Lifestyle

Dear Abby: My boyfriend and I have been together six years. We are both divorced. We plan on being married in six months. He’s a perfect partner except for one thing. Every holiday, he jumps out of bed in the morning and takes his phone with him into the bathroom. There he texts his ex-wife and ex-girlfriend. He feels the need to wish them a happy whatever holiday it is. This hurts my feelings.

Do you like to travel? Turns out, bed bugs do, too. With spring break just around the corner, family vacation season will soon be in full swing, and that means being prepared to avoid picking up any unwelcome passengers.

To have an event listed in the calendar, email information to news@heralddemocrat. com.

Dear Abby: I have been friends with a woman I’ll call “Blanche” for 40 years. We used to work together, and we supported each other during our divorces and other life problems. We lost touch for a time, then reconnected. I kept in touch with her for years through email at her work. We both are on Facebook, and she knows how to contact me.

Dear Dr. Roach: My sister has asked her psychiatrist for a list of the medications she has been on during the past few years. She would like to try a new one, as she is crying constantly and seems disoriented. He won’t explore changing meds and also won’t give her the list, claiming he hasn’t got the time. Isn’t it illegal not to give her this information? Who should she contact in the state of New York? I am very worried. This does not seem professional.

The Whitesboro Parks and Recreation Department will host its fifteenth community art show March 10-12 at the Jimmie O. Rector Community Center. The show is open to all area artists to submit their art work for viewing. This event is entirely free; there is no charge to artists submitting their work, and there is no charge to visit and view the art.

I had a great line in a sermon a few weeks ago (I say that with all due humility). I said, “Leviticus is the place where New Year’s Resolutions with respect to the Bible go to die.” It’s true. It is a book filled with regulations, laws, and rules. It’s nearly impossible to read. But without Leviticus, one of the most beautiful books of the Bible, Ruth, could not exist. This is what a levitical economy and society looks like: protections for widows, orphans, and immigrants. Take a break from farming the land every seven years to allow the land to produce its bounty on its own literally give the earth a sabbath year every seven years. Restore ancestral property to its original owners every fifty years, and eliminate all debt held by individuals. This makes generational poverty impossible. Allow freedom of movement across borders, so that people can safely settle where there are adequate resources- and it’s safe for their children. Survival is not dependent on the generosity of the wealthy, who can withdraw their support at any time. Protections for the most vulnerable are built in. compare the plight of Naomi and Ruth to immigrants and refugees today; not just those coming to America, but around the world: people fleeing war, climate change, drought, famine, unsafe living conditions, lack of adequate jobs and resources.

Dear Neil: The house I bought has a number of half whiskey barrels planted with sotols. The barrels have begun deteriorating and the metal bands have started to rust and fall apart. If I replanted into new wooden barrels is there anything I could do to keep this from happening again? I don’t like the look of the fake plastic ones, but I also don’t want to do this again.