A Man Named Paul
Paul William Bryant was born in the late summer of 1913 in a Cleveland County, Arkansas, backwater. His hometown of Moro Bottom wasn’t even a town, technically. Only seven families lived there.
Americana
Not Everything Needs to Be a Federal Government Project
Under our 47th President, the sensible people in charge are looking at all of the spending in which the federal government engages. With the FY2024 federal budget deficit at $1.83 trillion — that’s trillion, a thousand billion, or a million million dollars — and FY2025 possibly going to be more, the Trump Administration is taking …
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
El Camino de Santiago and Me
The math teacher and I went for a five-hour walk through town while wearing huge backpacks and yet we are not Marines. We are just middle-aged married people.
Country Folk
The January snow/ice storm kept us snowbound for seven days. My farm tractor couldn’t move the 4” of snow on top of the 2” of ice that was over the 6” of the first snow on our ¾ mile driveway.
Me Braiding Hair
I shouldn’t be braiding hair. But there I was. Giving it my best shot. We were in a hotel lobby. The 19-year-old sat with her back facing me. Her violent red hair in my hands.
A Day at the Aquarium
You never know how truly short life is until a 19-year-old girl, who is preceptive and sweet, and of exceptional intellect, a girl who made the university president’s list, stares at you sincerely, with warmth in her eyes, and with all her heart, calls you an “old person.”
Out of Bounds
Who reading this can recall when the Super Bowl was played in mid-January? How many can remember when the NFL’s championship game was called just that: The NFL Championship game?
Freedom Requires Personal Responsibility
To be free of excessive government control (oppression) requires accepting responsibility for our lives and the consequences of our actions. When people accept responsibility, and act smartly, very little government control is needed to maintain social order.