by singing ‘Oh, how beautiful,’ and sitting in the shade.” Rudyard Kipling, writer

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SHE SAID: “The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen or even touched – they must be felt with the heart.” Helen Keller

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DO YOU READ THIS COLUMN ONLINE? If so, leave a comment for me and I’ll keep your name out of next week’s Court Docket. Or I’ll be glad to insert it with the crime of your choice.

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SWEET DREAMS, Baby