School is back in session. That means college as well and a couple of local families are going through the change, if you will.

Lanny and Lynne Geary sent their daughter, Katelyn, off to Mizzou. Katelyn was the first to leave. She is rooming with her friend and fellow KHS alum, Sally McVey, so the transition on her end will be a little less traumatic. I'm not sure about those left behind. Although, younger sis, Samantha might not mind being top dog around the house for a couple of years.

Like most kids going off to college, the girls had to take a lot of things to furnish their new digs. Things like a television, refrigerator (I don't know how we survived college without a fridge in the room), DVD player, computers, and lots, and lots, and lots of clothes - heavy things in other words.

Their dorm room is on the fifth floor.. Someone asked Lanny about getting all that heavy stuff up to the fifth floor.

"Terry's going," he replied.

For his part Terry said he didn't even remember there being a fifth floor in the dorm and it was apparent he wasn't looking forward to being a pack mule.

Terry and Nancy have now joined the ranks of the "empty nesters." At least for a few years until the grandkids start showing up.

Terry said he was looking around at all of Sally's gear packed up and started feeling a little maudlin. Nancy looked around and that female gene kicked. "I'll be glad when all this junk gets out of my living room."

Sitting around the lunch table and talking about college reminded Richard Edgington of his days at ol' Mizzou.

His grandmother, Mrs. Oakley, did her best to spoil Richard rotten, which Karen undoubtedly appreciates now. Anyway, whenever Mrs. Oakley heard about someone coming home from college for the weekend she would bake up a "tin of cookies." She would then call the student and ask ever so nicely if they would mind taking those cookies back for Richard.

Amazingly, she never got turned down. Of course, there was usually a handling fee of a few cookies before they got back to Columbia. One of the cookie couriers was Stephanie Pelts. According to one unimpeachable source, Steph sampled her share of cookies. And according to Richard, there was at least one occasion when the tin arrived empty. The dreaded "Thetas" were suspected, but never proven to be the Mizzou Cookie Monsters.

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Good advice here:

* Your fences need to be horse-high, pig-tight and bull-strong.

* Life is simpler when you plow around the stump.

* A bumble bee is considerably faster than a John Deere tractor.

* Words that soak into your ears are whispered ... not yelled.

* Meanness don't jes' happen overnight.

* Forgive your enemies. It messes up their heads.

* Do not corner something that you know is meaner than you.

* It don't take a very big person to carry a grudge.

* You cannot unsay a cruel word.

* Every path has a few puddles.

* When you wallow with pigs, expect to get dirty.

* The best sermons are lived, not preached.

* Most of the stuff people worry about ain't never gonna happen anyway.

* Don't judge folks by their relatives.

* Remember that silence is sometimes the best answer.

* Don't interfere with somethin' that ain't botherin' you none.

* Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

* Sometimes you get, and sometimes you get got.

* Always drink upstream from the herd.

* Good judgment comes from experience, and a lotta that comes from bad judgment.

* Lettin' the cat outta the bag is a whole lot easier than puttin' it back in.

* If you get to thinkin' you're a person of some influence, try orderin' somebody else's dog around.

* Live simply. Love generously. Care deeply. Speak kindly.

* Leave the rest to God. -- Anonymous e-mail

Excerpted from Gary Rust's column in the Southeast Missourian last week.

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Moving forward

Sometimes it's about ruffling feathers. Last week's comment about the lack of attention to the parking lots and park associated with the Sheryl Crow Acquatic Center did indeed ruffle a few feathers. It was pointed out to me that the city does not yet have ownership of the park and that the contractor hasn't yet completed the contract.

All that may be the case, but the city has always owned the parking lots behind the south side of the square. And there may be a precedent for the city taking care of a piece of property it is working on taking ownership of pending a settlement.

But that's just quibbling over details.

The larger issue is why the city hasn't pressed to get the project completed. Why are we dragging our feet?

Within the last six months we have torn down and rebuilt the terminal at the airport. In that span of time no work has taken place, aside from mowing what grass has taken root of its own around the leftover concrete pieces and rocks, around the pool and parking lots.

I'm puzzled, as are a lot of other people in town, as to why this project has been allowed to languish for so long, too long. We can find 100 excuse, er, reasons, why. We only need one to move it forward.

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Sign of the week

"And you think it's hot here?"

Bible Baptist Church

Malden, Mo.