It has been 24 years since the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when the world seemed to stop turning. On that clear September day, America was struck at its heart — not only in New York City, Washington, D.C., and a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania — but in the spirit of...
It’s Thanksgiving week, a great time to reflect, give thanks, or in other words, gratitude. I’m thankful for so much this season. One thing in particular is a reconnection with an old friend. We’ve all got those people in our lives, that for a season were...
“Oh, waiter. There’s a bean in my chili.” So goes the encounter every Southerner dreads when he orders a bowl of red and is served chili with beans. There are certain missteps in the South that are unforgivable. Asking a girl out without clearing it first with her...
I write this from my chemo chair as I undergo another day or treatment in my cancer journey. I’m blessed by friends who drive me to treatment and rides back home. The treatment itself is lonely. I sit in the chair while they hang bag after bag of meds for infusion...
When I was a kid in the early 1970s, the Fouke Monster was around every corner. At least, that was how I saw things as a 10-year-old. For those who aren’t familiar with this Sasquatch-like creature, the Fouke Monster allegedly roamed (some say, still roams) the river...
I didn’t want to do it. It had been on my calendar awhile and as it got closer, I wanted to be part of it less and less. You know what that's like, don’t you? We only have so many open spaces on our calendar and when there is something on there that we don’t want to...
The old question, “Where would you go first if you had a time machine?” is an easy one to answer for me. I’d visit all of my favorite long-since-gone childhood cafes, diners, and restaurants. Not all, but one stop may soon be possible, without the help of H.G. Wells....
You meet people in the South who like spring, summer or winter, but virtually everyone below the Mason Dixon Line loves fall. I can speak to my affinity for the fall season, which in Ashdown, Arkansas, is at least three weeks. Four if you’re lucky. Fall is that time...
Movies were better in a theater. A theater filled with people. Such was the case before the internet. Before HBO. Before people holed up in their living rooms and away from their neighbors and friends. A time when pay-per-view meant you bought a ticket to watch a...
