Tuesday, February 21, 2012

Iwas talking to Wayne Harris, the director of the Albemarle Economic Development Commission.

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Saturday we had what a friend of ours calls “Forced Family Fun.” It’s the sort of day when mom and dad are going to push the kids out the door for a family outing whether they like it or not.

Tuesday, February 7, 2012

Isuppose if I were trying to be politically correct about the whole thing I would say they’re, well, stature impaired.

Tuesday, January 31, 2012

The Internet was mysteriously down this weekend.

Tuesday, January 24, 2012

Somehow it seems like we’re not having fun unless the fun is all rapid-fire stimulation, leaving little to the imagination.

Thursday, February 16, 2012

The daffodils are beginning to bloom. Those glorious yellow trumpets are springing up everywhere, signaling spring is almost here.

Thursday, February 9, 2012

Few lawn weeds are despised as much as broadleaf plantain. Maybe we should hold our contempt a little bit.

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Since Groundhog Day is this week, I decided this varmint deserved mention. Farmers and gardeners experience their destructive behavior.

Thursday, January 26, 2012

Now that winter is here, most of us don’t have to mow our lawns. Our flower gardens have probably fizzled out too, but we still have weeds.

Thursday, January 19, 2012

They can be a nuisance at picnics and a menace to your car’s finish, but don’t curse the seagull.

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

Without Ricky Braddy, Scotty McCreery or Ethan Clark in the mix, I haven’t really been able to stoke my interest in this year’s season of American Idol.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

This is a Valentine’s Day story, and a birthday story.Our son, Nathan, will turn 24 next week.Every birthday is a milestone in some way or other, of course.

Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Don Cornelius died tragically last week, and ever since I have been thinking a lot about the “Soul Train” host and the show itself.

Wednesday, February 1, 2012

The Truth and Hope Poverty Tour is supposed to be about raising awareness, about putting a face on poverty statistics; about challenging people to think about poverty and talk about it.

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

My comments are not about President Obama’s State of the Union Speech itself but about the live audience for the speech.

Saturday, February 18, 2012

What do a watermelon, a college textbook, and a visit to the doctor have in common?

Saturday, February 11, 2012

When I was a boy, my mother woke my brother and me up to go to school with a 45 rpm record playing a song about a spider named “Willie,” who had so many legs it took him a long time to get his shoes on in the morning.

Saturday, February 4, 2012

When I was 13 years old my mom lost her job and could no longer make the mortgage payments on our house in Tennessee.

Saturday, January 28, 2012

In our fast-paced, techo-driven world, the art of reading and writing poetry on the printed page seems to be on a fast track to obsolescence.

Saturday, January 21, 2012

The last time I visited Lucky’s Billiards, Hank Slater was bragging about a job his niece had just gotten at the new Chevy dealership outside of town.“She’s the first person you see when you walk in the showroom,” Hank said. “She’s got a desk and there’s a table with coffee and doughnuts right next to the desk.”“What type of job is she doing at the Chevy place?” JJ Potts asked.“It’s got a real fancy title.