Water is a critical requirement for all plants, and they need a lot of it. Pulling water in from the soil through the roots is not only how plants get water, but also how they obtain the nutrients they need to grow, which is dissolved and suspended in soil water. Each day they take in a great deal of water through their roots, sift out the nutrients, and then release it as vapor through their leaves in a process called transpiration.

The Luttrell Volunteer Fire Department hosted a fun-packed day at the Annual Plainview Spring Fest on Saturday, May 18. From 9:00am to 5:00pm, partakers could stop in at the Plainview Community Center for entertainment, vendors, auctions, children’s activities, delicious food, and even a visit to Snow Cone Eddie.

The May board meeting for Union County Farm Bureau was packed with excitement. Three scholarships were awarded as well as a presentation by State 4-H Council members and Tennessee 4-H Congress attendees.

Use of practitioner-led complementary and alternative medicine (CAM), such as acupuncture, massage, osteopathy and chiropractic treatment, rose from 12 percent of the population in 2005 to 16 percent of the population in 2015, according to a new survey. The survey asked adults about their CAM use in the last 12 months. Out of a representative sample of 4,862 respondents aged 15 and over, 766 (16%) said they had seen a CAM practitioner.

There it was the Fall of 2016. The World Series had been over for a while. Baseball wouldn't resume until April. Meanwhile, I noticed that football fans seemed to be the same sort of fanatics as baseball fans, maybe more so. I decided to find out what was so special about football. This episode is the story of my beginning down the road of understanding football. I have far to go.

Mincey’s Musings
Year Two, Week Nineteen

In one of my favorite episodes of Bonanza, Hoss Cartwright is in jail, having been arrested for stealing a horse of a murdered man suspected to have had lots of money. The townspeople keep asking Hoss what he did with the money. With increasing frustration, he tells them he knows nothing about any money. In one scene, the preacher asks Hoss if he can help him in any way.

It fills me with dread. Every time I’m out with my mom and there’s a “Clearance” sign, I know it’s time to find a seat somewhere and wait, and wait, and wait.

My mom is the kind of shopper that doesn’t like to leave a stone unturned. But when she sees a "Clearance" sign, it's worse. Usually, she finds some items she likes and she’ll carry them around while doing her second run through.

If you paid attention in health class you know that our body needs to move materials around to function properly, such as oxygen. The transportation system is the bloodstream, which utilizes red blood cells as a bucket brigade, going to the lungs via veins to pick up oxygen, and carrying it to various body locations via arteries. A tree has similar needs and uses a liquid transportation system.

Here is a variation on a lemon meringue pie I hope you will try. So, you have problems with pie crust? This crust can't go wrong. Just stir up the ingredients and press into the bottom of the pan. Cook the filling and top the crust with it. Spread with meringue and pop it in the oven. There you have it. A nice easy version of a lemon meringue pie. Also, you can get up to 15 servings out of the pan.

LEMON MERINGUE DESSERT

Crust:
1 1/4 cups plain flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup cold butter or margarine
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts or pecans

My son, Tommy, worked for Domino’s back in the mid-90s, to earn money to attend the University of Tennessee. He had an old Dodge sedan my brother had fixed up for him, and a good memory of the neighborhoods of Athens. It wasn’t a bad job; he got a salary and tips.