Opinion

We had three visitors Saturday from Oklahoma City. The older man said he had been here a long time ago and they brought their daughter out to see the museum. They seemed very interested, he was interested in the antiques and the daughter in the history. She asked lots of question while I was giving the history of the Fergusons. It makes it exciting for me when the visitors interact like they did Saturday. He said he would like to bring another daughter out to see it in the future because she likes antiques.

Dear Editor, One important component of education is the area of Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM). These are the backbone on which many current and future jobs in America will be based.

Dear editor, The most recent data from the Oklahoma State Department of Health indicates that 67% of Oklahomans are vaccinated against Coronavirus Disease 19 (COVID19), but only 40% of adolescents in Oklahoma have received one dose of vaccine and 34% have received two doses. The Pfizer vaccine was authorized for this age group in May of 2021 adding to the original authorization of children 16 and older in December 2020. These RNA vaccines are highly effective and have an excellent safety profile. However, not enough teens are taking advantage of this protection, and therefore are suffering infections, transmitting the virus to family members, schoolmates, and teachers. In Oklahoma, over 55,000 12­17 years of age have tested positive for COVID, and seven have died. During the week of Jan 2­9, five adolescents have been hospitalized with COVID19 in Oklahoma.

While David has been busy taking charge of remodeling the kitchen, I've been doing my best to avoid getting involved as much as I can. He still managed to drag me to the home improvement (HA!) stores here in town. I would rather have root canal surgery than look at another paint sample. We finally settled on gray. Or so I thought. Do you know how many shades of gray there is? I do. I wish I didn't. Which knobs do you like? he asks. One I can pull and is silvery-looking isn't exactly the answer he was looking for but he should know me by now. Just match the hinges and leave me alone, I want to shout. I didn't but I thought about it real hard.

Today, we will begin looking at the book of Zephaniah. Verse 1 tells us when Zephaniah prophesied: “in the days of Josiah the son of Amon, king of Judah.” Josiah was the last good king that Judah had. 2 Kings 22:1 tells us that he was only 8 years old when he began to reign, and he reigned 31 years. Verse 2 describes him this way: “he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD and walked in all the way of David his father, and he did not turn aside to the right or to the left.”

We had one visitor this week in between cold days. Clay was out this week and helped Barbara set up her office.

Our outdoor fancyschmancy thermometer/rain gauge must think I'm a clueless simp. It's not 100% wrong but how does it know? This artificial intelligence technology is getting scary. Anyway, I KNOW it's cold. I do not need it sounding off every few minutes with an annoying beep, beep, beep to let me know it is freezing outside.

This will be our last article dealing with Habakkuk. Remember that Habakkuk is different than the other books of prophecy. It is more like the book of Job in that Habakkuk is talking to God instead of an audience of people. He reaffirms his faith in God and His dealing with individuals and nations.

Hi everyone! I hope you are all doing well as we start this new year. I hope it will be a better year for all of us.

No visitors this week. Visitors are probably getting back into their routines after the holidays.