Smiley Anders for June 24, 2009

• By SMILEY ANDERS
• Advocate staff writer
• Published: Jun 24, 2009 - Page: 1B

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Some of the most imaginative ideas I hear — even the ones that aren’t possible — come from youngsters.

Anne Moss says, “With all the warnings about the coming hurricanes, my little grandchild asked me if they came, could they hurt us.

“I told him they could, and he said, ‘Gran, if they come why can’t Daddy shoot them like he does the ducks?’

“I only wish he could …”

Our lone star

Historian David Norwood says the bicentennial of the Republic of West Florida next year and the current baseball hostilities between Louisiana and Texas teams led him to this thought:

“When eight parishes west of the Mississippi River broke away from Spanish rule in 1810 and formed the Republic of West Florida, the republic had its own flag, a white star on a blue background — the inspiration for the song ‘Bonnie Blue Flag.’”

This “lone star” design was adopted in 1836 (with a gold star on blue) by Texas when it declared independence from Spanish rule.

David says LSU fans in Omaha should remind Texans that it was ours many years before it was theirs.

Addiction avoidance
Doug Johnson says, “When I moved from Chattanooga, Tenn., to Donaldsonville in 1974, I asked my mother what I could bring her from Louisiana on our first visit back to Tennessee.

“She said, ‘Anything but that Community Coffee.’

“I was puzzled, since it is fine coffee.

“She explained, ‘I’ve heard that people who drink it are never satisfied with any other brand — and since it isn’t sold here, I don’t want to get used to it.’