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. more

It happens every year at the end of basketball season – a painful empathy for players as their seasons come to a close. more

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. more

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. more

I couldn’t have been more than 7 years old when I noticed that spring season that my parents had a few seeds left over from their garden-planting that April. I asked if I could have the spare seeds, and they were glad to oblige, I’m sure, wondering what a 7-year-old would ever want with seeds for squash, cucumber, purple hull peas, and lettuce. Heck, at that age, I didn’t even really like any of those things. more

This week, just a few thoughts and observations, and a project particularly where I could use your feedback. more

We’ve taken one of the most beautiful things in all of commerce, and like most other successful initiatives, turned it into a cookie-cutter enterprise stamping it into existence at the edge every small town across the South. Oh, how I miss the old-style, mom-and-pop general store. more

There’s a funny nameplate on my desk that reads: “I’m kind of a big deal.” But the truth is, down deep, I’ve never been that much about self. Not that it’s some admirable attribute of a sweetheart of a guy. I’m a live-how-you-feel kind of guy who doesn’t hide his emotions well, but ideas like self-love and self-care just never lined up with my personality. more

It’s hard to overstate the significance of an issue now before the Stone County Quorum Court that at least one justice calls “contentious.” While alcohol sales and wet-dry issues across the state are, indeed, historically contentious, they carry significance well beyond the moral dilemma most frequently debated. more

It looked like a duck. It quacked like a duck. But it wasn’t a duck. more

Winter is the best season. Convince me I’m wrong. more