Tag: Guest Column

Uh oh. Only five minutes before kickoff, and I’ve got things to do.  Quickly I round up both my dogs and pet them seven times each - the last stroke from the tip...

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...

I had dreamed for weeks about feasting on a big bowl of Brunswick stew in the home of its birthplace.  Although there are those...

I laugh when I think about college students today. They go off to school with interior designers, then buy curtains, expensive sheets, nice furniture,...

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...

About 30 years ago, I went with a mission team to Ciudad Juarez, Mexico. After we drove through El Paso, Texas, we crossed the...

We started cleaning out our basement the other day, and I quickly realized this wasn’t going to be a Saturday afternoon project. It was more like...

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...

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...

Now that I think about it, I suppose I’m a little like former President George W. Bush - though not because of his domestic or foreign...

This month we celebrated the life and remembered the death of one of the biggest names in the world of entertainment. Even though he...

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...

For those of you who have been reading my column for a while you know I occasionally write about stupidity. More specifically, my stupidity - a subject I...

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...

The games we played when I was growing up were quite different from those children play these days. For one thing, we usually played...

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...

My memories were transported back more than half a century ago, even before I ever smelled the scent that firmly landed me there. I...

It’s the sound more than the smell that takes me back. Not a loud sizzle like bacon, but quieter, softer. As a kid, when...

Have you ever wondered or imagined what it might be like to not be able to see? The ability to see is one of...

It was the kind of week that most people would like to forget. There were definitely some highs in the week but some frightening...

July, July – my, oh my – is it really July? – Christmas was only last week – and now the new year is...

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...

There are moments in life when the distance between an ordinary day and tragedy is measured in inches.  I’ve thought about that a lot lately.  A few...

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...

“Honey, it’s not the heat, it’s the humidity.”  That’s not just a saying in the South – it’s a warning.    Everyone who lives here knows we pay for those mild winters...

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...

Have you seen them? They first arrived in America about 40 years ago. Back then, there seemed to only be a small gaggle of...

In the spring of 1989, my little family and I moved to Rainbow City, Alabama, where I had been called as pastor of White...

Ready or not, we finally said adios to the South of Spain and the Costa del Sol. We headed back to Malaga where we...

I’m in my bathroom, standing in a nasty puddle of water, with a plunger in one hand and a bent coat hanger in the other. It’s hard...

Water is gift from God that we may take from granted. Water is a necessity of life, and as far back as I can...

When I was growing up, I often wondered who my mother planned on feeding with all that food we grew in her vegetable garden....

It was usually about 8:45 on a rainy Sunday night when the drama began.   One of my boys would burst into the den, chest heaving...

I know the song says, “Amarillo by morning, up from San Antone,” but on our tour across the South of Spain, I found myself...

I am a writer. I write articles, books and songs. While I have won a few awards for some of my newspaper and magazine...

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...

I woke up at 3 a.m., which is not unusual. At my age, the bladder rules. It was time to take a bathroom break, return...

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...

Larry was an unusual sort. In fact, to even say such would be like saying that Babe Ruth was a baseball player. Everybody who...

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...

As if by magic, he pulled a folded $100 bill out of a pile of gray lint.  “Look what I found,” he said, waving it in the...

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...

It seems there’s so much nastiness, rudeness and hate in the world now. It’s everywhere, and it makes me sicker than the thought of drinking warm...

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.”...

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...

I walked about 75 yards from the visitor center, stepped to the railing, looked both ways and gawked.  I’m not a big gawker. In fact,...

Last week I was listening to a Christian radio program when the host of the show asked the radio audience, “Is your Christmas tree...

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...

I wish every boy could experience snow the way we do in the South. Since it’s a rare occurrence here, there’s a sense of...

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...

What kind of lunchbox did you have when you were growing up? Perhaps, I should have said lunchboxes, because you may have had more...

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...

Where were you when the phones stopped ringing, that January day? That January day was Wednesday, Jan. 14. For roughly 10 hours that day,...

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...

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...

Do you know the Hokey Pokey song? It begins with, “You put your right foot in, you take your right foot out. You put...

Once upon a time, long, long ago, there lived a young lady named Mary. Mary was engaged to be married to a man named...

I’ve done some dumb things in my life. Over the years, I’ve displayed an All-American level of stupidity on a number of occasions. Once,...

‘Tis the season to be jolly. ‘Tis also the season when we hear the question, “What do you want for Christmas?” For some, that...

You know him. You’ve sung about him, watched him on TV and probably even worn his likeness on an ugly Christmas sweater. But how...

We have spent 50 of them together. Jean and I spent our first Christmas together as husband and wife in 1975. We were still...

‘Twas the day after Thanksgiving, when all through the store – shoppers came early, for bargains galore – Some arrived early, to wait in...

There is an old story of a person who used to complain because he had no shoes, until he saw someone who had no...

Ah, Thanksgiving — the holiday built around gratitude, family and, of course, food. I could add football to the list, but most games on...

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....

I left the doctor’s office, got into my car and began screaming obscenities at the top of my lungs. I have had enough. When...

When I was a kid, I loved to make crazy faces. I think I learned it from watching the late, great Red Skelton. Skelton,...

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...

It was total chaos at the Dollar General store in Margaret, Alabama. People rushed out the doors carrying poster board, silver balloons and rolls...

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,...

Well, I said, “Let it snow,” and it did. Thankfully, this one was no blizzard, but it was deep enough to make some snow...

By now, I’m sure most of you have your Christmas tree and home decorations up. Not me - I’m a world class procrastinator. Think...

I just finished my annual reading of “To Kill a Mockingbird.” Wow. As long as I live, I will read this novel. And for...

RADIATE S.U.N.S. JOY to add more sunny happiness and warm contentment to your world and to others. American literary legend, Edith Wharton, glowed with...

“The JOYrontologist” is saluting joy-seeking explorers this Columbus Day holiday. As we raise flutes of Prosecco and chow down on veal pizza (recipe below),...

ODE TO AUTUMN Autumn days are here, blue sky clear and dear. Let’s harvest a bushel of joy and fall cheer. Our S.U.N.S. (Smile-Making, Uniting, Neighboring, Spellbinding)...

F-WORDS  ̶̶  there are so FLIPPIN’ many FANTASTICATIOUS ones! Here are a few more fun, FLAVORFUL faves after all of these from the former...

F-WORDS are not used frequently enough. At least that’s true for some F-WORDS. There are so many FABU F-WORDS, I’ve FINAGLED them into two...

ODE TO THE “E WORD” Isn’t it a sweet surprise That play is a workout in disguise. Chic gym clothes can never glamorize The boring drudge of exercise. S.U.N.S....

ODE TO SOLITUDE Solitude and loneliness Are far from the same. Solitude is exquisite pleasure; Loneliness, excruciating pain. My name is Ben and…I am a GREGARIOUS HERMIT. There, I’ve...

“If you have no charity in your heart, you have the worst kind of heart trouble.”—Bob Hope HILARITY FOR CHARITY is a perfect example of...

“If we all just lend a hand, we can lift some hearts.”—Melody Minagar  HEART IN HAND is a centuries-old symbol of compassion and a willingness...

Remember when America was all about freedom-loving fun and people fought for “The Right to Party?” Even in 1773 (evening of December 16), our...

                                                        ODE TO JOY-ZINES                                    A self-pub, a journal, a dream board, a zine;                                    All the positivity one might glean.                                    For you and by you,...

                                                                      ODE TO MY DAD                             Dad, I’m glad you were one of my favorite parents,                             Even though we disagreed about most sermons and nearly...

NEVER TRUST A GERONTOLOGIST UNDER 70! Please hear me saying that playfully. However, I’ve done my 70 years and spent much of it studying...

                                                                       ODE TO SUMMER                                                   My longtime favorite season is summer.                                                   Though fall, spring nor winter is a bummer.                                                   At 70, this thought’s not a...

                                                        AMERICAN HEROES by Cheryl Alexander (American poet, Cheryl Alexander, about her ode to heroes: “This poem is dedicated to all the heroes in our...

I LOVE LIBRARIES and I have a dream of a beautiful, FREE, public one with happy colors, patron-selected seating, art murals, craft/study/activity areas, cubbies,...

                                                             When I get the urge to purge,                                                              I first put on some music.                                                              A little more punk and a little less dirge,                                                              Then...

                                                                ODE TO ZZZ                                                      ZZZ are A-okay methinks,                                                      Each regarded with great esteem.                                                      A long sleep or just 40 winks,                                                      To doze, perchance to...

                                                                    ODE TO WANDERLUST                                                  I long to walk there, maybe there and then there.                                                  More joy-filled I’ll return, you may surely trust.                                                  In my...

                                                                ODE TO BLOOMING                                                 Stealthily, they commanded the hill,                                                 Though no cannons nor bombs were booming.                                                 No movement detected, all seemed deadly still.                                                 Then,...

                                                              ODE TO REINVENTING                                                   Any given day can be a time to start over,                                                   It just takes hard work, luck and good intention.                                                   So,...

                                                                ODE TO JOY BIRDS                                                   The singing kind are such joy birds,                                                   One rarely hears a whiner.                                                   Chirping, tweeting, hummingbirds                                                   Make a fine day...

                                                              ODE TO FOUR, JOYFUL SEASONS                                                          Spring is joyful, then there is also this,                                                          Summer is such sunny bliss.                                                          Autumn is a sweet molasses...

                                                       ODE TO A PLANTRY                                      Old Mother Gantry went to her pantry,                                      Looked angry, then trashed it all, blankly.                                      She restocked as a fun,...

                                                                      ODE TO A FUN, HEALTHY DIET                                                                           Try as I might,                                                                           A fun, healthy diet                                                                           Seems an oxymoron in daylight                                                                           And a darker mystery...

                                                          LAFF EVRY DAY!                                      Laff, laff for your brain and your heart.                                      Laffing makes you strong.                                      Laffing makes you smart.                                      Laffter is good for...

                                                        Too Young to Be Seventy—by Judith Viorst* Deep in my heart I believe I’m Too young to be seventy. There are times when I’m wearing my...