When You Wish Upon a Star
I saw a shooting star. A big one. I was exiting Walmart. Pushing my buggy. It was dusk. The sky was pink. I looked into a cloudless sky and there it was.
Americana
Uncle Sam’s Children
I was late for a plane when I saw him. The freckled kid was in uniform. Operational camouflage combat fatigues. Reverse-flag patch on the right shoulder. High and tight haircut.
The Washington Post Conflates Current House Painting Fashion With Race
The Washington Post published an article on neighborhood gentrification on Sunday, and a lot of readers, to judge by the comments, saw it as completely racist. Perhaps, just perhaps, not everything is about race. The house color that tells you when a neighborhood is gentrifying A Washington Post color analysis of D.C. found shades of …
Attention Deficit Device
I am playing the fiddle near the swimming pool at my hotel in Dothan. I always play in the mornings. Routine. I’ve been on the road for 14 days, playing music and performing my one-man spasm in different states.
The Life and Times of Dothan Mardi Gras
Today, I am Grand Marshal of the Dothan Mardi Gras parade. Truthfully, I don’t know what a grand marshal’s official duties entail, but apparently you are required to hold beer wherever you go.
A Woman Named Honey
Her name is Honey. She is in the meet-and-greet line after one of my shows. She holds one of my books. White hair. Tiny frame. Maybe five-foot.
Marriage School
So the idea was: After eight weeks of rigorous marriage training, couples would receive an official certificate, trimmed in gold, with their names on it. And this certificate would prove to the world, without a doubt, that couples were spiritually, and emotionally prepared to take the multiple choice exam in the back of the book.
Phone Withdrawals
My first week owning a dumb phone has been, well, dumb. In fact, it’s been so uneventful, I’m not totally sure what to do with myself.
The Woman Who Tried to Die
It happened in Washington, the Evergreen State. It was late. There was a woman about to kill herself. She was young. Standing on the ledge of an overpass. Holding a stuffed animal. Hair blowing in all directions. She was really going to do it.
The Fabric of Society Suffers Another Blow
Joann’s bankruptcy is both a casualty of a cultural shortcoming and a contributing cause of that shortcoming’s growth. It is a vicious circle.
The Rainbow Bridge
A little boy walked into the little church, unannounced. It was a weekday. A country church. Clapboards. Tin roof. The kind of church that—until a few years ago—only had window-unit A/C.
Patriotism – What Happens When a Nation Forgets Its Rituals?
From standing for the National Anthem to pledging allegiance to the flag, national rituals shape our identity, unity, and shared vision. But what happens when these traditions fade? Fragmentation, division, and a loss of purpose.
A Few Good Men—And Women, of Course
“A lot of people might think the world is falling apart,” he wrote to me. “But they’re wrong. I’ve been on the other side. There’s lots of good people out there.”
My Experience of Attending a White House Reception.
“The President requests the pleasure of your company at a reception in honor of NATIONAL BLACK HISTORY MONTH to be held at The White House on Thursday, February 20,2025 at two-thirty o’clock.
My New “Dumbphone”
My phone finally arrives in the mail. It’s small. Ugly. It’s “dumb.” And it looks like it was invented during the Herbert Hoover administration.
George Washington – Legislator
The great George Washington was born in Westmoreland County, Virginia on February 22, 1732, and served about seventeen years as a delegate in the Virginia colony’s House of Burgesses. He is remembered for many other things as well. The Father of his Country was known as a successful merchant, farmer, and horticulturalist, a prominent frontier …
One Night in Lancaster, PA
Lancaster, Pennsylvania. The windchill is negative four and I can no longer feel my unmentionables. I’m about to play my fiddle and tell funny stories to a room of people at the community center.
Lessons From a Goldfish
I have no children. The closest I ever came to having a child was when my wife got me a goldfish for Christmas. His name was Gary.
The Fine Art of Flying
It’s a mess, that’s what it is. When you land in Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Third World International Airport, you’re walking into a battle zone.