World War II, The Great War, Vietnam, 9/11. COVID-19 has killed more Americans than all four of those violent tragedies combined.

If you have been thinking of going back to school or getting your degree, I ask you to try out our school, NMSU-Grants. You can take classes in person or online. Make it your goal to visit our school. Give them a call, 505-287-6678, and they will get you started in the right direction. When you are there, take a tour of the Grants Branch library. The staff will be happy to show you around.

Tone is a powerful thing. Tone refers to the way in which things are said, and the way a person sounds when they speak. Tone is something that constantly shows up when discussing literature and writing. Students in English class are often asked to discuss how an author’s tone affects the message and the way it is perceived by the audience of readers. In this context, tone is generally inferred by students based on the author’s word choice. In real life personal interactions though, tone is a lot clearer.

Dear Editor; I always hate when I get a call from one of our departments asking “Have you seen the headlines in the local newspaper?”. Such was the case this past Wednesday when the headline reads Library and Vandalism.

The past Sunday was phenomenal: no wind, full day of sunshine and nothing that I really needed to accomplish other than just enjoy the positive weather. It really helped my attitude for the whole day. It seems that this past winter has been 12 months long... maybe because the added stay-at-home and social distance and the stay indoor mode. I was really getting tired of all of it.

What has been called a curse — “may you live in interesting times” — has been a blessing. Hot dang, what a ride, this life.

Dear Editor; I’m really getting tired of the arrogant “elite” in government and the media restricting our freedom because we are “archaic” New Mexicans. For example, SB 10 Repeal abortion ban was hailed as decriminalizing abortion.

It dawned on me that hopefully and possibly we will see the dawn of returning to a normal life as we had known before COVID-19. The rise in the number of new cases is slowing substantially and thank goodness the associated deaths have fallen. Johnson and Johnson can now distribute its new vaccine and that will provide millions more doses of vaccine monthly. Already millions have been vaccinated for COVID resistance.

I have a couple stories that “need to be told” but will save one for another column. I am not really a storyteller, but value storytelling. I’m more of a short story person. Tidbits of truth, life lessons, insights I like to share.

Imagine if the entire population of Albuquerque disappeared. That means more than 568,918 people would have ceased to exist.