Columns

I was saddling my young mare for the first time one morning in 1965 when Howard Thornton, a young black boy who lived on our place, came up. He watched as I finished cinching the strap and allowed as how he would like to ride her. I told him he could and as he put his foot in the stirrup he asked if she was gentle. I responded affirmatively but knew darn well I was lying. I had no idea how the roan would react, I only hoped she was gentle. Howard mounted and I handed him the reins and stepped back a couple of steps as the horse started to walk. She took two steps and arched her neck and bucked just enough to throw Howard upward a couple of feet. As his butt was coming down she bucked again as forcefully as she could and met him coming down. Howard was thrown upward and forward over the horse’s head and landed flat on the ground with a ‘Whomp’! He jumped up unhurt, looked at me wide-eyed and said, “Uh Huh, See there! You lied!” [Full Story »] 

Last Friday, a gunman opened fire in a crowded theater in Aurora, Colorado, where moviegoers sat anticipating the latest Batman movie, “The Dark Knight Rises.” He came in an emergency exit and fired into the crowd after tossing tear gas canisters into the room. The result was 12 dead, 58 injured, and many families hurting. The press is calling it the biggest massacre in the history of the United States. From east coast to west, Americans are in a state of shock. We’re praying for the families and injured victims. The whole country is reeling as everyone fishes for a solution to such a horrific problem. What now? How do we prevent this happening again? [Full Story »] 

I recently had a Yankee friend stop for a few days and I had the privilege to take him out for a walk in midafternoon. Be advised I did this on purpose. I wanted to see his reaction to one of the South’s most celebrated residents, the black gnat; for I knew they were out in force. I believe they are the worse this year they have ever been. I remember my Daddy saying “they won’t bother you if you work hard enough.” What a crock. This was just another ploy of the old timers to get more work out of us young’uns. [Full Story »] 

As Larry and I sit watching a television show, it’s not unusual at all for him to pause the show to expound on some inconsistency he’s noticed. For example, Sunday night we were watching “Criminal Minds.” When a character started strapping on his artificial leg, Larry hit the pause button. [Full Story »] 

I grew up down in the boondocks of Toombs County, Georgia in the tradition of country and southern gospel music. When I was a youngster living in an old but sturdy wood house covered with wood shingles, we had the only radio in the community—a big battery-powered Philco. When you turned the volume up you could hear it loud and clear for a couple of miles around. [Full Story »] 

I was shelling pecans early one morning when there came a news flash special report. I listened intently because I figured something important had happened somewhere in the world that would merit my attention.
“Tiger Woods had been in a serious accident,” the broadcast said. [Full Story »] 

Turpentining was king in Georgia for three quarters of a century. For those who don’t know what turpentining is, it is where you remove the bark of a Long Leaf or Slash pine and gather the sap in a tin cup. Once ‘dipped’ from the cup, the sap was placed in fifty gallon barrels and carried to Filtered Rosin in Douglas for distilling. We had our own still for fifty years but I only remember it operating once when the old timers including my Grandfather and Great Uncle Dan distilled some winter scrape, just to show us how it was done. [Full Story »] 

Last Thursday night I decided at the last minute to attend the political forum at the high school auditorium. Frankly, I’d been thinking about it all week and couldn’t make up my mind. Far too often politicians tell you exactly what they think you want to hear, but as soon as they get in office, they forget everything they promised you. They can’t even remember your name. I knew that if that scenario were planned for the evening, I’d do better to stay home and read Margaret Atwood. At least I’d be entertained. However, since I haven’t yet completely made up my mind about which candidates to vote for, I drove off to town. Maybe I’d learn something to help me decide about those last couple of offices. [Full Story »]