THANK-YOU FOR SAVING MY LIFE, I want to take this very public approach to thank all the wonderful, caring individuals who worked together to save me, Monica Lynn Stark.

  These are troubling times. Families are struggling to keep their houses and to put food on the table. They see their paychecks, if they haven’t already lost them, remaining stagnant or decreasing, all the while costs of living are increasing.

  It’s cray and its any But now I clearly see What happens when your keyboard No longer can say “z”   The other day I wanted To write about the haes Of allergies in August And why I never walk corn maes   But when I read my words Up there on that white screen I was presently puleheaded At the letters left unseen   What could be the problem? What’s the source of this confusion? Had my “z” indeed vanished Or was it some delusion?   I looked again and tried But it was almost mystical How I could no longer type “Dazzling, mezzanine or quizzical”   Or: “The city was abuzz About the grizzly in the blizzard And the dazzling jazz orchestra From which the music was embezzled”   I haven’t got the fuzziest: How without “z” can I type “fizz’ Is there anybody out there With an answer to this quiz?   But wait, you say quite puzzled How can it really be That your laptop now is muzzled If in your paragraphs we see   The letter that you say Is now impossible to convey And that you only now use Letters from “Y” to “A?”   Thanks to modern innovation And a creative perseverance I can keep on writing “z” Although it can be a nuisance   You can without a “z” Write of eating pizza at the zoo It may sound beyond amazing But all you have to do   Is find a “z” now written Somewhere on the Internet Then you copy and you paste it And you soon see that what you get Is the ability to write With confidence and zeal Any word that has a “z” – Then how “z”esty you will feel.

  The sunset last Thursday was so much more fiery than usual, and the red burned on the western horizon ­much longer than I had ever observed, that it seemed more like a message from the heavens than an earthly phenomenon.

  This week, Americans observed the 11th anniversary of 9/11. Unlike the 10th anniversary, there were not as many stories about that historically horrible event.

Okay.  I'm a musician, sort of. This weekend I was asked to play music for a wedding that had me breaking out in a sweat. The ol' "I'd can't read notes so therefore I should worry about this.

Behind the scenes helpfulness. The Vinton police department and the Benton County Sheriff's department do many helpful deeds that largely go unnoticed.

For fear of opening this over commented topic of voting suppression again, I just want the readers of Vinton Today to know that this week in three separate states with judges appointed by Republican as well as Democratic Presidents have ruled for open access to elections, stopping the removal of names from the voter rolls, and stopping the requirement of rigid voter ID.

  From the vantage of my office window I have a clear view of the intersection of C Avenue and 13th Street. This is a very difficult intersection as 13th Street does not line up on either side of C Avenue, and it must be one of the busiest intersections in the city, especially just before school starts and after it ends each day.

Back in June I wrote about how I was grateful for our family. Dean and I have been married for 25 years, Wednesday. That's a long time...and especially in marriages.