I’m a mass media guy, so for better or worse, I spend time on social media. Anyone who’s not drawn to the ability to communicate with thousands of people at the touch of a button doesn’t love …
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By Steve Watkins
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6/29/21
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On the fourth of July, I’ll be an official one-year resident of Stone County, Arkansas. I love it here, and honestly never imagined I’d love it so much.
But I will tell you, there is always a …
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By Steve Watkins
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6/22/21
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I spent the first 14 years in fear of my Dad.
Then, invested most of my energy the next four, planning and anticipating that glorious day I’d walk away from him.
And the next 25 years, I …
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By Steve Watkins
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6/15/21
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I have often said that in the search for ourselves we need not look far past our mom or dad, or the community and culture from which we come. We are the products of our raising.
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By Steve Watkins
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6/8/21
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The way a story about misspending of public funds came to light last week gave the appearance the story had been “hidden” for the past year, when in fact it was under …
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6/8/21
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It was over the moment our eyes met. You were chewing on a plastic water bottle cap, fuzzy as could be, and all alone in that cage. Dana and Sophie didn’t know it yet, but you were going home with …
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By Steve Watkins
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6/1/21
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Check out the music library on my phone and you’ll find everything from Hank Williams, to Kenny G, to Quiet Riot, to Demi Lovato, and the Mississippi Mass Choir. But country is my music genre of choice, probably because of all those years I spent riding around with a beer-drinking, cigarette-smoking dad who tuned in to stations that played Charlie Pride and Waylon Jennings and Glen Campbell and Loretta Lynn as we drove aimlessly through the Delta countryside.
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By Steve Watkins
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5/31/21
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May is National Barbecue Month.
Or, as I like to call it, Holy Month.
On a recent conference call with writers across the country, I explained how you can take the topic of barbecue and teach …
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By Steve Watkins
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5/18/21
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We weren’t lifelong friends. In fact, we only met in person twice and spoke by telephone once. But Richard McCasland made a difference in my life.
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By Steve Watkins
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5/13/21
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Last week we spoke about balancing work and rest. Some people are workers. Others are resters.
Some of us who have a hard time sitting still want to know more of this word – “rest.” It rolls off the tongue with ease. Such a peaceful and beautiful word, yet so elusive. Like an ivory-billed woodpecker in the bottoms of Monroe County.
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By Steve Watkins
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5/13/21
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I know people who work all the time. For them, it’s a source of pride.
I’m not one of those people.
The kind who takes pride in it, anyway.
Two weekends ago I found myself collapsed in a reclining chair, depleted. There is no other word.
No energy in any limb, barely able to think, and honestly on the verge of tears. In the preceding weeks and days leading up to that weekend, I’d spread myself so thin, tried to complete so many things, there was just nothing left. Zero. It happens several times a year, and I’m working to fix it.
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By Steve Watkins
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5/3/21
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Have you heard the news?
You know all the great names. Tyson, Truett Cathy, Colonel Sanders. The three may be the Great Triumvirate of the chicken business.
I’m thinking the name Watkins would look good among them. That’s right. We’re getting in the chicken business in Round Bottom Valley.
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By Steve Watkins
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4/26/21
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Religion is a slippery slope.
I’m going to write about it, anyway.
We’re becoming close enough friends now, you and I, that we can discuss these things in a civil manner, and still walk away friends.
If ever there was a warning sign pointing to the breakdown of an idea the New Testament gospels say is vitally important to a life of faith, this is it. The birthplace of community is dwindling in numbers across the Christian landscape.
It’s the Church.
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By Steve Watkins
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4/26/21
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It’s not the homecoming he planned, but the circumstances surrounding his return give Richard McCasland a point of view he’d never much considered about his hometown.
The former Mountain View …
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By Steve Watkins
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4/15/21
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In 1963, someone decided it would be a dandy idea launching a down-home festival.
They were right.
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By Steve Watkins
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4/5/21
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If the opportunity passes us by, we will have only ourselves to blame. It was right there in front of us in plain view on the calendar for 148 years.
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By Steve Watkins
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3/23/21
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As was (and is) the case with many hardworking families in rural America, a big part of my ancestry comes from Ireland, and from the UK - not people of distinction, mind you. Just hardworking folks who came to the US looking for new opportunities, and the chance to fulfill some dreams. It is the essence of America, I believe. This welcoming national spirit on which our country was founded.
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By Steve Watkins
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3/16/21
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It happens every year at the end of basketball season – a painful empathy for players as their seasons come to a close.
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By Lori Freeze
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3/16/21
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One of the things an outsider coming into Mountain View learns quickly is that music is serious business around here. There are especially strong opinions about the purest forms of music that define folk culture.
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By Steve Watkins
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3/15/21
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It’s early March, a hint of spring is here and a time I look forward to….high school basketball state tournament.
Schools and their sports teams have had a challenging school year trying to keep healthy in a pandemic. Many fans, like me, are grateful to be able to watch games on YouTube or other socially distanced platforms. Yet it’s still not quite the same as seeing your friends, family, and neighbors all together supporting the local team.
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By Renee Carr
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3/10/21
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