Home 2026
Archives
COLUMN: Christ Church on St. Simons Island
When I travel, I usually ask a local resident what we should see and where we should eat. In Brunswick, Georgia, the first thing...
COLUMN: A great place for a walk, town and church
On Monday of our trip to the East Coast of Georgia, we decided to find a park for a morning walk.
We headed for the...
COLUMN: No Brunswick stew in Brunswick
I had dreamed for weeks about feasting on a big bowl of Brunswick stew in the home of its birthplace. Although there are those...
COLUMN: Which doctor should I call?
I used to hear old folks talk about this, but I never thought it would happen to me.
Sure enough, I believe I have surely...
COLUMN: Have you lost your marbles?
About 30 years ago, I went with a mission team to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. After we drove through El Paso, Texas, we crossed the...
COLUMN: When the world stopped turning
Sept. 11 was simply another ordinary date until that day 25 years ago when it wasn’t. It still isn’t a holiday, and perhaps never...
COLUMN: A tale of 2 churches
Last Saturday, I spent the day in Pittsview, Alabama. That was the first time in my now somewhat-long life to visit the town. It...
COLUMN: I almost knew Elvis
This month we celebrated the life and remembered the death of one of the biggest names in the world of entertainment. Even though he...
COLUMN: A little 4-day getaway
What a year of travel…Spain and Mexico all in the same year. So far in 2026, I’ve looked across the Alboran of the Mediterranean...
COLUMN: Man’s best friend
I am a dog man! No, that is not a super hero; however, I have had a couple of dogs that were heroes…at least...
COLUMN: Playing in the church cemetery
The games we played when I was growing up were quite different from those children play these days. For one thing, we usually played...
COLUMN: Not driving is driving me nuts
I learned to drive shortly after I learned to ride a bicycle. Since I didn’t need a license to ride a bicycle, I figured...
COLUMN: A trip that took me back in time
My memories were transported back more than half a century ago, even before I ever smelled the scent that firmly landed me there. I...
COLUMN: The gift of sight
Have you ever wondered or imagined what it might be like to not be able to see? The ability to see is one of...
COLUMN: A week that left me weak
It was the kind of week that most people would like to forget. There were definitely some highs in the week but some frightening...
COLUMN: Happy Birthday, everyone
July, July – my, oh my – is it really July? – Christmas was only last week – and now the new year is...
COLUMN: Dogs, weed-eaters and chainsaws
Some of my longtime readers will remember Ginger (65). Ginger was our sweet yellow lab and Cocoa’s (15) big sidekick. Ginger died back in...
COLUMN: Rowdy really wasn’t rowdy
I’ve heard it said that our first friends are our first cousins. I had a bunch from which to choose, but one of my...
COLUMN: When it’s not football season
Alabama is football country. So, what do we do when it’s not football season? This week we had a most unusual sporting event. At...
COLUMN: A porch goose on the loose
Have you seen them? They first arrived in America about 40 years ago. Back then, there seemed to only be a small gaggle of...
COLUMN: In memory of Mrs. Annie Jo Cochran
In the spring of 1989, my little family and I moved to Rainbow City, Alabama, where I had been called as pastor of White...
COLUMN: Two final days in amazing Madrid
Ready or not, we finally said adios to the South of Spain and the Costa del Sol. We headed back to Malaga where we...
COLUMN: The miracle of running water
Water is gift from God that we may take from granted. Water is a necessity of life, and as far back as I can...
COLUMN: Mama was in her garden
When I was growing up, I often wondered who my mother planned on feeding with all that food we grew in her vegetable garden....
COLUMN: Marbella by morning
I know the song says, “Amarillo by morning, up from San Antone,” but on our tour across the South of Spain, I found myself...
COLUMN: ‘This Little Line of Mine’
I am a writer. I write articles, books and songs. While I have won a few awards for some of my newspaper and magazine...
COLUMN: I fell in love with Ronda
Now, before you let your mind go where it shouldn’t, this Ronda is not a woman. Ronda was the next city we visited in...
COLUMN: I’ve never been to Oklahoma, but I’ve been to Spain
Yes, I know the songs says, “Well, I’ve never been to Spain, but I’ve been to Oklahoma,” but the opposite is now true for...
COLUMN: The ultimate sacrificial gift
Larry was an unusual sort. In fact, to even say such would be like saying that Babe Ruth was a baseball player. Everybody who...
COLUMN: Hola! Coma estas? Todo bien aqui!
What? Well, that’s how they said it where Jean and I recently spent a little more than a week. The translation in my native...
COLUMN: Crawling critters that brought me cash!
Worms…some of the first money I ever made came from selling worms. With two ponds and a creek right beside our house, I grew up...
COLUMN: Things don’t last like they once did
If Murphy’s Law is, “Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong,” the Mechanical Law would be, “What can break down, will break down.”...
COLUMN: What it was, was soccer
Seventy-two years ago, Capital Records released a recording of a young Andy Griffith. He recorded under the name Deacon Andy Griffith. Side A of...
COLUMN: Is your Christmas tree still up?
Last week I was listening to a Christian radio program when the host of the show asked the radio audience, “Is your Christmas tree...
COLUMN: I had rather be busy than bored
For most of my life, my personal motto has been, “I had rather be busy than bored.”
Honestly, I don’t remember if I heard someone...
COLUMN: Icicle pickles and icicle pickleballs
I have decided, sometime in my not-as-young-as-I-once-was years, that I don’t like cucumbers. Well, at least I don’t like raw cucumbers. I’ve given them...
COLUMN: The Lunch Box Museum
What kind of lunchbox did you have when you were growing up? Perhaps, I should have said lunchboxes, because you may have had more...
COLUMN: The winter storm of ‘93
It looks like we dodged the storm down here in L.A. (Lower Alabama). Much of our nation is caught in the grip of more...
COLUMN: When the phones stopped ringing
Where were you when the phones stopped ringing, that January day? That January day was Wednesday, Jan. 14. For roughly 10 hours that day,...
COLUMN: A case of hit and run
I had never experienced anything quite like it. To say I was shocked would probably be an overstatement, but I certainly didn’t see it...
COLUMN: New beginnings can bring new endings
We have lost another old friend. Not to be morbid, but I’ve come to that age in life where I begin each new year...
COLUMN: Creatures of habit
Do you know the Hokey Pokey song? It begins with, “You put your right foot in, you take your right foot out. You put...
COLUMN: The real Christmas story
Once upon a time, long, long ago, there lived a young lady named Mary. Mary was engaged to be married to a man named...
COLUMN: All I want for Christmas is:
‘Tis the season to be jolly. ‘Tis also the season when we hear the question, “What do you want for Christmas?” For some, that...
COLUMN: Our first Christmas together
We have spent 50 of them together. Jean and I spent our first Christmas together as husband and wife in 1975. We were still...
COLUMN: ’Twas the day after Thanksgiving
‘Twas the day after Thanksgiving, when all through the store – shoppers came early, for bargains galore – Some arrived early, to wait in...
COLUMN: Are you grateful or hateful?
There is an old story of a person who used to complain because he had no shoes, until he saw someone who had no...
COLUMN: A penny for your thoughts
The penny has been pronounced dead. Well, actually, there’s plenty of them still rolling around, but rumor has it that their production has stopped....
COLUMN: How do you get your football?
When I was a kid, I loved to make crazy faces. I think I learned it from watching the late, great Red Skelton. Skelton,...
COLUMN: A day at Billy Graham’s Library
A couple of days after our recent visit to Andy Griffith’s hometown of Mt. Airy, North Carolina, we visited the home and library/museum of...
COLUMN: The 3rd week in October
The third week in October is one of my favorite weeks of the year. No, I’m not talking about a game…I’m talking about fall,...
COLUMN: Batteries not needed
The words “Batteries not included” are found on many of the things we purchase these days. If we had to buy enough batteries at...
COLUMN: Measure twice, cut once
Last week, I was reminded of the old wood-workers’ idiom that says, “Measure twice, cut once.” I remembered the advice immediately after I demonstrated...
COLUMN: Let’s go outside to play
At the risk of sounding like an old man, I have realized there is a great difference in how the youth of today entertain...
COLUMN: Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!
We’ve all seen the commercials that gave birth to the catchphrase, “Help! I’ve fallen and I can’t get up!” Since the 1980s, it has...
COLUMN: Sweet Savannah
Yes, I am a country boy, but one of my favorite places to visit in this world is a city. No, I do not...
COLUMN: Duck, Duck, Jeep
You may have that friend, or a strange cousin named Booger Ray, who has more miscellaneous junk than a neighborhood hardware store, all piled...
COLUMN: What a day!
I wrote a song a couple of years ago that said, “I’m going to have a good day, anyway – no matter what comes...
COLUMN: Let’s go out to eat
Back when I was growing up, if Mama said, “Let’s go out to eat,” we did not head for the car. We weren’t going...
COLUMN: Things don’t always go as planned
Jean and I are frequent visitors at antiques shops and malls. We often find treasures there that end up either in our house or...
COLUMN: The final leg of our Western trip
Continued from www.cullmantribune.com/2025/07/20/column-from-dinosaurs-to-devils
Have you ever seen one of our presidents? On June 6, 1991, on the 47th anniversary of D-Day, I saw and heard...
COLUMN: Milestone Birthdays
Everybody has a birthday and everybody has one every year. Well, except for those individuals who were born on Feb. 29. Recently, I think...
COLUMN: Back to Broadway
Excuse me, but did you ask me if I had ever been on Broadway? Well, yes, as a matter of fact I have. I...
COLUMN: From dinosaurs to devils
Continued from www.cullmantribune.com/2025/07/14/column-we-made-it-to-north-dakota
We visited two dinosaur museums on our trip. My favorite was Montana’s Glendive Dinosaur and Fossil Museum, which presents the dinosaur from...
COLUMN: We made it to North Dakota
Continued from www.cullmantribune.com/2025/07/06/column-south-dakota-is-amazing
Almost 221 years ago, in 1804, Lewis and Clark headed west under the commission of President Thomas Jefferson, to see what we...
COLUMN: South Dakota is amazing
Continued from www.cullmantribune.com/2025/06/29/column-we-made-it-to-rapid-city-but-not-rapidly
After a few hours of sleep in Rapid City, we began our journey at the drug store…Wall Drug Store. Wall Drug is...
COLUMN: We Made it to Rapid City but not rapidly
Jean and I had planned a mega road trip for the summer of 2020. The few remaining states on our bucket list of setting...
COLUMN: The longest journey of my life
By this point in my life, I have been on quite a few journeys. I do love to travel and experience new things. I’m...
COLUMN: 50 years didn’t take as long as I thought
It happened 50 years ago, on Saturday, June 14, 1975. I remember that day so well that it almost seems like it was last...
COLUMN: Making memories for a lifetime
I have heard it said that real painters don’t need a drop cloth. One person who had told me that, later that same day...
COLUMN: What’s under your bed?
Jennifer Garner must have asked me a thousand times, “What’s in your wallet?” The answer is always the same, “Nothing, absolutely nothing!” I keep...
COLUMN: Remember the Alamo
No, I did not fight at the Alamo, at least not in Texas. I arrived a little too late and missed it by at...
COLUMN: Where are you from?
Chances are I am not from where you live, but I may have been there. I may have even lived there at one time...
COLUMN: One to whom I owe so much
Who was the first person in this world I ever laid eyes on? Okay, yes, the very first one may have been the doctor...
COLUMN: A fresh coat of paint works wonders
She said, “What do you not do? You write, you sing, you play instruments and you even build instruments. Do you paint?”
I grinned and...
COLUMN: Cake-baking day is one of the best
I’m wondering if Saturdays have always been cake-baking day. That seemed to have been the case when I was a child, and now, many...
COLUMN: A biography with a different ending
I did not grow up in a family of readers. Oh, I don’t mean my family was illiterate. My parents could read; they simply...
COLUMN: The Olympics for older athletes
Editor’s note: This column was written last week.
I am a Baby Boomer. There, I said it, and I’m not ashamed of it. I was...
COLUMN: March madness wasn’t just basketball
Sports fans, especially college basketball fans, can tell you that March Madness is the nickname of the NCAA Championship Tournament. Basketball, however, is not...
COLUMN: We took a trip back in time
Jean and I just spent three days on a magnificent mountain that has, or is near, beautiful bluffs, gorgeous gorges, carved canyons, cavernous caves,...
COLUMN: I hear that mailman coming
Well, I hear that mailman coming, he’s rolling around the bend, and I ain’t seen a letter, since 2010. That’s because the mail doesn’t...
COLUMN: I just can’t seem to remember
I think I may have surely come to that stage and age in life where I can’t…I can’t…well, now I can’t remember what I...
COLUMN: I’ll take a bottle of Coke, please
My first drinks of choice were either a Sun-Rise Orange, Nehi Grape or NuGrape. When I was a little older, my favorite became Coca-Cola....
COLUMN: A cake fit for a king
What is as sweet as sugar, purple, gold and green all over and has a baby inside? A king cake! A king cake is...
COLUMN: The importance of reunions
How do you have a reunion with a group of people when you have never met most of them? You can do that when...
COLUMN: A holiday is simply 1 day
Editor’s note: Written prior to Valentine’s Day
You probably won’t get the day off from work, or school, on Valentine’s Day. You will be hard...
COLUMN: I have gone back to college
I am most thankful to have had the opportunity to get a college and seminary education. There was a time in my younger life...
COLUMN: A nice little snow-cation
Well, I said, “Let it snow,” and it did. Thankfully, this one was no blizzard, but it was deep enough to make some snow...
COLUMN: Going back where I’ve already been
The late Johnny Cash had a hit song back in 1996 in which he claimed to have been everywhere, man! He mentioned 92 cities...
COLUMN: Aunt Ginnie
The first time I went to their home was for a family Thanksgiving dinner. Actually, it was the midday meal, but down here we...
COLUMN: The real Christmas story
Once upon a time, long, long ago, there lived a young lady named Mary. Mary was engaged to be married to a man named...
COLUMN: The music of Christmas
Christmas is my favorite season of the year. Christmas music is one of things about the season that I love so much. I love...
COLUMN: Thanksgiving is more than a holiday
The late gospel singer and writer Andre Crouch had a popular song back in the 70s titled, “To God Be the Glory.” The opening...
COLUMN: A sweet treat in the autumn South
I’m not exactly sure how he managed to live in this world this long, especially in the South, and never experience one of the...
COLUMN: What can I get for this?
I’ve noticed in recent years, even though I’ve paid for a motel/hotel room in advance, the check-in clerk always wants my credit card for...
COLUMN: Love locks over the river
Many rivers have locks, but not only the kind that lower or raise boats in its water. You may have seen them before, but...
COLUMN: I absolutely loved cologne
I began shaving when I was around 13. Why, you might ask? Not because I needed to, but because I wanted to.
I did have...
COLUMN: A ride down the Rhine River
When I saw the handwriting on the wall, I knew we were no longer in Kansas; excuse me, I meant Alabama. As a matter...
COLUMN: Why did he say that?
People can say some strange things. Some of these statements are quite annoying, while others may be funny and enjoyable. Some of the things...
COLUMN: Boy on a hot tin roof
Mama had a mysterious situation. Her dried apples kept disappearing. Each day their number seemed to be less than it had been the day...
