Dear Editor, In these stressful times, many people are living in a state of abject fear. We can chalk it up to the pandemic lunacy or to the awful panic that has been so cruelly fanned and amplified by the mainstream media and “social” media. Or, we can blame the Chicken Little syndrome. There is no earthly good to come from playing the blame game or from throwing stones. Neither of those things will ease a person’s fears. A reasonable period of sober introspection and calm discussion however, is likely to result in some measurable reduction in personal stress. Former…

Dear Editor, My neighbor loves to hike in the desert, wears only boots, shorts, and a hat. Yes, he’s a man. Friday morning he knocked on my door. He was covered in cactus, his back was loaded with jumping cholla cactus, not to mention 100 thorns. Being handicapped, my caregiver who is loaded in medical degrees, jumped into action, got needle-nose pliers and tweezers, and started pulling out the large cactus. I helped with the small thorns. My story to you, if going hiking, carry a staff, a large stick as tall as you, watch for rocks that might flip…